Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile

Isabella was born as a scion of a collateral branch of the Aviz dynasty that had ruled Portugal since 1385. Her parents were John, Constable of Portugal, the youngest surviving son of John I of Portugal, and his half-niece and wife, Isabella of Barcelos, the daughter of the Duke of Braganza, an illegitimate son of the king. In 1442, when Isabella was 14 years old, her father died. Little is known about Isabella's life before her marriage, but it is likely that she received an education at the Portuguese court befitting of a young noblewoman at the time. == Marriage ==

. (Monasterio de Santa Clara, Palencia) This painting is thought to have been commissioned by their daughter Isabella. Isabella was betrothed to the much older King John II of Castile as his second wife in 1446 at Evora. His first wife, Mary of Aragon, had given him four children, though only one, the future Henry IV of Castile, had survived. Henry had been joined to Blanche II of Navarre in an unconsummated marriage for seven years and was called "El Impotente." Because of this, John decided to seek another wife, preferably with a French princess. However, his trusted adviser and friend Alvaro de Luna decided a Portuguese alliance was better politically, and negotiated a match with the much younger Isabella. The couple were first cousins once removed through the king's mother Catherine of Lancaster, who was half-sister of Philippa of Lancaster, Isabella's paternal grandmother. Because of their consanguinity a dispensation for the marriage had to be asked from the pope Eugene IV. This was granted on November 5, 1445. The two were wed on 22 July 1447 in Madrigal de la Altas Torres when John was 42 and Isabella, 19. == Life as queen ==

Isabella's dowry consisted of 45,000 gold florins and a further 60,000 to be paid after the death of her mother. This sum would revert to Isabella in the event of the death of John II and also enable her to return to Portugal if she so wished. The new queen was also granted the fiefs of Soria, Arevalo, Madrigal de Altas Torres. The same year she became pregnant. == Conflict with de Luna ==

De Luna had dominated the king since he was young and doubtless expected this to continue after the marriage. De Luna tried to control the young queen as well, even going as far as to attempt to limit the couplings between the amorous king and his bride. Isabella took exception to de Luna's influence over her husband and attempted to persuade her husband to remove this favourite. Rumors that de Luna had attempted to poison Isabella, and that he had also poisoned and murdered her predecessor, Mary of Aragon, still persist to this day. Isabella, being aware of this, set herself to the task of persuading the king to agree to rid himself of de Luna. She had little success until after the 1451 birth of her daughter and namesake who would become Isabella I of Castile. The queen's confinement in the palace at Madrigal des Altas Torres was long and difficult. In 1453, de Luna had nobleman Alfonso Pérez de Vivero thrown out of a window, as the nobleman had sided against the constable. Isabella used this as leverage, and convinced the king to have him arrested and tried. King John did as his wife asked, and de Luna was executed. The death of his favourite saddened the king, and his health began to decline rapidly. John was on his deathbed in mid 1454, expiring at last on 20 July 1454. Henry IV, newly divorced from Blanche, became king. Henry would go on to marry Isabella's cousin, Joan of Portugal. ==Queen dowager==

After Henry ascended the throne, he sent his stepmother, who was three years younger than himself, and his two half-siblings to the Castle of Arévalo. The dowager queen and her two children lived austerely with Isabella's mother, who had travelled to Arevalo to assist her alongside Inés Alvarnáez, the mother of Clara Alvarnáez Also living at the palace in Arevalo were Portuguese ladies in waiting. There is no evidence that the widowed queen ever considered remarrying. While at Arévalo, Isabella sank deeper into the melancholy that had begun after the birth of her elder child. Interment After her death, she was interred next to her husband in the crypt under the royal sepulcher, with Alfonso whose tomb is placed to the side in the Miraflores Charterhouse. Her daughter Isabella raised ornately carved tombs in their memory. In 2006, on the occasion of the restoration of the Charterhouse, an anthropological study of the physical remains of John II, Isabella, and their son, Alfonso of Castile was carried out by researchers from the University of León. The skeleton of King John II was almost complete, but only fragments of Queen Isabella's bones remained. ==Issue==

Her children were: • Isabella I of Castile. Married Ferdinand II of Aragon, she became Queen of Castile and united Aragon with Castile. • Alfonso, Prince of Asturias who rebelled against his half-brother, Henry IV of Castile. He died of a sudden fever, either from plague or poisoning. ==References==