Infante 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 the ...

Diogo of Viseu (1450–1484) was the second son of

Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and Beja (or ''Fernando,'' , 17 November 1433 – 18 September 1470) was the third son of Edward, King of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon. Biography Ferdinand was born in Almeirim on 17 November 1 ...

, and his wife

Beatriz, Duchess of Viseu Infanta Beatriz of Portugal (13 June 1430 – 30 September 1506) was a Portugal, Portuguese infanta, daughter of John, Constable of Portugal (fourth son of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster), and Isabella of Barcelos, a da ...

History

Diogo's father, uncle of King John II, was believed to be the richest man in Portugal, having accumulated two duchies and numerous lordships. In 1472, when his older brother John, Duke of Viseu, died without issue, Diogo inherited his titles and estates as

Duke of Viseu Duke of Viseu (in Portuguese ''Duque de Viseu'') was a Portuguese Royal Dukedom created in 1415 by King John I of Portugal for his third male child, Henry the Navigator, following the conquest of Ceuta. When Henry the Navigator died with ...

and

Duke of Beja Duke of Beja () was an aristocratic Portuguese title and royal dukedom, associated with the Portuguese Royal House. List of dukes of Beja # Infante Fernando, 2nd Duke of Viseu (1433–1470), King Duarte I's third son (second surviving); # I ...

. Diogo was a popular personality at the court of his cousin King

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

, and together with Duke Fernando II of Braganza, he was the main target of King John's centralization policies. John II sought to limit the power of the upper nobility, which had increased greatly during the reign of John's father

Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V (; 15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Africa. ...

. Duke Fernando II of Braganza, husband of Isabella of Viseu, the sister-in-law of King John II of Portugal and Diogo's sister, was the first victim of John's efforts against the Portuguese nobility. In 1483, he was imprisoned, tried and executed in

Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...

. In 1484, Diogo was accused of being the center of a conspiracy against the crown and was stabbed to death by the king himself. After the execution, King John II called the duke's younger brother,

Manuel of Viseu, and showed him his brother's body. He promised Manuel that he would consider him his own son. At that moment, Manuel inherited his brother Diogo's titles and estates. Duke Diogo never married, but when he was quite young he visited the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

, where he had a love affair with ''Doña'' Leonor de Sotomaior y Portugal (great-granddaughter of King

Pedro I of Portugal Peter I (; 8 April 1320 – 18 January 1367), known as Peter the Just () or Peter the Cruel (), was King of Portugal from 1357 until his death in 1367. Early life Born on 8 April 1320 in Coimbra, Peter was the fifth child of Afonso of Portug ...

). With her he had a natural son, Afonso de Portugal. King Manuel I of Portugal granted this nephew, Afonso de Portugal, the position of 8th

Constable of Portugal Constable of Portugal ({{langx, pt, Condestável de Portugal) was an office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in 1382, to replace the High Standard-bearer ('' Alferes-Mor'') as the head of the Portuguese Military. It was also referred as the ...

. Afonso's daughter and heir, Beatrice of Lara, married the 3rd

Marquis of Vila Real Marquis of Vila Real (in Portuguese ''Marquês de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to ''Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II of ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Genealogy of Diogo, 4th Duke of Viseu, in Portuguese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diogo, Duke Of Viseu House of Aviz Portuguese infantes Dukes of Beja Dukes of Viseu 1450 births 1484 deaths 15th-century Portuguese nobility Donatários of the Azores

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links