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Manuel I of Portugal

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Manuel I
King of Portugal and the Algarves
of either side of the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India, etc.
17th century painting of Manuel I
ReignOctober 25, 1495—December 13, 1521
CoronationOctober 27, 1495 in Alcácer do Sal
PredecessorJohn II
SuccessorJohn III
Burial
SpouseIsabella, Princess of Asturias
Maria of Aragon
Eleanor of Habsburg
Issue
among others...
Miguel da Paz, Prince of Asturias and Portugal
John III of Portugal
Isabella, Holy Roman Empress
Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy
Infante Luís, Duke of Beja
Infante Fernando, Duke of Guarda and Trancoso
Infante Cardinal Afonso
Henry of Portugal
Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães
Infanta Maria
HouseHouse of Aviz-Beja
FatherInfante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
MotherInfanta Beatrice of Portugal
Coat of Arms of Manuel I, according to the Livro do Armeiro-Mor c. 1509
Manuel I of Portugal, by Henrique Ferreira, 1718

Manuel I (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐnuˈɛɫ]; Archaic Portuguese: Manoel I, English: Emmanuel I), the Fortunate (Port. o Venturoso), 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves (Alcochete, May 31, 1469 – December 13, 1521 in Lisbon) was the son of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu, (1433 - 1470), by his wife, Infanta Beatriz of Portugal.

His mother was the granddaughter of King John I of Portugal; his father, Prince Fernando, was the second surviving son of King Edward of Portugal, being thus the cadet brother of King Afonso V of Portugal. Manuel succeeded his first cousin King John II of Portugal, who was also his brother-in-law, in 1495.

Manuel grew up among the conspiracies of the aristocratic high nobility against king John II. He watched many people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, the duke of Viseu, had been murdered in 1484 by the king himself.

Thus, when receiving a royal order in 1493 to present himself to the king, Manuel had every reason to worry. Without reason: John II wanted to name him heir to the throne, after the death of his son, Prince Afonso, and the failed attempts to legitimise Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, his illegitimate son. As a result of this stroke of luck he was nicknamed the Fortunate.

Manuel would prove a worthy successor to his cousin King John II, supporting the Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and the development of Portuguese commerce. During his reign, the following was achieved:

All these events made Portugal rich on foreign trade whilst formally establishing its empire. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings (in the Manueline style) and to attract scientists and artists to his court. Commercial treaties and diplomatic alliances were forged with China and the Persian Empire. The Pope received a monumental embassy from Portugal during his reign, designed to be a show of the newly acquired riches to all Europe.

In Manuel's reign, royal absolutism was the method of government. The Cortes (assembly of the kingdom) only met three times during his reign, always in Lisbon, the king's seat. He reformed the courts of justice and the municipal charters with the crown, modernizing taxes and the concepts of tributes and rights.

Manuel was a very religious man and invested a large amount of Portuguese income to sponsor missionaries in their journeys to the new colonies, such as Francisco Álvares, and the construction of religious buildings, such as the Monastery of Jerónimos. Manuel also endeavoured to promote another crusade, against the Turks.

His relationship with the Potuguese Jews started out well. At the outset of his reign, he released all the Jews who had been made captive during the reign of João II. Unfortunately for the Jews, he decided that he wanted to marry Infanta Isabella of Aragon, then heiress of the future united crown of Spain (widow of his nephew Prince Afonso). Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled the Jews in 1492, and would never marry their daughter to the king of a country that still tolerated their presence.

In December 1496, it was decreed that any Jew who did not convert to Christianity would be expelled from the country. However, those expelled could only leave the country in ships specified by the king. When those who chose expulsion arrived at the port in Lisbon, they were met by clerics and soldiers who used force, coercion, and promises in order to baptize them and prevent them from leaving the country. This period of time technically ended the presence of Jews in Portugal. Afterwards, all converted Jews and their descendants would be referred to as "New Christians", and they were given a grace period of thirty years in which no inquiries into their faith would be allowed; this was later to extended to end in 1534.

A popular riot in 1504 ended in the death of two thousand Jews; the leaders of this riot were executed by Manuel. In recent years, Portugal attempted to atone for the expulsion of the Jews. In a ceremony, Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Vera Jardim called the expulsion of Portugal's Jews a black piece of our history. The state, he said, owes Jews moral reparation for centuries of brutal persecution.(New York Times, December 6, 1996).

