to reunify any claim to succession that may have passed via Constance. Death and burial María de Padilla died in July 1361, possibly a victim of the plague, although Pero López de Ayala does not specify the cause in his chronicle of the King's reign. She was buried in the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara de Astudillo which she had founded in 1353. Shortly afterwards, however, her remains were taken, following the orders of King Peter, to the Cathedral of Seville where she received burial in the Royal Chapel with other members of the royal house. Depictions in fiction Gaetano Donizetti composed Maria Padilla (1841), an opera about her relationship with King Peter. Rudolf Gottschall wrote Maria de Padilla (18??), a drama about her life. Beverly Adam wrote Maria de Padilla, The Secret Queen of Castile, a romance about her life. Ancestry Notes References Bibliography 1330s births 1361 deaths Year of birth uncertain Mistresses of Spanish royalty Castilian nobility 14th-century Castilians 14th-century Spanish women