May 29, 1630: Birth of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

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Catherine de Braganza, Charles I of England, Charles II of England and Scotland, English Civil War, Kingdom of Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Restoration

Charles II (May 29, 1630 – February 6, 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of Scotland, England and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon France, daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and Marie de Medici.

After Charles I’s execution at Whitehall on January 30, 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on February 5, 1649. But England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic led by Oliver Cromwell.

Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands.

The political crisis that followed Cromwell’s death in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On May 29, 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649.

Charles’s English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance.

Marriage

Catherine of Braganza (1638 – 1705) was was born at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, as the second surviving daughter of João, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King João IV of Portugal, on 1 December 1640.

King João IV of Portugal, became the first king from the House of Braganza in 1640 after overthrowing the 60-year rule of the Spanish Habsburgs over Portugal and restoring the Portuguese throne which had first been created in 1143.

With her father’s new position as one of Europe’s most important monarchs, Portugal then possessing a widespread colonial empire, Catherine became a prime choice for a wife for European royalty, and she was proposed as a bride for Johann of Austria, François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, Louis XIV and Charles II.

The consideration for the final choice was due to her being seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in which Portugal was arguably abandoned by France.

Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I, were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on June 23, 1661, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed.

Catherine arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of May 13–14, 1662, but was not visited there by Charles until May 20. The following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service.

The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin King Louis XIV of France. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date.

Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.

In 1679, Titus Oates’s revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles’s brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, was Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and after the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile.

Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685. He was allegedly received into the Catholic Church on his deathbed.

Traditionally considered one of the most popular English kings, Charles is known as the Merry Monarch, a reference to the liveliness and hedonism of his court. He acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses, but left no legitimate children and was succeeded by his brother, James.

September 17, 1665: Death of Felipe IV, King of Spain and Portugal.

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Felipe IV of Spain, House of Bourbon, House of Habsburg, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, King Carlos II of Spain, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Princess Elisabeth of France

From the Emperor’s Desk. Instead of focusing on the political aspects of his reign I will focus on his personal life.

Felipe IV (April 8, 1605 – September 17, 1665) was King of Spain and (as Felipe III) King of Portugal. He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Portugal until 1640. Felipe IV is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War.

Felipe IV was born in Royal Palace of Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Felipe III of Spain and Portugal and his wife, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

In 1615, at the age of 10, Felipe was married to 13-year-old Elisabeth of France, she was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Although the relationship between Felipe and Elisabeth does not appear to have been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Felipe to take mistresses instead.

Felipe had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Carlos, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Felipe; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour, following manoeuvering by Olivares’ successor, Luis de Haro.

Felipe IV remarried in 1649, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his only legitimate heir. His choice of his second wife, his niece, Infanta Maria Anna, second child of Maria Anna of Spain and her husband Ferdinand (1608-1657), who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1637.

Infanta Maria Anna was guided by politics and Felipe’s desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria. They were married on October 7, 1649. Maria Anna bore him five children, but only two survived to adulthood, a daughter Margarita Teresa, born in 1651, and the future Carlos II of Spain in 1661 – but the latter was sickly and considered in frequent danger of dying, making the line of inheritance potentially uncertain.

Perceptions of Felipe IV’s personality have altered considerably over time. Victorian authors were inclined to portray him as a weak individual, delegating excessively to his ministers, and ruling over a debauched Baroque court. Victorian historians even attributed the early death of Baltasar Carlos to debauchery, encouraged by the gentlemen entrusted by the king with his education.

The doctors who treated the Prince at that time in fact diagnosed smallpox, although modern scholars attribute his death to appendicitis.

Historians’ estimation of Felipe IV gradually improved in the 20th century, with comparisons between Felipe IV and his father, Filipe III, being increasingly positive – some noting that he possessed much more energy, both mental and physical, than his diffident father.

Felipe IV was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity; foreign visitors described him as being so impassive in public he resembled a statue, and he was said to have been seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life.

Felipe IV certainly had a strong sense of his ‘royal dignity’, but was also extensively coached by Olivares in how to resemble the Baroque model of a sovereign, which would form a key political tool for Felipe throughout his reign.

Felipe IV was a fine horseman, a keen hunter and a devotee of bull-fighting, all central parts of royal public life at court during the period.

Privately, Felipe appears to have had a lighter persona. When he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a ‘great sense of fun’. He privately attended ‘academies’ in Madrid throughout his reign – these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature and poetry with a humorous touch.

A keen theatre-goer, he was sometimes criticised by contemporaries for his love of these ‘frivolous’ entertainments. Others have captured his private personality as ‘naturally kind, gentle and affable’.

