Teresa Gil de Vidaure

Teresa Gil de Vidaure was born in Navarre to the nobleman Juan de Vidaure. She was said to be a woman of exceptional beauty, and King James I became attracted to her. She requested him to promise her that he would marry her. He made the promise, but broke it by marrying Violant of Hungary in December 1235. The king and Teresa Gil, who eventually married Sancho Pérez de Lodosa, carried on with their relationship throughout his marriage to Queen Violant. == Openly secret marriage ==

Teresa Gil was already widowed when the queen died in 1251, leaving the couple free to pursue their relationship openly and to enter a common law marriage not consecrated by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1255, the king issued a charter granting Teresa Gil the tax-exempt castle of Jérica, to be inherited by their descendants, male or female, after her death. The charters do not mention Teresa Gil as the king's wife; in fact, their form is the one used for concubinage contracts. Thus, historians have sometimes referred to her as the king's concubine, but James's letter to Pope Clement IV in 1265 confirms that they were married. Nevertheless, she was never queen. The couple had their first son, James, around 1255, and their second, Peter, in c. 1259. == The king's great matter ==

In 1265, the marriage began breaking apart. James took another mistress, his cousin Berenguela Alfonso. The pope admonished him severely for this incestuous relationship. The king wished to end the marriage and repudiated Teresa Gil on the pretext that she had contracted leprosy. James attempted procuring an annulment again in 1275, this time claiming that he had had sexual relations with Teresa Gil's cousin before their marriage (which would have rendered the marriage invalid), but the argument was no more successful than the previous one. == Seclusion ==

and the castle of Planes issued by Teresa Gil de Vidaure and her son Jaume de Jèrica in 1278 Teresa Gil was forced to spend the remainder of her life in the Cistercian monastery of Zaidia de Valencia, which she had founded. == References ==