Isabella of Viseu

Isabella of Viseu (1459-1521)She was a daughter of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu and his wife and cousin Beatrice of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were Infante João of Portugal and his wife and niece Isabella of Braganza.

She married Fernando II, Duke of Braganza, a marriage that would later end in tragedy.

Families downfall

Even at a young age, John II of Portugal was not popular among the peers of the kingdom since he was immune to external influence and appeared to despise intrigue. The nobles (including particularly Isabella's husband, the Duke of Braganza) were afraid of his future policies as king. Events proved them right.

After the official accession to the throne in 1481, John II took a series of measures to curtail the overgrown power of his aristocracy and to concentrate power on himself. Immediately, the nobles started to conspire; John II did nothing but observe. Letters of complaint and pleas to intervene were exchanged between the Duke of Braganza and Queen Isabella I of Castile. In 1483, this correspondence was intercepted by royal spies. The House of Braganza was outlawed, their lands confiscated and Isabella's husband executed in Évora. The following year Isabella's father was murdered by King John himself because there was word of a new conspiracy that also involved Isabella's second cousin and her father's brother in law. Many members of Isabella's family were then murdered including her elder brother Diogo of Viseu, Isabella was one of the lucky ones, she was sent to live in exile in Castile.

Ancestors

Isabella died in 1521, she was 62 years of age, her brother died later in the year, her sister Leonor died 4 years later.She and Ferdiand had four children

Out of their four children Jaime and Dinis survived to adult hood, Jaime later succeeded his father as Duke of Braganza.