The Catholic religion and its rituals played an important part in Felipe’s life, especially towards the end of his reign. Depressed by events across his domains, he became increasingly concerned with religious affairs. In particular, Felipe paid special devotions to a painting of the Nuestra Señora del Milagro, the Virgin of Miracles; the painting was said to miraculously raise and lower its eyes in response to prayer.

During the emergency of 1640–1643, Felipe appears to have had a crisis of faith. Felipe IV genuinely believed the success or failure of his policies represented God’s favour or judgement on his actions. The combination of the revolts, the French advances and the loss of his trusted favourite Olivares appears to have deeply shaken him.

Felipe IV, as a lover of the theatre, has been remembered both for the ‘astonishing enthusiasm’ with which he collected art. On the stage, he favoured Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other distinguished dramatists.

Felipe IV has been credited with a share in the composition of several comedies. Court theatre used perspective scenery, a new invention from Italy not used in commercial theatre at the time.

Legacy

Felipe IV’s reign, after a few years of inconclusive successes, was characterized by political and military decay and adversity. He has been held responsible for the decline of Spain, which was mainly due to organic causes largely beyond the control of any one ruler.

Felipe IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos II, who was only 4 years old at the time, would be more fortunate than himself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to commemorate his life.

In his will, Felipe IV left political power as regent on behalf of the young Carlos II to his wife Maria Anna, with instructions that she heed the advice of a small junta committee established for this purpose. This committee excluded Juan, Felipe IV’s illegitimate son, resulting in a chaotic powerplay between Maria Anna and Juan until the latter’sdeath in 1679.

May 25, 1786. Death of King Pedro III of Portugal

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Archduchess of Austria, Brazil, Duke of Braganza, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Infanta Benedita of Portugal, John V of Portugal, Joseph I of Portugal, Joseph of Brazil, Kingdom of Portugal, Maria I of Portugal, Pedro III of Portugal

Pedro III (July 5, 1717 – May 25, 1786), nicknamed the Builder, became King of Portugal jure uxoris by the accession of his wife and niece Queen Maria I in 1777, and co-reigned alongside her until his death.

Pedro III, King of Portugal

Pedro was born at 12:00 noon on July 5, 1717 in the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.nHe was baptized on August 29, and was given the name HRH Prince Pedro Clemente Francisco José António de Braganza of Portugal.

His parents were King João V and his wife Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria, who was a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleanor-Magdalene of Neuburg. Archduchess Maria-Anna was a sister of Holy Roman Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI. Through her brother Charles, she was an aunt of Maria Theresa, Empress Consort of Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, and Queen of Bohemia, Hungary and Archduchess of Austria in her own right.

King João V of Portugal (father of King Pedro III and King José I of Portugal)

Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria (mother of King Pedro III and King José I of Portugal)

Pedro was a younger brother of King José I of Portugal. Their maternal Eleanor-Magdalene of Neuburg, was the older sister of Maria-Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (1666-1699) who was Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Pedro II from 1687 until her death in 1699. A popular queen, she was noted for her extraordinary generosity and for being the mother of the famously extravagant King João V of Portugal.
Reign

Pedro married his niece Infanta Maria, Princess of Brazil, on June 6, 1760, at which time she was the heiress presumptive to the throne then held by his brother King José I of Portugal. Infanta Maria, Princess of Brazil was the daughter of King José I of Portugal and Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, daughter of King Felipe V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. The elder sister of King José I of Portugal was Infanta Barbara of Portugal married the future Fernando VI of Spain.

Queen Maria I of Portugal

At the time of their marriage, Maria was 25 and Pedro was 42. Despite the age gap, the couple had a happy marriage.

With the death of King José I on February 24, 1777, the throne passed to his daughter who ascended the throne as Queen Maria I. According to custom, Pedro thus became King of Portugal as Pedro III in right of his wife (jure uxoris), who he reigned with jointly. They had six children, of whom the eldest surviving son succeeded Maria as João VI on her death in 1816.

Pedro III made no attempt to participate in government affairs, spending his time hunting or in religious exercises.
He also defended the high nobility of Portugal, and sponsored the petitions of those accused in Távora affair, whose rehabilitation was subject of new lawsuits, in which the heirs demanded the restitution of their confiscated properties.

King José I of Portugal

Pedro III was moderately friendly toward the Jesuits, who had been banished from Portugal and its overseas empire in 1759, largely at the behest of the Marquis of Pombal. Pedro III had taken some of his early education from the Jesuits, explaining this. His affection had little effect; Pope Clement XIV ordered the Jesuits suppressed across Europe in 1773.

