As she states in the "Memorias," Leonor López de Córdoba was born circa 1362 in Calatayud at the home of Pedro I of Castile (Peter the Cruel). Since her godmothers were daughters of the King, she spent her childhood at the court, along with her mother, Sancha Carrillo, who was Pedro's kinswoman, Alfonso XI’s niece. After her mother’s early death, Leonor’s father, Martín López de Córdoba, "maestre" master of the chivalric orders of Calatrava and Alcántara, promised her in marriage to Ruy Gutiérrez de Henestrosa, son of Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, King Pedro's head valet and head majordomo of Queen Blanca (Blanche de Bourbon).