António of Crato

Antonio of Crato

Antonio von Crato (* 1531 in Lisbon , † August 26, 1595 in Paris ) was a member of the Portuguese royal family Avis , but from an extramarital relationship. After the death of King Henry I , the last legitimate member of the House of Avis, Antonio proclaimed himself King of Portugal in 1580 . However, he was unable to assert his claim to the throne against the Habsburgs ruling Spain , who had multiple family ties to the House of Avis through the female line.

origin

Antonio von Crato was born the illegitimate son of Prince Louis (Luis) of Portugal (1506–1555), Duke of Beja, a younger son of King Emanuel I of Portugal and a "Violanta" Gomez, known as "La Pelicana". His mother is said to have been Jewish and died as a nun. He also studied at Coimbra University .

Political ambitions

Due to his extramarital parentage, he would normally not have been able to assert claims to the throne. So he initially chose a spiritual career and eventually became Grand Prior of Crato of the Order of Malta . In 1571 he was governor of Tangier . Little is known about him before 1578. That year he accompanied King Sebastian of Portugal on the campaign to Morocco , where he was captured in the disaster of the Battle of Alcácer-Quibir , but was released again for a ransom.

Henry I of Portugal died in 1580, the last member from a legitimate marriage of the House of Avis, which had ruled Portugal since 1385. In his will, Heinrich had appointed the Spanish King Philip II from the House of Habsburg, who also had ties to the Avis family - albeit mediated through the female line - since Philip II's mother was a daughter of King Emanuel I, i.e. a half-sister Antonio's father was. There were also other pretenders to the throne .

The personal union with Spain was anything but popular in Portugal. Antonio took advantage of this political dissatisfaction and declared himself King of Portugal on July 24, 1580. In particular, the lower clergy , craftsmen and workers supported him. Antonio was able to refer to an illustrious role model in Portuguese history: In 1383 the first Portuguese dynasty , the House of Burgundy , died out. Even then, Castile , the predecessor state of Spain, asserted hereditary claims to the Portuguese throne. John of Avis , an illegitimate descendant of the Burgundian kings, was able to defeat Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, was proclaimed king and founded the Avis dynasty.

In contrast to his role model, Antonio failed. Philip II sent an army under the command of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the third Duke of Alba , which defeated António's troops in Alcántara on August 25, 1580. Antonio had to flee into French exile, taking the Portuguese crown jewels with him. France , the traditional enemy of the Habsburgs, received Antonio kindly, but ultimately did not support his political ambitions, even though he offered Brazil . Only the Azores remained outside Philip II's sphere of influence until 1583 and continued to stand by Antonio. While fleeing from murderers that Philip II had set on him, he changed his place of refuge several times and finally came to England . England was also one of the enemies of the Habsburgs.

In 1589 Antonio tried again, this time with the help of the English privateer Sir Francis Drake , to gain the Portuguese crown. Their fleet reached the Portuguese coast, but the uprising expected by Antonio in his favor and against King Philip II (in Portugal: Philip I) did not materialize. The adventure ended as a costly failure. The pretender to the throne spent the rest of his life in exile in France without ever giving up his claim.

António von Crato died impoverished in Paris in 1595, where his heart urn used to be in the monastery church of the Couvent de l'Ave Maria . The latter was abolished during the French Revolution in 1790.

family

Antonio was in a relationship with an Anna Barbosa - because of his religious status he was not allowed to marry. From this connection came 10 children:

• Filipa de Portugal (1560-?), Nun in the Convent of Lorvão
• Luísa de Portugal (1562-?), Nun in Tordesillas
• Afonso de Portugal (1566-?)
• Manuel of Portugal (* 1568 - 22 June 1638), who married Emilia of Orange-Nassau (April 1569 - 6 March 1629) in 1597 . She was a daughter of Prince Wilhelm I of Orange-Nassau (* 1533; † 1584) and Princess Anna of Saxony (* 1544; † 1577).
• Cristóvão de Portugal (April 1573 - June 3, 1638)
• Pedro de Portugal (1575-?)
• Dinis de Portugal (1576-?), Cistercian
• Violante de Portugal (1577-d.1602)
• Antónia de Portugal (1578-d.1602)
• João de Portugal (1579-?), Died as a child

Aftermath

The rule of the Spanish Habsburgs in Portugal did not end until 1640 when King Philip III rebelled. of Portugal (= Philip IV of Spain) overthrew and John IV of the Braganza family took over the throne. Again, Antonio's offspring did not get a chance.

See also

• History of Portugal
• Timeline Portugal

literature

• Mme de Sainctonge / Gomes Vasconcellos de Figueredo : [biography]. Amsterdam 1696.
• E. Fournier: Un prétendant portugais au XVI siècle . Paris 1852.
• J. de Aranjo: Dom Antonio Prior de Crato-notas de bibliographia . Lisbon 1897.
• Sacred reflections of the confession / Which were found in the Royal Cabinet / His Majesty Don Antonii the First of this taking / and the XVIII. Kings of Portugal / written in his own hand. In which a repentant sinner invokes Divine Mercy for forgiveness of his sins. Anitzo brought from the Nieder- to the Hochteutsche . Marburg 1678.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Manuel Fernández Álvarez : Felipe II y su tiempo . Espasa, Madrid 1998, ISBN 84-239-9736-7 , p. 521.