Maria I (December 17, 1734 – March 20, 1816) was the first undisputed queen regnant of Portugal and the first monarch of Brazil. With Napoleon’s European conquests, her court, then under the direction of her son João, the Prince Regent, moved to Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. Later on, Brazil would be elevated from the rank of a colony to that of a kingdom, with the consequential formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.

Infante José, Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza

The eldest son of Pedro III and Maria I was Infante José, Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza (August 20, 1761 – September 11, 1788) was the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Portugal until his death in 1788. Infante José died of smallpox at the age of 27, causing his younger and ill-prepared brother, Infante João, to become heir-apparent and eventually King. João’s reign would be a turbulent one, seeing the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal and the loss of the Portuguese Empire’s largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil.

Marriage of Infante José, Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza

On February 21, 1777, when Infante José, was 15 years old, he married his 30-year-old aunt the Infanta Benedita of Portugal. Benedita was an attractive woman and the main candidate for the wife of José. The marriage was the express wish of the dying King José I of Portugal.

Infanta Benedita of Portugal

This union is an example of the most inbred unions in European Royal History. As we have seen, Infante José was the product of an Uncle-Nice marriage and then he proceeded to marry his own aunt, the sister of his mother!

Thankfully they had no children, however she miscarried twice: in 1781 and in 1786. Three days after their wedding, is when José’s grandfather and Benedita’s father the old King José died, and his mother succeeded as queen regnant. Infante José became the new crown prince, being accorded the titles Prince of Brazil and 14th Duke of Braganza.

King Pedro III died at the age of 68 on May 25, 1786.

May 21, 1527: Birth of Felipe II, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily.

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Archduke of Austria, Carlos I of Spain, Catherine de Médici, Catherine of Aragon, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, House of Habsburg, King Henri II of France, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, Kingdom of Portugal, Philip II of Spain, Queen Mary I of England

Felipe II (May 21, 1527 – September 13, 1598) was King of Spain (1556–98), King of Portugal (1581–98, as Filipe I), King of Naples and Sicily (both from 1554), and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland (during his marriage to Queen Mary I from 1554 to 1558). He was also Duke of Milan, and from 1555, lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. As a member of the Austrian Habsburg Family, Felipe II was also an Archduke of Austria.

Filipe II, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily.

The son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (King Carlos I of the Spanish kingdoms) and Infanta Isabella of Portugal, Felipe was called Felipe el Prudente (“Philip the Prudent”) in the Spanish kingdoms; his empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, including his namesake the Philippines. During his reign, the Spanish kingdoms reached the height of their influence and power. This is sometimes called the Spanish Golden Age.

Felipe’s mother, Infanta Isabella of Portugal, was the daughter King Manuel I of Portugal and Infanta Maria of Aragon, Isabella was the granddaughter of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Throughout her life, many compared her to her grandmother for her intelligence and determination. Her personal motto was “aut Caesar aut nihil” (‘either Cesar or nothing’). Felipe’s grandmother, Infanta Maria of Aragon, was the third surviving daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic monarchs).

Charles V-I, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain

Infanta Isabella of Portugal

Felipe led a highly debt-leveraged regime, seeing state bankruptcies in 1557, 1560, 1569, 1575, and 1596. This policy was partly the cause of the declaration of independence that created the Dutch Republic in 1581. On December 31, 1584 Felipe signed the Treaty of Joinville, with Henri I, Duke of Guise signing on behalf of the Catholic League; consequently Felipe supplied a considerable annual grant to the League over the following decade to maintain the civil war in France, with the hope of destroying the French Calvinists.

A devout Catholic, Felipe saw himself as the defender of Catholic Europe against the Ottoman Empire and the Protestant Reformation. He sent an armada to invade Protestant England in 1588, with the strategic aim of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England and re-establishing Catholicism there; but it was defeated in a skirmish at Gravelines (northern France) and then destroyed by storms as it circled the British Isles to return to Spain. The following year Felipe’s naval power was able to recover after the failed invasion of the English Armada into Spain.

The military under Felipe constituted about 9,000 men a year on average were which were recruited from Spain; in crisis years the total could rise to 20,000. Between 1567 and 1574, nearly 43,000 men left Spain to fight in Italy and the Low Countries (modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands).

Filipe II, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily.

Philip was described by the Venetian ambassador Paolo Fagolo in 1563 as “slight of stature and round-faced, with pale blue eyes, somewhat prominent lip, and pink skin, but his overall appearance is very attractive.” The Ambassador went on to say “He dresses very tastefully, and everything that he does is courteous and gracious.”

