Isabel of Coimbra

Infanta Isabel of Coimbra (Isabella of Portugal) (1 March 1432 – 2 December 1455) was a Portuguese infanta and Queen of Portugal as the first spouse of King Afonso V of Portugal.

Isabel of Coimbra
Detail of the Saint Vincent Panels masterpiece by Nuno Gonçalves
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure6 May 1447 – 2 December 1455
Born1 March 1432
Died2 December 1455(1455-12-02) (aged 23)
Évora
Burial
Batalha Monastery
SpouseAfonso V of Portugal
Issue
HouseAviz
FatherPeter, Duke of Coimbra
MotherIsabella of Urgell
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Life

Isabella was a daughter of the Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgel. Her paternal grandfather was King John I of Portugal and her maternal grandfather was James II, Count of Urgel.

Queen

Isabella's father was the regent for her cousin Afonso V during his minority. Reportedly, Isabella and Afonso fell in love with each other. They were engaged in 1445, which caused a conflict between Peter of Coimbra and Duke Afonso of Braganza, who had wished for the monarch to marry his grandchild. Isabella was given the income of Santarém, Alvaiázere, Sintra and Torres Vedras at her wedding.

Isabella and Afonso V were married on 6 May 1447. Both the bride and groom were fifteen.

In 1448, the king took Afonso of Braganza as his advisor. Isabella's father rebelled and was killed in the Battle of Alfarrobeira in 1449, and her brothers John and James were exiled. Isabella herself did not fall out of favour with the king, however, and she took control of the duchy of Coimbra until her brother John returned to Portugal in 1454.

In 1455, Isabella had her father honoured with a grand ceremony of exoneration at court and had him re-buried in a grand way. Shortly after this, she died at age twenty-three, possibly from poisoning.[1]

Issue

Isabella had three children:

Ancestry

References
  1. Anne Commire; Deborah Klezmer (2000). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Yorkin Publications. p. 702. ISBN 978-0-7876-4066-8.


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