Dona Maria Manuela (15 October 1527 – 12 July 1545) was the eldest daughter and second child 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 his wife Catherine of Austria. She was

Princess of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias ( es, link=no, Príncipe/Princesa de Asturias; ast, Príncipe d'Asturies) is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne of Spain. According to the Spanish Constitution ...

and

Duchess of Milan Lady of Milan Early consorts ''The name wives and consorts of the early Della Torre lords of Milan are not known. But Napoleone della Torre may have been married to a Margherita di Baux.'' House of Visconti, 1277–1302 House of della T ...

as the first wife of the future

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 ...

, and

Princess of Portugal Hereditary Prince of Portugal (Portuguese: ''Príncipe Herdeiro de Portugal''), unofficially Prince of Portugal (''Príncipe Herdeiro de Portugal''), or Princess of Portugal, was the title held by the heirs apparent and heirs presumptive to the ...

as heir presumptive to the Portuguese throne between 1527 and 1535.

Early life

Maria was born in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

on 15 October 1527 and was one of the two children of John III to survive childhood. In her youth, Maria received a humanistic education that was considered typical for a princess of her time.

Marriage and later life

She married her double first cousin

on 12 November 1543 at

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

. As she was to be married to the Prince of Asturias,

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the Spanish crown, and being an

Infanta ''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 ...

of Portugal, their wedding became one of the most remarkable in the history of Spain due to its opulence. Contemporary writers have left detailed descriptions of the journey from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

to Salamanca to receive the princess and of the luxuries she was given by the

Duke of Medina Sidonia Duke of Medina Sidonia ( es, Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John II of Castile in 1380.Carlos Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

on 8 July 1545 in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, but died four days later due to a

haemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, v ...

.Kamen p. 20 She was initially buried in the

Royal Chapel of Granada The Royal Chapel of Granada ( es, Capilla Real de Granada) is an Isabelline style building, constructed between 1505 and 1517, and originally integrated in the complex of the neighbouring Granada Cathedral. It is the burial place of the Spanish ...

on 30 March 1549 but was later transferred to Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial.

Ancestry

Coat of Arms of Maria Manuela of Portugal as Princess Consort of Asturias

Notes

References

* Kamen, Henry: ''Philip of Spain''. Yale University Press. 1998. . , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Manuela, Princess Of Portugal 1527 births 1545 deaths House of Aviz Princes of Portugal Princesses of Asturias Duchesses of Milan Austrian princesses Deaths in childbirth Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial People from Coimbra 16th-century Portuguese people 16th-century Portuguese women Wives of Philip II of Spain Children of John III of Portugal Daughters of kings