Infanta Beatrice of Portugal ( ; 31 December 1504 – 8 January 1538) was a Portuguese princess by birth and a
Duchess of Savoy
This is a list of consorts of the Savoyard monarchs.
Countess of Savoy, 1003–1416
Duchess of Savoy, 1416–1713
;As courtesy title
Queen of Sardinia, 1720–1861
Between 1859 and 1861 the Kingdom of Sardinia incorporated the majo ...
by marriage to
Charles III, Duke of Savoy
Charles III of Savoy (10 October 1486 – 17 August 1553), often called Charles the Good, was Duke of Savoy from 1504 to 1553, although most of his lands were ruled by the French between 1536 and his death. Ruling for nearly 49 years, he is the ...
. 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 ...
(1469–1521) and his second wife, Maria of Aragon (1482–1517). Her siblings included King
John III of Portugal
John III ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...
Elvira de Mendoza {{Short description, Spanish and Portuguese Court Official
Elvira de Mendoza (d. 1523), was a Spanish and Portuguese court official.
She was the daughter of the nobleman Juan Furtado de Mendoza, chief forester of Ferdinand and Isabella, and marrie ...
.
In
Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...
on 29 September 1521, Beatrice married Duke Charles III of Savoy. He had succeeded as the duke of Savoy in 1504, making Beatrice duchess at the moment of her wedding.
Beatrice was described as beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious. In 1531, she received the County of Asti as a
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
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
, 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
Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna.
List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti
In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...
. When Christina was widowed in 1535, the Milanese
Count Stampa
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
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
Sebastian ( ; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz.
He was the son of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and his wife, Joanna of Aus ...
(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 ...
.
Ancestry
See also
*
Descendants of Manuel I of Portugal
The Descendants of Manuel I of Portugal, of the House of Aviz, left a lasting mark on Portuguese history and royalty, and European history and royalty as a whole. Manuel married three times, each time providing children. He first married Isabel ...