Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal

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, thus queen consort of Portugal from her marriage on 30 October 1500 until her death.

Family

She was born at Córdoba on 29 June 1482 as 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] One of her sisters 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 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Maria did not inherit the insanity that supposedly ran in the royal family and was said to have affected her sister, Joanna, known as "Joanna (or Joan) 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 Spanish royal houses. 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, Holy Roman Empress Isabella of Portugal, and Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy.

In 1580, the dynastic links from the marriage led to a succession 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 color was of a shade between reddish-blonde and auburn; these were typical features in those members of the Trastámara family who were descendants of Catherine of Lancaster and her husband, the king Henry III of Castile.

Death

Maria died in Lisbon on 7 March 1517, and was buried at the Jerónimos Monastery of Belém.

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

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