Eleanor of Portugal (1211-1231)

Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Denmark (16th century)

Silk and lock of hair from Eleonore's tomb

Eleanor of Portugal (* 1211 ; † August 28, 1231 ) was a Portuguese infanta , the only daughter of King Alfonso II of Portugal and his wife Urraca of Castile . She was Queen of Denmark by marrying the Danish Junior King Waldemar (Schleswig) , son of Waldemar II , in 1229.

biography

Bishop Gunner von Viborg had the idea for this marriage when Eleonore's aunt Berengaria became Waldemar's stepmother. The wedding took place on June 24, 1229 in Ribe . The next day, Eleanor received the southern half of the island of Funen as a morning gift . Only a junior queen, she was the only queen in Denmark at the time; for her aunt had died eight years earlier and her father-in-law had not remarried.

Just two years later, Eleanor died while giving birth on August 28, 1231. Only three months later, her husband was killed by an accidental shot on a hunting trip.

The examination of Eleonore's grave in St. Bendts Church (Ringsted) revealed that she had suffered from bone tuberculosis , which may have contributed to her early death. At the foot of Eleonore's grave, a lead coffin was found with the bones of a six-month-old child with scrofulosis . So Eleanor probably gave birth to a child she outlived by only six months.

Individual evidence

↑ PORTUGAL, kings. In: Portugal, Medieval Lands. Retrieved June 11, 2018 .
^ Herbert Reier: Medicine in medieval Scandinavia. Soul conceptions in Old Norse , vol. 1, p. 309. Kiel University Library, 1976 (post-doctoral thesis 1949)
↑ Rüdiger Döhler , Loukas Konstantinou: The skeletal tuberculosis - one of the oldest diseases of mankind . Chirurgische Allgemeine , Volume 16, Issue 10 (2015), pp. 556–558.
^ Valdemar (III) the Young, 1209-31, ~ Eleonore of Portugal, --1231. In: Medieval Danish and European Families. November 22, 2010, accessed June 11, 2018 .

personal data
SURNAME	Eleanor of Portugal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese Infanta and Queen of Denmark
DATE OF BIRTH	1211
DATE OF DEATH	August 28, 1231

[1] PORTUGAL, kings. In: Portugal, Medieval Lands. Retrieved June 11, 2018 .

[2] Herbert Reier: Medicine in medieval Scandinavia. Soul conceptions in Old Norse , vol. 1, p. 309. Kiel University Library, 1976 (post-doctoral thesis 1949)

[3] Rüdiger Döhler , Loukas Konstantinou: The skeletal tuberculosis - one of the oldest diseases of mankind . Chirurgische Allgemeine , Volume 16, Issue 10 (2015), pp. 556–558.

[4] Valdemar (III) the Young, 1209-31, ~ Eleonore of Portugal, --1231. In: Medieval Danish and European Families. November 22, 2010, accessed June 11, 2018 .