On March 23, 1369, the Battle of Montiel brought the Castilian Civil War to a bloody conclusion with the defeat and death of King Pedro I of Castile at the hands of his half-brother Henry of Trastámara. The battle, fought between Franco-Castilian forces and an alliance of pro-English and Portuguese troops, sealed Henry's claim to the throne and established the Trastámara dynasty. The outcome of the battle also shifted the alignment of the Iberian powers within the broader context of the Hundred Years' War.

The death of Pedro the Cruel at Montiel became one of the most dramatic and enduring episodes in Spanish literary history, inspiring numerous ballads, chronicles, and dramatic works that explored the themes of betrayal, justice, and royal legitimacy. The battle's depiction in the 'Romancero'—the corpus of Spanish popular ballads—helped shape the popular memory of Pedro as a tyrant who met his just end, while also creating a space for critique of royal authority. This literary tradition would later influence the works of major Spanish dramatists, including Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderón de la Barca.