by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015
Maria Isabel of Portugal, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia
The second of the four wives of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, Infanta Maria Isabel of Portugal (Maria Isabel Francisca) was born on May 19, 1797, at the Palace of Queluz in Portugal. She was the third of the nine children of King João VI of Portugal and Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain, the elder sister of King Ferdinand VII.
Maria Isabel had three brothers and five sisters:
- Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira (1793 – 1874), married (1) her first cousin Infante Pedro Carlos of Spain and Portugal, had one son (2) her maternal uncle and widower of her sister Maria Francisca, Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, no issue
- Francisco António, Prince of Beira (1795 – 1801), died young
- Pedro IV, King of Portugal/Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil (1798 – 1834), married (1) Maria Leopoldina of Austria, had issue (2) Amélie of Leuchtenberg, had one daughter
- Maria Francisca (1800 – 1834), married her maternal uncle Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, had issue
- Isabel Maria, Regent of Portugal (1801 – 1876), unmarried
- King Miguel I of Portugal, deposed in 1834 (1802 – 1866), married Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, had issue
- Maria da Assunção (1805 – 1834), unmarried
- Ana de Jesus Maria (1806 – 1857), married Nuno José Severo de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto, Duke of Loulé Barreto, had issue
On September 29, 1816, Maria Isabel married her maternal uncle King Ferdinand VII of Spain, who was 13 years older than her. Ferdinand’s first wife had died childless ten years earlier. The marriage was made with the aim of strengthening relations between Spain and Portugal, and of course, with the goal of providing heirs to the throne. Maria Isabel was noted for her culture and love of art. Because of this, she took the initiative to gather works of art from the collection of the Spanish monarchs and create a museum. The Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain, opened on November 19, 1819, and today it is the main Spanish national art museum.
Maria Isabel pointing to the Prado; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Isabel had a daughter, María Luisa Isabel, who was born on August 21, 1817, but sadly, she died on January 9, 1818. However, Maria Isabel soon became pregnant again, but the pregnancy was difficult. On December 26, 1818, at the Palace of Aranjuez in Spain, Maria Isabel went into labor and there were terrible complications. The child, a daughter also named María Luisa Isabel, was in a breech position and died in utero. Maria Isabel had lost consciousness and appeared to have stopped breathing, so the doctors believed she had died. When they began to cut her open to remove the dead child, she let out a cry of pain, fainted, and bled to death. Maria Isabel was only 21 years old and was buried in the Pantheon of Princes in the Monastery of El Escorial, and not in the Pantheon of the Kings, traditionally reserved for monarchs and spouses of monarchs who had been parents of monarchs.
Tomb of Maria Isabel (Isabel = Elisabeth); Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com
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