More than six hundred and fifty years ago, in Portugal, a tragic love story took place.   . . . a true story, about Dom Pedro and his beautiful mistress, Inez de Castro.

For political reasons, Inez was murdered by three councilors of  his father, King Alfonso IV.  Fearing Pedro's outrage and anger, the three assassins fled the country.  A few years later after his father's death, Dom Pedro became king.  His first order as King Pedro I, was to hunt down the assassins and have their hearts plucked out while still alive.  The second order was to have Inez's body exhumed, dressed the corpse in Royal finery befitting a queen, and with an elaborate Coronation ceremony attended by all the nobility, King Pedro had his beloved Inez crowned Queen of Portugal.

Since this historic event in 1360, the tale of the two lovers has been carried on throughout the Literary world . . . in poetry, ballads, plays, operas, and of course, novels.

It's been said that a good story gets better with time . . . that's true, but in this case, it has resulted in many variations of the original facts.  Not only in stories,  but also in History books, it seems even the details --- such as ancestral names and dates vary.   Nevertheless, all have compelled the readers to learn more about the intriguing history of the lovers.

The following is my interpretation of the tale. . . . . . . .