Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal
1507 – 1578 · Generation IX · Consort · The marriage empire
Catherine (1507 – 1578). Consort. Married John in 1525. Youngest sister of Charles V; Queen of Portugal by John III and later regent of Portugal. Born at Torquemada after her father Philip I’s death, she was the one child Joanna of Castile kept beside her, and she shared her mother’s confinement at Tordesillas until marriage set her free. The match with her first cousin John III was her brother’s doing, meant to steady relations within Iberia; she bore nine children, but only two lived beyond early childhood. A patron of learning, she built a large library and gathered women scholars around her, among them Joana Vaz, Públia Hortênsia de Castro and the poet Luisa Sigea. Widowed in 1557, she secured the regency for her infant grandson Sebastian over his mother, Joanna of Austria, through Charles V’s mediation, and handed it to Henry of Portugal in 1562. Her Chinese porcelain and Asian curiosities formed the first kunstkammer in the Iberian Peninsula. Sebastian’s death months after her own extinguished her line.
Place in the family
- Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal was a sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal was the youngest of 6 children of Philip I of Castile and Joanna of Castile recorded in this archive.
One of 10 people of The marriage empire (1440–1578) in this archive. The generations in which Habsburg marriages gathered Burgundy, Spain and Bohemia-Hungary into a single inheritance.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal.
Parents
- Philip I of Castile (1478 – 1506)
- Joanna of Castile (1479 – 1555)
Siblings
- Eleanor of Austria (1498 – 1558)
- Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500 – 1558)
- Isabella of Austria (1501 – 1526)
- Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1503 – 1564)
- Mary of Hungary (1505 – 1558)
Partners
- Married John III of Portugal (1502 – 1557) in 1525
Life
- 1507 — Born
- 1525 — Married John
- 1578 — Died