Maria Isabel of Braganza

Maria Isabel of Braganza
Queen consort of Spain
Tenure	29 September 1816 – 26 December 1818
Born	19 May 1797 Palace of Queluz, Portugal
Died	26 December 1818(1818-12-26) (aged 21) Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Aranjuez, Spain
Burial	El Escorial
Spouse	Ferdinand VII of Spain
Issue Detail	Infanta María Luisa Isabel Infanta María Luisa Isabel
Full name Maria Isabel Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga de Bragança
House	Braganza
Father	John VI of Portugal and Brazil
Mother	Carlota Joaquina of Spain
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Maria Isabel of Portugal (Maria Isabel Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga; 19 May 1797 – 26 December 1818) was an Infanta of Portugal who became the Queen of Spain as the second wife of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

Biography

Isabel depicted in front of Prado, 1829, by Bernardo López y Pique

Maria Isabel was an Infanta of Portugal and daughter of John VI of Portugal and his wife Carlota Joaquina of Spain. She was a sister of Pedro I of Brazil.

She married her maternal uncle King Ferdinand VII of Spain on 29 September 1816, whose first wife, Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, had died childless ten years before.

Maria Isabel was again pregnant soon after the birth of her firstborn, but the birth was a difficult one. The baby was in breech and the physicians soon found that the child had died. Maria Isabel stopped breathing soon thereafter and the doctors thought she was dead; when they started cutting her up to extract the dead fetus, she suddenly shouted in pain and collapsed on her bed, bleeding heavily.

She died on 26 December 1818 in the Palace of Aranjuez while giving birth to a large, stillborn daughter and was buried at the Escorial.

Legacy

It is due to Queen Maria Isabel's dedication and affection for the art world that she managed to gather many treasures from the past and create a royal museum, which would end up being the beginnings of Museo del Prado. It opened on 19 November 1819, a year after the Queen's death.

Issue

• Infanta María Luisa Isabel of Spain (21 August 1817 – 9 January 1818)
• Infanta María Luisa Isabel of Spain (26 December 1818), stillborn.^[1]

Ancestors

Honours and arms

Coat of arms of Maria Isabel of Portugal, Queen of Spain.

• Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
• Dame of the Order of Saint Isabel

See also

• Descendants of John VI of Portugal

References