Catherine | |
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Born | Lisbon, Portugal | 18 January 1540
Died | 15 November 1614 74) Vila Viçosa, Portugal | (aged
Spouse | |
Issue among others... | Teodósio of Braganza |
House | Aviz |
Father | Duarte, Duke of Guimarães |
Mother | Isabel of Braganza |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Infanta Catherine of Portugal, Duchess of Braganza by marriage (Portuguese : Catarina; Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐtɐˈɾinɐ] , 18 January 1540 – 15 November 1614) [1] was a Portuguese infanta (princess) claimant to the throne during the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580.
Catherine was the second daughter of Duarte, Duke of Guimarães (sixth son of Manuel I of Portugal) and Isabel of Braganza. On 6 December 1563, she married João I, Duke of Braganza, [2] head of the most powerful aristocratic house in Portugal. The two were first cousins. [3]
Following the death of young King of Sebastian of Portugal in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, his great-uncle Henry I of Portugal succeeded to the throne. [4] Elderly and bound to ecclesiastical vows, Henry could not produce a direct heir, leading to much deliberation over his successor during his short reign. [5] Catherine was Henry's preferred successor, but because of her sex, the powerful influence of Philip II, and the unpopularity of her husband, she failed to garner popular support. [6] Her main rivals were António, Prior of Crato, the male-line but illegitimate grandson of Manuel I, and Philip II of Spain, the son of Manuel's eldest daughter.
In February 1579, King Henry summoned the candidates to submit their claims to a panel of jurists. António's swift dismissal as a result of illegitimacy left only Philip II and Catherine in formal contention. [7] Catherine’s descent through a male line, as the daughter of Manuel's youngest son, Duarte, offered her precedence over Philip. [8] The heir by primogeniture was Catherine’s nephew Ranuccio Farnese, [lower-alpha 1] being the son of her late older sister Maria, [10] followed by his siblings; then the Duchess herself and her children; and only after them, King Philip. [11] Although Philip lacked legal arguments, he wielded immense power and influence over the Portuguese aristocracy, securing their support through bribery and coercion. [12]
Philip even tried to bribe Catherine's husband, the Duke of Braganza, to abandon his wife's pretensions, offering him the Vice-Kingdom of Brazil, the post of Grand-Master of the Order of Christ, a license to send a personal ship to India every year, and the marriage of one of his daughters to Diego, Prince of Asturias, Philip's heir at that time. The Duke of Braganza, influenced by Catherine, refused the proposal. [13]
Despite António being formally eliminated, his popularity overshadowed Catherine's. [14] Portugal had not yet seen an undisputed queen regnant and there were doubts about a woman's ability to effectively rule. [15] In this regard, her prospects should have been bolstered by having a husband with direct royal lineage with whom she could share sovereignty and a son, Teodósio, that would serve as heir and successor to the throne. [16] However, the Duke of Braganza's perceived weak leadership and widespread unpopularity compounded by Teodósio's absence [lower-alpha 2] only weakened Catherine's candidacy further. [18]
King Henry died in January 1580 without having appointed a successor, leaving a regency of five governors to assume power while the panel continued to deliberate. [19] António promptly sought to claim the throne through popular acclamation in Lisbon, while Catherine and her husband adopted a more cautious stance, awaiting the findings of Henry's panel of jurists. In the interim, Philip, growing impatient, initiated military preparations, dispatching the Duke of Alba to assert Portugal by force. Eventually, the Braganzas succumbed to Philip's military pressure. [20] After defeating António in the brief War of the Portuguese Succession, Philip was recognized as King of Portugal by the Cortes of Tomar in 1581. [21]
In 1640, Catherine's grandson and direct heir, the then 8th Duke of Braganza, was proclaimed King John IV of Portugal by the Portuguese nobility, marking the end of the 60-year-old Iberian Union and establishing the House of Braganza on the Portuguese throne. [22] The 'laws of Lamego' were used to justify his accession and designate the Spanish Habsburg king, Philip III of Portugal, a usurper. [23]
These laws, purportedly enacted by the Cortes of Lamego in 1143 but now widely accepted to be fictitious, [24] asserted that no woman that married a foreign prince could inherit the Portuguese crown or transfer succession rights. [25] This excluded both Philip II and Ranuccio Farnese from the succession, rendering Catherine the legitimate heiress. [23]
Catherine and her husband had the following children:[ citation needed ]
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Afonso VI, known as "the Victorious", was the second king of Portugal of the House of Braganza from 1656 until his death. He was initially under the regency of his mother, Luisa de Guzmán, until 1662, when he removed her to a convent and took power with the help of his favourite, the Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor.
