Definition of Casa Trastamara

Between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age, the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were ruled by the Trastamara dynasty. Its historical origin is related to a bloody battle between two stepbrothers who were fighting for power in Castile and its end is related to the arrival to the throne of Spain of Carlos I, a monarch of the Trastamara lineage by part of mother (Juana la Loca) but who also came from the House of Austria, as he was the grandson of Maximilian l of Habsburg.

The fact that the two main kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula governed the same royal house was decisive for the training of the so-called Hispanic monarchy.

The monarchs of the Trastamara dynasty in Castile

Between 1366 and 1369 in the Kingdom of Castile a warcivil between the supporters of two monarchs: Peter the Cruel and his step brother Henry ll the Fratricide. The latter was the winner of the battle of Montiel in 1369 and with this episode the Trástamara dynasty began in the Castilian crown.

The monarchs of this dynasty who ruled in Castile were seven, specifically five kings and two queens: Enrique II, Juan I, Enrique III, Juan II, Enrique IV, Isabel la Católica and Juana la Loca. These seven sovereigns remained in power from the triumph at the Battle of Montiel until the coming to power of the Austria in the early seventeenth century (the first monarch of the new dynasty was Carlos l).

Although the House of Trastamara was originally from Castile, it was finally consolidated into the Crown of Aragon.

When in 1410 the King Martin l of Aragon died without issue, an unusual situation occurred: there were six candidates for the succession of the Aragonese crown. After a complex process of deliberations, those gathered in the Compromiso de Caspe in 1412 proclaimed Fernando de Trastamara, infante de Castilla, as the new monarch of Aragon.

According to some chronicles and popular legends, the first of the Trastamaras obtained the Crown of Castile after assassinating his half-brother, the legitimate heir to the crown. For this reason Enrique ll has gone down in history with a nickname, El Fatricida.

In addition to the Crown of Castile and Aragon, the House of Trastamaras also ruled in the kingdoms of Naples and Navarre.

Some scholars have highlighted an aspect singular of this royal house: it is a dynasty with an illegitimate origin, since it began with the arrival to power of Enrique II (it was one of the bastard sons of Alfonso Xl and became monarch of Castile after killing his stepbrother Pedro l with his own hands).

Fotolia photos: Franciscojose / Cebreros