Don Pedro, King of Castile | |
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Written by | Lord Porchester |
Date premiered | 10 March 1828 |
Place premiered | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London |
Original language | English |
Genre | Tragedy |
Setting | Castile, 14th century |
Don Pedro, King of Castile is an 1828 historical tragedy by the British writer Lord Porchester. [1] [2] It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 March 1828. The cast included William Macready as Henry, John Cooper as Don Pedro, James William Wallack as Raban, George Yarnold as Constable of France, Sarah West as Maria De Padilla and Ellen Tree as Blanche of Bourbon. [3] It is based on the rule of the fourteenth century King of Castile Peter the Cruel.
Blanche has been forced to marry King Peter, although she is really in love with his brother Henry. The king mistreats her and spends much of his time with his mistress Maria de Padilla. Maria schemes with her Jewish ally Raban to bring about the Queen's death, while Peter and Henry do battle with each other. [4]
Alfonso XI, called the Avenger, was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ensued over who would hold regency, which were resolved in 1313.
Peter, called the Cruel or the Just, was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for his persecutions and cruelties committed against the clergy.
Maria of Portugal was a Portuguese princess who became Queen of Castile upon her marriage to Alfonso XI in 1328. She was the first daughter of King Afonso IV of Portugal and his first wife Beatrice of Castile.
Henry IV of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Castile and León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became more powerful and the nation became less centralised.
María Díaz de Padilla was the legitimate first wife of King Peter of Castile.
Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 metres (2,310 ft). The population was c. 8,760 as of 2021.
Leonor (Eleanor) de Guzmán y Ponce de León (1310–1351) was a Castilian noblewoman. After about 1330, she became the long-term mistress and favourite of Alfonso XI, with whom she had the illegitimate son Henry "the Fratricidal", future first monarch of the House of Trastámara. She held the lordship of Medina-Sidonia until she fell from grace in the wake of Alfonso's death in 1350. She was then executed by her enemies.
Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, 1st Señor de Haro (1334–1358), 25th Master of the Order of Santiago (1342–1358), was the fifth illegitimate child of Alfonso XI of Castile and Eleanor of Guzman. He was born in Seville.
Blanche of Bourbon (1339–1361) was Queen of Castile as the wife of King Peter. She was one of the daughters of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon and Isabella of Valois.
The House of Trastámara was a royal dynasty which first ruled in the Crown of Castile and then expanded to the Crown of Aragon in the late middle ages to the early modern period.
Maria Padilla is a melodramma, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Gaetano Rossi and the composer wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's play. It premiered on 26 December 1841 at La Scala, Milan. The plot is loosely based on the historical figure María de Padilla, the mistress of Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile.
Ellen Kean was an English actress. She was known as Ellen Tree until her marriage in 1842, after which she was known both privately and professionally as Mrs Charles Kean and always appeared in productions together with her husband.
Blanche of Castile was by birth a member of the Castilian House of Burgundy. She was the only child of Infante Peter of Castile and Infanta Maria of Aragon.
João Afonso de Albuquerque,, Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque in Spanish and nicknamed "o do Ataúde", 6th Lord of Alburquerque, was a member of the highest ranks of the nobility of the Kingdom of Portugal, an astute politician, and descendant from the royal houses of both Portugal and Castile, although through illegitimate lines.
Diego García de Padilla was a Spanish nobleman who became Master of the Order of Calatrava. His sister María de Padilla was the wife of King Peter of Castile, the Cruel. Padilla fought for Peter of Castile in the wars against Aragon and Granada. In the Castilian Civil War (1366–69) he went over to the side of Henry of Trastámara.
Juan Núñez de Prado, illegitimate son of Infanta Blanche of Portugal and a Portuguese nobleman named Pedro Nunes Carpinteyro, was a nobleman in the 14th century who became Master of the Order of Calatrava in 1325 after leading a revolt against the former Master. There was a prolonged dispute before his position was recognized. After he fell out of favor with King Peter of Castile he was removed from office and murdered.
Art and Nature is a 1738 comedy play by the British writer James Miller. The play received a rough reception from what Miller described a "faction" in the Drury Lane audience, and its run was not extended beyond a single night. He described its subsequent publication as an attempt to vindicate himself.
The Coffee House is a 1738 comedy play by the British writer James Miller, written as an afterpiece. After being performed at Drury Lane, it was published later that year with some alterations to the play's original text.
Forget and Forgive is a comedy play by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 21 November 1827. The original cast included Henry John Wallack as Charles Sydney, John Liston as Rumbold, John Cooper as Cameron, William Bennett as Sir Gregory Ogle, Maria Rebecca Davison as Lady Ratcliffe and Ellen Kean as Georgiana. Originally of five acts it was later shortened to three. It was revived under the title Frolics in France in 1828.
Love's Victory is an 1825 comedy play by the British writer George Hyde. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 16 November 1825. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Don Cesar, Prince of Naples, John Duruset as Don Luis, Prince of Bearne, Daniel Egerton as Don Diego, Duke of Barcelona, Tyrone Power as Gaston, Prince of Foix, William Farren as Don Pedro, William Blanchard as Lopez and Maria Ann Lacy as Princess Diana. It was inspired by the seventeenth century Golden Age Spanish work El desdén, con el desdén by Agustín Moreto, which was also adapted by Moliere. It published the same year by Hurst, Robinson of Waterloo Place in London and Constable in Edinburgh.