King of Portugal

In 1578 young king Sebastian of Portugal died at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir without descendants, triggering a succession crisis. His granduncle, the elderly Cardinal Henrique, succeeded him as king, but Henrique had no descendants either, having taken holy orders. When Henrique died two years after Sebastian’s disappearance, three grandchildren of Manuel I claimed the throne: Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza, António, Prior of Crato, and Felipe II of Spain.

António was acclaimed King of Portugal in many cities and towns throughout the country, but members of the Council of Governors of Portugal who had supported Felipe escaped to the Spanish kingdoms and declared him to be the legal successor of Henrique. Felipe II then marched into Portugal and defeated Prior António’s troops in the Battle of Alcântara. The Portuguese suffered 4,000 killed, wounded, or captured, while the Spanish sustained only 500 casualties.

Filipe II, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily.

The troops commanded by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo the 3rd Duke of Alba imposed subjection to before entering Lisbon, where he seized an immense treasure. Felipe II of Spain was crowned Felipe I of Portugal in 1581 (recognized as king by the Portuguese Cortes of Tomar) and a near sixty-year personal union under the rule of the Philippine Dynasty began. that saw Portugal share a monarch with that of Spain. The next independent monarch of Portugal would be João IV, who took the throne after 60 years of Spanish rule.

Felipe was married four times and had children with three of his wives.

Felipe II’s first wife, Infanta Maria-Manuela, Princess of Portugal, was his double first cousin. She was a daughter of Felipe’s maternal uncle, King João III of Portugal, and paternal aunt, Archduchess Catherine of Austria. They were married at Salamanca on November 12, 1543. The marriage produced one son in 1545, after which Maria-Manuela died 4 days later due to hemorrhage.

Infanta Maria-Manuela, Princess of Portugal

* Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545-1568), died unmarried and without issue.

Felipe II’s second wife was his first cousin once removed, Queen Mary I of England and Ireland. Mary was the only child of King Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, the niece of Felipe’s father, Emperor Charles V. The marriage, which took place on 25 July 25, 1554 at Winchester Cathedral, was political. By this marriage, Felipe II became jure uxoris King of England and Ireland, although the couple was apart more than together as they ruled their respective countries. The marriage produced no children, although there was a false pregnancy, and Mary died in 1558, ending Felipe II’s reign in England and Ireland.

Queen Mary I of England and Ireland

Felipe II’s third wife was Princess Elisabeth de Valois, the eldest daughter of King Henri II of France and Catherine de’ Medici. The original ceremony was conducted by proxy (the Duke of Alba standing in for Felipe) at Notre Dame prior to Elisabeth’s departure from France. The actual ceremony was conducted in Guadalajara upon her arrival in Spain. During their marriage (1559–1568) they conceived five daughters and a son, though only two of the girls survived. Elisabeth died a few hours after the loss of her last child.

Princess Elisabeth de Valois

Their children were:

* Stillborn son (1560)
* Miscarried twin daughters (August 1564).
* Isabella-Clara-Eugenia (1566-1633), married Albrecht VII, Archduke of Austria,
* Catherine-Michelle (1567-1597), married Carlo-Emmanuele I, Duke of Savoy, and had issue.
* Miscarried daughter (1568).

Felipe II’s fourth and final wife was his niece, Archduchess Anna of Austria, eldest daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Infanta Maria of Spain, who were first cousins. Archduchess Anna of Austria’s mother, Infanta Maria of Spain, was Felipe II’s sister and therefore daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal.

Archduchess Anna of Austria

By contemporary accounts, this was a convivial and satisfactory marriage (1570–1580) for both Felipe and Anna. This marriage produced four sons and one daughter. Anna died of heart failure 8 months after giving birth to Maria in 1580.

Their children were:

* Fernando , Prince of Asturias (1571-1578), died young.
* Carlos-Laurence (1573-1575), died young.
* Diego-Félix, Prince of Asturias (1575-1582), died young.
* Felipe III, King of Spain (1578-1621).
* Maria (1580-1583), died young.

King Felipe II outlived all four of his wives.

Death

Felipe II died of cancer, aged 71, in El Escorial, near Madrid, on September 13, 1598. He was succeeded by his 20-year-old son, Felipe III. He was the son with fourth wife, and niece, niece, Archduchess Anna of Austria.

April 8, 1605: Birth of King Felipe IV of Spain.

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Carlos II of Spain, Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Thirty Years War

Felipe IV (April 8, 1605 – September 17, 1665) was King of Spain and (as Felipe III, King of Portugal). He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Portugal until 1640. Felipe is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War.

