Eleanor of Castile

Eleanor of Castile (1200—1244) was Queen of Aragon by her marriage to King James I of Aragon. Queenship Eleanor was the daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. In 1221 at Ágreda, Eleanor married King James I of Aragon; she was nineteen and he was fourteen. The next six years of James's reign were full of rebellions on the part of the nobles. By the Peace of Alcalá of 31 March 1227, the nobles and the king came to terms. The couple had a son, Alfonso, who married Constance of Béarn. Eleanor's marriage to James was annulled in 1230, and the agreement prohibited her from remarrying. Their son, Alfonso, was declared legitimate, but he pre-deceased James. Monastic life Eleanor became a nun after the annulment. She went to the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas to join her elder sister Berengaria who had retired from ruling Castile and Leon, and their other sister Constance, who was long a nun there. All three sisters died there, Constance in 1243, Eleanor in 1244, and Berengaria in 1246. All are buried in the abbey.