Manuel I, known as the Fortunate, was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.
Sebastian was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz.
Henry, dubbed the Chaste and the Cardinal-King, was king of Portugal and an inquisitor and cardinal of the Catholic Church, who ruled Portugal between 1578 and 1580. As a clergyman, he was bound to celibacy, and as such, had no children to succeed him, and thus put an end to the reigning House of Aviz. His death led to the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 and ultimately to the 60-year Iberian Union that saw Portugal share a monarch with Habsburg Spain. The next independent monarch of Portugal would be John IV, who restored the throne after 60 years of Spanish rule.
DomPedro II, nicknamed "the Pacific", was King of Portugal from 1683 until his death, previously serving as regent for his brother Afonso VI from 1668 until his own accession. He was the fifth and last child of John IV and Luisa de Guzmán.
Teodósio II, 7th Duke of Braganza was a Portuguese nobleman and father of João IV of Portugal. He is known for his allegiance to King Philip I of Portugal.
The Most Serene House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine dynasty, is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas.
António, Prior of Crato, sometimes called "The Determined", "The Fighter", "The Independentist" or "The Resistant", was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal who claimed the Portuguese throne during the 1580 dynastic crisis. According to some historians, he was King of Portugal for 33 days in 1580. Philip II of Spain prevailed in the succession struggle, but António claimed the throne until 1583. He was a disciple of Bartholomew of Braga.
The Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 emerged as a result of the deaths of young King Sebastian I of Portugal in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and his successor and great-uncle Henry I in 1580. As Sebastian and Henry lacked immediate heirs, a dynastic crisis unfolded, marked by internal conflicts and external contenders vying for the Portuguese throne. Ultimately, Philip II of Spain succeeded Henry I as King of Portugal, uniting the Portuguese and Spanish Crowns in the Iberian Union. This personal union endured for 60 years, during which the Portuguese Empire faced decline and global challenges, notably the Dutch–Portuguese War.
Infante Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja was the second son of King Manuel I of Portugal and his second wife, Maria of Aragon. He participated in the Conquest of Tunis.
Duarte, Duke of Guimarães was a Portuguese infante (prince); the sixth son of King Manuel I of Portugal and his wife Maria of Aragon.
DomTeodósio, Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza was the eldest son of John IV of Portugal and heir apparent to the Portuguese throne from 1640 until his death. In 1645, he was created Prince of Brazil and 9th Duke of Braganza.
Luisa María Francisca de Guzmán y Sandoval was Queen of Portugal as the spouse of King John IV, the first Braganza ruler. She was the mother of two kings of Portugal and a queen of England. She served as regent of Portugal from 1656 until 1662.
Dom João I of Braganza was the 6th Duke of Braganza and 1st Duke of Barcelos, among other titles. He is known for pushing the claims of his wife, Infanta Catherine of Guimarães, to the throne of Portugal.
Dona Maria Francisca Isabel of Savoy was Queen of Portugal during her marriage to King Dom Afonso VI from 2 August 1666 to 24 March 1668 and, as the wife of Afonso's brother King Dom Peter II, from 12 September 1683 until her death in December that year. She married Afonso VI at the age of 20; because the marriage was never consummated, she was able to obtain an annulment. On 28 March 1668, she married the King's brother Infante Dom Peter, Duke of Beja, who was appointed prince regent the same year due to Afonso's perceived incompetence. She became queen a second time when Afonso died and Peter succeeded his brother, but she herself died three months later.
Eleanor of Aragon was Queen of Portugal from 1433 to 1438 as the spouse of King Edward. After Edward's death, she served as regent in 1438-1440 for her son Afonso V. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque.
Dom Fernando II of Braganza was the 3rd Duke of Braganza and the 1st Duke of Guimarães, among other titles. He is known for being executed for treason against the King.
The War of the Portuguese Succession, a result of the extinction of the Portuguese royal line after the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and the ensuing Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, was fought from 1580 to 1583 between the two main claimants to the Portuguese throne: António, Prior of Crato, proclaimed in several towns as King of Portugal, and his first cousin Philip II of Spain, who eventually succeeded in claiming the crown, reigning as Philip I of Portugal.
Dona Isabel of Braganza was a member of the House of Braganza, daughter of Jaime, Duke of Braganza and Leonor Pérez de Guzmán.
Duarte, Duke of Guimarães was a Portuguese infante (prince), son of Duarte of Portugal, 4th Duke of Guimarães and his wife, Isabel of Braganza. He served as Constable of the Kingdom, the highest military authority in the Portuguese Empire, second only to the monarch.