The tragic story of Stephanie Alfonso, the Unfortunate

Stephanie Alfonso was a real (and royal) bastard: she was born before 1148 as a result of the affair between King Alfonso VII of León and the Countess Urraca Fernández de Castro. She is better known for the alias that has made her go down in history, ‘the Unfortunate’ ('la Desdichada', in Spanish.) Her birthday only could be estimated since her father granted her and her mother a legal privilege. At the time, Stephanie’s cousin, Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, would be 23 years old.

Around two years later, Fernando Rodríguez de Castro got married to Constanza Osorio, daughter of Osorio Martínez, Count of León. When King Alfonso VII de León died in 1157, Count Osorio Martínez lost the support of the new king, Ferdinand II the Catholic. Conde Osorio decided to expatriate to Castile where his son-in-law’s family, the Castros, exercised the regency due to King Alfonso VIII being only 2 years old.

But the political climate in Castile was very unstable. In 1159, the Laras took the regency of Castile from the Castros, so Fernando Rodríguez de Castro and his vassals had to expatriate to León. An authentic civil war was held between the House of Lara and the House of Castro, and ironically enough, Count Osorio Martínez turned against his son-in-law, supporting the Laras in the struggle for power. 

A few months after Fernando and his people’s exile to Ferdinand II of León’s court, the Castros and their army came back to Castile. In March of 1160, the armies of the Castros and the Laras fought in the Battle of Lobregal. At one point, Fernando found himself fighting against his father-in-law and killed Count Osorio Martínez in combat.

The battle concluded with the victory of the House of Castro, who captured many knights from the Laras’ army. Fernando gained so much prestige that he became majordomo mayor of Ferdinand II, his right-hand man. In León, Fernando received the nickname of ‘the Castilian.’

Five years later, he repudiated his wife, Constanza Osorio, and married his cousin, Stephanie Alfonso, King Ferdinand II’s stepsister. While he was 41 years old, she must have been around 18 years old.

Three years later, at Fernando’s wedding, he joined his king in a surprise campaign in Badajoz. The Almohad city was being besieged by the famous Portuguese king Sempavor. The King of León feared that, if the Portuguese conquered the city, he would lose his rights over it, so the Leonese attacked the Portuguese and gave it back to the Almohads. Fernando de Castro showed a heroic performance in Badajoz, and he was actually the one who captured the legendary Portuguese knight. In exchange for his freedom, Sempavor gave him the fortresses of Trujillo, Montánchez, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Monfragüe. Fernando also had the right to own the city of Cáceres, but he ceded it to his lord, the King of León.

Fernando de Castro’s new territories were located in an area that, according to the Treaty of Sahagún, had to be reconquered by the Kingdom of Castile. So Fernando, despite being the vassal of the King of León, became the owner of a small, independent state. Since he was not his vassal anymore, he did not have to obey him. In spite of his independence, he stayed loyal to the Kingdom of León. The following year, in 1171, his wife was legitimated and received the title of Infanta of León. Thus, Fernando Castro the Castilian culminated his rise: he became an independent lord and a member of the Leonese royalty by marriage.

The brand-new Infanta of León and her wife must have established their residence in their main stronghold: Trujillo. That is where, on the night of July 1st of 1180, the drama might have happened. One of the maids wore Stephanie’s garments to a date with her lover. But Fernando woke up and caught the lovers in the act.

Believing that Stephanie was cheating on him, he stabbed the man until he died and then began chasing the woman, who ran as fast as possible to Stephanie’s bedroom. When Fernando came into the room, he found Stephanie asleep and naked and stabbed the unfortunate girl until she died.

Many servants came into the room holding torches, and Fernando realised that Stephania would not have had time to take off her garments. When they registered the room, the maid was found under the bed, wearing Stephanie’s dress. Fernando realised that the woman he had seen was the maid, and his wife was actually innocent. A heartbroken Fernando tied a rope to his neck and visited King Ferdinand II with the dagger he had killed his wife with, willing to accept whatever punishment he deserved.

Although Stephanie was King Ferdinand II’s stepsister, whom he had just met, he refused to punish Fernando. Besides, he decided to honor Stephanie by burying her in the Royal Pantheon, with his grandmother. The following words were carved on her grave: “Here lies Infant Stephanie, granddaughter of Emperor Alfonso, wife of the powerful lord Fernando Rodríguez.”

When the unfortunate knight died in 1185, the King of Castile claimed that the fortresses of Fernando de Castro’s small state became his. Their defense was entrusted to the knighthoods of Santiago and San Julián de Pereira.

In 1604, Lope de Vega, inspired by this story, wrote his play "La desdichada Estefanía." No trace of this story could be found in Trujillo, but it is likely that it happened here. And this is why Stephanie is known as ‘the Unfortunate.’

Text by Ignacio Suárez-Zuloaga and illustration by Ximena Maier.