Afonso VI of Portugal

Afonso was the second of three sons born to King John IV and Queen Luisa.[9] At the age of three, he experienced an illness that resulted in paralysis on the right side of his body.[10][11] The condition was believed to have also affected his intellectual abilities.[10][12] His father created him 10th Duke of Braganza.[13]

After the death of his eldest brother Teodósio, Prince of Brazil in 1653, Afonso became the heir apparent to the throne of the kingdom.[10] He also received the crown-princely title 2nd Prince of Brazil.

Portrait of Infante Afonso; José de Avelar Rebelo, 1653.

He succeeded his father, John IV, in 1656 at the age of thirteen.[11] His mother, Luisa de Guzmán, was named regent in his father's will.[11][14]

Luisa's regency continued even after Afonso came of age because he was considered mentally unfit for governing.[15][16] In addition to lacking intellect, the king exhibited wild and disruptive behavior.[11][10] In 1662, after Afonso terrorized Lisbon at night alongside his favorites,[17][18] Luisa and her council responded by banishing some of the king's companions that were associated with the raids.[18] Angered, Afonso took power with the help of Castelo-Melhor and Luisa's regency came to an end.[19][20][21] She subsequently retired to a convent,[22][14] where she died in 1666.[23]

Afonso appointed Castelo-Melhor as his private secretary (escrivão da puridade).[24][19] He proved to be a competent minister.[20] His astute military organization and sensible general appointments resulted in decisive military victories over the Spanish[25] at Elvas (14 January 1659), Ameixial (8 June 1663) and Montes Claros (17 June 1665),[26][27] culminating in the final Spanish recognition of sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza,[28][29] on 13 February 1668 in the Treaty of Lisbon.[30][31]

King Afonso VI imprisoned in the Palace of Sintra, by Alfredo Roque Gameiro.

Also in 1667, Peter managed to gain enough support to force Afonso to relinquish control of the government to him,[38] and he became prince regent in 1668.[37][6][36] While Pedro never formally usurped the throne, Afonso was king in name only for the rest of his life.[40][41] For seven years after Peter's coup, Afonso was kept on the island of Terceira[42] in the Azores.[29][43] His health broken by this captivity, he was eventually permitted to return to the Portuguese mainland, but he remained powerless and kept under guard. At Sintra he died in 1683.[42][44][45]

The room where he was imprisoned is preserved at Sintra National Palace.

• Ames, Glenn Joseph (2000). Renascent Empire?: The House of Braganza and the Quest for Stability in Portuguese Monsoon Asia, ca. 1640-1683. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9053563822.
• Davidson, Lillias Campbell (1908). Catherine of Bragança, infanta of Portugal, & queen-consort of England.
• Dyer, Thomas Henry (1877). Modern Europe Vol III.
• Livermore, H.V. (1969). A New History of Portugal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521095716.
• Marques, Antonio Henrique R. de Oliveira (1976). History of Portugal.
• McMurdo, Edward (1889). The history of Portugal, from the Commencement of the Monarchy to the Reign of Alfonso III. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
• Stephens, H. Morse (1891). The Story of Portugal. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
• Ogg, David (1934). England in the Reign of Charles II. Oxford University Press.