Peter, Infante of Aragon (1406/1411 ? – 1438 besiegingNaples,Italy),Viceroy of Sicily (1424–1425) and Duke ofNoto, was the sixth child of KingFerdinand I of Aragón and CountessEleanor of Alburquerque.
The brothersfuture king John,Henry and Peter formed an ambitious group of princes, known as theInfantes of Aragon, who aimed to seize power in Castile at the expense of their cousin and brother in law, KingJuan II of Castile. They were particularly opposed toÁlvaro de Luna, favourite of the king and central figure of the Castilian Kingdom.
He participated in the fights of his brotherInfante Enrique, against King John II and Álvaro de Luna, taking an active part in the struggles in the eastern part of Castile between 1426 and 1431. His capture in 1431 led to the pacification of the regions of Salamanca and Extremadura, as he was required to surrender all the fortresses and possessions that his family owned there in order to be released.[1]
In 1434 he moved to the Kingdom of Sicily together with his brotherInfante Enrique, to help their older brotherAlfonso V of Aragon, King of Aragon, in his aspirations to occupy the throne of the Kingdom of Naples. Thus he participated in the disastrousBattle of Ponza, managing to escape capture by leading two galleys towardsGaeta and managing to seize this city and later alsoTerracina.
Peter, Duke ofNoto, died in battle, aged 27, inItaly, when besiegingNaples during theAragonese conquest of Naples .[1]
Yeshaq I made the earliest known contact from post-Axumite Ethiopia to aEuropean ruler. He sent a letter by two dignitaries to kingAlfonso V of Aragon, which reached the king in 1428, proposing an alliance against theMuslims, which would be sealed by a dual marriage, that would require Infante Peter to bring a group of artisans to Ethiopia, where he would marry Yeshaq's daughter. It is not clear how or if Alfonso responded to this letter, although in a letter that reached Yeshaq's successorZara Yaqob in 1450, Alfonso wrote that he would be happy to send artisans to Ethiopia if their safe arrival could be guaranteed, for on a previous occasion a party of thirteen of his subjects traveling to Ethiopia had all perished.[2]
