Barbara of Portugal

Barbara of Portugal ( Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa of Braganza ) ( born December 4 in 1711 in Lisbon; † August 27, 1758 in Aranjuez), was a Portuguese Infanta and queen of Spain.

Life

She was born in Lisbon, the daughter of Portuguese King João V and his wife Maria Anna of Austria. Her parents married in 1708 and had yet to receive after three years of marriage, no children. Her father vowed to to have a large monastery, if he should get a male heir. On December 4, 1711, finally came the Infanta Barbara to the world. The father was still erect a convent, monastery in Mafra.

She was born as a possible heir apparent to the Portuguese throne, eventually later her brother Pedro was born to two years. Although he died at the age of two years, but her mother gave birth to a son, the future King Joseph I. Barbara remained for most of their lives instead of two in the Portuguese throne.

She was baptized in the name of Barbara, the patron saint of her birthday, a name which has never been used in the Portuguese dynasty. She enjoyed as a possible contender throne an excellent education and was very musical. She was informed by the composer Domenico Scarlatti on the harpsichord at the age of 9 years.

At age 18, she was in 1729 in Badajoz with the later Spanish King Ferdinand VI. married. Her brother Joseph was married to Ferdinand's half-sister, Maria Anna. Scarlatti followed her to Madrid and wrote hundreds of sonatas for them.

Ferdinand felt great affection for them, and because he was very musical, they also shared the same passion. Despite this, the marriage remained childless. Barbara suffered all her life from asthma and died in 1758 in Aranjuez. Her death has deeply shocked and taken Ferdinand. It was in the church Salesas Reales in Madrid that its patron saint, Saint Barbara, dedicated, buried.