Leonor
Queens of Portugal Trilogy
by Catherine Mathis
A queen’s ambition. A kingdom on the edge. One woman’s hunger for power will set Portugal ablaze—unless she’s devoured first.
Portugal, 1367. The court is a powder keg, and Leonor Teles de Meneses is the spark. Born noble, married off for duty, Leonor aches for more—freedom, passion, a place at the heart of power. Her wit is sharp, her enemies sharper. Her king? He’s both lover and battleground.
As the crown changes heads and alliances shift like sand, Leonor fights for a voice in a world that wants her silent. She’s hemmed in by jealous sisters, a mother-in-law from hell, and a husband who’d rather write poetry than rule. But when the king’s eye lands on her, the stakes soar. Now, every whispered rumor, every stolen glance, every calculated risk could mean everything—or nothing.
Palace intrigue, forbidden love, and betrayal pulse through every corridor. In this world, trust is a luxury, and secrets are currency. Leonor’s choices will tip the scales of dynastic conflict and decide the fate of a kingdom hungry for an heir.
If you crave the courtly drama and rich detail, get ready to lose yourself in a tale of ambition, desire, and survival—where every move could be your last.
Meet remarkable Leonor!
Leonor is a younger daughter of a branch of the powerful Teles de Meneses family. Her Uncle Telo served King Pedro and now his son, King Ferdinand, as their chief adviser. Leonor is married to a man of an appropriate noble family who live in the north and do not attend court. Her husband is a poet, and her mother-in-law is a termagant. She is miserable.
Leonor’s eyes and mind are blown wide open when she arrives from her stilted existence to celebrate the acclimation of Ferdinand as king. Uncle Telo dismisses her request to bring her husband to court to serve the crown. Her uncle sends her home suggesting that when she gives birth to a son to serve her husband’s family, she will find her place and happiness.
A longing for that which is out of her reach consumes her. Her sister Joana arrives after her son’s birth for Leonor is suffering, what we now know is post-partum depression. Joana arranges for their sister Maria to invite Leonor for a visit to Lisboa. Maria is a beautiful widow at the center of court life. Finding no place or opportunity in her husband’s world, Leonor grabs the chance for a fuller life that this trip to Lisboa gives her.
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| Illustration by Alfredo Roque Gameiro in the book História de Portugal, popular e ilustrada, by Manuel Pinheiro Chagas. Public domain. |
When fate hands her King Ferdinand, she breaks all the rules. She has no maternal bond with her son. She is an extrovert, controlling, competitive, and takes things personally. She is opportunistic, brave, and cunning. She knows what she wants and brooks no interference. Ferdinand is not without fault in the events to come as he is under her spell and gives her implicit and then explicit power. At many levels all of this happens because Ferdinand also abandons all common sense when he believes in the unbelievable. Leonor could not have succeeded without Ferdinand’s culpability in her rise.
In medieval terms, she is Fire and Blood. She is well educated, smart, a quick study, and certain in her opinions. People do not like strong women. She grates on people, especially when treading into places and responsibilities that are not culturally in her arena. She is beautiful and willing to use her sexuality to help reach ends. She is generous with charitable grants to religious entities.
When Leonor is most stressed, she makes the wrong choice (which is what 10% of people do). She exudes power, keeping those close to her loyal with grants of titles, lands, and benefices. But when threatened there are no bounds to what she will do to protect her position. Leonor does not set out to be evil, and she wants to be loved. In her actions she seeks to protect a place in life that was beyond the accepted norm. Once there, she sees both real and imaginary threats without being able to tell the difference. Though in her mind each act is justifiable and there is no one to check her. After all, what can one do to a queen? History calls her Portugal’s Lucrezia Borgia.
But one boy growing into manhood will challenge Leonor with epic consequences.
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Catherine Mathis writes stories set in medieval Portugal, bringing legends to life by sharing Iberian Tales.
Mathis was born in Berlin, the daughter of an American spy. She grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. She self-funded her degree from Sewanee, majoring in history with a medieval focus, and she had a career in finance.
Travel brought her the opportunity to return to an earlier love of all things Middle Ages, both as a writer and a reader.
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