Isabella died in childbirth in 1498, putting a damper on Portuguese ambitions to rule in Spain, which various rulers had had since the reign of Fernando I (1367-1383). Manuel and Isabella's young son Miguel was for a period the heir apparent of Castile and Aragon, but his death in 1500 ended these ambitions. Manuel's next wife, Maria of Aragon, was also a Spanish princess, but not the oldest. This was Joanna of Castile, known as Joanna the Mad.

In 1506 the Pope Julius II gave Manuel I a Golden Rose.

The Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon houses Manuel's tomb. His son João succeeded him as king.

Ancestors

Manuel's ancestors in three generations
Manuel I of Portugal Father:
Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
Father's father:
Edward of Portugal
Father's father's father:
John I of Portugal
Father's father's mother:
Philippa of Lancaster
Father's mother:
Leonor of Aragon
Father's mother's father:
Ferdinand I of Aragon
Father's mother's mother:
Eleanor of Alburquerque
Mother:
Beatriz of Portugal
Mother's father:
Infante João of Portugal
Mother's father's father:
John I of Portugal
Mother's father's mother:
Philippa of Lancaster
Mother's mother:
Isabella of Braganza
Mother's mother's father:
Afonso, Duke of Braganza
Mother's mother's mother:
Beatriz Pereira Alvim

Marriages and descendants

Manuel married three times: first to Isabella of Aragon, princess of Spain and widow of the previous Crown Prince of Portugal Afonso of Portugal; then he married another princess of Spain, Maria of Aragon (his first wife's sister); and then married Eleanor of Habsburg (niece of his first two wives) who after Manuel's death married again to Francis I of France.

Name Birth Death Notes
By Isabella of Asturias (October 2, 1470–August 28, 1498; married in 1497)
Prince Miguel da Paz August 24, 1498 July 19, 1500 Prince of Asturias, Prince of Portugal and heir to both Portugal and Spain.
By Maria of Aragon (June 19, 1482–March 7, 1517; married in 1501)
Prince João (John) June 6, 1502 June 11, 1557 Who succeeded him as John III, 15th King of Portugal.
Infanta Isabel (Elizabeth) October 24, 1503 May 1, 1539 Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Infanta Beatriz (Beatrice) December 31, 1504 January 8, 1538 Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Charles III, Duke of Savoy.
Infante Luís (Louis) March 3, 1506 November 27, 1555 Unmarried but had illegitimate descendants, one of them being António, Prior of Crato, a claimant of the throne of Portugal in 1580 (See: Struggle for the throne of Portugal).
Infante Fernando (Ferdinand) June 5, 1507 November 7, 1534 Duke of Guarda and Trancoso. Married Guiomar (Guyomare) Coutinho, Countess of Marialva (?-1534). No surviving issue.
Infante Afonso (Alphonse) April 23, 1509 April 21, 1540 Cardinal of the Kingdom.
Infanta Maria (Mary) 1513 1513  
Infante Henrique (Henry) January 31, 1512 January 31, 1580 Cardinal of the Kingdom who succeeded his grandnephew, King Sebastian (Manuel I's great-grandson), as Cardinal Henry, 17th King of Portugal. His death triggered the struggle for the throne of Portugal.
Infante Duarte (Edward) October 7, 1515 September 20, 1540 Duke of Guimarães and great-grandfather of John IV of Portugal. Married Isabel of Braganza, daughter of Jaime, Duke of Braganza.
Infante António (Anthony) September 9, 1516 1516  
By Eleanor of Habsburg (November 15, 1498–February 25, 1558; married in 1518)
Infante Carlos (Charles) February 18, 1520 April 14, 1521  
Infanta Maria (Mary) June 18, 1521 October 10, 1577 Unmarried.

See also

Manuel I of Portugal
Cadet branch of the House of Aviz
Born: 31 May 1469 Died: 13 December 1521
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Portugal and the Algarves
1495–1521
Succeeded by
Portuguese royalty
Preceded by Prince of Portugal
1491–1495
Succeeded by