Isabella of Portugal
1503 – 1539 · Generation IX · Consort
Isabella (1503 – 1539). Consort. Married Charles in 1526. Daughter of Manuel I of Portugal; married her first cousin Charles V in 1526; died in childbirth. Born in Lisbon to Maria of Aragon, she was schooled in Latin, Spanish, French and mathematics, and when Charles turned instead to an English match with Mary Tudor she vowed to marry her cousin or enter a convent. By 1525 he had changed course, drawn by her nearness in age and a dowry of 900,000 cruzados; they wed in the Alcázar of Seville, honeymooning at the Alhambra. His absences were long, and she governed Spain as regent in 1529–33 and 1537–39, presiding over the councils, signing decrees, and overseeing the Indies and coastal defence against Barbary corsairs; Charles judged her decisions very prudent. She raised their children in Spain and taught them Portuguese. Her death after a stillbirth left him so shattered that he could not escort her body to Granada, and he later had Titian paint her posthumously, keeping the images with him even in retirement at Yuste.
Place in the family
- Isabella of Portugal was a 4× great-grandmother of Maria Theresa.
- The archive records 43 of her descendants, across 15 generations.
Parents
- Manuel I of Portugal (1469 – 1521)
Partners
- Married Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500 – 1558) in 1526 — 3 children together
Children
- Philip II of Spain (1527 – 1598)
- Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (1528 – 1603)
- Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal (1535 – 1573)
Life
- 1503 — Born
- 1526 — Married Charles
- 1539 — Died