Luisa de Guzmán (Queen-Mother)

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This text was copied from Wikipedia on 16 December 2024 at 5:10AM.

Luisa de Guzmán
Portrait attributed to Alonso Cano, 1632
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure1 December 1640 – 6 November 1656
Queen Regent of Portugal
Regency
6 November 1656 – 22 June 1662
Monarch
Born(1613-10-13)13 October 1613
Huelva,[1] Spain
Died27 February 1666(1666-02-27) (aged 52)
Lisbon, Portugal
Burial
Pantheon of the Braganzas
SpouseJoão IV of Portugal
Issue
Names
Luisa María Francisca de Guzmán y Sandoval
HouseMedina Sidonia
FatherManuel, 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia
MotherJuana de Sandoval y la Cerda
SignatureLuisa de Guzmán's signature

Luisa María Francisca de Guzmán y Sandoval (Portuguese: Luísa Maria Francisca de Gusmão;[2] 13 October 1613 – 27 February 1666) was Queen of Portugal as the spouse of King John IV, the first Braganza ruler. She was the mother of two kings of Portugal (Afonso VI and Peter II) and a queen of England (Catherine of Braganza).[3] She served as regent of Portugal from 1656 until 1662.[4]

Biography

Early life

Luisa was Spanish by birth, the daughter of Manuel Pérez de Guzmán y Silva, 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia, and Juana Gómez de Sandoval y de la Cerda.[2] Her paternal grandfather was Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, while her paternal great-grandmother was Ana de Mendoza y de Silva, Princess of Éboli. Through her mother, she was also a descendant of Isabel, Lady of Viseu, the illegitimate daughter of King Ferdinand I.

She married a high ranking Portuguese noble, John, 8th Duke of Braganza, in 1633, during the period of the Iberian Union.[5][6]

Restoration War

Despite her Spanish roots, Luisa guided her husband's policies during the Portuguese revolution against Habsburg Spain of 1640.[7] She is considered the main influence[3][6] behind his acceptance of the Portuguese throne.[8][9] It is said that being warned of the dangers of becoming queen of a country that was to face Spain's might, she pronounced the famous words:

Antes Rainha um dia que Duquesa toda a vida.

Rather Queen for a day than Duchess all my life.

In some sources, this is quoted as for an hour instead of for a day.

When she was made aware of a failed attempt to murder the King in 1641, she is said to have been one of the members of the Corte, which supported the execution of nobles like the Duke of Caminha.

Regency

Luisa de Guzmán, Queen Consort of Portugal; José de Avelar Rebelo

In 1656, she was named Regent of the Kingdom after her husband's death and during the minority of her son Afonso VI.[10][11]

Luisa was politically astute[12] and mainly responsible for the diplomatic success of the new alliance with England.[13][14] Her daughter Catherine married Charles II of England.[15]

Afonso was considered mentally unfit for governing.[16] In addition to lacking intellect, he exhibited wild and disruptive behavior.[10][17] In 1662, after the king terrorized Lisbon at night alongside his favorites,[18][19] Luisa and her council responded by banishing some of the king's companions that were associated with the raids.[19] Angered, Afonso took power with the help of Castelo-Melhor and Luisa's regency came to an end.[20][21] She subsequently retired to a convent,[22][2] where she died in 1666.[23]

