| Maria of Aragon | |
|---|---|
 Maria in a portrait byColijn de Coter,c. 1515-1517. | |
| Queen consort of Portugal | |
| Tenure | 30 October 1500 – 7 March 1517 |
| Born | 29 June 1482 Córdoba,Kingdom of Castile |
| Died | 7 March 1517(1517-03-07) (aged 34) Lisbon,Kingdom of Portugal |
| Burial | Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal |
| Spouse | |
| Issue see details... | |
| House | Trastámara |
| Father | Ferdinand II of Aragon |
| Mother | Isabella I of Castile |
Maria of Aragon (29 June 1482 – 7 March 1517) wasQueen of Portugal from 30 October 1500 until her death in 1517 as the second wife ofKing Manuel I. Manuel was the widower of Maria's elder sister,Isabella.
Maria was born atCórdoba on 29 June 1482 as the third surviving daughter ofIsabella I of Castile andFerdinand II of Aragon (theCatholic monarchs). She was the fourth of their five surviving children, and had a stillborn twin (the sources differ on the gender of Maria's twin).[1] Like her sisters, she was given a thorough education, not only in household tasks but also in arithmetic,Latin, several other languages, history, philosophy and the classics.
As an infanta of Spain, her hand in marriage was important in European politics. Before her marriage to Manuel I of Portugal, her parents entertained the idea of marrying her to KingJames IV of Scotland.[2] This was at a time when her younger sister Catherine's marriage toArthur, Prince of Wales, was being planned. Ferdinand and Isabella thought if Maria was Queen of Scotland, the two sisters could keep the peace between their husbands. These plans, however, came to nothing. Her eldest sisterIsabella, Princess of Asturias, was the first wife of Manuel I, but her death in 1498 created a necessity for Manuel to remarry; Maria became the next bride of the Portuguese king, reaffirming dynastic links with Iberian royal houses.
Manuel and Maria were married inAlcácer do Sal on 30 October 1500,[3] and Maria was grantedViseu andTorres Vedras as her dower. She had 10 children, eight of whom reached adulthood, including KingJohn III of Portugal,Holy Roman Empress Isabella, andBeatrice, Duchess of Savoy.
Queen Maria was described as pale and thin to her exterior, with a retiring chin, and had a very serious character to her personality. Despite the fact that she was queen during a famous time period in Portuguese history, when the Portuguese court was one of the richest in Europe, she did not play any significant part as an individual. Serious and pious, she devoted her time to sewing, pious devotion and supervising the education of her children in accordance with the principles of her parents. She maintained a close correspondence with her parents, got along well with her sisters-in-law the duchess Isabella of Braganza and the queen dowager Eleanor, and her mother-in-law Beatrice, and hosted a large court with both Spanish and Portuguese ladies-in-waiting. King Manuel appreciated her pious nature, treated her with respect and awarded her with expensive clothes and jewelry during her pregnancies.
Queen Maria was not described as politically active, though chronicles praised her for occasionally persuading her husband to an act of mercy. She was, however, somewhat involved in religious politics. She supported King Manuel's religious-imperial project, including the plan to conquer the Mamluk's realm, destroyMecca andMedina and reconquer Christian holy places such as Jerusalem. She co-founded the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon.[4]
During her life in Portugal, Maria was almost continually pregnant. Normally, she had but a few months pause between a delivery and her next pregnancy. This state of affairs resulted in a continual deterioration of her health and after the delivery of 1516, she was reportedly exhausted to a point that she was also temporarily mentally confused before she recuperated. She died inLisbon on 7 March 1517, and was buried at theJerónimos Monastery ofBelém.
In 1580, the dynastic links from the marriage led to asuccession crisis inPortugal that made her grandsonPhilip II of Spain king of Portugal as Philip I of Portugal.
Her marriage with Manuel produced the following children:
| Crown of Castile Royal dynasties House of Trastámara |
|---|
.svg) |
| Henry II |
|
| John I |
|
| Henry III |
|
| John II |
|
| Henry IV |
|
| Isabella I withFerdinand V |
| Joanna I |
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| King John III | 6 June 1502 | 11 June 1557 | Succeeded Manuel asKing of Portugal. Had issue. |
| Infanta Isabella | 24 October 1503 | 1 May 1539 | MarriedCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Had issue. |
| Infanta Beatrice | 31 December 1504 | 8 January 1538 | MarriedCharles III, Duke of Savoy. Had issue. |
| Infante Luis, Duke of Beja | 3 March 1506 | 27 November 1555 | Unmarried but had illegitimate descendants, one of them beingAntónio, Prior of Crato, a claimant of the throne of Portugal in 1580 (See:Struggle for the throne of Portugal). |
| Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Guarda | 5 June 1507 | 7 November 1534 | Married Guiomar Coutinho, Countess of Marialva. No surviving issue. |
| Infante Afonso | 23 April 1509 | 21 April 1540 | Cardinal of the Kingdom. |
| Infanta Maria | 1511[12] | 1513[12] | She died at the age of 2. |
| King Henry | 31 January 1512 | 31 January 1580 | Cardinal of the Kingdom who succeeded his grandnephewKing Sebastian (Manuel's great-grandson) as 17thKing of Portugal. His death triggered thestruggle for the throne of Portugal. |
| Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães | 7 October 1515 | 20 September 1540 | Duke of Guimarães and great-grandfather ofJohn IV of Portugal. Married Isabella of Braganza, daughter ofJaime, Duke of Braganza. |
| Infante António | 8 September 1516[13] | 1 November 1516[13] | He died less than two months later. |
Her widowed husband later married a third time, in 1518, also this time from her family: Maria's nieceEleanor of Austria.
Media related toMaria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal at Wikimedia Commons
Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal Born: 29 June 1482 Died: 7 March 1517 | ||
| Portuguese royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Isabella of Aragon | Queen consort of Portugal 30 October 1500 – 7 March 1517 | Vacant Title next held by Eleanor of Austria |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
