“To explain Sebastian’s participation in the Triple Alliance by blaming Philip II of Spain’s rejection of his daughter Catarina is to ignore his entire personality. Sebastian I of Portugal was a soldier first, and a King next.” - Sebastião, Francesco, and Carlo Emanuele: Three Allies and the Italian Wars of the 1580s by Dr. James Williams.
Francesco de' Medici, Carlo Emanuele de Savoy and Sebastião Avis.
As the great-granddaughter of Charles V of Spain, Infanta Catarina had a stronger blood claim to the Duchy of Milan than her new husband, who was the son of Marguerite of Valois. At the time of her marriage to Charles Emmanuel I, the Dukedom was held by the King of Spain. Philip Habsburg offended King Sebastian by rejecting one of the Portuguese Infantas as a daughter-in-law in favor of the Queen of Navarre. Seeing his daughter as a more high-ranking princess than her first cousin, Catherine of Valois, Sebastian allied himself to Charles Emmanuel, promising military and financial support in his quest for Milan.
Catarina, now known as Caterina, arrived in Savoy on 7, August 1582 at the age of thirteen. With her, she brought a hefty dowry of 500,000 cruzados, more than enough to pay for the upcoming war, alongside expensive jewelry that she inherited from her grandmother and namesake, Catherine de’ Medici. Her first impression of Charles Emmanuel, who was short and hunchbacked, was not favorable. Catarina was very beautiful, having inherited her mother’s dark brown hair and her father’s light blue eyes, and described as being tall, with perfect white skin. In a letter to King Sebastian, she questioned his feelings for her, “Your Majesty often told me that you loved me, and I wonder now how much of that is caring, for the husband that the King has chosen doesn’t seem worthy of a Portuguese Infanta.”
More hurtful was the fact that Charles Emmanuel had a mistress at the time of the wedding, who was installed in quarters near his own at the Castle of Rivoli in Piedmont. Maria Marchiori often disrespected the new Duchess, something that Charles Emmanuel largely ignored.
Regardless of Catherine’s feelings towards the match, the marriage was consummated immediately, and she was pregnant before the end of the year. As her husband and father planned an invasion of Milan, she gave birth to her first child on 16, June 1583. The baby was a girl named after her grandmothers, who were both called Margaret of Valois, or Margherita in Italian. Her godparents were her maternal grandfather and the Dowager Queen of France, Anne of Austria, who sent her a golden cup and a mother of pearl crib as a present.
It was at her baptism that Sebastian’s ambassadors were introduced to Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had been invited alongside his wife, Joanna of Austria. Francesco was a relative to Queen Margaret of Portugal, as her mother had been a Medici, and wished for his own alliance with Portugal against the Spanish control in the Italian peninsula. Unlike his father and predecessor, Cosimo I, Francesco de’ Medici had acted much like a vassal to the Habsburgs and wished to stop that.
Why Sebastian agreed is still unknown. At the time of his accession to the throne, three of his immediate ancestors (father, grandfather, and great-grandfather) had married the daughters of a Spanish monarch, and many expected he would do the same. In fact, only Philip’s failure to produce children with his second wife, Mary I of England, prevented this arrangement. Because of this, many at court weren’t surprised when the negotiations started for Infanta Catarina to marry Infante Felipe, Prince of Asturias. In fact, most were also offended alongside the King when Philip of Spain chose Catherine Valois instead, although the marriage could have led to a Spaniard inheriting the Portuguese throne in the future.
Perhaps Sebastian wished to weaken his uncle, or even hoped to strain the relations in the two countries to prevent another marriage between the two families. Historians often debate as to whether he was influenced heavily by his wife, Margaret of France, and his uncle, Infante-Cardinal Henrique, who were both anti-Spanish. If that was true, the death of Margaret’s rival, Catherine of Austria in 1582 of cancer certainly helped things.
Despite his mysterious reasons, Sebastian agreed to ally himself with Francesco de’ Medici. In late 1583, negotiations started for the betrothal of Infanta Joana to Lorenzo de’ Medici (1572), who was his father’s heir, and the betrothal between Infante Filipe, Duke of Guimarães, and Lorenzo’s younger sister, Maria de’ Medici (1575). Because of her father’s wealth, Maria was seen as an attractive match, and Sebastian was eager for an agreement that would fill the Portuguese coffers.
