Manuel António of Portugal (24 February 1600 in Delft – 27 October 1666 in

Schagen Schagen () is a city and municipality in the northwestern Netherlands. It is located between Alkmaar and Den Helder, in the region of West Friesland and the province of North Holland. It received city rights in 1415. In 2013, Schagen merged wit ...

) was a Portuguese nobleman.

Youth

He was born as son of Manuel of Portugal and

Countess Emilia of Nassau Countess Emilia of Nassau (10 April 1569 – 16 March 1629) was the third and youngest daughter of William the Silent and his second wife Anna of Saxony. Biography Emilia was born in Cologne. She is named after Amalia of Neuenahr who was in charg ...

who was a daughter of

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

. Manuel António's father, Manuel of Portugal, was an illegitimate son of the Portuguese

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

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 ...

. Initially Manuel António was raised by his mother as a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. However, in 1612, his father sent him together with his brother Louis William to their uncle Christoph in France, where he received a Catholic education.Kamp, Sp. 272. Already in 1613, his uncle, the Stadtholder

Maurice of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

, promoted him as captain, because of the income associated with this position and not with the aim to take over a military command. From 1619 – 1623 he was governor of the

Principality of Orange The Principality of Orange (french: la Principauté d'Orange; oc, Principat d'Aurenja) was, from 1163 to 1713, a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city of Avignon, an ...

for his uncle Maurice. Apparently in this respect it was relevant that he attended Catholic church services and that the majority of the population of the Principality of Orange was Catholic. The vice governor Valckenburg was in charge of official functions. He lived a lavish life, spend more money than was available and had to be ordered back early by his uncle in 1623. He continued to receive the corresponding pay of 6,000

Guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

until the next Stadtholder, Frederick Henry who ruled from 1625, cancelled the payments.

Church and military

Without a source of income in 1626 he had to leave together with his father for

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

where they were cordially received. Manuel António started a military career as

Rittmeister __NOTOC__ (German and Scandinavian for "riding master" or "cavalry master") is or was a military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in the armies of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A ''Rittmeister'' is typic ...

in service of Spain and at the archducal court. This career was short-lived. On 15 July 1628 he joined — in presence of Isabella Clara Eugenia and all of her court — the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

and took the religious name Felix a Santa Isabella. He joined the Carmelite monastery in Brussels where he was ordained. From 1628 to 1633 he was a priest but fled from the monastery back to Holland where on 15 January 1634 in Delft he converted again to Calvinism.Dek, Johann der Mittlere, p. 91. In 1638 he assumed the title ''Prince of Portugal'' and on 12 June 1638 he re-joined the service of the States-General as Rittmeister with the

cuirassier Cuirassiers (; ) were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adop ...

s. Shortly thereafter he was captured near

Geldern Geldern ( nl, Gelderen, archaic English: ''Guelder(s)'') is a city in the federal German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is part of the district of Kleve, which is part of the Düsseldorf administrative region. Geography Location Geldern l ...

Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known as Don Fernando de Austria, Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and as Ferdinand von Österreich; May 1609 or 1610 – 9 November 1641) was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic ...

and General

Guillaume de Lamboy Guillaume III de Lamboy de Dessener, 1590 to 1659, was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Army, who served in the 1618 to 1648 Thirty Years War, and the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War. Born in Kortessem, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now Li ...

, taken to Brussels and — on his request — transferred to "his" monastery. But apparently this was only done under compulsion of captivity, as he escaped again, returned to Holland and converted again on 4 April 1643 to the Protestant faith.

Marriage

On 14 December 1646 he married in Delft Countess Johanna of Hanau-Münzenberg-Schwarzenfels (1610 – 13 September 1673 in Delft), widow of Wild- and

Rhinegrave (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

Wolfgang Friedrich of

Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan * House of Salm, a European ...

. This relation produced the following offspring: *Wilhelmina Amalia (1647 – 14 November 1647) *Elisabeth Maria (b. 20 November 1648 in Delft, d. 15 October 1717 in

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek River. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

), married on 11 April 1678 with Lieutenant colonel Baron Adriaan of Gent (16 February 1645 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

– 10 August 1708) The sources point out that the countess — who descended from an impoverished branch of her family, which had been buffeted by the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

— brought little to the marriage.Kamp, Sp. 273. Debts weighed heavily on Manuel António and included child support of 300 fl. per year for his illegitimate son William (b. 1646) whose mother was one Dina Borremans.

Late career

In 1645 he became

Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...

of a Dutch company

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

and was soon promoted to

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

. In 1656 he became governor of Steenwijk and Commandant of

Elburg Elburg () is a municipality and a city in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. History There is evidence of a Neolithic settlement at Elburg consisting of stone tools and pottery shards. From Roman times there are names and shards of earthenw ...

. He died on 27 October 1666 in Schagen and was entombed in Delft.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* A. W. E. Dek: ''Graf Johann der Mittlere von Nassau-Siegen und seine 25 Kinder''. Rijswijk 1962. * A. W. E. Dek: ''De afstammelingen van Juliana van Stolberg tot aan het jaar van de Vrede van Munster''. In: ''Spiegel der Historie'' 3, 7/8 (1968). * J. L. J. van Kamp: ''Nog een tak afstammelingen van Willem de Zwijger''. In: ''De nederlandsche Leeuw''. Heft LXXIV, 9 (September 1957), Spalte 266 – 287; 306 – 316. * Detlev Schwennicke: ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der europäischen Staaten''. Band 3,3. Frankfurt 1958. * Reinhard Suchier: ''Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses'' in: ''Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894'', Hanau 1894. {{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel Antonio of Portugal 1600 births 1666 deaths Dutch people of Portuguese descent 17th-century Dutch people House of Aviz Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism People from Delft