Felipe IV when young

Felipe IV was born in Royal Palace of Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Felipe III and his wife, Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Her elder brother was the Archduke Ferdinand, who succeeded as Emperor Ferdinand II in 1619.

At the age of 10, Felipe was married to 13-year-old Elisabeth of France, eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici, although the relationship does not appear to have been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Felipe to take mistresses instead.

Elisabeth de Bourbon of France

Felipe had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Carlos, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Felipe; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour, following manoeuvering by Olivares’ successor, Luis de Haro.

Felipe remarried in 1649, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his only legitimate heir. His choice of his second wife, Maria Anna, also known as Mariana, Felipe’s niece and the daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand, was guided by politics and Philip’s desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria.

They were married on October 7, 1649. Maria Anna bore him five children, but only two survived to adulthood, a daughter Margarita Teresa, born in 1651, and the future Carlos II of Spain in 1661 – but the latter was sickly and considered in frequent danger of dying, making the line of inheritance potentially uncertain.

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria

Privately, Felipe appears to have had a lighter persona. When he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a ‘great sense of fun’. He privately attended ‘academies’ in Madrid throughout his reign – these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature and poetry with a humorous touch.

Although interpretations of Felipe’s role in government have improved in recent years, Diego Velázquez’s contemporary description of Felipe’s key weakness – that ‘he mistrusts himself, and defers to others too much’ — remains relevant. Although Felipe’s Catholic beliefs no longer attract criticism from English language writers, Felipe is still felt to have been ‘unduly pious’ in his personal life. Notably, from the 1640s onwards he sought the advice of a noted cloistered abbess, Sor María de Ágreda, exchanging many letters with her.

This did not stop Felipe from becoming known for his numerous affairs, particularly with actresses; the most famous of these was his actress-mistress María Inés Calderón (La Calderona), with whom he had a son in 1629, Juan José, who was brought up as a royal prince. By the end of the reign, and with the health of infants Carlos in doubt, there was a real possibility of Juan José’s making a claim on the throne, which added to the instability of the regency years.

Felipe was to reign through the majority of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, a turbulent period of military history. In Felipe III’s final years, Baltasar de Zúñiga had convinced him to intervene militarily in Bohemia and the Electorate of the Palatinate on the side of Emperor Ferdinand II. Once Philip himself came to power, he was convinced by de Zúñiga, appointed his principal foreign minister, and Olivares that he should commit Spain to a more aggressive foreign policy in alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. This would lead Philip to renew hostilities with the Dutch in 1621 in an attempt to bring the provinces to the negotiating table with the aim of achieving a peace treaty favourable to Spanish global interests.

Felipe IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos II, who was only 4 years old at the time, would be more fortunate than himself.

January 31, 1512 & 1580: The life of King Henrique of Portugal.

Tags

House of Aviz, John III of Portugal, King Henry of Portugal, King Sebastian of Portugal, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Manuel I of Portugal, Philip II of Spain

Henrique (January 31, 1512 – January 31, 1580) was king of Portugal and a cardinalof the Catholic Church. He ruled Portugal between 1578 and 1580 and was known as Henrique the Chaste and the Cardinal-King. As a clergyman, he never married and was bound to chastity, and as such, had no children to succeed him, and thus put an end to the House of Aviz.

His death led to the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 and ultimately to the 60-year Iberian Union that saw Portugal share a monarch with that of Spain. The next independent monarch of Portugal would be João IV, who took the throne after 60 years of Spanish rule. King Henrique was born and died on January 31, 1512 and 1580 respectively.

Henrique was the fifth son of King Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon, the third surviving daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Fernando II-V of Aragon and Castile (the Catholic monarchs).

Cardinal
As the younger brother of King João III of Portugal and a younger son in the Royal Family, Henrique was not expected to succeed to the Portuguese throne. Early in his life, Henrique took Holy Orders to promote Portuguese interests within the Catholic Church, then dominated by Spain.

He rose fast through the Church hierarchy, becoming in quick succession Archbishop of Braga, Archbishop of Évora and Grand Inquisitor before receiving a galeroin 1545, along with the Titulus Ss. Quattuor Coronatorum. From 1564 to 1570 he was Archbishop of Lisbon. Henriqu, more than anyone, endeavoured to bring the Jesuits to Portugal to employ them in the colonial empire.

Reign
Henrique served as regent for his great-nephew King Sebastian, replacing his sister-in-law and Sebastian’s grandmother Queen dowager Catherine, (An Infanta of Castile and Archduchess of Austria, Catherine was the posthumous daughter of King Felipe I by Queen Joanna of Castile) following her resignation from the role in 1562.

