| Infante John | |
|---|---|
| Constable of Portugal Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz, Colares and Belas | |
.jpg) Detail from theSt. Vincent Panels byNuno Gonçalves, often believed to be a portrait of John of Reguengos, the Constable Prince. | |
| Born | 13 January 1400 Santarém, Portugal |
| Died | 18 October 1442(1442-10-18) (aged 42) Alcácer do Sal,Portugal |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail | |
| House | Aviz |
| Father | John I of Portugal |
| Mother | Philippa of Lancaster |
Infante John, Constable of Portugal (Portuguese:João,Portuguese pronunciation:[ʒuˈɐ̃w]; 13 January 1400 – 18 October 1442) was a Portugueseinfante (prince) of theHouse of Aviz,Constable of Portugal and master of the PortugueseOrder of St. James (Santiago). In Portugal, he is commonly referred to as theO Infante Condestável ("the Constable Prince").
Infante John was the son ofKingJohn I of Portugal and his wifePhilippa of Lancaster. John and his brothersEdward,Peter,Henry andFerdinand, sisterIsabella and half-brotherAfonso, constitute what Portuguese historians have traditionally labelled the 'illustrious generation' (Ínclita Geração)
He was invested as the 1st Lord ofReguengos de Monsaraz,Colares and Belas shortly after. In October 1418, at the king's request,Pope Martin V approved the appointment of Infante John as the 10th Master of theOrder of St. James of the Sword, bringing the old military order into the hands of the royal family.[1] That same year (1418), John and his brotherHenry the Navigator led a relief fleet to Ceuta and helped lift theSiege of Ceuta.
After the death ofNuno Álvares Pereira in 1431, Infante John was appointed the 3rdConstable of Portugal. As a result, John is frequently characterised by the appellationO Infante Condestável ("The Constable Prince").
After King John I's death in 1433, John's eldest brother ascended the throne as kingEdward of Portugal. In 1437, Infante John joined another brotherPeter, Duke of Coimbra, in arguing against a projected Portuguese expedition to seize Tangier that led to theBattle of Tangier. The campaign ended in disaster. After the Tangier fiasco, John urged the ratification of a treaty withMarinid Morocco that called for the relinquishment ofCeuta in exchange for his captive brotherFerdinand the Holy Prince. The Cortes refused, and Ferdinand was left to die in captivity.
King Edward died in September 1438, leaving a young son to ascend the throne as kingAfonso V of Portugal under the regency of his widowEleanor of Aragon. This was an unpopular arrangement among the common people of the country, who feared Eleanor would be a puppet of the high nobility who sought to recover the political privileges they lost during therevolution of the 1380s. The prospect of civil war raised its head. To forestall a rebellion, Infante John quickly seized control ofLisbon and oversaw the assembly of a burgher-packedCortes to elect his brotherPeter of Coimbra as regent for his nephew Afonso V. The high nobility, led by his half-brotherAfonso of Barcelos, urged Eleanor to hold fast, and a tense power-sharing regency arrangement was agreed upon between Peter and Eleanor.
Peter of Coimbra relied on his close alliance with Infante John to secure the lion's share of power during the first few years of the regency. Infante John's sudden death in October 1442 was a terrible blow to Peter, who thereafter found it increasingly difficult to fend off the aspirations of his half-brother Afonso of Barcelos.
Regent Peter appointed John's sonDiogo of Portugal to succeed his father as Master of the Order of Santiago and Constable of Portugal.
In 1424, John married his half-nieceIsabella of Barcelos, daughter of his half-brotherAfonso of Barcelos. The couple had four children:
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"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. I, pages 296–297. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.
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