Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal

For other people of the same name, see Maria of Aragon (disambiguation).

Maria of Aragon
Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves
Tenure	30 October 1500 – 7 March 1517
Spouse	Manuel I of Portugal
among others... Issue
John III of Portugal Isabella, Holy Roman Empress Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy Infante Louis, Duke of Beja Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Guarda and Trancoso Cardinal-Infante Afonso Henry of Portugal Infante Edward, Duke of Guimarães
House	House of Trastámara
Father	Ferdinand II of Aragon
Mother	Isabella I of Castile
Born	29 June 1482(1482-06-29) Córdoba, Kingdom of Castile
Died	7 March 1517(1517-03-07) (aged 34) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial	Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Maria of Aragon (Mary of Aragon or Mary of Spain or even Mary of Castile) (29 June 1482 – 7 March 1517) was a Spanish infanta, and the second wife of Portuguese King Manuel I, making her the queen consort of Portugal from her marriage on 30 October 1500 until her death. She was the mother of 10 children, eight of whom reached adulthood.

Family

She was born at Cordoba on 29 June 1482, the third surviving daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic monarchs). She was the fourth of five surviving children, and had a twin sister, who was stillborn.^[1] Her sister was Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII of England and mother of Mary I of England. Another sister, Joanna, married Philip, Duke of Burgundy and was mother of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria did not inherit the insanity that supposedly ran in the royal family, and was said to have affected her sister, Joanna, who was known as Joanna the Mad.^[2]

Marriage

As an infanta of Spain, her hand in marriage was very important in European politics; before her marriage to Manuel I of Portugal, her parents entertained the idea of marrying her off to King James IV of Scotland.^[3] This was at a time when her younger sister Catherine's marriage to Arthur, 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 sister Isabella, 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 dynastical links with the future Spain. Manuel and Maria were married in Alcazar de Sal on 30 October 1500, and together they had 10 children; eight of whom reached adulthood, including King John III of Portugal, Isabella, Holy Roman Empress, and Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy.

In 1580, the dynastical links from the marriage led to a dynastical crisis in Portugal that made Philip II of Spain king of Portugal as Philip I (See: Struggle for the throne of Portugal and Iberian Union).

Appearance

Maria was of a very fair complexion, had blue eyes, and her hair colour was of a shade between reddish-blonde and auburn; these were typical features in members of the Trastámara family who were descendants of Peter I of Castile.

Death

Maria died in Lisbon on 7 March 1517, and was buried at Belem Monastery of Sao Geronimo.

Ancestry

Children

Her marriage with Manuel produced the following children:

Crown of Castile
Royal dynasties
House of Trastámara

Henry II Children include    John I    Eleanor, Queen of Navarre John I Children include    Henry III    Ferdinand I of Aragon Henry III Children include    John II    Maria, Queen of Aragon John II Children include    Henry IV    Isabella I    Alfonso, Prince of Asturias Henry IV Children    Joan, Queen of Portugal Isabella I with Ferdinand V Children    Isabella, Queen of Portugal    John, Prince of Asturias    Joanna I, Queen of Castile    Maria, Queen of Portugal    Catherine, Queen of England Joanna I This box: view · talk · edit

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
John III	6 June 1502	11 June 1557	succeeded Manuel as 15th King of Portugal.
Infanta Isabella	24 October 1503	1 May 1539	married Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Infanta Beatrice	31 December 1504	8 January 1538	married Charles III, Duke of Savoy.
Infante Louis, Duke of Beja	3 March 1506	27 November 1555	Unmarried but had illegitimate descendants, one of them being Anthony, Prior of Crato, a claimant of the throne of Portugal in 1580 (See: Struggle for the throne of Portugal).
Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Guarda and Trancoso	5 June 1507	7 November 1534	Married Guiomar (Guyomare) Coutinho, Countess of Marialva (?-1534).
Infante Afonso	23 April 1509	21 April 1540	Cardinal of the Kingdom.
Infanta Maria	1511	1513
Infante Henry	31 January 1512	31 January 1580	Cardinal of the Kingdom who succeeded his grandnephew King Sebastian (Manuel's great-grandson) as 17th King of Portugal. His death triggered the struggle for the throne of Portugal.
Infante Edward, Duke of Guimarães	7 October 1515	20 September 1540	Duke of Guimarães and great-grandfather of John IV of Portugal. Married Isabella of Braganza, daughter of Jaime, Duke of Braganza.
Infante Anthony	9 September 1516	1516	Died Young

Her widowed husband remarried yet once more,in 1518, also this time from her family: Maria's niece Eleanor of Austria.

References

Media related to Maria of Aragon at Wikimedia Commons

1. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Aragon
2. ^ Cawley
3. ^ e.g., Calendar State Papers Spain, vol. 1 (1862) no. 210, Pedro de Ayala to Ferdinand and Isabella, 25 July 1498.
4. ^ ^{a b} Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p10588.htm#i105871, retrieved 2007-10-25 
5. ^ ^{a b} Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p11347.htm#i113464, retrieved 2007-10-25 
6. ^ ^{a b} Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p329.htm#i3286, retrieved 2007-10-25 
7. ^ She was the daughter John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster to his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, making her half-sister of Katherine of Aragon's maternal great-grandmother Katherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster to his second wife Constance of Castile.
8. ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p10730.htm#i107293, retrieved 2007-10-25 
9. ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p11433.htm#i114328, retrieved 2007-10-25 

Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal House of Trastámara Born: 29 June 1482 Died: 7 March 1517
Portuguese royalty
Preceded by Isabella of Aragon	Queen Consort of Portugal 30 October 1500 – 7 March 1517	Succeeded by Eleanor of Austria

Persondata
Name	Castile, Maria Of Aragon And
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 June 1482
Place of birth	Cordoba, Spain
Date of death	7 March 1517
Place of death	Lisbon, Portugal