Maria Sofia of the Palatinate
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pt, Maria Sofia Isabel , succession =
Queen consort of Portugal Portugal had only two queens regnant: Maria I of Portugal, Maria I and Maria II of Portugal, Maria II (and, arguably, two more: Beatrice of Portugal, Beatriz for a short period of time in the 14th century; and Teresa of León, Countess of Portu ...
, reign = 11 August 1687 – 4 August 1699 , spouse = , issue =
João, Prince of Brazil João, Prince of Brazil (August 30 – September 17, 1688 in Lisbon) was the first child of Peter II of Portugal and Maria Sophia of Neuburg. He was made Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza The title Duke of Braganza ( pt, Duque de Bragança) ...

John V of Portugal Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 December 1706 ...

Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja
Infante António
Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém, KGF (; ''Manuel José Francisco António Caetano Estêvão Bartolomeu''; ( Lisbon, 3 August 1697 - Quinta de Belas, 3 August 1766) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince), seventh child of Peter II, King of Portug ...

Infanta Francisca Josefa , house =
Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...
, father =
Philip William, Elector Palatine Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine (german: Philipp Wilhelm) (24 November 1615 – 2 September 1690) was Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1653 to 1690, Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1679 and Elector of the Palatinate from 1685 to 1 ...
, mother =
Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt en, Elizabeth Amelia Magdalena of Hesse-Darmstadt , image= Elisabeth Amalia Magdalena im Jahr 1705.jpg , caption= Portrait by Jan Frans van Douven, c. 1705. , succession = Electress Palatine , consort=yes , reign=26 May 1685 - 2 September 1690 , ...
, birth_date = , birth_place =
Schloss Benrath Schloss Benrath (Benrath Palace) is a Baroque-style ''maison de plaisance'' (pleasure palace) in Benrath, which is now a borough of Düsseldorf. It was erected for the Elector Palatine Charles Theodor and his wife, Countess Palatine Elisabeth ...
,
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, death_date = , death_place = Ribeira Palace,
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 ...
, Portugal , religion =
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, burial_place =
São Vicente de Fora SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
, Lisbon, Portugal Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (6 August 1666 – 4 August 1699) was Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Peter II from 1687 until her death in 1699. A popular queen, she was noted for her extraordinary generosity and for being the mother of the famously extravagant
John V of Portugal Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 December 1706 ...
.


Life

Maria Sophia was born at the
Schloss Benrath Schloss Benrath (Benrath Palace) is a Baroque-style ''maison de plaisance'' (pleasure palace) in Benrath, which is now a borough of Düsseldorf. It was erected for the Elector Palatine Charles Theodor and his wife, Countess Palatine Elisabeth ...
outside
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
what is now
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Her father Philip William was the reigning Count Palatine of Neuburg. In 1685 he became
Elector Palatine The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...
following the death of his cousin Charles II, an inheritance that greatly increased the family's status within
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In December 1676, Maria Sophia's sister Eleonore Magdalene was married to
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria ...
owing to the family's reputation as producing fertile women. After two marriages, Leopold had no living male heirs. The new Empress Eleonore Magdalene fulfilled her function and quickly mothered two future
Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
s ( Joseph I and Charles VI). A similar succession crisis was occurring in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
.
Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira Infanta Isabel Luísa of Portugal (6 January 1669 – 21 October 1690) was a Portuguese ''infanta'' and the sole daughter of Peter II of Portugal and his first wife and former sister-in-law Maria Francisca of Savoy. She was the heir presumpt ...
, heiress to the throne and only daughter of King Peter II, was childless and had been refused by most European sovereigns due to her sickly nature and strict Portuguese succession rights. As a result, the Portuguese ambassador Manuel da Silva Teles was sent to
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
to ask for the hand of Maria Sophia, with the encouragement of Empress Eleonore Magdalene. The embassy left Lisbon on 8 December 1686 and the marriage contract was signed on 22 May 1687. A
dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
of 100,000
florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
was agreed on.


