Tagi

16th century, women in history

gaskells:

portuguese history meme + infanta maria [1/6 women] 

Maria of Portugal (1521-1577) was the youngest daughter of King Manuel of Portugal, and the only surviving child from his third marriage to Leonor of Austria, sister of Emperor Charles V. Her father died six months after her birth and her mother left Portugal on her brother’s orders. Maria was raised by her brother João III and his new wife, Catarina of Austria, as one of their own children. 

Maria was a model Renaissance Lady, described as beautiful, with pale skin and blue eyes, and cultured, distingushing herself as one of the great patrons of the arts of the mid-16th century Portugal. She notably surrounded herself with a court of Portugal’s most cultured and accomplished women.

Immensely rich, Maria never married although she was betrothed several times. 

She was engaged to the Dauphin François, a demand of her mother, then Queen of France, to bring Maria to her side. The Dauphin, however, died at the age of fifteen. In 1545, Maria was engaged to the future Philip II of Spain but was put aside in favour of Mary Tudor, just days before the proxy marriage. This sparked a diplomatic crisis between Portugal and Spain that would take years to normalize. After Mary’s death, Philip asked for her hand in marriage again, only for Maria to reply that “not if he were the king of the world”. Legends attribute her a flirtation with the poet Luís de Camões and with François of Lorraine. In 1558, she met her mother for the first time in 28 years, on the Portuguese-Spanish border. Despite her mother’s pleas, Maria chose to remain in Portugal, and Leonor died a few days later. Maria died in 1577, having devoted her years to religious and cultural pursuits.