Negotiations were stalled, however, with the death of Infante João Manuel, Prince of Portugal. João Manuel died on 24, February 1584 of smallpox, devastating his parents who, unlike most of their counterparts, were known to be loving and devoted to their children. Her son’s death so hurt Queen Margaret that she fainted during his funeral, and the Venetian ambassador was advised not to offer his condolences "because she cannot bear to have it mentioned”.
Queen Margaret of Portugal and her son Infante John Manuel, Prince of Portugal by Alessandro Allori.
João was seen as the hope of the dying Avis dynasty and was clever and religiously devoted. He knew how to speak Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Latin, and was very mathematically gifted. Unlike his father, however, João was not fond of horses, after a childhood incident where he was bitten by one of the stable mares when attempting to feed her an apple. Letters found in 1987 show that King Sebastian and Queen Mary were discussing a possible engagement between John and Princess Mary Margaret, with the knowledge that Mary Margaret’s half-uncle and fiancé James Stewart would “be dealt with”.
As Infante Filipe, aged nine was now the new heir to the throne, Francesco de’ Medici was more willing to pay Sebastian’s desired amount to see his daughter as Queen. It was decided at the end of the year that Maria de’ Medici would bring with her a dowry of 800,000 cruzados and the cancellation of all debts contracted by the Portuguese crown with the Medici Bank. More importantly, Infanta Joana’s dowry to her marriage with Lorenzo de’ Medici would be paid in the form of extensive military support in whatever war the Grand Duke of Tuscany wished to fight against Spain for the next fifteen years.
Maria de' Medici and Infanta Joana of Portugal.
This alliance between Portugal and the rulers of Tuscany and Milan against Spain would later be known as the Triple Alliance. Although Tuscany and Milan would never be official allies, Francis and Charles Emmanuel signed a pact of non-aggression in early 1584, and there were talks of a future union between their two families.
At the time of the signing of the Triple Alliance, King Philip II of Spain was at war against France for the Kingdom of Navarre. Since 1575, Navarre had been, with some interruptions, under the military control of France. It was planned that Queen Catherine’s heir, a daughter also called Catherine, would marry her first cousin, Henri III of France, and unite the two thrones. These plans were prevented by Queen Catherine’s escape from France in 1580, however, and the kidnapping of Catherine Valois by Spanish forces. Catherine, as the new Queen of Navarre, was betrothed to Infante Felipe, Prince of Asturias, giving a claim for King Philip to invade his family’s long-time enemies.
Twenty thousand Spaniards invaded France through the two openings around the Pyrenees in 1582. The troops, wearing the Navarrese coat of arms, were welcomed by the citizens of Pau, as they had long despised the French for their invasion. The Duke of Alba, through the use of translators, made a speech praising the Navarrese for their strength and resilience. He also claimed that, with the future marriage of Queen Catherine to Infante Felipe, they would once again be allowed to return to their ancestral lands in Spain.
This pleased the habitants and another thousand pledged their lives to the Spanish army. Three days after the peaceful taking of Pau, seven thousand Spaniards met with the five thousand-strong regiments of the Duke of Alençon, who had gathered them after the Massacre at Pau. The Battle of Carcassone lasted for three days and ended with a Spanish victory and the capture of the Duke of Alençon, Queen Catherine’s father.
Two more battles would follow before the first attempt of peace. In the first battle, which occurred during Philip’s attempt to conquer the Dukedom of Albret, one of the french inheritances that Navarrese monarchs gained through marriages, ended in a draw. The second battled gave victory to the Spanish once more.
Seeing the upcoming defeat, Dowager Queen Anne, regent of France in the name of her young son, Henri III, worked to reach a peace treaty with her brother-in-law, Philip II. Elisabeth of Austria, the wife of King Philip, managed to convince her husband to agree to a meeting in a neutral environment. Reportedly, she begged for peace in the name of her infant son, Fernando, who was born on 17 November 1582.