Queen

Following her
proxy marriage A proxy wedding or proxy marriage is a wedding in which one or both of the individuals being united are not physically present, usually being represented instead by other persons. If both partners are absent a double proxy wedding occurs. Marriage ...
on 2 July 1687 in Heidelberg, Maria Sophia left her native Germany the following August. She travelled up the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
to receive the honours of all courts along the river. At Brila, Maria Sophia embarked on an English yacht that was put at her disposal by order of
James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...
. She was accompanied by an English fleet that travelled to
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
with the Duke of Grafton, son of the late
Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
. The new queen arrived in Lisbon 12 August 1687 amid great celebration and the same day the couple was formally married by the Archbishop of Lisbon at Ribeira Palace. Supposedly
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
was "greatly chagrined" by Peter's decision to marry a daughter of the Elector Palatine and not a French princess, as he had hoped.Stephens, 336 The young queen quickly gained the affection of her stepdaughter Isabel Luísa, who was herself less than three years younger than Maria Sophia. She was also loved by her husband, who was quickly presented with a son the year after his marriage. The son survived only three weeks, but a year later, Maria Sophia had another son who would succeed his father as
John V of Portugal Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 December 1706 ...
. As an adult, he would marry his first cousin
Maria Anna of Austria Maria Anna of Austria (Maria Anna Josepha Antonia Regina; 7 September 1683 – 14 August 1754) was Queen of Portugal as the wife of King John V of Portugal. She served as the regent of Portugal from 1742 until 1750 during the illness of her hus ...
, daughter of Empress Eleonore Magdalene. Maria Sophia was described as gentle, and Peter reportedly treated her with respect. While she clashed with her widowed sister-in-law Catherine of Braganza on matters of
etiquette Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...
, she was described as a popular queen who was decidedly generous and set about helping the poor of Lisbon.Thomson, 17 Her pious nature also made her a popular queen. She was frequently involved with
charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...
that supported widows and orphans and allowed poor patients access to medical care at the royal palace. She had a very intimate friendship with Father Bartolomeu do Quental, who died with the reputation of a
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
. In Beja, she financed the foundation of a
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
school. She died in Lisbon of fever, possibly a symptom of
erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...
, on 4 August 1699, two days before her thirty-third birthday. Her body was laid to rest at the
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora The Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls", is a 17th-century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most important monasteries and mannerist buildings in ...
in Lisbon.


Issue


Ancestry


References


Publications

* ''Triumpho Lusitano'', applausos festivos, sumptuosidades regias nos augustissimos desposorios do inclito D. Pedro II com a serenissima Maria Sofia Izabel de Baviera, monarchas de Portugal, por Manuel de Leão; Bruxelas, 1688; * ''Heptaphonon'', ou portico de sete vozes, consagrado à magestade defunta da senhora D. Maria Sophia Izabel de Neuburgo, por Pascoal Ribeiro Coutinho, Lisboa, 1699; * ''Sermão das exequias da Serenissima Rainha Nossa Senhora'' D. Maria Sophia Izabel, prégado na Villa de Santo Amaro das Grotas do Rio de Sergipe, por Frei António da Piedade, Lisboa, 1703; * ''Sentimento lamentavel'', que a dor mais sentida em lagrimas tributa na intempestiva morte da Serenissima Rainha de Portugal D. Maria Sophia Izabel e Neuburgo, por Bernardino Botelho de Oliveira, Lisboa, 1699; * ''Oração funebre nas exequias da Rainha'' D. Maria Sophia Izabel, celebradas na Real Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa, por D. Diogo da Anunciação Justiniano, Lisboa, 1699. *Stephens, Henry Morse. ''Portugal''. Putnam, 1903. The Story of the Nations. ''Google Books''. Web. 27 May 2010. . *Thomson, Mark Alméras., Ragnhild Marie Hatton, and J. S. Bromley. ''William III and Louis XIV: Essays 1680-1720''. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1968. ''Google Books''. Web.


External links


Genealogy of the House of Braganza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Sophia of Neuburg 1666 births 1699 deaths Burials at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora House of Braganza Countesses Palatine of Neuburg House of Wittelsbach Nobility from Düsseldorf Portuguese queens consort Infectious disease deaths in Portugal 17th-century Portuguese people 17th-century Portuguese women