Extramarital royal daughters in the Leonese and Castilian Infantazgo : Elvira Alfonso I as a case study (eleventh to twelfth centuries)

During the High Middle Ages, in the context of Northern Iberian monarchies, the infantazgo was a form of female power that belonged to the infantas: daughters, sisters, and aunts of male rulers. This was both a practical reality and part of a broader belief that women, alongside men, were necessary for rulership. This article examines the role of Elvira Alfonso I (1079– c. 1158) in the infantazgo, to shed light on the position of royal daughters born from extramarital relationships within this logic of power. Were these daughters also included in the infantazgo? What distinctions might have existed between them and those daughters born from legitimate marriages, or between the extramarital daughters of a king or a ruling queen? To address these questions, this study examines the female descendants of Alfonso VI of León-Castile through Leonese-Castilian charters of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, focusing on his natural daughter, Elvira Alfonso I. Attention is also given to her full sister, Teresa of Portugal (1080-1130), to her legitimate half-sister, Urraca I of León-Castile (r. 1109-1126) and to her niece Elvira Pérez de Lara – extramarital daughter of Queen Urraca I and Count Pedro González de Lara. In addition, the article considers the position of Urraca la Asturiana (1133-1164), a natural daughter of Alfonso VII (r. 1126-1157), who was raised by her paternal aunt Sancha Raimúndez, and appears to have succeeded this last one in the leadership of the infantazgo. This article also engages specifically with the work of Janna Bianchini, building upon and revising some of her conclusions. Ultimately, this article seeks to trace the involvement of extramarital royal daughters in the established machinery of the Leonese-Castilian monarchy.