Francisco de Portugal, also known as Francis II of Portugal, 3rd

Count of Vimioso Count of Vimioso (in Portuguese ''Conde de Vimioso'') is a Portuguese title of nobility which have its origins in Alphonse, Bishop of Évora, the natural son of Alphonse, 4th Count of Ourém and 1st Marquis of Valença (eldest son of Alphonse ...

(c. 1550 – 1582), was the eldest son and heir of the 2nd Count of Vimioso, Afonso de Portugal (Alphonse of Portugal). He was one of the few high-ranking Portuguese nobles to support the claims of

António, Prior of Crato António, Prior of Crato (; 153126 August 1595; sometimes called ''The Determined'', ''The Fighter'', ''The Independentist'' or ''The Resistant''), was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal who claimed the Portuguese throne during the 1580 d ...

, during the

War of the Portuguese Succession The War of the Portuguese Succession, a result of the extinction of the Portuguese royal line after the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and the ensuing Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, was fought from 1580 to 1583 between the two main claimants ...

(1580–1583).

Early life

As his first official position, he was appointed special ambassador to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

(1574) in order to negotiate the marriage of King

Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian ( pt, Sebastião I ; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and hi ...

to Princess Maximiliana of Bavaria (daughter of Duke

Albert V of Bavaria Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden. Early life Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic ...

), but the mission failed. Later, in 1578, along with his father, he participated in the royal crusade to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, and he fell prisoner to

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد المنصور, Ahmad Abu al-Abbas al-Mansur, also al-Mansur al-Dahabbi (the Golden), ar, أحمد المنصور الذهبي; and Ahmed al-Mansour; 1549 in Fes – 25 August 1603, Fes) was t ...

's armies during the

Battle of Ksar El Kebir A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. He managed to pay his ransom and even helped others to pay theirs. He returned to Europe through San Lucar, in southern Spain, where he was received with all honours by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, Alonso de Guzman. As he testified of the King's death during the battle, there and for the first time he supported ''Dom''

as the natural heir of the Portuguese throne, refuting the Spanish Duke's position for Philip II of Spain's claims.

Fight for freedom

After King Henry's death (31 January 1580), Francis of Portugal was one of the few members of the upper aristocracy to support actively ''Dom'' António as King of Portugal. He was appointed by the new King as his Constable, and they participated together in the

Battle of Alcântara (1580) The Battle of Alcântara took place on 25 August 1580, near the brook of Alcântara, in the vicinity of Lisbon, Portugal, and was a victory of the Habsburg King Philip II over the other pretender to the Portuguese throne, Dom António, Prior o ...

, defending Lisbon from the Spanish armies, led by the

Duke of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by ...

. With Philip's victory, both King Anthony I and the Count of Vimioso fled to exile, first in France and later in England. In 1582 he sailed, in the fleet led by the Italian adventurer Filippo Strozzi, to the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, the sole Portuguese territory that still recognised Anthony I as King of Portugal. He died on 29 July 1582, just after the naval

Battle of Vila Franca The naval Battle of Vila Franca do Campo, also known as Battle of Ponta Delgada and Naval Battle of Isla Terceira, took place on 26 July 1582, off the coast of the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, during the ...

off

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; Portuguese for "Saint Michael"), nicknamed "The Green Island" (''Ilha Verde''), is the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, wi ...

. Dom Francisco de Portugal was never married and had no issue. He was succeeded in his house by his younger brother, Louis of Portugal, 4th Count of Vimioso.

External links

Francisco de Portugal, Francis II, 3rd Count of Vimioso, in a Portuguese Genealogy site

Bibliography

*"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. III, Pages 539 and 540. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989. {{Authority control 1550s births 1582 deaths Counts of Vimoso 16th-century Portuguese people Portuguese nobility