Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Isabel Luísa
Princess of Beira
Portrait of Infanta Isabel Luísa by Duprà, 1725
Born(1669-01-06)6 January 1669
Ribeira Palace, Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died21 October 1690(1690-10-21) (aged 21)
Palhavã, Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial
Names
Isabel Luísa Josefa
HouseHouse of Braganza
FatherPeter II of Portugal
MotherMaria Francisca of Savoy

Infanta Isabel Luísa Josefa of Portugal (6 January 1669 – 21 October 1690) was the only child of Peter II of Portugal and his first wife and former sister-in-law, Maria Francisca of Savoy. She was the heiress presumptive to the throne of Portugal between 1668 and 1689, when her half-brother John was born.[1][2] As such, she was styled Princess of Beira.

Biography[edit]

Isabel Luísa was the only child of Peter II of Portugal and his first wife, the French born Princess Marie Françoise of Savoy.[3] She was born at the Ribeira Palace, Lisbon, in 1669.[citation needed] Louis XIV sent a special envoy to congratulate her birth.[4]

In age five, Isabel Luísa was declared heir presumptive to the Portuguese throne during the 1674 Cortes.[5][6]

Marriage prospects[edit]

It was planned that she would marry Victor Amadeus II of Savoy,[7][8] a first cousin through her aunt Marie Jeanne, Duchess of Savoy, then regent for her son. The marriage was opposed by most of the Savoyard court as it meant that Victor Amadeus would live in Portugal and his mother would remain in power. But that plan was not implemented.[9][8]

Other proposed candidates included Gian Gastone de' Medici (future Grand Duke of Tuscany), le Grand Dauphin son of Louis XIV, Charles II of Spain,[4] the Duke of Parma as well as a Count Palatine of Neuburg.[2] Nothing came of these plans. For this she was nicknamed Sempre-noiva, "Always-engaged".

Death and burial[edit]

She died of smallpox at Palhavã in 1690, when she was 21 years old. Isabel Luísa is buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon after being moved from the Convent of the Francesinhas.

Ancestry[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "HEIRESSES TO THRONES". www.guide2womenleaders.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b Pereira, Esteves; Rodrigues, Guilherme (1904). Portugal : diccionario historico, chorographico, heraldico, biographico, bibliographico, numismatico e artistico. Lisboa: J. Romano Torres. pp. 1008–1009. (in Portuguese)
  3. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 469.
  4. ^ a b McMurdo 1889, p. 442.
  5. ^ Livermore 1969, p. 196.
  6. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 444.
  7. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 445.
  8. ^ a b Livermore 1969, p. 197.
  9. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 446.

Sources[edit]