The two Queens, Elisabeth and Anne, met as proxies to their kings on 14, July 1583 in Bordeaux, Aquitaine. As a show of trust in her sister, Elisabeth brought her three-year-old daughter Infanta Juana along, where the young princess met her aunt, being the only child of her mother to do so. Having been given permission by her husband, Elisabeth, over the course of three days, convinced her sister to a peace treaty. The Treaty of Sisters, as it became known, included:
- French troops would leave the traditional lands of Upper Navarre;
- The traditional lands of Upper Navarre would once again owe their allegiance to the ruler of Navarre;
- The Duchy of Albret and all its lands would revert back to the French crown;
- King Henri III abdicated any claim he and his descendants might have over Navarre;
- France and Spain wouldn’t attack or declare war on each other for twenty years;
- Henri III would accept the marriage between Queen Catherine and Infante Felipe;
- Henri III would be formally betrothed to Infanta María Leonor;
- Infanta María Leonor would be sent to the French court to be raised alongside her future husband under the custody of Queen Anne of Austria;
The Treaty was signed and the ten-year-old Infanta María Leonor was handed over to the French, who would call her Marie Aliénor d’Autriche. Despite her young age, Mary Eleanor was immediately married to her first cousin, King Henry III, aged twelve, and crowned Queen of France. Reportedly, this was made by Queen Anne to prevent her brother-in-law from taking his daughter back. Although she spoke little French, the two children became very close over the following months, a prelude to their long and happy marriage.
Queen Marie Aliénor of France.
When King Philip II of Spain returned to his court, he focused on the marriage of his two oldest daughters. Infanta Catalina was sent to her new husband, James Stuart, in September 1583, an occasion that brought both joy and sadness to her father, who was heard remarking “The last time a Catalina left these lands, she didn’t lead a happy life. I pray that my daughter will be different than my great-aunt.”
Infanta Isabel, on the other hand, had been betrothed to her cousin Rudolf since the age of two. When Rudolf died in 1575, many expected his younger brother, Ernest, to fulfill the betrothal as the new heir to Austria. Ernest Habsburg surprised everyone, however, with his marriage to the Lady Elizabeth Bathóry on 1st January 1582. Ernest had been crowned Emperor just two months earlier and so, Elizabeth became Empress immediately.
The reasons for Emperor Ernest to wed the young Hungarian noblewoman are unknown. At the time, Erzsébet had been widowed since the age of sixteen after her first husband, Count Ferenc II Nádasdy, died during the Hungarian wars. As the couple was childless, most of Ferenc’s large possessions were inherited by other family members, but Elizabeth managed to retain many of her own lands and some that Ferenc willed it to her, which included the impressive Catchtice Castle. Because of this, Elizabeth was a very rich young woman, and Ernest, as the King of Hungary, owed her a lot of money (described as a fortune, by Elizabeth herself). It’s possible that Elizabeth agreed to forget the debt in return for Ernest marrying her and, since she was still capable of bearing children — she was twenty-one —, he agreed.
Philip was offended by the marriage and the Spanish ambassador was suspiciously absent from all the celebrations, which lasted two years and cost over a million guldens. Fourteen-year-old Infanta Isabella, however, wasn’t hurt by this and wrote a letter to her cousin congratulating him. At her own suggestion, Isabella was betrothed to William Wittelsbach (1569), heir to the Duchy of Bavaria, and married him in late 1584.
It was during the farewell ceremony to Infanta Isabel that the declarations of war of both Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and Francesco I, Grand Duke of Tuscany arrived. Francesco invaded Sardinia, an island under Spanish control since the thirteenth century, with fifteen thousand troops, while Charles Emmanuel laid siege to Milan with twenty thousand mercenaries. Since both territories had been taken by surprise, the locals were unable to defend themselves, quickly falling under the enemy’s control.
But what happened at the same time as this was more important. Under the cover of the night, a fleet of forty warships entered Spanish waters, attacking and burning most of the Spanish Armada. As Spain had been weakened by its war against France, the attack stopped any army from coming into Sardinia and severely delayed a possible relief to the Milanese. Philip II was more shocked, however, upon learning that the ships that attacked his own bore the five silver bezants and the seven towers known as the Portuguese coat of arms. Betrayed by his nephew and neighbors, the King would retire to his chambers for a month as his councilors and Queen prepared the army for an offense.
Whatever the cost, they were determined to retake the lands lost to the Triple Alliance, and the year 1585 began with most of southern Europe at war.
The Burning of the Spanish Armada.
