Infanta Isabel Luísa Josefa of Portugal (6 January 1669 – 21 October 1690) was the only child of

Peter II of Portugal '' Dom'' Pedro II (Peter II; 26 April 1648 – 9 December 1706), nicknamed the Pacific (''Português:'' O Pacífico) was King of Portugal from 1683 until his death, previously serving as regent for his brother Afonso VI from 1668 until his own ...

and his first wife and former sister-in-law, Maria Francisca of Savoy. She was the heiress presumptive to the throne of Portugal between 1674 and 1689, when her half-brother

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was born. (in Portuguese) As such, she was styled Princess of Beira.

Biography

Isabel Luísa was the only child of

and his first wife, the French born Princess Marie Françoise of Savoy. She was born at the Ribeira Palace,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, in 1669.

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

sent a special envoy to congratulate her birth. In age five, Isabel Luísa was declared

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the Portuguese throne during the 1674

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Marriage prospects

It was planned that she would marry Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, a first cousin through her aunt Marie Jeanne,

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 ...

, then regent for her son. The marriage was opposed by most of the Savoyard court as it meant that Victor Amadeus would live in Portugal and his mother would remain in power. But that plan was not implemented. Other proposed candidates included Gian Gastone de' Medici (future Grand Duke of Tuscany), '' le Grand Dauphin'' son of

Charles II of Spain Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...

, the

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as well as a

Count Palatine of Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km2, with a population of some 100,000. History The Duc ...

. Nothing came of these plans. For this she was nicknamed ''Sempre-noiva'', "Always-engaged".

Death and burial

She died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

at Palhavã in 1690, when she was 21 years old. Isabel Luísa is buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in

after being moved from the Convent of the ''Francesinhas''.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isabel Luisa, Princess Of Beira Princesses of Beira Portuguese royalty Nobility from Lisbon 1669 births 1690 deaths 17th-century Portuguese people 17th-century Portuguese women Burials at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora House of Braganza Deaths from smallpox Daughters of kings