Maria de Luna (c. 1358 – 1406) was queen consort of Aragon, as the spouse of King Martin I of Aragon, from his ascension in 1396 to her death in 1406. In the early years of Martin's reign, she served as regent of Aragon while her husband tended to affairs in Sicily, a kingdom to which he also had a claim.
She was the daughter and heiress of the Aragonese noble Lope, Lord and 1st Count of Luna and Lord of Segorbe and his second wife Brianda d’Agout, an aristocratic woman from Provence. Maria was betrothed to Martin (future King of Aragon) as a child, and brought up at the court of Martin's mother, Queen Eleanor of Sicily. The couple married in Barcelona on 13 June 1372, and Maria became queen upon her husband's accession in 1396. At the time of his accession to the throne, Martin was in Sicily, so Maria acted as regent alongside Queen Dowager Violant of Bar, and Matthew, Count of Foix until Martin's return in 1397.
Maria was politically active and exerted influence upon both policy and society, and was considered by some a more talented ruler than Martin himself. She supported the poor financially, handled taxes, welcomed Jewish and Muslim refugees, attempted to end conflict between noble houses, and corresponded directly with the Avignon-based Antipope Benedict XIII (himself Aragonese) to suggest banning laws and practices she saw as unjust. Described as wise, just, merciful, and religious without being a fanatic, she was interested in music and literature but unimpressed by pomp and luxury.
Early years Born in 1358, Maria was the eldest child of Count Lope de Luna and his second wife, Brianda d’Agout. Her family was one of the most influential in Spain, its members occupying some of the loftiest political and religious offices in the realm. She could, for example, count Lope Fernandez de Luna, Archbishop of Zaragoza and Antipope Benedict XIII amongst her relations. Her father promoted the interests of the family still further. His unwavering loyalty to and political service on behalf of the Aragonese Crown was handsomely rewarded – first he was knighted then, several years later, made a count. Her house thereafter had the distinction of being the only one in Aragon with a member to reach the rank of "count".Silleras-Fernandez, p. 14-15 As Lope's first marriage to Violant of Aragon produced no children, Maria was formally named her father's sole heir shortly after her birth. Although Lope had an older, illegitimate son and went on to have a second, posthumous daughter by Brianda, Maria's status as heir was never compromised or revoked.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 13
Betrothal Lope's death in 1360 left two-year-old Maria as one of the wealthiest landowners in Spain. For this reason, she soon attracted the attention of Peter IV the Ceremonious, King of Aragon, who was eager to arrange a marriage for his younger son, Martin. The negotiations were conducted on Maria's side by her mother and her powerful kinsman, the Archbishop of Zaragoza.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 13-14 Finalized in the summer of 1361, the betrothal terms stipulated that Maria would remain with her own family until age eight, at which point she would move to the court of her future mother-in-law, Eleanor of Sicily, before marrying Martin at the age of fourteen.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 17
At the Aragonese court The schedule described in Maria and Martin's betrothal contract appears to have been expedited somewhat. Maria first shows up in Queen Eleanor's account books as early as 1362, suggesting that she moved to court around age four or five – several years earlier than the terms of her engagement originally stipulated. Thus, she grew up in close proximity to her future husband. Although there is little information available about her upbringing at court, her education was in all likelihood a thorough one, given surviving evidence of her writing, the collection of books she possessed, and how quickly she took over the administration of her estates upon coming of age.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 19-20
Marriage On 13 June 1372 Maria and Martin wed at the Church of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, in the presence of King Peter, Bishop Jaume of Valencia, and many of the realm's most distinguished noblemen. In the ensuing years, Maria was largely preoccupied with child-bearing, household administration, and the management of her personal estates.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 27 She and her husband enjoyed considerable royal favor; in the fifteen years following Maria and Martin's marriage, King Peter continued to bestow offices and lands upon his younger son. Upon Peter's death on 5 January 1368, his firstborn son succeeded him as King John I. Within weeks of his accession to the throne, John made his brother Martin Duke of Montblanc. Previously the only other duchy in Aragon was that of Girona, a title reserved for the heir to the throne. Such a grant was therefore an enormous honor for Martin and the newly made duchess, Maria, as well.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 24-25
