Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra

The Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra KG (pronounced|ˈpedɾu; English: "Peter"), (1392 – May 20 1449) was a Portuguese infante of the House of Aviz, son of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. In Portugal he is better known as Infante D. Pedro das Sete Partidas [do Mundo] , "of the Seven Parts [of the World] " because of his travels. Possibly the most well-travelled prince of his time, he was regent between 1439 and 1448.

From the time he was born, Pedro was one of John I's favourite sons. Along with his siblings, he received an exceptional education rarely seen in those times. Close to his brother Edward and Infante João, Lord of Reguengos, Pedro grew up in a calm environment free of intrigues.

On August 14, 1415 he accompanied his father and brothers Edward and Henry in the conquest of Ceuta in Morocco. His mother had died the previous month, giving each of her sons on her deathbed an arming sword she had ordered forged for them. Pedro refused to be knighted before having shown his valour in battle, being knighted along with his brothers the following day; he was also created duke of Coimbra as his younger brother Henry was made duke of Viseu. These were the first dukedoms created in Portugal.

In 1418, having finished the translation of Seneca's "De Beneficiis", he initiated his extensive travels throughout Europe, which would keep him away from Portugal for the next ten years. After having met with John II of Castile in Valladolid, he continued to Hungary, where he met with Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and entered his service. He fought in the Imperial armies against the Turks and in the Hussite Wars in Bohemia, and was awarded the dukedom of Treviso in Northern Italy in 1422. In 1424 he left the Holy Roman Empire, meeting first with Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, on the island of Patmos, and then continuing to Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire; the hopeless position of the city against the Ottoman onslaught didn't fail to impress him. From Constantinople he travelled to the Holy Land via Alexandria and Cairo. In 1425 he travelled west to France and England, visiting the universities of Paris and Oxford, before arriving in Flanders in 1426, where he spent the next two years at the Burgundian court. The second wife of Philip the Good of Burgundy having died in 1425, Pedro recommended him his sister Isabel as wife (Philip later sent a delegation to Portugal in 1428-29, which included Jan van Eyck, who painted two portraits of the Infanta; Philip and Isabel eventually married on January 7, 1430, one of their sons being the future duke Charles the Bold). In 1427 Pedro wrote a famous letter to his older brother, the later King Edward, on "the proper administration of the kingdoms", from Bruges; later that year Henry VI of England (his first cousin once removed) made him a Knight of the Garter (as were already his father and older brother). In 1428 Pedro visited his dukedom of Treviso and nearby Venice, where he was presented with a copy of the book of Marco Polo by the doge; he later offered that book, and maps of the Venetian trade routes in the Orient he purchased, to his younger brother Henry. From Venice he then travelled to Rome, where he was received by Pope Martin V, and from there he continued to Barcelona, where he negotiated the marriage of his brother Edward with Leonor of Aragon as well as his own future marriage with Isabel of Urgell before finally returning to Portugal after ten years abroad, of travelling and learning.

In 1429 Pedro married Isabel of Urgell, daughter of James II, Count of Urgell and candidate to the throne of the Crown of Aragon at the Compromise of Caspe.

In 1433 he completed his famous six-volume work, the "Tratado da Virtuosa Benfeitoria".

When his brother Edward I, King of Portugal died in 1438, his son Afonso V (Pedro's nephew) was an infant and the choice for the regency was the Queen-Mother Leonor of Aragon. This choice for the regency was not popular because Leonor was Aragonese, so in a reunion of the "Cortes", summoned by Pedro's brother John, Duke of Aveiro, Pedro was appointed as Regent of the Kingdom during the minority of his nephew Afonso V, a choice that pleased both the people and the fast-growing Bourgeoisie.

However, inside the Portuguese aristocracy, especially the ones around Afonso, Count of Barcelos (Pedro's half-brother), Leonor of Aragon was preferred and there were doubts about Pedro's political ability. A "war of influences" started and a few years later Afonso of Barcelos managed to become young King Afonso V's favourite uncle.

In 1443, in a gesture of reconciliation, Pedro created his own half-brother Afonso Duke of Braganza and relations between the two seemed to return to normality. But, in 1445, the now duke of Braganza took offence because Isabel of Coimbra, Pedro's daughter was the choice for Afonso V's wife, and not one of his daughters. Indifferent to the intrigues, Pedro continued his regency and the country prospered under his influence. It is during this period that the first subsidies for the exploration of the Atlantic Ocean were implemented, and the organization was given to Henry the Navigator (Pedro's brother).

On June 9 1448 Afonso V came of age and Pedro gave him the control of the country to the king. Influenced by Afonso, Count of Barcelos, and recently Duke of Braganza, Afonso V nullified all Pedro's edicts, starting, against himself, by the ones that concentrated the powers in the figure of the King.

The following year, under accusations that years later would prove false, Afonso V declared his uncle Pedro, Duke of Coimbra a rebel. The situation became unsustainable and a civil war begun. It was short because on May 20 1449, during the Battle of Alfarrobeira, near Alverca, Pedro, Duke of Coimbra died. The exact conditions of his death are debatable: some say it was in combat, while others say he was assassinated by one of his own men.

With the death of Pedro, Portugal fell in the hands of Afonso, Duke of Braganza, with a growing influence over the destiny of the country. However, his regency would never be forgotten, and Pedro was cited many times by his grandson King John II of Portugal as his main influence. The cruel persecution of the Braganzas by John II was perhaps the answer to the conspiracies that caused the fall of one of the major princes of the "Ínclita Geração".

From his marriage to Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgell, Pedro had the following children:

* Infante Pedro of Coimbra (1429-1466), Constable of Portugal at 14, in 1464 he was acclaimed King of Aragon as Pedro V.
* Infante João of Coimbra (1431-1457), married Charlotte of Lusignan, heir princess of Cyprus, in 1456. Was created titular Prince of Antioch, and was possibly poisoned by his stepmother.
* Infanta Isabel of Coimbra (1432-1455), Queen of Portugal by marriage to Afonso V.
* Infante Jaime of Coimbra (1434-1459), Cardinal and Archbishop of Lisbon, lived in Italy; his beautiful tomb [http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rosselin/antonio/portugal.html] is in the convent church of San Miniato al Monte in Florence.
* Infanta Beatriz of Coimbra (1435-1462), married Adolf of Clèves, Lord of Ravenstein.
* Infanta Filipa of Coimbra (1437-1493), a.k.a. Filipa de Lencastre (Philippa of Lancaster), a nun.