Editing Peter of Castile (section)

==Death==
[[File:Pierre leCruel.jpg|thumb|[[Henry II of Castile|Henry II]] kills his predecessor Peter, in an early illustration to [[Froissart's Chronicles]]]] 
[[File:Pedro Castile beheading2.jpg|thumb|Peter the Cruel decapitated by order of [[Henry II of Castile]]. Manuscript from 15th century]]
In the summer of 1366, Peter took refuge with [[Edward the Black Prince|Edward, the Black Prince]], who restored him to his throne in the following year after the [[Battle of Nájera]]. The health of the Black Prince broke down, and he left the [[Iberian Peninsula]],<ref name="EB1911"/> bringing with him two of Peter's daughters, Constance and Isabella of Castile, whom he had taken as hostages as assurers that Peter would pay up. He married the princesses to his younger brothers, most famously Constance to his brother John of Gaunt, in order to make a claim on the Castilian throne.

Meanwhile, [[Henry of Trastámara]] returned to [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] in September 1368. The ''[[cortes of Castile and León|cortes]]'' of the city of [[Burgos]] recognized him as King of Castile. Others followed, including [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], [[Palencia]], [[Valladolid]], and [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]]. [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and [[Asturias]], on the other hand, continued to support Peter. As Henry made his way toward [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], Peter, who had retreated to [[Andalusia]], chose to confront him in battle. On 14 March 1369, the forces of Peter and Henry [[Battle of Montiel|met at Montiel]], a fortress then controlled by the [[Order of Santiago]]. Henry prevailed with the assistance of [[Bertrand du Guesclin]]. Peter took refuge in the fortress, which, being controlled by a military order of Galician origin, remained faithful to him. Negotiations were opened between Peter and his besieger, Henry. Peter met with du Guesclin, who was acting as Henry's envoy. Peter offered du Guesclin 200,000 gold coins and several towns, including Soria, Almazán, and Atienza to betray Henry. Ever opportunistic, du Guesclin informed Henry of the offer and immediately bargained for greater compensation from Henry to betray Peter.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}{{Dubious|date=February 2018}}

Having made a deal with Henry, Du Guesclin returned to Peter. Under the guise of accepting his deal, du Guesclin led Peter to his tent on the night of 23 March 1369. Henry was waiting. The historian [[Pero López de Ayala|López de Ayala]] described the encounter as follows: "Upon entering du Guesclin's tent, Henry saw King Peter. He did not recognize him because they had not seen each other for a long time. One of Bertrand's men said 'This is your enemy.' But King Henry asked if it was he and King Peter said twice, 'I am he, I am he.' Then King Henry recognized him and hit him in the face with a knife and they ... fell to the ground. King Henry struck him again and again."{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}} Having dispatched his half-brother, Henry left Peter's body unburied for three days, during which time it was subjected to ridicule and abuse.