Mary of Portugal (1521–1577)
Mary of Portugal (born June 18, 1521 in Lisbon , † October 10, 1577 in Lisbon) was an Infanta of Portugal . She did not marry and had no offspring, was one of the richest women in Europe and was a patron of the arts and literature.
Life
Maria was the only daughter of the Portuguese King Manuel I from his third marriage to the Habsburg Eleanor of Castile . She lost her father in infancy († December 13, 1521). Eleanor, who married the French King Francis I in 1530 , had to leave her little daughter Maria behind in Portugal. This was now taken care of by her aunt Katharina , the wife of the new Portuguese king Johann III since 1525 . , raised.
Maria received an extremely careful training at the court of her half-brother Johann III. She learned among other things Latin as well as playing the harp and organ. She was also able to talk to scholars on subjects such as mathematics and philosophy. Since her royal half-brother furnished her with other goods in addition to the Portuguese possessions her mother had transferred to her, she was one of the wealthiest women in Portugal and all of Europe.
When Maria's mother lived as queen in France, she tried to marry her daughter to a noble Frenchman, the Dauphin , in order to have her close again. These marriage plans were just as unsuccessful as Maria's marriage to the English King Henry VIII , which was considered in 1537 , when he was looking for a fourth wife. Furthermore, after the death of Maria Manuela (1545) , the Infanta was traded as a possible second wife of the later Spanish King Philip II . This project was seriously discussed from 1549 and also supported by Eleanor, who is now widowed for the second time. However, the relevant marriage negotiations were discontinued when Philip's father, Emperor Charles V , decided in 1553 to make his son the consort of Queen Maria Tudor of England instead .
Eleanor, who had lived in Spain since 1556, wished urgently to meet her only daughter Maria, whom she had not seen for decades, and to bring her over to her for a longer period of time, but negotiations in this regard turned out to be difficult. King John III did not want Maria to leave Portugal before she was married. When the Portuguese ruler died unexpectedly on June 11, 1557, further obstacles arose due to the dispute between Johann's widow Katharina and her daughter-in-law Johanna , who both wanted to take over the reign of the little heir to the throne Sebastian . Furthermore, Maria showed no particular interest in meeting her mother. It was only when Eleanor promised to pay for Maria's journey to the Spanish-Portuguese border town of Badajoz and to let her go unhindered after their meeting that her request was approved. The Infanta made her mother and her sister Maria of Hungary, who had traveled with her, wait for weeks in Badajoz before meeting them there on January 27, 1558. Although she was happy to receive the magnificent gifts from Eleanor and Mary of Hungary, she did not want to live with her mother any longer and after three weeks set off again for Lisbon. Her disappointed mother died soon after.
The unmarried Maria, who bore the title of Duchess of Viseu, was a patroness of literature and the arts. They also funded among others in the Freguesia São Vicente in Lisbon of building the church Igreja de Santa Engrácia and in the Portuguese municipality Carnide the establishment of the church Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz , in the her body in 1597, 20 years after 1577 at the age of 56 years of death, was convicted.
literature
- Kendall W. Brown: Maria de Portugal (1521–1577). In: Anne Commire (Ed.): Women in World History. Vol. 10, 2001, ISBN 0-7876-4069-7 , p. 326
- Maria (D.), Infanta de Portugal , in: Portugal - Dicionário Histórico, Corográfico, Heráldico, Biográfico, Bibliográfico, Numismático e Artístico , Vol. 4, pp. 825–827 (Portuguese)
Remarks
- ^ Kendall W. Brown, Women in World History , Vol. 10, p. 326.
- ↑ Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , English original edition, London 1975, German edition by Verlag Styria 1985, ISBN 3-222-11593-1 , p. 147.
- ↑ Ursula Tamussino: Maria von Ungarn , 1998, ISBN 3-222-12641-0 , p. 278 f.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maria of Portugal |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese Infanta |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1521 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lisbon |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 10, 1577 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Lisbon |