Well dear readers, now that we’re all settled in for a while, we can hunker down and enjoy a strange Medieval love story that might better fit around Halloween. May I present to you the macabre tale of the life-and-afterlife relationship of Ines and Peter of Portugal.
In 1339, Peter was a young Prince whose father arranged in a marriage of political expediency, as was typical for the age. However, Peter fell deeply in love with his wife’s lady-in-waiting, who was named Ines. His passion for her was so ardent that Peter’s father feared that the young Prince would neglect to honor the children of his legitimate wife, and thereby risk the stability of the delicate political situation in Portugal. So Peter’s father sent some men to murder Ines, which they did. In fact, they beheaded her in front of one of her own children.
As soon as Peter was able, he took his revenge by ripping out the hearts of two of the killers — as they had torn asunder his heart, so he took theirs. Some sources reported that Peter had the corpse of Ines exhumed, adorned with jewelry and royal garments, and placed on a throne for the Portuguese nobility to pay homage to. Even if this is merely a legend, it shows that the fame of the love between Peter and Ines has a pronounced and long history.
Indeed, Peter had two intricate sarcophagi made for himself and Ines, and today they face each other in the Monastery of Alcobaca. The top of Ines’ resting place is featured in the first slide. Both tombs have iconography testifying to Peter’s deep passion for Ines. In marble, the king inscribed the words “Ate o fim do mundo . . .” Or, “Until the end of the world. . . .” The second image is part of Peter’s sarcophagus, and it has two circles nestled inside each other. The outer is called the “Wheel of Life, ” and it shows twelve scenes from the life and deaths of the lovers. The inner circle is the “Wheel of Fortune,” and again features both Peter and Ines, with the theme of Fortune being a fickle affair prominent. Elsewhere on Peter’s tomb is a scene of the Last Judgement in Christian theology, which was to suggest that the couple might be reunited in a spiritual world to come.
Source(s): See _Daily Art Magazine_, “King Pedro and Ines de Castro – what life took apart, death put back together,” by Helena Pereira, August 8, 2018. Image from estatudotratadoenadaresolvido.blogs.sapo.pt. Also, “Five Medieval Tales too Good to Be True,,” @medievalists.net. June, 2015. Second image from en.wikipedia.org.
