Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava[1] (between 1388 and 1390 – 2 June 1453), was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in the Crown's affairs in the wake of his support to John II against the so-called Infantes of Aragon. Once he lost the protection of the monarch, he was executed in Valladolid in 1453.

Álvaro de Luna
Álvaro de Luna dressed in the habit of the Order of Santiago
Constable of Castile
In office
1423–1453
Preceded byRuy López Dávalos
Succeeded byMiguel Lucas de Iranzo [es]
Personal details
BornCañete, Crown of Castile
Died2 June 1453
Valladolid, Crown of Castile
Spouses
Elvira de Portocarrero
(m. 1420)
(m. 1430)

Early years

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He was born between 1388 and 1390 in Cañete, in what is now the province of Cuenca, as the illegitimate son of the Castilian noble don Álvaro Martínez de Luna, copero mayor (the page who poured drinks for a nobleman) of King Henry III of Castile, and María Fernández de Jarana, a woman of great character and beauty.

He was introduced to the court as a page by his uncle Pedro V de Luna, Archbishop of Toledo in 1410. Álvaro soon secured a commanding influence over John II, then a boy. During the regency of King John's uncle Ferdinand, which ended in 1412, he was not allowed to be more than a servant. When, however, Ferdinand was elected king of Aragon, and the regency was assumed by the king's mother, Catherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, and granddaughter of King Peter of Castile, Álvaro became a very important person, the so-called "contino", or old friend of the King.[2][n. 1]

Álvaro de Luna married Elvira de Portocarrero in 1420.[4] They had no issue. In 1430, he married Juana Pimentel [es], with whom he had two children.[4]

The King's favourite

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Statue of Álvaro de Luna in Cañete

The young King regarded him with love and affection which the superstition of later time attributed to witchcraft. As the King was under pressure by greedy and unscrupulous nobles — among whom his cousins, the sons of Ferdinand, commonly known as the Infantes of Aragon, were perhaps the most dangerous — his reliance on a favourite who had every motive to be loyal to him, is quite understandable.[5] Luna was also a master of all the accomplishments the King admired: a fine horseman, skillful with a lance and a writer of court verse.[2] But beyond the purview of his peers, he was a master of intrigue and dissimulation.[citation needed]

Until he lost the King's protection, Álvaro was the central figure of the Castilian history of the time. It was a period of constant conflict, characterised by shifting coalitions of nobles, namely the Infantes of Aragon Henry and John of Aragon, brothers of John II's wife Maria, who, under the pretence of freeing the King from the undue influence of his favourite, were intent on making a puppet of him for their own ends.[2]

The part which Álvaro de Luna played has been diversely judged. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition recounts that to Juan de Mariana he appears as a mere self-seeking favourite. To others, he has seemed to be a loyal servant of the King who endeavoured to enforce the authority of the crown, which in Castile was the only alternative to anarchy. He fought for his own ends, but his supremacy was perhaps better than the rule of lawless alliances of plundering nobles.

In 1427, he was solemnly expelled by a coalition of the nobles, only to be recalled in the following year. In 1431, he endeavoured to employ the restless nobles in a campaign for the reconquest of Granada, the remaining territory of Muslim Spain and then ruled by the sultan Muhammed IX. Some successes were gained at the Battle of La Higueruela, but in the end de Luna failed. A consistent policy was impossible with a rebellious aristocracy and a king of indolent character.[2]

In 1445, the faction of nobles allied with Álvaro's main enemies, the Infantes of Aragon, were defeated at the First Battle of Olmedo. One of them, Infante Henry, Duke of Villena, brother of the Queen, died of his wounds. Luna, who had been Constable of Castile and Count of San Esteban de Gormaz since 1423, became Grand Master of the Order of Santiago by election of the Knights.[2]

Downfall

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Sad end of Don Álvaro de Luna. Painting by José María Rodríguez de Losada (1826–1896)

Queen Maria died under suspicious circumstances, pointing to Luna as the mastermind. Nevertheless, his power appeared to be thoroughly established. It was, however, based only on the personal affection of the King. The King's second wife, Isabella of Portugal, although her whole royal marriage was a product of Luna's arrangements, was soon offended by the immense influence of the Constable, and when the murder of the King's accountant Alfonso Pérez de Vivero was suspected to have been at Luna's orders, she urged her husband to free himself from thralldom to his favourite. In 1453, the King succumbed to his wife's demands; Luna was arrested, tried and condemned to death, and soon executed by beheading at Valladolid on 2 June 1453.[2]

Marriage and issue

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By his marriage with Juana Pimentel, Álvaro de Luna had two children:

By Margarita Manuel, Álvaro de Luna had a natural son:

See also

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References

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Informational notes
  1. ^ The Crónica del Halconero by Pedro Carrillo de Huete [es] hints a possible homosexual relation between the king and Álvaro de Luna.[3]
Citations
  1. ^ Hernández Amez 2002, p. 255.
  2. ^ a b c d e f   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Luna, Álvaro de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 123.
  3. ^ Hernández Amez 2002, p. 258.
  4. ^ a b Rocha 2015, p. 142.
  5. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.
  6. ^ López Villalba 2014, pp. 244–245.
Bibliography

Further reading

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  • Gerli, E. Michael (2003). "Luna, Alvaro de". In Gerli, E. Michael (ed.). Medieval Iberia : an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. pp. 520–521. ISBN 0-415-93918-6.
  • O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (1975). A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0880-6. OCLC 1272494.
  • Palenzuela, Vicente Angel Alvarez. "Alvaro de Luna". Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish).
  • Round, Nicholas (1986). The Greatest Man Uncrowned: A Study of the Fall of Don Alvaro de Luna. London: Tamesis Books. ISBN 0729302113.
Spanish nobility
New title Count of San Esteban de Gormaz
1423–1445
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Grand Master of
the Order of Santiago

1445–1453
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Constable of Castile
1423–1453
Succeeded by