Queenship Regency In 1396, King John died without a legitimate heir. The throne of Aragon consequently passed to John's younger brother, Maria's husband Martin. At this time, however, Martin was on a military campaign in Sicily and would not receive word of his brother's death for a number of weeks.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 42-43 Fortuitously at hand in Barcelona, Maria was therefore acclaimed queen and appointed to serve as the Crown's lieutenant-general in her husband's absence.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 41 Maria's transition from duchess to queen was fraught with insurrection and uncertainty. In a desperate bid to retain power, the dowager queen, Violant of Bar, insisted that she was pregnant with John's posthumous child. Many nobles were subsequently hesitant to support Maria and Martin right away, in case Violant should produce a son. At the same time, John's daughter from his first marriage, Joanna, attempted to claim the Aragonese throne for herself, a claim supported by her husband, Count Matthew of Foix, and his powerful family.Although Joanna had at one point been named her father’s heir, later wills had expressly excluded her from successionSilleras-Fernandez, p. 43-47 Amidst this unrest, Maria unsuccessfully tried to convince Martin to return to Aragon and assist her in stabilizing the realm. Reluctant to abandon his military campaign, however, Martin resisted his wife's entreaties for many months. Claiming to be concerned about Violant's health during the latter's supposed pregnancy, Maria had her rival removed to one of her own castles, isolating her from her supporters. Soon enough, Violant's pregnancy was exposed as a sham.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 60-61 Maria then assembled an army, imprisoned Violant and Matthew's suspected supporters, and stripped them of their Aragonese holdings. After a series of advances and retreats by Joanna and Matthew, Maria finally and decisively subdued them. Martin returned home soon thereafter.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 60-61
Return of Martin Martin's return to Aragon in 1397 – many months into his reign – meant the end of Maria's time as lieutenant-general. Her importance over the next thirteen years before her death, however, remained substantial. She had a close relationship with her surviving son, Martin, and was a critical source of advice for him during his brief reign over Sicily. Her husband also clearly continued to view her as a key counselor and source of support, a relationship reflected by their extensive epistolary exchanges.Silleras-Fernandez, p. 62-63
Death
Faith and spirituality María de Luna was a proponent of the so-called Devotio Moderna, a type of Christian worship that rose to prominence in the later Middle Ages which emphasized oral prayer and intense affective meditation upon the words and deeds of Jesus. Joan Eiximenio was her personal confessor, and he translated Arbor vitae crucifixus ("the book of life of the crucified") of Ubertino de Calae (1259–1330) into Catalan. This project led to Eiximenio's realization that more texts should be translated into Catalan, especially for use during the 40 days of Lent. During María and Martin's reign, he compiled "Quarentena de contemplacio", a collection of prayers and meditations for Lent.
María de Luna associated with the Franciscan friars and donated money for their monastic foundation of the Holy Spirit (the Monasterio del Santo Espíritu).Planas, p. 3-7
Day to day administration Records of Maria de Luna's court's food consumption, purchases, food quality and quantity, and methods of preparation have implications for structures of daily life in the Iberian Peninsula during the early fifteenth century. Compared to those surviving for other households of similar rank in this period, the accounts of Maria de Luna in "Food in the Accounts of a Travelling lady: Maria de Luna, queen of Aragon, in 1403" contain more detail, describing specific dishes cooked for the queen's table, the food consumption per person, the weight of the animals used for meat, and the amounts of wheat used to make a certain quantity of bread. As with the king, every meal Maria de Luna ate was a public display; what she ate, drank, and how she behaved distinguished her from others and made her a model for those around her. Customs were distinct in every royal household, and Maria de Luna's was defined by "her close relationship with the mendicant orders and with charity, but also through the attention she paid to medical advice, given her fragile health." Even during Lent, for instance, she ate poultry at her doctors' advice due to the "vitality [it] brought to sick bodies".Marsilla Maria de Luna's accounts from 1403 also reflect the lavishness of the court in Valencia and the consistency and variety of foodstuffs also indicates the queen's prestige. An analysis of the accounts of 1403 describes how at stake "was the image that the queen projected to her guests, and in general to her subjects; food and the general levels of display that went with it on a daily basis were among the principal elements of prestige available to her."Marsilla Valencian agriculture was able to provide a wide variety of food to the city's market. But even as Maria de Luna travelled to smaller locations during the year of 1403, the court was still able to provide a plethora of food to the household. This suggests that suppliers could have been following Maria de Luna as she travelled.
Political policy Policy towards minorities In 1398, María de Luna gained control over seven Jewish and six Muslim communities, and assumed responsibility for the aljama, the official legal term for the minority group encompassing both Muslims and Jews.Meyerson, p. 66 She exercised power over the Jews of Morvedre, a community 20 kilometers north of Valencia, making policies that helped this community recover from turmoil. Morvedre had been the target of a number of violent attacks and massacres. In November 1348, troops from the Union of Valencia invaded it, and it was attacked once more by rebels who were fighting against King Peter III. From the winter of 1363 to March 1365, Castilian troops occupied the town, and the Jewish population of the entire kingdom of Aragon was vulnerable in 1391, when the Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer incited violence against Jews, while King Fernando I supported existing efforts to convert Jews.Meyerson, p. 55