King Sebastian died without an heir in the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir that took place in 1578, and the elderly cardinal was proclaimed king soon after. Henrique sought to be released from his ecclesiastical vows so he could take a bride and pursue the continuation of the Aviz dynasty, but Pope Gregory XIII, not wanting to antagonize Felipe II of Spain, did not grant him that release.

Death and succession

The Cardinal-King died in Almeirim, on his 68th birthday, without having appointed a successor, leaving only a regency to care for the kingdom. One of the closest dynastic claimants was King Felipe II of Spain who, in November 1580, sent the Duke of Alba to claim Portugal by force. Lisbon soon fell, and Felipe II was elected king of Portugal at the Portuguese Cortesof Tomar in 1581—on the condition that the kingdom and its overseas territories would not become Spanish provinces.

November 15, 1498: Birth of Archduchess Eleanore of Austria, Queen Consort of Portugal and France.

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Birthday, Carlos I of Spain, Eleanore of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Empire, King François I of France, King Henry VIII of England, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Queen Consort of Portugal and France

Eleanor of Austria (November 15, 1498 – February 25, 1558), also called Eleanor of Castile, was born an Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and subsequently became Queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and Queen Consort of France (1530–1547).

Eleanor was born in 1498 at Leuven, the eldest child of Philipp of Austria (King Felipe I of Castile) and Joanna of Castile, who would later become co-sovereigns of Castile. Her father was also the son of the reigning Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and his deceased consort Mary of Burgundy, while her mother was the daughter of the Catholic Monarchs; namely Fernando II-V of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

Her siblings were Holy Roman Emperor Karl V (King Carlos I of Spain), Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Queen Isabella of Denmark (wife of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway), Queen Mary of Hungary (wife of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia), and Queen Catherine of Portugal (wife of King João III of Portugal). She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress (the consort of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III and the mother of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I).

Eleanore of Austria, Queen Consort of Portugal and France

When she was a child, Eleanor’s relatives tried to marry her to the future King of England, Henry VIII, to whom she was betrothed. However, when Henry’s father died and he became King, Henry decided to marry Eleanor’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon, who was the widow of King Henry’s older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Her relatives also tried to marry her to the French Kings Louis XII or King François I, or to the Polish King Sigismund I, but nothing came of these plans. Eleanor was also proposed as a marriage candidate for Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, in 1510.

In 1517 Eleanor may have had a love affair with Friedrich II, Elector Palatine. Her brother King Carlos I of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor Karl V) who had succeeded their elderly grandfather King Fernando II-V of Castile and Aragon as King of a United Spain the year before, once discovered her reading a love letter from Friedrich. Carlos forced Eleanor and Friedrich to swear in front of an attorney that they were not secretly married, after which he expelled Friedrich from court. She then followed her brother to Spain in 1517.

Holy Roman Emperor Karl V (King Carlos I of Spain).

Eleanor married her uncle by marriage, King Manuel I of Portugal, on July 16, 1518 after a proposed marriage with her cousin, the future King João III of Portugal did not occur. Her brother Carlos arranged the marriage between Eleanor and the King of Portugal to avoid the possibility of Portuguese assistance for any rebellion in Castile. Manuel had previously been married to two of Eleanor’s maternal aunts, Isabella of Aragon and Maria of Aragon.

Manuel and Eleanor had two children: the Infante Carlos (born February 18, 1520 – died April 15, 1521) and the Infanta Maria (born June 8, 1521, and who was later one of the richest princesses of Europe). She became a widow on December 13, 1521 when Manuel died of the plague. As Queen Dowager of Portugal, Eleanor returned to the court of Carlos in Spain. Eleanor’s sister Catherine later married Eleanor’s stepson, King João III of Portugal.

King François I of France

In July 1523, Eleanor was engaged to Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, in an alliance between Charles and Bourbon against France, but the marriage never took place. In 1526, Eleanor was engaged to King François I of France during his captivity in Spain.

In 1529, by the treaty called “La Paz de las Damas” (The Ladies’ Peace), it was stipulated that the marriage should take place. She was married to François on July 4, 1530. They had no children.

Eleanor left Spain in the company of her future stepsons, who were now to be released having been held hostage by her brother. The group met François at the border, where Eleanor and François were married, and then departed for an official entrance to Bordeaux. Eleanor was crowned Queen of France in Saint-Denis on May 31, 1531. She was dressed in purple velvet at her coronation. Eleanor was ignored by Francis, who seldom performed his marital obligations and preferred his lover Anne de Pisseleu d’Heilly.

