Eleanor de Guzmán

Eleanor de Guzmán (1310–1351) was a Castilian noblewoman who outshone the queen at the court of Alfonso XI. Her husband Juan de Velasco died in 1328, and soon afterwards she met the king at Seville. She became his long-term mistress and bore him ten children, among them the future Henry II and Fadrique Alfonso.

After his son Peter was born in 1334, Alfonso left his queen Maria of Portugal and lived with Eleanor. He gave her large estates and set up her household at Seville, where she heard political matters.

When Alfonso died in 1350, Maria, regent for her son Peter, had Eleanor imprisoned and in 1351 executed at Talavera de la Reina. The killing widened the rift: Henry and Peter fought for Castile until Henry won the crown.