Henry ( pt, Henrique ; 31 January 1512 — 31 January 1580), dubbed the Chaste ( pt, o Casto, links=no) and the Cardinal-King ( pt, o Cardeal-Rei, links=no), was

king of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the n ...

and a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the Catholic Church, who ruled Portugal between 1578 and 1580. As a clergyman, he was bound to chastity, and as such, had no children to succeed him, and thus put an end to the reigning

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 ...

. 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

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...

. The next independent monarch of Portugal would be John IV, who restored the throne after 60 years of Spanish rule.

Life

Born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Henry was the fifth son of King Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon.

Cardinal

As the younger brother of

King John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the ...

and a younger son in the Royal Family, Henry was not expected to succeed to the Portuguese throne. Early in his life, Henry took Holy Orders to promote Portuguese interests within the Catholic Church, then dominated by Spain. He rose rapidly through the Church hierarchy, becoming in quick succession Archbishop of Braga, Archbishop of Évora, and Grand Inquisitor before being made a cardinal in 1545,Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Enrique de Portugal
Henry's brother Alonso had also been made a cardinal, in 1517 at the age of eight.

. with the title of Santi Quattro Coronati. From 1564 to 1570 he was Patriarch of Lisbon. Henry, more than anyone, endeavoured to bring the Jesuits to Portugal to encourage their activity in the

colonial empire A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas, settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state. Before the expansion of early mode ...

Reign

Henry served as regent for his great-nephew King Sebastian, replacing his sister-in-law and Sebastian's grandmother Queen dowager Catherine, following her resignation from the role in 1562.Disney, p. 174. 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. Henry 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

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, did not grant him that release.MacKay, p. 44.Disney, p. 176.

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 Philip II of Spain who, in November 1580, sent the Duke of Alba to claim Portugal by force.

soon fell, and Philip was elected king of Portugal at the

Portuguese Cortes In the Medieval Kingdom of Portugal, the Cortes was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm – the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie. It was called and dismissed by the King of Portugal at will, at a place of his choosing.O'Ca ...

of Tomar in 1581—on the condition that the kingdom and its overseas territories would not become Spanish provinces.

Ancestry

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Portugal 1512 births 1580 deaths 16th-century Portuguese cardinals 16th-century Portuguese monarchs Archbishops of Lisbon Bishops of Évora House of Aviz Portuguese infantes Regents of Portugal Roman Catholic archbishops of Braga