Eleanor of Castile

     Eleanor of Castile was born in 1244 at Burgos, Burgos, Spain; Eleanor was the beautiful dark-haired daughter of Ferdinand III, King of Castile and his second wife, Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu. Eleanor was also descended from Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, through their second daughter, Eleanor, who had married Alphonso VIII of Castile. Although their marriage was a political alliance the pair became deeply attached. She bore him sixteen children. The couple's first two sons, Henry and John died in infancy, their third son, Alphonso, the heir to the throne and Eleanor's favourite died at twelve years old, leaving their fourth son, Edward as his father's heir.¹ She was the daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile and Joan de Dammartin. Eleanor of Castile married King Edward I, son of King Henry III and Eleonore Berenger, on 1 November 1254 at Cistercian Monestary, Las Huelgas, near Burgos, Spain; At the age of fifteen, the Lord Edward as he was then known, was married to his second cousin, the thirteen year old Leonora or Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) to settle disputes over rights to Gascony. Edward was knighted by Eleanor's half-brother, Alphonso X, to mark the occasion.^2,1 Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290 at Harby, Nottinghamshire, England; Eleanor of Castile died in 1290 at the age of 49. Eleanor had been accompanying Edward on a journey to Lincoln, when she began to exhibit sympoms of a feverish illness she had previously suffered from in 1287. The Queen's condition worsened as their entourage the village of Harby, in Nottinghamshire, they were forced to abandon the journey, the now grievously sick queen was lodged in the house of Richard de Weston. After receiving the last rites, Eleanor died there on the evening of the 28th of November 1290. Her husband was at her bedside at the end.

The normally thick skinned Edward was deeply affected by her loss. Edward had a memorial cross erected at every spot where her body was halted during it's journey to London. Charring Cross derives its name, which is a corruption of Chere Reine Cross, from one of these crosses.^1,2,3 She was buried on 17 December 1290 at Westminster Abbey, London, England; Her body was embalmed but her heart was buried in the Domincan Blackfriars in London, and her entrails at Lincoln Cathedral. Both tombs eventually destroyed. The funeral procession left for London on Dec 4th, stopping at twelve places with either castles or monasteries. The king paid for crosses to be erected at each town to mark the ceremony. Seven hundred years later, three of the crosses still survive.
Eleanor was finally buried at Westminster where her tomb and effigy "of remarkable beauty" can still be seen.⁴