Issue

Arms of Luísa de Guzmán, Queen of Portugal
  1. Infante Teodósio, Prince of Brazil (8 February 1634 – 13 May 1653) died unmarried.
  2. Ana of Braganza (21 January 1635) died at birth.
  3. Infanta Joana, Princess of Beira (18 September 1635 – 17 November 1653) died unmarried.
  4. Catherine of Braganza (25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) married Charles II of England and had no surviving issue.
  5. Manuel of Portugal (6 September 1640) died at birth.
  6. Afonso VI of Portugal (21 August 1643 – 12 September 1683) married Maria Francisca of Savoy.
  7. Pedro II of Portugal (26 April 1648 – 9 December 1706) married firstly Maria Francisca of Savoy, had issue; married secondly Maria Sophia of Neuburg, had issue.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ CARRASCO TERRIZA, MANUEL JESÚS (2007). La Iglesia Mayor de San Pedro de Huelva. Historia de su fábrica. Huelva: Diputación de Huelva. ISBN 978-84-8163-436-5.
  2. ^ a b c "Luísa Gusmão", Dicionário [Dictionary] (in Portuguese), Arq net.
  3. ^ a b Livermore 1969, p. 173.
  4. ^ Ames 2000, p. 18.
  5. ^ Stephens 1891, p. 304.
  6. ^ a b McMurdo 1889, p. 363.
  7. ^ Stephens 1891, p. 305.
  8. ^ Stephens 1891, p. 306.
  9. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 367.
  10. ^ a b McMurdo 1889, p. 408.
  11. ^ Dyer 1877, p. 340.
  12. ^ Davidson 1908, p. 14.
  13. ^ Dyer 1877, p. 341.
  14. ^ Ames 2000, p. 29.
  15. ^ Davidson 1908, p. 96.
  16. ^ Marques 1976, p. 331.
  17. ^ Livermore 1969, p. 185.
  18. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 414.
  19. ^ a b Livermore 1969, p. 189.
  20. ^ Marques 1976, p. 332.
  21. ^ Stephens 1891, p. 331.
  22. ^ McMurdo 1889, p. 417.
  23. ^ Ames 2000, p. 30.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Luisa de Guzman.

10 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Luisa Maria de Gusmão, Queen of Portugal mother of Catherine of Braganza (wife of Charles II & Queen of England); by birth Spanish Luisa de Guzmán and granddaughter on her father's side of Alonso de Guzmán, the 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia -- renowned in Spain as "El Bueno" and in England as "the Admiral of the [Spanish] Armada". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis…

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Queen Catherine of Braganza followed the history of her country with keen interest. Her mother's death, although long kept from her, affected her profoundly (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665-6, p. 342; cf. Hatton Correspondence, i. 49).

Maria Luisa Francisca de Guzman, Dowager Queen of Portugal, died on February 27, 1666 at the age of 52.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ca…

Pepys says the English court was in mourning in November 1666. That's a long time to keep her death a secret.

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Catherine of Braganza's father, and Luisa Guzman's husband was
John IV (1604, Vila Viçosa — 1656, Lisbon) who was the king of Portugal from 1640 as a result of the national revolution, or restoration, which ended 60 years of Spanish rule. He was also known as as: João o Afortunado, João, 8o duque de Bragança, and John the Fortunate.

Joao IV founded the dynasty of Bragança (Braganza), beat off Spanish attacks, and established a system of alliances.

Joao, duke of Bragança, the wealthiest nobleman in Portugal, married Luisa de Guzmán, daughter of the Spanish duke of Medina Sidonia. The Bragança duchy, founded in 1461, was a collateral of the extinct royal House of Aviz; and, when the restorers of independence overthrew the Spanish governor on Dec. 1, 1640, they offered John the crown.

On December 15, 1640, he was enthroned as Joao IV.

Supported by the Cortes, the national assembly, he entrusted each province with its own defense and sent missions to seek recognition from France, England, and the Netherlands.

His alliance with the English Stuarts (1642) was frustrated by the English Civil Wars, but in 1654 King Joao made a new treaty with the English Commonwealth, which gained him military aid in return for trading privileges.

The Dutch, already in possession of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, seized Angola but were expelled from both, while retaining their conquests in the East Indies.

The Spanish were defeated at Montijo (May 26, 1644) and were blocked from further invasion.

Joao IV and his Queen Luisa governed through a royal council and a committee of the Cortes, the Board of Three Estates, and instituted the Overseas Council.

He survived attempts at assassination and Spanish attempts to influence the Vatican to isolate the Portuguese church. Joao IV was a notable composer.

