The Castle

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The Castle is unfinished. It is interesting to see how the typical normand castle (repeated in lots of places: Tower of London, Sherborne old Castle, etc.) is represented here as well.

It can be visited , thanks to the owner kindness, that allows it with open doors. The castle has its legend.

It is told that, after the war betwen Pedro I El Cruel (Peter I of Castille) and his half-brother Enrique de Trastamara ( Henry II of Castille) fighting for the Castillian Kingdom, Bertrand du Guesclin rescued Blanche de Borbon, French King´s nephew and married to Peter I, who put her in prison, even being doubts about the wedding consumption. This rescue would have brought them to Moliéres, as the legend tells. Blanche de Borbon would have been at Moliéres Castle.

Actually, since her wedding with Peter I on June the 3rd 1353 in Valladolid, it seems that Blanche de Borbon spent the rest of her life in more or less pleasant prisons. Peter left her the following day of the wedding, to be with his lover Maria Padilla.

This behaviour didn´t say anything good for the future. Blanche with Pedro I´s mother (Maria de Portugal) tried to escape from Valladolid to Tordesillas, later to Medina del Campo, where she was caught and driven to Arevalo Castle. From there, to Toledo Alcazar, and later to Sigüenza Castle (where she stayed four years). After this, she was sent to Jerez de La Frontera Castle (where she shared prison with Isabel de Lara) and finally to Medina Sidonia Castle.

This behaviour with his rightful wife joined the rebel nobles, among it was his own mother. The only Blanche comfort was her letters with Pope Inocence VI. There has been several possible motivations for this rare attitude. Suspicion of a romance taking place between Blanche an her brother in law Fadrique. The dowry (marriage portion) wasn´t paid. A previous marriage between Pedro I and his lover Maria Padilla.

In the beginning of 1361, two years after the birth of Pedro I´s son Alfonso, born from his relationship with Maria Padilla, Pedro I ordered to kill the unfortunate Queen Blanche in the Medina Sidonia Castle. As the jailers refused to do so, or even allow the entrance to his personal doctor Martinez de Ureña who had the instructions of giving Blanche a poison, Peter ordered his crossbowmen to kill her with their mallets. She is buried in The St. Francisco Monastery in Jerez.