Infanta Beatrice of Portugal ( ; 31 December 1504 – 8 January 1538) was a Portuguese princess by birth and a Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Charles III, Duke of Savoy. She was the ruling countess of Asti from 1531 to 1538.
Life
She was the second daughter of
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), 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 Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...
fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
dom from her cousin and brother-in-law, Emperor Charles V, which on her death was inherited by her son and permanently included in the Savoys' heritage.
In 1534, she welcomed
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark (; November 1521 – 10 December 1590) was a Denmark, Danish princess, the younger surviving daughter of Christian II, King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Isabella of Austria. By her two marriages, she became List ...
, a ward of her brother-in-law the Emperor, on her way to her marriage with the Duke of Milan. When Christina was widowed in 1535, the Milanese Count Stampa suggested a marriage between Christina and the eldest son of Beatrice, Louis, the heir of Savoy, in an attempt to protect Milan from Imperial sovereignty. Beatrice supported the plan, and when Louis died, she suggested that her next son could replace him. Nothing more was heard of this, however. In April 1536, Beatrice fled from the French conquest of Savoy to Christina in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
in the company of two of her surviving children and the
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin (), also known as the Holy Shroud (), is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because details of the image are consistent with depiction of Jesus, traditional depictions o ...
from
Chambéry
Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...
. In May, she was able to visit the Emperor with Christina in
Pavia
Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086.
The city was a major polit ...
, but without any political result. She then lived as a guest with Christina in Milan, with whom she was good friends. In November 1537, Beatrice was escorted by the Imperial viceroy of Milan to the Emperor in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, but again, the meeting was without any result. She continued to
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionEmmanuel Philibert (Chambéry, 8 July 1528 – Turin, 30 August 1580); only surviving child and later Duke of Savoy
*Catherine (25 November 1529 – May 1536), died in childhood.
*Marie (12 June 1530 – 1531), died in infancy.
*Isabella (May 1532 – 24 September 1533), died in early childhood.
*Emmanuel (born and died May 1533)
*Emmanuel (born and died May 1534)
*Gianmaria (3 December 1537 – 8 January 1538), died in infancy.
After the death of the childless Sebastian of Portugal (her grand-nephew), her son fought for his rights to become
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 Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Thro ...
; however, he failed and the throne was given to Isabella's son
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...