Maria Manuela of Portugal was born on 15 October 1527 as the daughter of King John III of Portugal and his wife, Catherine of Austria. She was their second child but the first surviving one. Seven more siblings would follow, but just one brother would live long enough to father an heir. The archbishop of [read more]
Royal uncle-niece marriages happened several times over the years. These marriages often happened for strategic reasons, such as land or power, but also because of rank and status. There simply weren’t enough others of high enough rank for marriage. The offspring of such marriages often suffered from genetic abnormalities, such as the famous Habsburg jaw. [read more]
The future Queen Isabella I of Castile had made a daring choice by marrying the future King Ferdinand II of Aragon against the wishes of her half-brother King Henry IV of Castile and even proudly displayed the bloodstained sheets to the waiting officials after the wedding night. Isabella and her half-brother had a volatile relationship [read more]
The sudden death of Queen Isabella I of Castile’s only son, John, Prince of Asturias, and the subsequent stillbirth of his daughter made Isabella’s namesake eldest daughter the new heiress presumptive. The younger Isabella married Afonso, Prince of Portugal, in 1491, but he died in a horse-riding accident a few months later. After returning home to her [read more]
Read part one here. After a proxy wedding, Maria left Castile as Queen of Portugal on 23 September 1500. Her parents travelled with her to Santa Fe, where they said their goodbyes. She would never see them again. Maria entered Portugal through the town of Mouro on 20 October 1500. She met her new husband [read more]
Maria of Aragon was born on 29 June 1482 as the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Her mother had been pregnant with twins, and Maria’s twin was stillborn a day and a half later. It is unclear if her twin was a boy or a girl. Maria [read more]
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