Editing Peter of Castile (section)

==Legacy and reputation==
{{Quote box
| width = 30%
| quote = From ''[[The Monk's Tale]]''<br>
O noble, O worthy PETRO, glorie OF SPAYNE,
Whom Fortune heeld so hye in magestee,<br>
Wel oughten men thy pitous death complayne!<br>
Out of thy land thy brother made thee flee,<br>
And after, at a seege, by subtiltee,<br>
Thou were bitraysed and lad unto his tente,<br>
Where as he with his owene hand slow thee,<br>
Succedynge in thy regne and in thy rente.
| source = [[s:The Canterbury Tales/The Monk's Tale|Chaucer, ''The Canterbury Tales'']]
}}
[[File:La muerte del Rey Don Pedro I de Castilla.jpg|thumb|''The death of King Peter of Castile'', painting in 1883 by Arturo Montero y Calvo. [[Museo del Prado]].]]

Popular memory generally views King Peter I as one of the few monarchs who sided with an Islamic sultan (Granada), while also being a Catholic king. Granada paid Pedro I tribute. He helped them during several invasions and a coup. One of the rewards he was given by a sultan of Granada was the famous ruby, a reward for killing an usurper, that is now in the crown of England, brought back by The Black Prince of England along with Peter I's surviving two daughters (Constance and Isabella of Castile, who were legitimized). Not all of Peter's reputation comes from the works of the chronicler [[Pero López de Ayala]], who after his father's change of allegiance had little choice but to serve Peter's usurper. After time passed, there was a reaction in Peter's favour and an alternative name was found for him. It became a fashion to speak of him as ''El Justiciero'', the executor of justice (the Lawful).{{sfn|Estow|1995|p=xxvi}} Apologists were found to say that he had killed only men who would not submit themselves to the law or respect the rights of others.<ref name="EB1911"/> Peter did have his supporters. Even López de Ayala confessed that the king's fall was regretted by many, among them the peasants and burghers subjected to the nobles by late feudal gifts and by the merchants, who enjoyed security under his rule.

The English, who backed Peter, also remembered the king positively. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] visited Castile during Peter's reign and lamented the monarch's death in ''[[The Monk's Tale]]'', part of ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''. (Chaucer's patron, [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster]], had fought on Peter's side in his struggle to reclaim the throne.) The English Lake Poet [[Robert Southey]] was presented in 1818 with a copy of a five-act play by the novelist [[Ann Doherty]], entitled ''Peter the Cruel, King of Castile and Leon''.<ref>Romantic Circles: "Attersoll, Ann..." [https://www.rc.umd.edu/node/103426 Retrieved 11 November 2017.]</ref>

Peter had many qualities of those later monarchs educated in the [[centralization]] style. He built a strong Royal administrative force ahead of his times. He failed to counter or check all the feudal powers that supported his rivals, however illegitimate and opposite to the principles of aristocracy they represented themselves. But his moral superiority was reduced too by the violent means, including fratricides, by which he sought to suppress opposition; he at times was extremely despotic and unpredictable, even by the standards of his age. In this he was preceded by his father Alfonso XI, who since the crisis at the death of [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]] had faced multiple rebellions against royal authority.

The death of King Peter ended the traditional alliance of Castile and Navarre with England, which had been started by the [[Plantagenets]] to keep France in check. The alliance was later renewed by the [[House of Trastámara|Trastámara]]s and [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]]s. 

His death also led to the [[Fernandine Wars]], where [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese king]] [[Ferdinand I of Portugal|Ferdinand I]] would claim the throne of [[Kingdom of Galicia|Galicia]], which would eventually lead to the [[Anglo-Portuguese Alliance|historical alliance between Portugal and England]] with the involvement of [[John of Gaunt]]'s claim to [[Kingdom of Castile|Castille]].