Catherine Of Austria (1507–1578)

Catherine of Austria or Catherine of Spain (; 14 January 1507 – 12 February 1578) was a Queen of Portugal as the wife of King John III, and a regent during the minority of her grandson, King Sebastian, from 1557 until 1562.

Early life

An Infanta of Castile and Archduchess of Austria, Catherine was the posthumous daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile. Catherine was born in Torquemada and named in honor of her maternal aunt, Catherine of Aragon. As the queen had no midwife at the time, she was assisted during childbirth by her lady-in-waiting, María de Ulloa. She was kept by her mentally unstable mother's side.

All of her five older siblings, except Ferdinand, were born in the Habsburg Netherlands and had been put into the care of their aunt Margaret of Austria, but Joanna kept hold of young Catherine. Catherine actually stayed with her mother during their imprisonment at Tordesillas during her grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon's time as regent and her elder brother Charles's reign as co-king. When the time came for her to marry, Catherine was released from the custody that her mother was to endure until her death.

Queen

On 10 February 1525, at the age of 18, Catherine married her first cousin, King John III of Portugal; she was married off to him by her mother, Joanna I of Castile. They had nine children who unfortunately all died young; only two survived early childhood.

Catherine was very concerned about the education of her family, accumulating a substantial library and establishing a kind of ''salon'' in the court. She brought a number of female scholars into her household, including the humanists Joana Vaz and Públia Hortênsia de Castro and the poet Luisa Sigea de Velasco. Vaz was responsible for tutoring Catherine's only surviving daughter, Princess Maria, as well as Catherine's niece, also called Maria, and a scholar in her own right.

After the death of her husband in 1557, Catherine was challenged by her daughter-in-law and niece Joanna of Austria, over the role of regent for her grandchild, the infant King Sebastian. Mediation by Charles V resolved the issue in favor of his sister Catherine over his daughter Joan, who was needed in Spain in the absence of Philip II.

Catherine then served as the regent of Portugal from 1557 until 1562. In 1562, she turned over the regency to Henry of Portugal.

Issue

Catherine has no descendants today, as both of her grandchildren died childless. Her line of descent became extinct within six months of her death, as the only descendant of hers that survived her, King Sebastian of Portugal, died in August 1578.

Collector

Catherine had one of the earliest and finest Chinese porcelain collections in Europe due to her position as Queen of Portugal. "She acquired quantities of porcelain and exotica from Asia, which arrived regularly in Lisbon for the decoration of the Lisbon royal palace as well as for her personal use, and which served as emblems of her power. Her collection became the first ''kunstkammer'' on the Iberian Peninsula." She was following a tradition established earlier by the Portuguese King Manuel I of Portugal who had purchased porcelain for his wife, Maria of Castile (1482–1517), who was Catherine's aunt. Between 1511 and 1514, the Treasurer of the Spices in Lisbon "registered a total of 692 pieces of porcelain and other exotic goods" bought on his behalf for Maria of Castile, who was then King Manuel's second wife. Amongst other "exotica" in Catherine's collection were fossilized sharks' teeth, a snake's head encased in gold, heart-shaped jasper stones to stop bleeding, a coral branch used as a protector against evil spirits, bezoar stones, a unicorn's horn (a narwhal tusk) and piles of loose gems and stones such as rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.Annemarie Jordan Gshwend, "In the Tradition of Princely Collections: Curiosities and Exotica in the ''Kunstkammer'' of Catherine of Austria," in ''Bulletin of the Society for Renaissance Studies'', Volume XIII, Number 1 (October 1995), p. 142

In popular culture

Catherine of Austria figures in José Saramago's 2008 novel ''The Elephant's Journey''. She also figures in The Elephant's Journey">ith which ...