Maria Manuela
Princess of Portugal, Princess of Asturias
Portrait by Antonis Mor
Duchess consort of Milan
Tenure12 November 1543 – 12 July 1545
Born15 October 1527
Coimbra
Died12 July 1545(1545-07-12) (aged 17)
Valladolid
Burial
El Escorial
Spouse
Philip, Prince of Asturias
(later Philip II of Spain)
​
​
(m. 1543)​
IssueCarlos, Prince of Asturias
HouseAviz
FatherJohn III of Portugal
MotherCatherine of Austria

Dona Maria Manuela (15 October 1527 – 12 July 1545[1]) was the eldest daughter and second child of King John III of Portugal and his wife Catherine of Austria.[2] She was Princess of Asturias and Duchess of Milan as the first wife of the future Philip II of Spain, and Princess of Portugal as heir presumptive to the Portuguese throne between 1527 and 1535.

Early life

Maria was born in Coimbra on 15 October 1527 and was one of the two children of John III to survive childhood.[2] In her youth, Maria received a humanistic education that was considered typical for a princess of her time.[3]

Marriage and later life

She married her double first cousin Philip II of Spain on 12 November 1543 at Salamanca.[4] As she was to be married to the Prince of Asturias, heir apparent to the Spanish crown, and being an Infanta of Portugal, their wedding became one of the most remarkable in the history of Spain due to its opulence. Contemporary writers have left detailed descriptions of the journey from Madrid to Badajoz to Salamanca to receive the princess and of the luxuries she was given by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in Badajoz.

She gave birth to their son Carlos on 8 July 1545 in Valladolid, but died four days later due to a haemorrhage.[1] She was initially buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada on 30 March 1549 but was later transferred to Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial.

Ancestry

Coat of arms of Maria Manuela of Portugal as Princess of Asturias

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal.
  1. ^ a b Kamen 1998, p. 20.
  2. ^ a b McMurdo, Edward (1889). The history of Portugal, from the Commencement of the Monarchy to the Reign of Alfonso III. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. pp. 152–153. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  3. ^ Delbrugge, Laura (2015). Self-Fashioning and Assumptions of Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia. Netherlands: Brill. p. 230. ISBN 9789004250482.
  4. ^ Kamen 1998, p. 12.
  5. ^ a b c d Stephens, Henry Morse (1903). The Story of Portugal. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 139, 279. ISBN 9780722224731. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Jordan, Annemarie (1994). The Development of Catherine of Austria's Collection in the Queen's Household: Its Character and Cost. Providence, R. I.: Brown University. p. 700.
  7. ^ a b Liss, Peggy K. (10 November 2015). Isabel the Queen: Life and Times. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 11. ISBN 9780812293203.
  8. ^ a b Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 112 – via Wikisource.
  9. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

References

Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal House of AvizCadet branch of the House of BurgundyBorn: 15 October 1527 Died: 12 August 1545 Portuguese royalty Preceded byAfonso Princess of Portugal 1527–1535 Succeeded byManuel
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