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Political Factionalism in the Court in the Late Middle Ages

Aintzane Sanchez Labaka, University of the Basque Country

Abstract: In her post, Aintzane Sanchez Labaka explores the political trajectory of the Hurtado de Mendoza family, focusing on Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Clean” and his son, Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Butler”. Their story exemplifies how noble families adapted to changing power structures at court, balancing royal authority, personal alliances, and internal rivalries. A significant event, the coup of Tordesillas in 1420, highlights these tensions, where nobles led by Infante Enrique targeted Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Butler” due to his alliance with Álvaro de Luna, the king’s favorite. The family’s origins trace back to Álava in the Basque Country, with Juan Hurtado “the Clean” gaining prominence by supporting Henry of Trastámara during a civil war, earning lordships and royal integration. He played a crucial role as a regent and advocate for broad-based governance during the reigns of John I and Henry III. Internal family rivalries mirrored broader conflicts, as seen with Diego Hurtado de Mendoza’s opposition. Juan Hurtado “the Butler” later allied with Álvaro de Luna, which, despite securing his influence, led to the coup attempt. The family’s political navigation reflects the factional dynamics and mechanisms of power in medieval Castile.

Among my lines of research, I have explored the role of noble families in late medieval Castile, particularly in relation to the factional dynamics that shaped the political life of the kingdom during the Trastámara dynasty. In this post, I will focus on the political trajectory of the Hurtado de Mendoza family, with special attention to Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Clean” and his son, Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Butler”, who were key figures during the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

Their story offers a fascinating example of how noble houses adapted to shifting
power structures at court, navigating between royal authority, personal alliances, and internal noble rivalries. A particularly striking episode—the coup of Tordesillas in 1420—serves as both a starting point and culmination of these tensions.

On the night of July 14, 1420, a group of nobles led by Infante Enrique stormed the palace at Tordesillas, attempting to break the influence of Álvaro de Luna, the king’s favorite, and his close allies. Among their targets was Juan Hurtado de Mendoza “the Butler”, who had risen to prominence at court thanks to his alliance with Álvaro de Luna, strengthened through marriage and political cooperation. This event—an act of political violence rooted in factional competition—symbolizes the deeper instability of Castilian politics in this era.

The origins of the Hurtado de Mendoza family lie in Álava, in the Basque Country, where their estate was located. Their political rise began with Juan Hurtado “the Elder”, who advanced under Alfonso XI. His son, Juan Hurtado “the Clean”, gained power by supporting Henry of Trastámara during the civil war against King
Peter I, his stepbrother. As a reward, he was granted lordships and integrated into royal politics.

During the reign of John I, Juan Hurtado “the Clean” became tutor to the heir, the future Henry III, and married into the royal family. After the king’s death in 1390,
he served as one of the regents during Henry III’s minority. He advocated for a corporate, broad-based regency, resisting efforts by Pedro Tenorio and others to consolidate power into fewer hands.

Even within the Mendoza family, factional rivalries emerged. A younger relative, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, allied with Pedro Tenorio in opposition to Juan Hurtado, demonstrating how internal family politics mirrored the broader conflicts of the realm.

Juan Hurtado remained close to Henry III until the king’s death in 1406. During the minority of John II, his political activity waned temporarily but regained momentum in 1419, when he supported efforts to declare the king’s majority to counter the influence of Archbishop Sancho de Rojas.

During this period, Álvaro de Luna began his rise. Recognizing his influence, Juan Hurtado “the Butler” allied with him through marriage and political loyalty. This pragmatic move earned him new tenancies and kept him close to the king. However, this alliance placed him in the crosshairs of rival factions, leading ultimately to the coup of 1420, where his enemies attempted to wrest control of the monarchy.

In conclusion, the trajectory of the Hurtado de Mendoza family illustrates how factionalism defined political life in Trastámara Castile. While Juan Hurtado “the Clean” favored inclusive governance structures, his son, the Butler, adapted to more personal dynamics by aligning with powerful court figures like Álvaro de Luna. Their ability to navigate these shifting landscapes not only secured their family’s power but also reflects the broader mechanisms of political negotiation and rivalry that shaped medieval Castile.


Photo: El rey Juan II de Castilla, in: Wikimedia Commons, URL: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/El_rey_Juan_II_de_Castilla_%28Museo_del_Prado%29.jpg] (15.09.2025), Don Alváro de Luna, in Wikimedia Commons, URL: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alvaro-luna.jpg] (15.09.2025).

Late Medieval Castilian Historiography and Memory

Carmen Benítez Guerrero, Universität Sevilla

Abstract: In this post ´Carmen Benítez Guerrero explores how historical events in late medieval Castile were recorded and remembered, focusing on short historiographical texts, especially annals. She emphasizes the evolution of medieval historiography in the Iberian Peninsula, shifting from viewing texts as mere factual repositories to understanding them as cultural objects with specific functions, for example the shaping of memory be different political actors.

