Dom Pedro I

(1320-1367)

D. Pedro is known for the forbidden relationship with Inês de Castro, his Galician wife Constança Manuel.

After the death of his wife, Pedro announced in 1360, the marriage with his beloved Inês, a marriage that was carried out in secret and before his death, and his intention was to see Inês remembered as Queen of Portugal.

Legend tells that Pedro would have unearthed the body of Ines, crowning her as Queen of Portugal, and forcing the nobles to proceed to the ceremony of the royal hand-kissing, on pain of death.

Soon after, D. Pedro ordered to build two tombs (true masterpieces of Gothic sculpture in Portugal), which were placed in the transept of the church of the Monastery of Alcobaça so that on the day of Judgment the eternal lovers, then resurrected, immediately if they could see.

As king, Peter proved to be a good steward, brave in defending the country against papal influence (it was he who promulgated the famous Royal Benevolent, which prevented the free circulation of ecclesiastical documents in the country without his express permission), and was fair in the most disadvantaged sections of the population.

His reign was the only one in the fourteenth century without war and marked by financial prosperity.

Is tomb is in the Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça.