Beatrice of Portugal

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Beatrice
Queen of Portugal and the Algarve (disputed), Castile and León
Reign October 22, 1383 (in Portugal)April 6, 1385 (in Portugal)
Full name Beatriz de Borgonha
Titles Infanta of Portugal (1372–1383)
Born December 9, 1372
Birthplace Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal
Died March 8, 1408
Place of death Madrigal, Kingdom of Castile
Buried Toro, Zamora, Castile and León, Spain
Predecessor Ferdinand I of Portugal
Successor John I of Portugal
Consort John I of Castile (in Portugal)
Consort May 17, 1383 (in Castile and León)October 9, 1390 (in Castile and León)
Consort to John I of Castile (in Castile and León)
Issue Infante Miguel of Castile and Portugal
Royal House House of Burgundy
Father Ferdinand I of Portugal
Mother Leonor Telles de Menezes
Portuguese Royalty
House of Burgundy
Afonso Henriques (Afonso I)
Children include
Sancho I
Children include
Afonso II
Children include
Sancho II
Afonso III
Children include
Denis
Children include
Afonso IV
Children include
Peter I
Children include
Ferdinand I
Children include
  • Infanta Beatrice, Queen of Castile and Leon (future Beatrice I of Portugal)
Beatrice (disputed queen)
Children include
  • Infante Miguel of Castile and Portugal

Beatrice, in Portuguese Beatriz (pron. IPA[biɐ'tɾiʃ]), (9 December 1372, Coimbra – 8 March 1408) was the only daughter of King Fernando I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Telles de Menezes, a portuguese noble woman. She married King Juan I of Castile and claimed to be Queen of Portugal in the 1383-1385 Crisis that ended with her uncle João I of Portugal being acclaimed King of Portugal.

At the beginning of 1383, the political situation in Portugal was not peaceful. Beatrice was the King's only child, and heir to the throne, after her younger brothers' deaths in 1380 and 1382. Her marriage was the political issue of the day and inside the palace, factions lobbied constantly. Ferdinand arranged and cancelled his daughter's wedding several times before settling for his wife's first choice, King Juan I of Castile. Juan had lost his wife, Infanta Leonor of Aragon the year before, and was happy to take the Portuguese heiress. The wedding took place on May 17, 1383 in the Portuguese city of Elvas. Beatrice was only eleven years old.

King Ferdinand died shortly thereafter, on October 22, 1383. According to the treaty between Castile and Portugal, the Queen Mother, Leonor Telles de Menezes, became regent in the name of her daughter and son-in-law. But not everybody in Portugal was happy about this state of affairs. The loss of independence was unthinkable for the majority of Portuguese freemen. A rebellion led by the Master of the Order of Aviz, the future João I, began in that year, leading to the 1383-1385 Crisis.

King Juan invaded Portugal in 1384 to fight for his newly-born son Miguel's (1384-1385) rights to the crown. That war ended in the next year, with the utter defeat of Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota. In the aftermath of this battle, João I of Aviz became the uncontested King of Portugal. Beatrice was no longer on the throne of Portugal; she was merely the Queen Consort of Castile and Leon.

Beatrice died in 1408 in Madrigal, Castile.

There is some dispute among historians about Beatrice. She is rarely referred as Queen of Portugal, but some claim that at least for a short period she was Queen and so must be in the list of the Monarchs of Portugal. Others say that in the 1383-1385 period the country had no King or Queen, and so Beatrice could not be considered.

[edit] Sources

  • Williamson, David (1988). Debrett's Kings and Queens of Europe. Exeter: Webb & Bower. ISBN 0-86350-194-X. 
Beatrice of Portugal
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Born: 1372 Died: 1410
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Ferdinand I
Queen of Portugal and the Algarve
13831385
Succeeded by
John I
Spanish royalty
Preceded by
Eleanor of Aragon
Queen Consort of Castile and León
13831390
Succeeded by
Katherine of Lancaster