Infante John, Constable of Portugal ( pt, João, ; 13 January 1400 – 18 October 1442) was a Portuguese ''

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 th ...

'' (prince) of the House of Aviz,

Constable of Portugal {{Short description, Defunct office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal Constable of Portugal ( pt, Condestável de Portugal) was an office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in 1382, to substitute the High Standard-bearer ('' Alferes-Mor'' ...

and master of the Portuguese Order of St. James (Santiago). In Portugal, he is commonly referred to as the ''O Infante Condestável'' ("the Constable Prince").

Early life

Infante John was the son of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

John I of Portugal and his wife

Philippa of Lancaster Philippa of Lancaster ( pt, Filipa ; 31 March 1360 – 19 July 1415) was Queen of Portugal from 1387 until 1415 by marriage to King John I. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage secured the Treaty of Windsor and produced severa ...

. John and his brothers Edward,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

, sister

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

and half-brother Afonso, constitute what Portuguese historians have traditionally labelled the ' illustrious generation' (''Ínclita Geração'')

Royal career

He was invested as the 1st Lord of

Reguengos de Monsaraz Reguengos de Monsaraz () is a municipality in Évora District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 10,828, in an area of 464.00 km2. The City of Reguengos de Monsaraz proper has a population of 7,308. The present Mayor is José Calixto, el ...

, Colares and Belas shortly after. In October 1418, at the king's request, Pope Martin V approved the appointment of Infante John as the 10th Master of the Order of St. James of the Sword, bringing the old military order into the hands of the royal family.Bull of Pope Martin V appointing John master of Santiago can be found in ''Monumenta Henricina'', vol. 2
p.301
/ref> That same year (1418), John and his brother Henry the Navigator led a relief fleet to Ceuta and helped lift the Siege of Ceuta. After the death of

Nuno Álvares Pereira D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, O. Carm. (; 24 June 1360 – 1 November 1431) was a Portuguese general of great success who had a decisive role in the 1383-1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile. He later became a mystic ...

in 1431, Infante John was appointed the 3rd

. As a result, John is frequently characterised by the appellation ''O Infante Condestável'' ("The Constable Prince"). After King John I's death in 1433, John's eldest brother ascended the throne as king

Edward of Portugal Edward ( pt, Duarte (; 31 October 1391 – 9 September 1438), also called Edward the King Philosopher (''Duarte o Rei-Filósofo'') or the Eloquent (''o Eloquente''), was the King of Portugal from 1433 until his death. He was born in Viseu, the so ...

. In 1437, Infante John joined another brother

Peter, Duke of Coimbra Infante D. Pedro, Duke of Coimbra KG (; en, Peter), (9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, son of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt ...

, in arguing against a projected Portuguese expedition to seize Tangier that led to the Battle of Tangier. The campaign ended in disaster. After the Tangier fiasco, John urged the ratification of a treaty with

Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

Morocco that called for the relinquishment of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

in exchange for his captive brother

Ferdinand the Holy Prince Ferdinand the Holy Prince (; pt, Fernando o Infante Santo; 29 September 1402 – 5 June 1443), sometimes called the "Saint Prince" or the "Constant Prince", was an ''infante'' of the Kingdom of Portugal. He was the youngest of the " Illustrious G ...

. The Cortes refused, and Ferdinand was left to die in captivity.

Duke of Coimbra Rebellion

King Edward died in September 1438, leaving a young son to ascend the throne as king

Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Afri ...

under the regency of his widow Eleanor of Aragon. This was an unpopular arrangement among the common people of the country, who feared Eleanor would be a puppet of the high nobility who sought to recover the political privileges they lost during the revolution of the 1380s. The prospect of civil war raised its head. To forestall a rebellion, Infante John quickly seized control of Lisbon and oversaw the assembly of a burgher-packed

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

to elect his brother Peter of Coimbra as regent for his nephew Afonso V. The high nobility, led by his half-brother

Afonso of Barcelos Dom Afonso I of Braganza (; 10 August 1377 – 15 December 1461) was the first duke of Braganza and the eighth count of Barcelos. He founded the House of Braganza, the most powerful and wealthy dynasty in Portugal. His descendants became high-ra ...

, urged Eleanor to hold fast, and a tense power-sharing regency arrangement was agreed upon between Peter and Eleanor. Peter of Coimbra relied on his close alliance with Infante John to secure the lion's share of power during the first few years of the regency. Infante John's sudden death in October 1442 was a terrible blow to Peter, who thereafter found it increasingly difficult to fend off the aspirations of his half-brother Afonso of Barcelos. Regent Peter appointed John's son Diogo of Portugal to succeed his father as Master of the Order of Santiago and Constable of Portugal.

Marriage and Issue

In 1424, John married his half-niece Isabella of Barcelos, daughter of his half-brother

. The couple had four children: *Infante Diogo of Portugal (1425–1443) – 4th

and 11th Master of the Order of St. James; without issue. *Infanta Isabella of Portugal (1428–1496), married

John II of Castile John II of Castile ( es, link=no, Juan; 6 March 1405 – 20 July 1454) was King of Castile and León from 1406 to 1454. He succeeded his older sister, Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, as Prince of Asturias in 1405. Regency John was the ...

, mother of Isabella I of Castile. *Infanta

Beatrice of Portugal Beatrice ( pt, Beatriz, ; 7–13 February 1373 – ) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Teles. She became Queen consort of Castile by marriage to King John I of Castile. Following her fat ...

(1430–1506), married

Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and Beja (or ''Fernando,'' , 17 November 1433 – 18 September 1470) was the third son of Edward, King of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, Eleanor of Aragon. Biography Ferdinand w ...

, mother of

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 Portuga ...

. *Infanta Phillipa of Portugal (1432–1444), Lady of

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population in 2011 was 174,030, in a ...

Ancestry

References

"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. I, pages 296–297. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:John, Constable of Portugal Portuguese infantes House of Aviz 1400 births 1442 deaths People from Santarém, Portugal 15th-century Portuguese people Constables of Portugal Sons of kings