Maria Isabel of Braganza (Maria Isabel Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga; 19 May 1797 – 26 December 1818) was an Infanta of Portugal who became Queen of Spain as the second wife of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

Early years

Maria Isabel, born ''Maria Isabel Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga'', was born to

John VI of Portugal , house = Braganza , father = Peter III of Portugal , mother = Maria I of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal , death_date = , death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal , ...

and Carlota Joaquina of Spain on 19 May 1797. She was born as their third child and second daughter. The marriage between her father and mother was unhappy, Carlota Joaquina attempting to have King John VI deemed insane. In 1807

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

invaded Portugal, and the royal family unwillingly fled to Brazil. Maria Isabel’s mother Carlota sent her eldest surviving son, Pedro, to join his father and grandmother onboard the ship Principe Real whilst Carlota and the rest of her children would board the Affonso d’Albuquerque. Upon their arrival, Carlota and her children were forced to shave their heads and wear white muslin hats.

Upbringing

Maria Isabel and her siblings were carefully educated by her mother liberally. Maria Isabel was noted to be kind, balanced and shy, and was much like her father within her personality.

Marriage

On 20 March 1816, Queen Maria I of Portugal perished. Due to this, Maria Isabel’s father John became the

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 Brazil. On 22 February 1816 marriage contracts between Ferdinand VII of Spain and Maria Isabel were officially signed; they would soon marry 29 September 1816. Ferdinand was 32 years old and Maria Isabel was 19. Towards the end 1816 Maria Isabel and Ferdinand were married, and then settled in Madrid. There, Maria Isabel was then quickly pregnant. Maria Isabel gave birth to a daughter, who they named María Luisa Isabel, on 21 August 1817. María Luisa Isabel died four-five months later.

Death

Maria Isabel was pregnant soon after the birth of María Luisa Isabel, but the birth was indeed a difficult one: the baby was in

breech Breech may refer to: * Breech (firearms), the opening at the rear of a gun barrel where the cartridge is inserted in a breech-loading weapon * breech, the lower part of a pulley block * breech, the penetration of a boiler where exhaust gases leav ...

and the physicians soon found that the child had died. Maria Isabel stopped breathing soon thereafter and the doctors thought she was dead. Maria Isabel’s sister protested against the doctors' thoughts on presuming her dead. The king, however, ordered a fatal

caesarean Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

. When they started cutting her stomach to extract the dead fetus, she suddenly shouted in pain and collapsed on her bed, bleeding heavily. She died soon afterwards on 26 December 1818 in the Palace of Aranjuez, and was buried at the Escorial — the royal site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Legacy

Queen Maria Isabel's dedication and affection for art led her to gather many treasures from the past and create a royal museum, which would end up being the beginnings of

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

. It opened on 19 November 1819, a year after the queen's death.

Issue

Ancestors

Honours and arms

* Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa * Dame of the Order of Saint Isabel

References

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External links

Maria Isabel of Braganza
— The British Museum
Queen María Isabel of Braganza as founder of the Museo del Prado
— Museo Nacional Del Prado {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Isabel Of Braganza Spanish royal consorts Portuguese infantas House of Braganza House of Bourbon (Spain) 1797 births Deaths in childbirth 1818 deaths Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial People from Lisbon 18th-century Portuguese people 19th-century Portuguese people 18th-century Portuguese women 19th-century Portuguese women Daughters of kings