Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal
Catherine of Castile ( born January 14, 1507 Torquemada, † February 12, 1578 in Lisbon ) was a Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg. From 1525 to 1557 she was by marriage Queen of Portugal.
Youth
Catherine was a ( posthumously born ) daughter of Philip the Fair and Juana la Loca. She had five older siblings: the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (born 1500) and Ferdinand I (b. 1503), Isabella (born 1501, later wife of Christian II of Denmark ), Maria (b. 1505, later wife of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia ) and Eleanor of Castile (b. 1498, later to become Queen of Portugal and France).
After the early death of Catherine's father on September 25, 1506 her mother allegedly fell into madness and eventually locked up as a prisoner in the castle of Tordesillas because of their condition. While her brother Ferdinand was brought up by his grandfather Ferdinand II, the Catholic Church and her other siblings were living with Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, in Mechelen, she shared the lot and her mother's captivity. She grew so without any education on, as a prisoner locked in a small room that was behind her mother's room. 1517 she released her 17- year-old brother Charles as king of Spain, accompanied by his sister Eleanor, during a visit to the wishes of her mother. He then let her bestow an appropriate education for a princess. But before that, there was a greasy tragicomedy, because the child was kidnapped after attending her siblings. Her room was accessible only by that of the mother. The exemption drilled a valet named Bertrand in several night shifts a hole through the wall between the corridor and the girl's room. A clock at night, the servant crept through the hole and told the old chamber maid that she was supposedly brought to Valladolid. He took the girl to escort with a litter that was waiting outside the house. The child refused at first to get in and obeyed only when the servant pointed vigorously at the king's command. After a few days but was brought back to Tordesillas. The reasons for this are unknown. However, the child did not have to go from this point in rags, but was given its own servants and ordinary clothes. She remained until her 18th birthday in 1525 imprisoned with her mother when her brother, Emperor Charles V, let her taken away in marriage.
Marriage and later years
1525 married Catherine King John III. of Portugal and was so until the death of her husband in 1557 Queen of Portugal ( as the spouse, not as regent in its own right ).
The very energetic occurring Catherine was able to exert significant influence over the Portuguese policy. So they brought in 1536 the introduction of the Inquisition Tribunal in Portugal. Shortly before his unexpected death ( 1557) appointed John III. his wife as regent for his first three year old grandson Sebastian, who had emerged from the marriage of the deceased young Prince John Manuel with Johanna. Catherine shared the regency with her brother, the then Cardinal - Infante and later Portuguese King Henry. As regent prompted Catherine, that in 1559 in Évora university was built. They also requested that for the Portuguese dominion in the East, a tribunal of the Inquisition in Goa was to be founded.
Since it soon came to disagreements with her co-regent, Catherine pulled her abdication in 1560 already considered. You got increasingly critical, as was lost in 1562 due to the late posting of the relief force base Mazagão in Africa. As a consequence, Catherine entered a convent, but supervised the education of her grandson until he was declared of age in 1568 at the age of 14 years. Since he was mentally unstable, Catherine also sought during his reign to influence him without that she could stop his campaign to Morocco, where he fell in 1578. Before the news of his death but was Catherine died at the age of 71 years. She was buried in Hieronymite to Lisbon.
Progeny
Catherine and John III. had the following children:
- Alfonso (* 1526, † 1526)
- Maria of Portugal (1527-1545), by marriage, Queen of Spain ∞ 1543 Philip II King of Spain
- Isabella ( * 1529, † 1529)
- Beatriz (* 1530, † 1530)
- Emanuel (1531-1537), heir to the throne in 1535 determined
- Philipp (1533-1539), heir to the throne in 1537 determined
- Dionysus ( Dinis ) ( 1535-1537 )
- John Manuel of Portugal (1537-1554), Crown Prince of Portugal; ∞ 1552 Joan of Spain ( 1535-1573 )
- Anton (1539-1540)