Introduction

During the period of transition between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the monastery of Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo became one of the most politically influential religious centres in the Spanish kingdoms. Despite having been founded only a little time before, under the patronage of Peter I, the monastery gained what was with certainty its period of greatest institutional, political, spiritual, and economic splendour during the time when Teresa de Ayala served as prioress (c.1400–1424). The extraordinary amount of governmental funding for the priory, its noble lineage, and its interactions with those in power – paired with the extensive kinship relations of Teresa and her daughter, María de Castilla, with Spanish royalty – contributed to the conversion of Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo into an influential spiritual and political centre in the religious life of Castile.

It is during Teresa de Ayala's time that Prince Ferdinand of Castile (later known as Ferdinand of Antequera because of his brilliant conquest of that city in September of 1410) became an influential figure in the life of the monastery. He became involved with the monastery first by continuing his family's tradition of granting favours to the institution. After his accession to the throne of Aragon towards the end of June 1412, his involvement with the monastery increased as he became a recipient of the political and spiritual advice that Teresa de Ayala, and to a lesser degree her daughter María, supplied him with during the most difficult moments of his brief rule in Aragon.