At Joao IV’s death his wife became regent for their son Afonso VI (ruled 1656–83). He was replaced by his younger brother, Pedro II.
Their daughter, Catherine of Braganza, married Charles II of England in 1662.

FROM https://www.britannica.com/biogra…
AND https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

As King Joao IV died in 1656, it was Queen Louisa who was responsible for Catherine of Braganza's marriage to Charles II -- with lots of help from her government, of course. But King Joao started it:

The Braganzas had the idea during the earliest days of Portugal’s 1640’s rebellion to seek support for their cause by wedding Catherine to the Prince of Wales. Now the Stuart star rising again, the proposal was revived. 1
1. Dictionary of National Biography, sub voce 'Catherine o Braganza.'

The 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees was a triumph for France.
With Portugal declaring herself an independent kingdom, it was impossible for Spain to resist the pressure put upon her. It was for the sake of reconquering Portugal that Spain submitted to the humiliating conditions and the losses of territory that were forced upon her. (The height of Spain's greatness dated from 1580 when Philip II seized the vacant throne at Lisbon, and it became a great seafaring power.)

With the loss of the Tagus River and the Portuguese marine in the 1640's revolt led by the Braganzas, Spain’s troubles began, and it was clear that without Portugal her position could never be recovered.
The Tagus river https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
The Braganza revolt https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

On the question of Portugal, Spain had been adamant, and Mazarin, who had vigorously supported the revolt, found himself compelled to abandon his protege.
Cardinal Jules Mazarin https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Without France, Portugal seemed doomed.

In despair a Portuguese ambassador sailed to England to try to renew with the new revolutionary Government Oliver Cromwell's old alliance. He found everything in confusion, until Monck dominated the warring factions, and sat like an uncrowned king in Whitehall. It was a time when, to all who read the signs, the monarchy seemed unexpectedly to be on the brink of restoration.

[THIS AUTHOR THOUGHT] Monck had refused to have anything to do with the Stuart exiles. His single purpose was to preserve order, so that none of the revolutionary elements gained an upper hand, and to hold that balance until a free Parliament could be elected to voice the will of the country. But every day it became more clear that that voice would be a summons to Charles Il to return, and every day the desperation of the more intractable parties became more difficult to control.

Monck and his advisers began to doubt whether it would be possible for them to preserve their neutral attitude until Parliament could meet; at this moment the Portuguese Ambassador saw his chance.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 2

In the Portuguese Court there was little doubt as to the bait that should be offered. The two treaties of commerce, which Oliver Cromwell had concluded with the new kingdom, revealed England’s desire for a share of the East Indian trade; and when, after Oliver's abandonment of the Gibraltar project, his covering fleet had been compelled to base itself in Lisbon, so people knew that England wanted a naval station in the Straits.
Bombay in the Far East, and Tangier, the last Portuguese possessions in North Africa, must have naturally suggested themselves for Catherine's dowry.

The price was a large one to pay, even for the English alliance; but without that alliance it was likely both possessions would be lost — Bombay to the Dutch, and Tangier to the Spaniards or the Moors.

It was clearly the wisest policy to use these assets while they were still in hand, and to invest them into the market where they would be most highly valued.

These were the terms, together with an unprecedented marriage portion of 300,000^, that the Ambassador offered to Monck in March 1660 as the price of Charles II's hand -- if he were restored to the throne. He was able to point out to the General that 'besides the greatest portion in money that ever a queen had, the Infanta was to bring with her Tangier, which would make the English masters of the trade in the Mediterranean, and Bombay, which would give them the like advantage in the East Indies; and over and above all would serve to humble the proud Spaniard, which the General, according to the notions he imbibed in his younger days, thought to be the greatest advantage of all.' 1.
1. Kennet's Register, pp. 91, 393, on the authority of Sir Robert Southwell, a few years later Ambassador to Portugal.

