![Palais royal de Queluz - Vue générale](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Palais_royal_de_Queluz_-_Vue_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale.jpg)
The House of the Infantado (
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
: ''Casa do Infantado'') was an
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
for the
second eldest son of the Portuguese monarch.
History
The House of the Infantado was created in 1654 by King
John IV of Portugal
John IV ( pt, João, ; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer ( pt, João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from H ...
from properties and riches confiscated from the
Marquis of Vila Real
Marquis of Vila Real (in Portuguese ''Marquês de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to ''Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II o ...
, supporters of
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
during the
Portuguese Restoration War
The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...
. It belonged to and was passed on to the second-born son of each King — i.e., the
Infante
''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...
that was not entitled to the crown — as his
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
. This member of the
Portuguese royal family
The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Ame ...
was known as the Lord of the House of the Infantado (''Senhor da Casa do Infantado'') or simply the Lord of the Infantado (''Senhor do Infantado'').
The measure was intended to "perpetuate and extend as much as possible the blood of the royal family." The extinction of the
House of Aviz
The House of Aviz (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Casa de Avis''), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (''Dinastia Joanina''), was a dynasty of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which flourished during the Portuguese Renaissance, Renaissance ...
in 1580 had brought the Kingdom of Portugal in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
with Spain, ''de facto'' subjecting the country to Spanish rule. Thus the country's independence depended also on the fertility of the royal house. With a large income, second sons are encouraged to marry to produce
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...
es capable of perpetuating the royal line.
The basis of the donation was the city of Beja, with the ducal title, which belonged to King
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, a ...
. As this income was not enough, the lands Vila Real and Caminha, confiscated in 1641, were added to it.
The donation covered the villages, places, castles,
padroado
The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and gra ...
s, land, forums, rights and duties for the second house, which guaranteed the title of ''Duke of Vila Real'' to the eldest son of
Infante Dom Pedro. The House continued to receive new grants from the crown: the fifth of Queluz and their appurtenances; the palaces and houses of Corte-Real in Lisbon, which had belonged to the 2nd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo; the town of Serpa and with their barns and de Moura; rents of the Military Order of Christ to which the infante had been named Commander; the marshlands of Golegã, Borba, Mouchões and Silveira, near the Tagus river, from São Liborio to Santarém; saboarias of Porto and villages and places of Entre Douro and Minho and Tras-os-Montes.
Other favors were added after the accession of
Afonso VI
Afonso VI (; 21 August 164312 September 1683), known as "the Victorious" (), was the second king of Portugal of the House of Braganza from 1656 until his death. He was initially under the regency of his mother, Luisa de Guzmán, until 1662, when ...
, giving Dom Pedro an annual grant of 1000 quintals of Brazil wood without payment of duties; and the purchase that he made from his sister, Queen
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, ...
, of the city of Lamego and the marsh of Magos.
Thus, it was not just dominial extension defining the House of Infantado, but the whole of their income in vast urban and rural areas from Tras-os-Montes to Alentejo. Its main wealth was agricultural, but also benefited from maritime interests (Caminha, Aveiro) and rivers. Thus, after the House of Braganza the Infantado was the wealthiest in the Kingdom in terms of seigneurial demesnes.
The primary purpose of the appanage was to enrich the secundogeniture infante with a source of income that would allow him to retain the status expected of a prince. However, the enormous wealth became a source of strife and discord as it did on the death of the
Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, brother of King
John V John V may refer to:
* Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616
* John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675
* Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686
* J ...
in 1742. The next younger brother of the King,
Dom António, claimed the succession to the House of Infantado, which was instead given to the second son of King John V, which greatly worsened the relationship between the two brothers.
Heritage
The following estates were part of the Casa do Infantado:
*Corte-Real Palace
*
Queluz Estate
*
Santa Maria da Feira Castle
*
Bemposta Palace
The Bemposta Palace ('), also known as the ''Paço da Rainha'' (''Queen’s Palace''), is a neoclassical palace in the area of Bemposta, now the civil parish of Pena (Lisbon), Pena, in Lisbon. It was originally built for Queen Dowager Catherine o ...
Lords of the Infantado
External links
Information about the National Palace of Queluz{{Portuguese royalty
Seigniories in Portugal