Katherine of Lancaster

Katherine of Lancaster (also known as Catherine Plantagenet and as Queen Catalina of Castile and Leon) (1372/1373-2 June 1418) was the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife, Constance of Castile.

She married Enrique III of Castile in 1393 at Burgos. As her mother was daughter of Pedro the Cruel, the marriage helped to restore a semblance of legitimacy to the Trastamara line.

The couple had three children:

• Maria of Castile (1401–1458), who married Alfonso V "the Magnanimous", King of Aragon and Naples,
• Catharina of Castile, who wed Enrique of Aragón, Duque de Villena,
• Juan II (1405–1454), who succeeded his father as King of Castile . His mother Katherine and his uncle, Ferdinand, served as co-regents during his minority, and Katherine alone was regent after Ferdinand's death in 1416.

Queen Catalina died at Valladolid of a stroke, possibly precipitated by her great obesity, leaving her son, at age 13, at the mercy of self-interested courtiers.