The story rings true. Monck had been brought up during the time of hot anti-Spanish feeling surrounding Sir Walter Raleigh in Devonshire. Monck also had a personal score to settle, for his first taste of military service was at the miserable failure before Cadiz in 1625. There he had served as a volunteer under his kinsman, Sir Richard Grenville.

The Portuguese Ambassador's proposal must have awakened old memories for Monck. The idea must have hit the soldier as being like his ideas of statecraft which he had expressed in his book, 'Observations on Military and Political Affairs,' which he had written during his imprisonment in the Tower in 1644.

Apparently it was this brilliant prospect which this proposal opened up that finally stirred Monck from his neutrality.

After the interview, he sent his cavalier cousin, that arch-intriguer John Grenville, with whom he had long refused to speak a word on politics, to open communications with Charles II in Flanders. 2.
2. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sir John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 3

On Gen. Monck's advice, Charles II immediately left Spanish territory and sought refuge in the Dutch Republic. [Charles left Brussels, his last residence in the Spanish Netherlands, and passing through Antwerp arrived in Breda on 4 April, 1660, and resided there until 14 May. Then he travelled to The Hague, where he was received by the States General as the King of England. He departed for England on 2 June from Scheveningen, - SDS]

At The Hague the Portuguese envoy Francisco de Mello e Torres met Charles II, and subsequently followed him to London. Monck took the first opportunity of recommending the proposal to Charles, and with so much weight that in the autumn the exultant envoy was able to return to Lisbon with assurances that set the whole of Portugal wild with delight.
It the last moment, to all appearance, struggling Portugal was saved from a second destruction, but in fact it was still far from safe.

When Portuguese Amb. Francisco de Mello e Torres, now the Conde da Ponte, returned in February 1661 with full power to negotiate the marriage, he found hostility had made its mark. The far-reaching importance of the project can be judged by the vigor and variety of the opposition it aroused.

At first the marriage proposal received little support except from Cromwell's men, Monck and Montagu, now respectively the Duke of Albemarle and Earl of Sandwich.

Clarendon is said not to have been converted at once to the Portuguese idea, while to the end it was hotly opposed by Queen Mother Henrietta Maria and the 2nd Earl of Bristol (the son of the Earl who, as plain as John Digby, had tried so hard to get King James to use the Mediterranean lever).
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

The opposition was natural enough. The Dutch, who had already absorbed much of Portugal’s Eastern possessions, viewed the prospect of the English at Bombay as an intolerable check to their progress,
Spain, who had never recognized Portugal’s independence and still regarded Tangier as Spanish territory, openly announced that an English occupation of the place would be regarded as a casus belli.

Behind all was the resistance of the Roman Catholic Church.

Despite the pressure France put upon the Pope, he stubbornly supported Spain, and refused to recognize the Braganza Government; the Inquisition was doing its best to crush the national movement; and the fright which the Vatican received from Oliver's cruising squadron, a Protestant gatekeeper at the mouth of the Mediterranean could only be a menace to Rome.

It is doubtful Albemarle and Sandwich — powerful as they still were — could have held Charles II to their view, had not France come to the rescue. It was with the greatest reluctance that she had abandoned the Portuguese at the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and probably France intended to use the first opportunity to come to their assistance -- secretly.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 4

In Charles II's dilemma, Louis XIV saw his opportunity.

Then Mazarin died, and almost the first move which the young Louis XIV made on his own in foreign politics was to assure Clarendon -- in the profoundest secrecy -- that if Charles II took the contemplated step with Portugal, it would have the support of France.

With this assurance, the ground of the opposition, inspired as it was by the Queen Mother, was cut from under it. Until the last hour the momentous resolution was kept a close secret; but when finally the full Council was summoned to pronounce upon the Portuguese marriage, not a single vote was cast against it.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

So from the ashes the English Mediterranean policy sprang again into being, and once more it was the breath of France that gave it life.
What more dramatic irony can history show?
It was at this moment that Colbert was contemplating building the first true navy that France ever possessed. The day of its most glorious achievements was breaking.
Once more England hung back, irresolutely from her destiny, and once more it was France who pushed her on.
John Baptist Colbert, privy-counsellor and superintendent of the finances, secretary, and minister of state to Louis XIV https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Europe was on the threshold of a new era — European politics were pausing for a fresh start — and this is the first step France takes.

