king of Portugal
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Also known as: Pedro o Cruel, Pedro o Justiceiro, Peter the Cruel, Peter the Just
Byname:
Peter The Just, or The Cruel
Portuguese:
Pedro O Justiceiro, or O Cruel
Born:
April 8, 1320, Coimbra, Port.
Died:
Jan. 18, 1367 (aged 46)
Title / Office:
king (1357-1367), Portugal

Peter I, (born April 8, 1320, Coimbra, Port.—died Jan. 18, 1367) king of Portugal from 1357 to 1367.

The son of Afonso IV and his consort Beatriz of Castile, Peter was married in 1336 to Constanza of Castile; but she died in 1345, and Peter is chiefly remembered for his tragic amour with Inês de Castro (q.v.), whose death he savagely avenged after his accession to the throne. Even so, some of his acts, designed to curb abuses and to enhance the royal power, were of great importance: he reformed the administration of justice (1361) and did much to make the Portuguese church a national one by insisting on the beneplácito régio, that is, the royal approbation of all papal bulls or letters before they could be published in the kingdom.

Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Although before he became king of Portugal he had advanced a claim to the Castilian throne (1354), he later helped Castile against Aragon (1358 and 1360). From 1363, however, he pursued a neutral policy. On his death he was succeeded by his son Ferdinand I.