Maria of Aragon

Birth of Maria of Aragon, queen of Portugal

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Born on 29th June 1482, Maria was of the daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.

She was reportedly the survivor of a set of twins.

As an infanta of Spain, her hand in marriage was important in European politics.

Before her marriage to Manuel I of Portugal, her parents entertained the idea of marrying her to King James IV of Scotland.

At this time, her younger sister Katharine's marriage to Arthur Prince of Wales was being planned.

Ferdinand and Isabella thought if Maria was Queen of Scotland, the two sisters could keep the peace between their husbands.

These plans, however, came to nothing, and King James married Margaret Tudor instead.

Maria's siblings all entered into advantageous marriages.

Her sister Isabella was married to Afonso, Prince of Portugal and Manuel King of Portugal, who would end up also being Maria's husband!.

Her sister Juana married Philip “the Handsome” and her brother Juan married Philip's sister Margaret.

Maria's little sister Katharine, was married to Arthur Prince of Wales, and later his brother, Henry VIII.

In 1498, Maria's sister Isabella passed away.

She died within an hour of her son's birth.

Isabella's husband now needed a new wife, and Maria became the next bride of the Portuguese king.

Manuel and Maria were married on 30th October 1500.

Queen Maria was described as pale and thin, with a retiring chin, and had a very serious character to her personality.

Despite the fact that she was queen during a famous time period in Portuguese history, she did not play any significant part as an individual, or as a queen.

Serious and pious, she devoted her time to sewing, religious devotion and supervising the education of her children.

During her life in Portugal, Maria was almost continually pregnant. She had but a few months pause between a birth, and her next pregnancy.

Maria had 10 children, eight of whom reached adulthood, including

King John III of Portugal, and Holy Roman Empress Isabella.

With each pregnancy, Maria's health slowly got worse.

The birth of her last son Antonio in September 1516, would be a tragedy for everyone.

Antonio died within hours of his birth, and Maria struggled to recover in the following months.

She was reportedly exhausted to a point, that she was also temporarily mentally confused.

Maria died in Lisbon on the 7th March 1517, and was buried at the The Jerónimos Monastery of Belém.

Her death was probably caused by her pregnancies, she may have been suffering from pernicious anaemia, or another pregnancy related deficiency.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_of_Aragon,_Queen_of_Portugal

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Stained-glass window in the High Chapel of the Church of Saint Mary of Victory Batalha Monastery, Leiria, Portugal.

Attributed to Francisco Henriques, c. 1510-1513.

It depicts Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal in prayer, with her daughters.