At the official entrance of Eleanor to Paris, François displayed himself openly to the public in a window with his lover Anne for a period of two hours.

Queen Eleanor performed as the queen of France at official occasions, such as at the wedding between her stepson Henri and Catherine de’ Medici in 1533. She also performed charity and was praised for this. She also took her stepdaughters, Madeleine and Margaret, into her household to raise them further.

As the French queen, Eleanor did not have any political power; however, she was used as a contact between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Queen Eleanor was present at the peace negotiations between and Carlos in Aigues-Mortes in 1538. In 1544, she was given the task of entering peace negotiations with Charles and their sister Mary. In November 1544, she visited Carlos in Brussels.

Later life

François died at the Château de Rambouillet on March 15, 1547, on his son and successor’s 28th birthday. It is said that “he died complaining about the weight of a crown that he had first perceived as a gift from God.” He was interred with his first wife, Claude, Duchess of Brittany, in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his son, Henri II.

As a queen dowager, Eleanor left France for Brussels in 1548. She witnessed the abdication of Carlos I of Spain in October 1555 and left for Spain with him and their sister Mary in August 1556. She lived with her sister in Jarandilla de la Vera, where they often visited their brother, who retired to a monastery nearby. In 1558, she met her daughter Maria in Badajoz for the first time in 28 years. Eleanor died in 1558 on the return trip from Badajoz. Her brother Carlos, former Holy Roman Emperor Emperor and King of Spain, died in September of the same year.

This date in History. October 12, 1822: Dom Pedro of Portugal is proclaimed Emperor of Brazil.

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Empire of Brazil, Franz I of Austria, John VI of Portugal, Kingdom of Portugal, Maria II of Portugal, Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro IV of Portugal

Pedro I (October 12, 1798 – September 24, 1834), nicknamed “the Liberator”, was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Pedro IV, he reigned briefly over Portugal, where he also became known as “the Liberator” as well as “the Soldier King.”

Pedro was born on October 12, 1798 in the Queluz Royal Palace near Lisbon, Portugal. He was named after St. Peter of Alcantara, and his full name was Pedro de Alcântara Francisco António João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim. He was referred to using the honorific “Dom” (Lord) from birth.

Pedro I-IV, Emperor of Brazil, King of Portugal and the Algarves.

Through his father, Prince Dom João (later King João VI of Portugal) Pedro was a member of the House of Braganza and a grandson of King Pedro III and Queen Maria I of Portugal, who were uncle and niece as well as husband and wife. His mother was Infanta Doña Carlota Joaquina of Spain (1775 –1830), and was by birth a member of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon and an Infanta of Spain and by marriage Queen consort of Portugal.

Doña Carlota Joaquina of Spain, Queen consort of Portugal.

King João VI of Portugal and the Algarves.

Eldest daughter of King Carlos IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma, she was married in May 1785 aged 10 with Infante João, Lord of the Infantado and Duke of Beja, second son of Queen Maria I of Portugal, in an attempt to cement ties between the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal.

Pedro’s parents had an unhappy marriage. Carlota Joaquina was an ambitious woman, who always sought to advance Spain’s interests, even to the detriment of Portugal’s. Reputedly unfaithful to her husband, she went as far as to plot his overthrow in league with dissatisfied Portuguese nobles.

As the second eldest son (though the fourth child), Pedro became his father’s heir apparent and Prince of Beira upon the death of his elder brother Francisco António in 1801. Prince Dom João had been acting as regent on behalf of his mother, Queen Maria I, after she was declared incurably insane in 1792. By 1802, Pedro’s parents were estranged; João lived in the Mafra National Palace and Carlota Joaquina in Ramalhão Palace. Pedro and his siblings resided in the Queluz Palace with their grandmother Maria I, far from their parents, whom they saw only during state occasions at Queluz.

In late November 1807, when Pedro was nine, the royal family escaped from Portugalas an invading French army sent by Napoleon approached Lisbon. Pedro and his family arrived in Rio de Janeiro, capital of Brazil, then Portugal’s largest and wealthiest colony, in March 1808. During the voyage, Pedro read Virgil’s Aeneidand conversed with the ship’s crew, picking up navigational skills.

In Brazil, after a brief stay in the City Palace, Pedro settled with his younger brother Migueland their father in the Palace of São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher). Although never on intimate terms with his father, Pedro loved him and resented the constant humiliation his father suffered at the hands of Carlota Joaquina due to her extramarital affairs. As an adult, Pedro would openly call his mother, for whom he held only feelings of contempt, a “bitch.” The early experiences of betrayal, coldness and neglect had a great impact on the formation of Pedro’s character.