In 1319, the princes Don Juan and Don Pedro of Castile, then regents of King Alfonso XI, died in the meadows of Granada. This event profoundly impacted their contemporaries’ memory and was recorded in various places for posterity. Not only in the chronicles of the reign and other brief historical accounts, but also in epigraphy, notably on the outer wall of San Andrés de Arroyo church in the province of Palencia. It even became a significant marker to close a historical work composed during the youth of Alfonso XI, the so-called Anales del infante.

This introduction, based on the memory of a specific political event and its written reflection, serves to draw attention to an ongoing line of research, which in turn connects to a broader study. The line of research focuses on the tracing, editing, and analysis of late medieval short historiography. The broader study examines the ways in which the past was recorded and utilized by various members of Castilian society during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with particular attention to their relationship with power, and also observing their subsequent history trajectory. This later history often provides access to texts known only through their transmission over time, via new copies and communication contexts.

In recent decades, the approach to medieval historiography in the Iberian Peninsula has changed considerably. Influenced by various analytical approaches, there has been an increasing preference for viewing texts not as mere repositories of factual information, but as cultural objects with specific functionalities and, more recently, as communicative messages. Texts produced within the direct sphere of royal power were among the first to spark this shift in perspective, but over time, the scope of historiographical forms deemed worthy of scholarly attention has expanded. Furthermore, the range of historiographical genres considered relevant has also broadened, as increased focus on non-formal and non-factual aspects has brought previously overlooked formats into the spotlight.

Short historiography, defined as historiographical forms characterised by their synthetic nature, including annals are as a prime example, is one of those areas that has gained interest in the framework I have been talking about. Thus, there has been a shift from considering these texts as archaic forms of little interest to treating them as works with meaning within their specific context, such as justifying dynastic choices or territorial configurations. This interest has led researchers to trace these short forms across the Iberian Peninsula, rediscovering unpublished texts that expand a panorama that was practically deserted beyond the 13th century, with some exceptions. I will highlight only a set of texts from the first half of the 14th century, which indicate a north-south shift of annalist historiography as the Christian-Muslim political frontier advanced. These works are located on the Andalusian border, spanning the kingdoms of Cordoba and Seville and their areas of influence, and include the Anales cordubenses, the aforementioned Anales del infante, or the Libro de las eras. These texts are also important as a link to understand the evolution between the 13th century annals and those already known from the first half of the 15th century, with which they appear genetically related.

Together with other examples known for the Castilian area, or also the Anales de Pedro Ruiz, which were published in 2022, this set of texts demonstrates the enduring relevance of annals throughout the 14th century and their use by different authorities to establish a certain memory of the past. Beyond this interest in anchoring the past, there are other less well-known historiographical examples typically associated with local settings an urban elites. One of the current lines of research in this area is the study of historical accounts linked to the list of judges appended to the Fuero de Baeza, which highlights the close relationship between numerous historiographical works (and their material forms) and the legal sphere. Another line of research involves a collection of anecdotal information related to the Jerez elites, which left traces in various later compositions. These include an universal chronicle written in the Galician diocese of Mondoñedo in the early 15th century, the Crónica de 1404, also several histories of Jerez written in the modern era, as well as an historical memorial included in the minutes of the Jerez town council from the late 15th century.

What is interesting is not only the individual study of each of these historical manifestations, but their global analysis, both for the frequent interrelations that are inferred between every text, and to deepen our understanding of the relationship that medieval society had with the use of the past and its written record. These lines of research, which, as I mentioned, converge on the interest in the uses and writing about the past by different sociopolitical groups, from the monarchy to other minor elites, in late medieval Castile, are being developed in collaboration with other colleagues through different ongoing research projects, namely “Minores. Construir la memoria de las élites periféricas en la Corona de Castilla y el Reino de Navarra” (10th-16th centuries), directed by researchers Eloísa Ramírez (UPNA) and María Teresa López de Guereño (UAM) and “Enfrentarse al rey: rebeliones, estado y cultura de la política en Castilla desde una perspectiva comparada” (13th-15th centuries), directed by Fernando Arias (UVa). Some of these lines of research build upon previous projects, such as “Aranhis. Archivum Annalisticum Hispanum“, directed by Covadonga Valdaliso (Universidade de Lisboa). It is also worth mentioning the emerging group “e-Storias. Laboratorio de Historiografía Medieval y Humanidades Digitales”, coordinated from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia by my colleague Ricardo Pichel and myself from the University of Seville, now an integral part of the recently approved Network of Excellence CHARTA 4.0.


Photo: Page of one of the manuscripts mentioned above, in: Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS11011, f. 148r.