Dulce's bethrothal toinfante Sancho, son ofAfonso Henriques, the first king ofPortugal, was celebrated when she was eleven years old and the marriage in 1174.[5][4] Not much is known about her life prior to her arrival in Portugal or of the wedding tokens she received upon her marriage.[6]
"A beautiful and excellent lady, quiet and modest, her personality coinciding with her name,"[c] Dulce was used as a commodity to seal an alliance which aimed to "strengthen Portugal and to contain the expansionism of Castile and León" and she played the role that was expected of her as a wife and as the mother of numerous children.[2][7] At the same time, the marriage compensated for the broken engagement of her husband's sister, InfantaMafalda with her brother, the future King Alfonso II of Aragon.[2] With the death of KingAfonso Henriques in 1185, her husband ascended the throne and she becameQueen consort of Portugal. In his first will, executed in 1188, her husband gave her the income fromAlenquer, of the lands along the banks of theVouga River, ofSanta Maria da Feira and ofPorto.[6]
Dulce did not live long after the birth of her last two daughters, Branca and Berengaria, probably twins, and died in 1198 probably succumbing to theplague and weakened by the successive childbirths. She was buried in the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra.[8]
Sancha (1180 – 13 March 1229),[9] founded the Monastery of Celas near Coimbra where she lived until her death. Her sister Theresa arranged for her burial at the Monastery of Lorvão. She was beatified byPope Clement XI in 1705, the same year as Theresa;[10]
Constanza (May 1182 – 3 August 1202). She must have died before 1186 since her name is not registered in any of the documents of the chancellery of Sancho I which begins in that year";[6][d]
Afonso (23 April 1186[11] – 25 March 1223), succeeded his father as the third king of Portugal;
Raymond (1187/88 – 9 March bef. 1188/89), who died in infancy;[11][e]
Branca (1198 – 17 November 1240), probably the twin sister of Berengaria,[11] was raised in the court with her father and his mistress "a Ribeirinha" and, when she was eight or ten years old, was sent to live with her sisters at the Monastery of Lorvão. She was a nun at a convent inGuadalajara and was buried at the same monastery as her mother;[12]
^"Dulce de Aragón, hija de Ramón Berenguer IV de Barcelona"[1]
^"Dulce de Aragão, filha de Raimundo Berenguer IV..."[2]
^Translation of "Formosa e excellente senhora, tranquilla e modesta, condizente no carácter com o nome" (Dulce means "sweet") according to Lucian Cordeiro.[4]
^However, the necrology of São Salvador de Moreira records the death “III Non Aug” in 1202 of “Domna Constantia Infantula filia regis domni Sancii et reginæ domnæ Dulciæ”. A. C. de Sousa:Historia Genealogica da Casa Real Portugueza Lisbon 1735, vol. I, p. 88 (no source citation reference).
^The necrology of Santa Cruz de Coimbra records the death “VII Id Mar” of “dominus Raimundus filius domini regis Sancii et reginæ donnæ Dulciæ”; A. Brandaõ:Quarta Parte da Monarchia Lusitana, Lisbon 1632, Liber XII cap. XXI, p. 33. He was presumably not alive in Mar 1189, the date of his father's charter in which he is not named. It's probable that Raymond wasn't his parents´ oldest son as naming the first son after his maternal grandfather was unusual. If that is correct, the known dates of birth of his siblings indicate that Raimundo was born either in 1186 or after 1189.
^TheNobiliario of Pedro Conde de Barcelos names "D. Alonso Sanchez, El Infante D. Pedro, El Infante D. Fernando Conde de Flandes, El Infante D. Enrique" as the sons of "D. Sancho Rey de Portugal" and his wife "D. Aldonça"; Pedro Barcelos, Tit. VII, Reyes de Portugal, 3 p. 30. He was presumably born after, or only shortly before, his father's charter dated March 1189. Sousa says that the necrology of Santa Cruz de Coimbra records the death 8 December of Infante dom Henrique, but he does not quote the wording in the source or provide a citation reference (A. C. de Sousa:Historia Genealogica da Casa Real Portugueza Lisbon 1735, vol. I, p. 87).
Rodrigues Oliveira, Ana (2010).Rainhas medievais de Portugal. Dezassete mulheres, duas dinastias, quatro séculos de História (in Portuguese). Lisbon: A esfera dos livros.ISBN978-989-626-261-7.
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