The outbreak of the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Lisbon compelled Pedro I’s father to return to Portugal in April 1821, leaving him to rule Brazil as regent. He had to deal with threats from revolutionaries and insubordination by Portuguese troops, all of which he subdued. The Portuguese government’s threat to revoke the political autonomy that Brazil had enjoyed since 1808 was met with widespread discontent in Brazil. Pedro I chose the Brazilian side and declared Brazil’s independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822. On 12 October 12, 1822 he was acclaimed Brazilian emperor and by March 1824 had defeated all armies loyal to Portugal. A few months later, Pedro I crushed the short-lived Confederation of the Equator, a failed secession attempt by provincial rebels in Brazil’s northeast.

Emperor Pedro I of Brazil

Pedro’s character was marked by an energetic drive that bordered on hyperactivity. He was impetuous with a tendency to be domineering and short-tempered. Easily bored or distracted, in his personal life he entertained himself with dalliances with women in addition to his hunting and equestrian activities.

His restless spirit compelled him to search for adventure, and, sometimes in disguise as a traveler, he frequented taverns in Rio de Janeiro’s disreputable districts. He rarely drank alcohol, but was an incorrigible womanizer. His earliest known lasting affair was with a French dancer called Noémi Thierry, who had a stillborn child by him. Pedro’s father, who had ascended the throne as João VI, sent Thierry away to avoid jeopardizing the prince’s betrothal to Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria.

Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria.

She was born Caroline Josepha Leopoldine Franziska Ferdinanda of Habsburg-Lorraine in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II (Franz I, Emperor of Austria) and his second wife, Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily. Among her many siblings were Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

On May 13, 1817, Pedro was married by proxy to Maria Leopoldina. When she arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 5 November 5, she immediately fell in love with Pedro, who was far more charming and attractive than she had been led to expect. After “years under a tropical sun, his complexion was still light, his cheeks rosy.” The 19-year-old prince was handsome and a little above average in height, with bright dark eyes and dark brown hair. “His good appearance”, said historian Neill Macaulay, “owed much to his bearing, proud and erect even at an awkward age, and his grooming, which was impeccable. Habitually neat and clean, he had taken to the Brazilian custom of bathing often.” The Nuptial Mass, with the ratification of the vows previously taken by proxy, occurred the following day. Seven children resulted from this marriage: Maria (later Queen Maria II of Portugal), Miguel, João, Januária, Paula, Francisca and Pedro (later Emperor Pedro II of Brazil).

A secessionist rebellion in the southern province of Cisplatina in early 1825, and the subsequent attempt by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to annex it, led the Empire into the Cisplatine War. In March 1826, Pedro I briefly became king of Portugal before abdicating in favor of his eldest daughter, Dona Maria II. The situation worsened in 1828 when the war in the south resulted in Brazil’s loss of Cisplatina. During the same year in Lisbon, Maria II’s throne was usurped by Prince Dom Miguel, Pedro I’s younger brother. The Emperor’s concurrent and scandalous sexual affair with a female courtier tarnished his reputation. Other difficulties arose in the Brazilian parliament, where a struggle over whether the government would be chosen by the monarch or by the legislature dominated political debates from 1826 to 1831. Unable to deal with problems in both Brazil and Portugal simultaneously, on April 7, 1831 Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son Dom Pedro II, and sailed for Europe.

Pedro I invaded Portugal at the head of an army in July 1832. Faced at first with what seemed a national civil war, he soon became involved in a wider conflict that enveloped the Iberian Peninsula in a struggle between proponents of liberalism and those seeking a return to absolutism. Pedro I died of tuberculosis on 24 September 1834, just a few months after he and the liberals had emerged victorious. He was hailed by both contemporaries and posterity as a key figure who helped spread the liberal ideals that allowed Brazil and Portugal to move from absolutist regimes to representative forms of government.

Except for bouts of epilepsy that manifested in seizures every few years, Pedro had always enjoyed robust health. The war, however, undermined his constitution and by 1834 he was dying of tuberculosis. He was confined to his bed in Queluz Royal Palace from September 10. Pedro dictated an open letter to the Brazilians, in which he begged that a gradual abolition of slavery be adopted. He warned them: “Slavery is an evil, and an attack against the rights and dignity of the human species, but its consequences are less harmful to those who suffer in captivity than to the Nation whose laws allow slavery. It is a cancer that devours its morality.” After a long and painful illness, Pedro died at 14:30 on September 24, 1834. As he had requested, his heart was placed in Porto’s Lapa Church and his body was interred in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza