Maria Francisca of Nemours

Infobox Portuguese Royalty|majesty|consort
name =Maria Francisca of Savoy
title =Queen consort of Portugal


caption =
reign =1666 – 1668
1683
spouse =Afonso VI
Peter II
issue =Isabel Luísa of Braganza
royal house =Savoy
othertitles =Princess of Nemours
father =Charles Amédée of Savoy, 6th Duke of Nemours
mother =Elisabeth of Bourbon-Vendôme
date of birth =birth date|1646|6|21|mf=y
place of birth =Paris
date of death =death date and age|1683|12|27|1646|6|21|mf=y
place of death =Lisbon|

Marie Françoise Élisabeth ( _pt. Maria Francisca Isabel) (June 21 1646 – December 27 1683) was Queen of Portugal from 1666 to 1668 due to her marriage to King Afonso VI, and again in 1683 due to her marriage to Afonso's brother, King Peter II. She was born a Princess of Nemours as the daughter of the 6th Duke of Nemours and his wife, Elisabeth de Bourbon-Vendôme.

First marriage

In need of support from Portugal against their mutual enemy Spain, the King of France, Louis XIV, arranged a marriage between Marie Françoise, an important member of the French nobility, and the recently crowned Portuguese king, Afonso VI, an ill young man who was paralyzed on his left side and mentally unstable.

Marie Françoise departed from La Rochelle aboard the "Vendôme". When in Lisbon she was deeply disappointed by her fate. She fomented a palace "coup" that ended the government of Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor.

As the Portuguese Restoration of Independence War continued, the incapable King Afonso VI's rule was influenced by ambitious members of the nobility. Queen Marie Françoise jointly with his younger brother Infante Peter conducted a revolt forcing the King to abdicate his powers and consent to a practical exile in Terceira in the Azores. She was revolted at her impotent and fat husband King Afonso, and after 16 months of an unconsummated marriage, had it annulled.

econd marriage

Months afterward she married Prince Peter, now the Prince Regent. In 1669 she gave birth to a daughter, Isabel Luísa Josefa of Braganza, Princess of Beira. The Braganza dynasty was at the brink of extinction, and Peter needed heirs, yet Marie Françoise was unable to produce further issue.

When Afonso died in 1683, Peter succeeded him as Peter II of Portugal and Marie Françoise became Queen again — and died in December of the same year.

She was first buried at the Convent of the Francesinhas, and then moved in 1912 to the Braganza's (or National) Pantheon at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.