Eleanor of Viseu

Eleanor of Viseu
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure 28 August 1481 – 25 October 1495
Born (1458-05-02)2 May 1458
Beja, Portugal
Died 17 November 1525(1525-11-17) (aged 67)
Palace of Xabregas, Lisbon
Burial Convent of the Mother of God
Spouse John II of Portugal
Issue
Detail		 Afonso, Prince of Portugal
House Aviz
Father Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu
Mother Beatrice of Portugal
Signature

Eleanor of Viseu (2 May 1458 – 17 November 1525; Portuguese: Leonor de Viseu [liuˈnoɾ dɨ viˈzew]) was a Portuguese infanta (princess) and later queen consort of Portugal.

To distinguish her from other infantas of the same name, she is commonly known as Eleanor of Viseu (after her father's title) or Eleanor of Lancaster (Lancaster, a name used by some Portuguese royals after her great-grandmother Queen Philippa of Lancaster). In Portugal, she is known universally as Rainha Dona Leonor. She is considered one of the most notable Portuguese queen consorts. She was the second and one of only two queen consorts in Portugal who were not foreigners.

Family

Eleanor was a daughter of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu, and his wife and cousin Beatrice of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were Infante João of Portugal and his wife and niece Isabel of Barcelos.

Eleanor's sister Isabel of Viseu married Fernando II of Braganza, who was later accused and executed of treason by Eleanor's husband King John II. Eleanor's older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was also involved in activities that John II considered treasonous and was executed by the king himself. Her younger brother succeeded John II as King Manuel I of Portugal.

Marriage

Queen Eleanor of Portugal statue in Beja.

Eleanor married John, Prince of Portugal, on 22 January 1470. She thereby became the Princess of Portugal. The bride was twelve years old, and the groom was fifteen years old. Her spouse was the only living son of Afonso V of Portugal and Isabel of Coimbra and heir apparent to the Portuguese throne. Eleanor and John spent a lot of their childhood together and were good friends.

Queen consort

On 28 August 1481, Eleanor's father-in-law died, and her husband became John II of Portugal, thus she became the new queen consort. The queens consort of Portugal were awarded fiefs and villages to grant them independent incomes, and Eleanor was granted Silves e Faro and Terras de Aldeia Galega e Aldeia Gavinha for this purpose.

She founded what became the city of Caldas da Rainha, which was named in her honor ("rainha" means "queen" in Portuguese).

Eleanor and John II survived both their sons. Eleanor opposed the wish of her spouse to have his illegitimate son recognized as heir to the throne and appealed to the Pope, who sided with her and had her brother Manuel recognized as the heir of her husband.

John II died on 25 October 1495; the hypothesis of poisoning was never ruled out.

Queen dowager

The Arrival of D. Leonor with the Relics of Santa Auta at Madre de Deus by Cristóvão de Figueiredo.

After her brother Manuel I succeeded to the throne in 1495, Eleanor moved to the palace of Xabregas, where she hosted the royal court and continued to be socially active. For a short period between 1500 and 1502, Eleanor's brother Manuel found himself childless, and Eleanor herself became the heir to the throne. As she had no children, she declined to make the oath as an heir in favour of her sister Isabel.

Eleanor was extremely wealthy and used much of her money for charity. In 1498, she spearheaded the creation of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia as confraternities with humanitarian purposes, especially the care of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. The original foundations survive today, and more have since been founded in other towns and cities of Portugal and in the Portuguese colonies.

Eleanor is also credited with having introduced the printing press to Portugal, when she commissioned a translation of Vita Christi into Portuguese.[1] When the first of its four volumes were published in 1502, it became the first book to be printed in Alcalá de Henares.[1]

Eleanor supported the foundation of the Hospital Real de Todos os Santos (All Saints Royal Hospital) in Lisbon, considered the best in contemporary Europe. She also founded the convent Madre de Deus (1509), considered a great architectural work, where she spent many of her later years, dressed almost as a nun.

Issue

NameBirthDeathNotes
Prince Afonso18 May 147513 July 1491Prince of Portugal. Died in a horse riding accident. Because of the prince's premature death, the throne was inherited by Manuel of Viseu, son of Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, who reigned as Manuel I, 14th King of Portugal.

Ancestry

Sources

  1. 1 2 Luttikhuizen, Frances (2016). Underground Protestantism in Sixteenth Century Spain. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 30. ISBN 9783647551104.
  2. 1 2 John I, King of Portugal at Encyclopædia Britannica
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Stephens, Henry Morse (1903). The story of Portugal. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 125, 139, 303. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. 1 2 Armitage-Smith, Sydney (1905). John of Gaunt: King of Castile and Leon, Duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester, Seneschal of England. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 94. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  5. 1 2 Ferdinand I, King of Aragon at Encyclopædia Britannica
  6. 1 2 "Leonora of Aragon (1405–1445)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Research. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Eleanor of Albuquerque (1374–1435)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Research. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 Sotto Mayor Pizarro, José Augusto (1987). Os Patronos do Mosteiro de Grijó (in Portuguese). Oporto. pp. 278, 308. ISBN 978-0883-1886-37.
Eleanor of Viseu
Cadet branch of the House of Burgundy
Born: 2 May 1458 Died: 17 November 1525
Portuguese royalty
Preceded by
Joanna la Beltraneja		 Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves
11 November 1477 – 15 November 1477		 Succeeded by
Joanna la Beltraneja
Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves
28 August 1481 – 25 October 1495		 Succeeded by
Isabella of Aragon

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