Isabella of Urgell, Duchess of Coimbra (Spanish: ''Isabel'') (12 March 1409 – 17 September 1459) was a Catalan noblewoman of the

Urgell Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgel ...

branch of the

House of Barcelona The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wilfred the Hairy. Th ...

. She was the wife of

Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra Dom Peter, Duke of Coimbra, KG ( ; 9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, son of King Dom John I of Portugal and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. In Portugal, h ...

Family

Isabella was born on 12 March 1409, the eldest daughter of James II,

Count of Urgell This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries. {{circa, 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians *798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya *820–824 Aznar ...

, and Isabella of Aragon. Isabella was one of five children. The county of Urgell was dissolved in 1413, following her father's revolt against the new King Ferdinand I of Aragon who had been chosen to succeed to the throne of Aragon in 1412 despite James being the closest legitimate agnate to the Royal House of Barcelona.

Marriage

On 12 September 1428 at Alcolea de Cinca she married

(9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449 at the Battle of Alfarrobeira), a younger son of

John I of Portugal John I ( WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in 1383–85 crisi ...

. During her husband's regency for his nephew,

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. ...

, the marriage of the couple's daughter Isabella to the King was arranged.

Issue

* Peter, Constable of Portugal (23 October 1429, Coimbra, Portugal – 29 June 1466) At the age of fourteen he became Constable of Portugal. In 1464, he was acclaimed King Peter V of Aragon. * John of Coimbra, titular

Prince of Antioch Prince of Antioch was the title given during the Middle Ages to Normans, Norman rulers of the Principality of Antioch, a region surrounding the city of Antioch, now known as Antakya in Turkey. The Princes originally came from the County of Sicil ...

(1431, Coimbra, Portugal – 11 September 1457,

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

). On 26 February 1456, he married Queen

Charlotte of Cyprus Charlotte (28 June 1444 – 16 July 1487) was the Queen of Cyprus from 1458 until 1464. She was the eldest and only surviving daughter of King John II of Cyprus and Helena Palaiologina. At the age of 14, she succeeded to the Cypriot throne ...

(28 June 1444 – 16 July 1487), as her first husband. *

Isabella of Coimbra Infanta Isabel of Coimbra (Isabella of Portugal) (1 March 1432 – 2 December 1455) was a Portuguese infanta and Queen of Portugal as the first spouse of King Afonso V of Portugal. Life Born in Coimbra in 1432, Isabella was a daughter of the ...

(1 March 1432, Coimbra, Portugal – 2 December 1455). Married her cousin, King

on 6 May 1447, as his first wife. They had three children, including King

John II of Portugal John II (; ; 3 May 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince (), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for reestablishing the power of the Portuguese monarchy, reinvigo ...

. * James of Coimbra, Cardinal and Archbishop-elect of

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 ...

(17 September 1433, Coimbra, Portugal – 27 August 1459,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy). * Beatrice of Coimbra (21 November 1435, Coimbra, Portugal – 22 February 1462,

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

). Married 13 May 1453

Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein, Netherlands, Ravenstein (1425–1492) was the youngest son of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves, and of his wife Marie of Burgundy, Duchess of Cleves, Marie of Burgundy, a sister of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. ...

(28 June 1425 – 18 September 1492), as his first wife. Her death was attributed to poisoning. * Philippa of Coimbra (1 June 1437, Coimbra, Portugal – 25 July 1493, Odivelas). She was a nun at the Convent of

Odivelas Odivelas () is a municipality in the Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. The municipality is located 8 km northwest of the center of Lisbon. Predominantly a residential suburb, the population in 2021 was 148 034, in an area of 26.54 km2 (one of t ...

. * Catherine (circa 1448 – between 1462 and 1466).

Widowhood and death

Peter of Coimbra was regent of Portugal from 1439, and engineered the marriage of his young charge,

with his daughter,

in 1447. But he also gathered powerful enemies, most notably the

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

, who ingratiated themselves with the young king and managed to drive Peter from power immediately after. The parties remained at odds and Portugal careened into civil war. After Peter of Coimbra was killed at the Battle of Alfarrobeira in May 1449, his family was immediately and relentlessly persecuted. Isabella of Urgell and her daughter Philippa went into hiding, while her other children were driven into exile abroad - Peter the Constable to Castile, and John, James and Beatrice to the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

, the lands of their aunt Isabella of Burgundy. The threats of the powerful Duke of Burgundy were conjoined to the pleas of Peter's daughter, the young queen

, who pleaded her husband to have mercy on her family. Against the advice of the powerful Braganzas, Afonso V relented (partially) in 1450 and allowed the widowed duchess Isabella of Urgell to reside in

Montemor-o-Velho Montemor-o-Velho (), officially the Town of Montemor-o-Velho (), is a town and municipality of the Coimbra District, in Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 26,171, in an area of 228.96 km². History In 711, the Arab oc ...

and Tentúgal (Philippa was allowed to reside in a cloister in

, although apparently she later moved in with her mother).J. de Figueiredo (1910) ''O Pintor Nuno Gonçalves.'' Lisbon: Tip. Annuario Commercial, pp.50-53 However, she continued to be harassed by the Braganzas - Afonso, Marquis of Valença reportedly tried to deprive the widowed duchess of her residence, which only the queen's renewed pleading prodded Afonso V to intercede on her behalf. Isabella of Coimbra availed of the king's good mood after the birth of their son, the royal heir John (future king

), in May 1455, to engineer a complete and final rehabilitation of the rest of her family. Peter of Coimbra's remains were allowed to be re-buried at the Aviz dynasty necropolis at

Batalha Monastery The Monastery of Batalha () is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, historical Beira Litoral province, in the Centro of Portugal. Originally, and officially, known as the ''Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory'' (), it was erec ...

and the dowager-duchess Isabella of Urgell was granted a royal pension for the remainder of her years. Isabella of Urgell died on 17 September 1459, at the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra. Her remains were translated to Batalha, into the tomb of her rehabilitated husband.There seems to be some confusion as to whether they were actually translated to Batalha, as there is also a tomb to her at Santa Cruz as well. Her remains may have been paritioned. See A.R. Vasconcelos ''Evolução do culto de Dona Isabel de Aragão'' (1894
p.237
Her father had died while imprisoned at Xàtiva in 1433.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isabella Of Urgell, Duchess Of Coimbra 1409 births 1459 deaths People from Noguera (comarca) Portuguese duchesses Medieval Catalan nobility 15th-century Portuguese nobility Medieval Catalan women 15th-century Portuguese women 15th-century Catalan people