Isabella of Portugal - the mother of one of Spain's favorite historical characters - Isabella of Castile. The latter was called “Catholic,” since she and her husband Ferdinand carried out mass executions. The mother of the Queen of united Spain was born into the family of Prince Joan of the Avis dynasty, which ruled in Portugal. Her parents and she herself could not directly claim the Portuguese throne, since there were many direct heirs to the ruling dynasty. In this article we will talk more about Isabella of Portugal, whose biography deserves to be remembered by her descendants.
Marriage
Our heroine was born in 1428. In 1447, the 19-year-old Isabella of Portugal married the 42-year-old widowed king of Castile, Juan II. At the time of marriage, Juan of the four children survived only one - Enrique, who will head the throne after the death of his father. It was the prince who became the indirect culprit of the fact that Juan II decided to marry a second time. The fact is that at the time of marriage Enrique was married for seven years, but he did not give birth to children. There were even rumors that the prince was suffering from impotence. Others asserted that the young prince did not like women, but preferred men. Therefore, Isabella of Portugal ended up in Castile.
In general, husbands and wives of the ruling dynasty in the Spanish kingdoms were close relatives among themselves. The reason was that the spouses were chosen from noble reigning families. The peninsula is virtually isolated from the rest of the world, so the choice was small. Isabella of Portugal's mother, Isabella of Bragan, was a niece to her husband, Prince João.
In 1453, Juan II dies, and his son Enrique ascends the throne.
By this time, Isabella of Portugal gave birth to a daughter, Isabella, who would later unite Spain into a single state, as well as a son named Alfonso.
Isabella's conflict with Alvar de Luna
Alvara de Luna is the most influential marquis of the kingdom at the court of Juan II. It was he who recommended taking Isabella as his wife. However, the peculiarity of the character of the nobleman was that he did not trust anyone. He established surveillance of all dignitaries in the state. Total control did not bypass the spouse of the king. Isabella of Portugal could not bear this, and persuaded her husband to deal with the nobleman. As a result of palace intrigues, Alvaro de Luna was executed. However, this event shook the king’s health, and in 1453 he dies.
Board of Enrique
Enrique was three years younger than his stepmother. With two children, Isabella of Portugal - the Queen of Castile in the past - was sent to Arevalo Castle. There, our heroine went crazy. Every day the former queen became worse, and at the end of her life she could not recognize anyone. Eyewitnesses claimed that she was afraid of the ghost Alvaro de Luna, of whose death she was guilty. Soon the children were taken from the crazy queen, and she died in 1496. Her merit for the story is only that she was the mother of another queen - Isabella the First of Castile, who later became Ferdinand's wife. With him, they will unite under their banners almost the entire Iberian Peninsula.
Isabella of Portugal - Carla's wife 5
History knows another Isabella of Portugal. She was born later than our previous heroine - in October 1503, in Lisbon, and was the daughter of King of Portugal Manuel the First and his second wife, Maria of Aragon.
Wedding
Carl Fifth - Isabella's cousin. He chose his future wife for political and economic reasons: the future wife had a huge dowry of a million ducats. Twice, Isabella was regent of all of Spain for quite a long time in the absence of her spouse:
- In 1528-1533.
- 1535-1538
Children
Isabella and Carl had four children:
- Philip II - King of Spain.
- Mary is the wife of Emperor Maximilian.
- Juana is the wife of the Infanta of Portugal.
- Juan - died in infancy.
The fifth child was stillborn. After that, the queen herself soon died - in 1539.
Philip II will inherit the throne of Charles and Isabella. The boy was only 12 years old when his mother died. My father did everything possible so that Philip received a worthy education.
Features of the reign of Philip II
Let's say a little about the successor of the dynasty. Philip II ruled a vast empire. His reign is that he created the royal bureaucratic system. Each decision, decree, order of subordinate ranks underwent constant approval in various departments, and ultimately came to the table of the king. This system was clumsy, complex, which caused tremendous damage to the treasury. However, another trait of Philip brought damage to the state: excessive over-tolerance. Spain was swept by another wave of the Inquisition, which in its scale was comparable only with the Inquisition of Feridnand and Isabella.
The reign of Philip II is the Union of Iberia, which united Spain and Portugal, as well as the revolution in the Netherlands and the war with England.