Leonor Telles de Menezes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leonor (Elionor) Telles (Teles) de Menezes (1350 - April 27, 1386), called A aleivosa ("The Treacherous"), was queen consort of Portugal during the 14th century. Born in Trás-os-Montes, she served as queen consort from 1372 to 1383 and as regent from 1383 to 1384.
Married at a young age to a courtier named João Lourenço da Cunha, with whom she had a son, Álvaro da Cunha, she would be seduced by Ferdinand I of Portugal when he was a prince. This would occur while Leonor was visiting her sister Maria Telles, lady-in-waiting to Ferdinand's half-sister Beatrice, infanta of Portugal.
Ferdinand managed to annul her first marriage to João Lourenço da Cunha on grounds of consanguinity and on May 5, 1372 secretly married Leonor Telles de Menezes.
Upon the death of Ferdinand (1383), Leonor was nominated regent in the name of her daughter Beatrice (Beatriz). From 1383 onwards, Leonor ruled with her lover, the count João Fernandes de Andeiro, which angered the nobility and the lower classes. Beatrice's marriage to the Castilian king John I led to the expulsion of both mother and daughter.
The loss of independence had been unthinkable for the majority of Portuguese nobles. A rebellion led by the Master of the Order of Aviz, future João I of Portugal, started in that year, leading to the 1383-1385 Crisis.
She died in exile at a monastery at Tordesillas.
| Preceded by Beatrice of Castile |
Queen Consort of Portugal 5 May 1372 - 22 October 1383 |
Succeeded by John I of Castile |
