In Alcobaça are the remains of King Pedro I and (above) his mistress, and later wife, Inês de Castro. Pedro met and fell madly in love with Inês when she was his wife’s lady in waiting, and after his wife’s death the two had 4 children. However Inês was Spanish and Pedro’s father, King Afonso IV, feared that as a result the Portugese throne would fall into Castilian hands and so, under pressure from the court, had Ines executed in 1355. Enraged, Pedro revolted against his father. Afonso defeated his son within a year, but died shortly afterwards. Upon becoming King, Pedro ordered Inês body exhumed & had her crowned his Queen alongside him, even insisting that the couriers kiss the hand of his long-dead love. To round it off, he had the 3 assassins summoned, tore out their hearts & ate them (this is depicted in the carvings on the coffin) As a final humiliation to her killers, Inês coffin is not mounted on lions as all other royal tombs, but on the disfigured animal gargles bearing their faces (see above & below)
Wonderboy Wanders 