In the changing aspect of continental affairs it must have seemed natural enough. The era of the Thirty Years' War was at an end, and the age of Louis XIV had begun.
When Charles II's landed at Dover, young Louis XIV, by virtue of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, and the seeds of the Wars of Succession were sown. From now on France was to fill the role that Spain had filled, but her advance would be halting. Her navy was still to be created.

For the moment Louis XIV's ambitions were set upon the Spanish Netherlands, and it was for the time inevitable that he should follow Mazarin's policy of using the English fleet. If England were strong in the Mediterranean, it was a safeguard to France and her trade, and not a curb, and as things stood Louis' resolve was as statesmanlike as it was bold.

Whether the English Government fully grasped the meaning of the step is doubtful. Men like Albemarle and Sandwich, who had been in Oliver's navy and knewn Adm. Robert Blake, may have felt, even if they could not formulate, the strategic importance of Tangier; but in the public statements of the ministers it was not clearly defined.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

CONCLUSION:

When, on May 8, 1661, Charles II announced the marriage to an enthusiastic Parliament, Clarendon explained to them its meaning and intention; but he justified the match mainly on commercial grounds and as a defiance to Spain. He did not mention Tangier or Bombay. 1.
1. https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

It is quite possible that the intended occupation was to be kept a secret until it was accomplished. But what Clarendon revealed was enough, and both in Parliament and throughout the country the news was received with acclamation.

So the new Stuart monarchy boldly stepped out upon the Mediterranean Policy which the Republic and Queen Elizabeth had begun to tread, and it did so deliberately, at the risk of almost certain war with Spain, a risk from which Charles II in his still unstable seat might well have flinched.

Among the many causes which had led to the remarkable Royalist reaction was certainly the belief that a restoration would mean peace with Spain — the most valued field of English commerce. To reopen the war was to alienate the all-powerful merchant influence, which was looking forward to a period of quiet and prosperous business on the time-honored lines.
Although the promised support of France was enough to convince Charles II, it was not generally known, and the opposition in Parliament might have been serious had not Spanish Amb. Carlos, Baron de Vatteville expressed an excess of zeal:

A pamphlet had been issued pointing out that the commercial advantages which would flow from the Portuguese alliance would outweigh the loss of Spanish friendship. Amb. de Vatteville answered it by printing a counter-declaration, which he had presented to the Privy Council.
His arguments were weighty, but he presented them in such a way that he seemed to assign his master the right to dictate to the King of England his choice of a wife. 1.
1. Letters of Sir Richard Fanshawe, p. 67.

The blunder was easily turned against Amb. de Vatteville with the result that the Princess of Braganza briefly became the heroine of British national sentiment, and Tangier the stronghold of the most violent feeling that can rouse Englishmen to adventurous action.

So when Spanish Amb. de Vatteville plainly threaten war if the King persisted, Charles II safely retorted that 'the King of Spain might do what he pleased — he valued it not.' 2.
2. News-letter, March 12, 1661, Trentham MSS., Hist. MSS. Com. v. 159.

Based on
ENGLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN : A STUDY OF THE RISE AND INFLUENCE
OF BRITISH POWER WITHIN THE STRAITS -- 1603-1713
By JULIAN S. CORBETT
VOL. II
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1904
https://archive.org/stream/englan…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Pedro posted 2 informative posts (not consecutively, unfortunately) about the Portuguese politics concerning Queen Regent Luisa, King Afonso IV (note different spelling) and Infante Peter / Pedro in 1661/62 starting at
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1663

  • Jul

1666