Yes! She's been engaged to Prince Afonso since infancy, it was part of the Treaty of Alcáçovas as IOTL.
La generación magnífica//The Magnificent Generation - A Catholic Monarchs TL
- Thread starter HortenseMancini
- Start date
With four sons I think Alfonso will not "die" as otl. On the other hand, Isabel is very fragile herself so she may not survive.
You're right there, Afonso will survive but sadly Isabel is another story...
Perhaps she will die as a result of a pregnancy, hopefully, she lives a little longer here....
Well, we'll just have to see. But I will also say that Afonso’s son and heir is the child of his second marriage.
Yeah, that's almost a given. Wonder what will happen to Manuel of Beja in this TL?
Wonder who Philip of Burgundy will wed in this tl?
Wonder who Philip of Burgundy will wed in this tl?
I’m thinking that Manuel will probably be a relatively powerless Portuguese noble; more important prior to the birth of Afonso’s first child, of course, but ultimately a guy who keeps his head down and is loyal to the Crown. I’m not sure if he’ll get married and have kids yet.
Philip of burgundy will marry either isabeau of Brittany or (more likely, with the way things are going) Anne of York.
Given that the Infanta Isabel will be dying young, I wonder who his second wife will be? Perhaps Isabeau of Brittany to avoid offending the Spanish by marrying a French princess?
I was thinking of taking the suggestion by @ isabella of Catherine of York. She doesn’t fall into the Spanish or French camps, and the match would shore up the Anglo-Portuguese alliance.
III: A Navarrese Marriage
A Navarrese Marriage
~1473-1494
"El rey don Juan III como príncipe de los Asturias" from the Iconografía española
by Valentín Carderera y Solano, circa 1855-1864
As the first ever heir to both of the Spanish kingdoms of Iberia, Castile-Leon and Aragon, Juan príncipe de los Asturias y Girona was a highly sought after marriage partner from a very young age. Indeed, he had been only an infant at the time of his first betrothal to his supposed cousin Juana la Beltraneja. And after that arrangement was set aside, he remained the subject of numerous marriage proposals. The most serious of these came from England in 1479. The Yorkist King Edward IV proposed a double match between England and Spain wherein Prince Juan would marry one of Edward’s daughters while the Infanta Isabel would marry his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. The match between Infanta Isabel and the Prince of Wales was politely declined, as little Isabel had already been promised to the Prince of Portugal, but the Catholic Monarchs saw no reason not to ally with England and for the next several years Juan remained officially betrothed to one of King Edward’s daughters. Which daughter exactly was left unspecified and remains the subject of some debate. The eldest three - Elizabeth, Mary, and Cecily - were all older than Juan but not prohibitively so as Elizabeth, the eldest and thus the least likely to have actually been intended for Juan, was still only born in 1466. There was also a fourth daughter, Anne, who was five years younger than Juan. Any of these English princesses could have been suitable for the Prince of Asturias and it is likely that the contract arranging the betrothal was intentionally left vague, in order that either King Edward or the Catholic Monarchs could arrange for last minute changes if desired. ~1473-1494
"El rey don Juan III como príncipe de los Asturias" from the Iconografía española
by Valentín Carderera y Solano, circa 1855-1864
Of course, the match between Juan and his English princess never came to fruition. Juan’s namesake grandfather, old King Juan II of Aragon, was also King of Navarre by virtue of his first marriage to the late Queen Regnant of Navarre, Blanche I. Navarre was unusual in its permission of female rulers, and that was part of what made it such a hotly contested area. Any time that a woman came to rule Navarre, which was always more often than would be preferable, her hand was eagerly sought by any man who thought he had enough money and/or power for his suit to be taken seriously. When Juan II died in 1479, he was thus succeeded in Navarre by his daughter and King Fernando II’s half-sister, Eleanor. Eleanor’s eldest son, Gaston, Prince of Viana, had married the sister of the French king Louis XI and had two children with her, a son and a daughter. Unfortunately Prince Gaston predeceased his mother, dying in 1473, and following Eleanor’s death in 1479 only weeks after her father, Louis XI acted as the protector of his sister and her young children, Francis Phoebus and Catherine. Since Catherine had only one brother, who could easily die of an accident or illness or an ‘accident’ or ‘illness’, her hand was almost as eagerly sought as if she were already Queen, though her brother was still living. Louis XI carefully guarded his niece’s hand in marriage, and seriously considered marrying her to his own son and her cousin, Charles, Dauphin of France [1].
All of this changed with two major deaths in 1483. First, in January, Francis Phoebus, erstwhile King of Navarre since his grandmother’s death, died suddenly at the age of only 15. Whether foul play was involved or not has been a subject of much debate and discussion, but cause of death aside the death in question set off a succession crisis in Navarre. Infanta Catherine immediately succeeded to the throne but her position was challenged by her uncle, the late Queen Eleanor’s second surviving son John, Viscount of Narbonne. Things were further shifted in Navarre when Louis XI, the same man who so irritated the Catholic Monarchs with his support for Portugal during the Castilian War of Succession and who was known as the ‘Universal Spider’, died in August 1483. His wife, Charlotte of Savoy, immediately became regent of France on behalf of their 13 year old son, now King Charles VIII, but she was no spider. French support for Queen Catherine lagged, and Fernando of Aragon at last saw an opportunity to finally bring Navarre into the Trastámara fold. It was not a difficult thing to do. He wrote to the Dowager Princess of Viana and promised her support against the forces of John of Narbonne. The price he demanded for this support was the hand in marriage of Queen Catherine for the Prince of Asturias. The Dowager Princess obliged, though she begged a few years more with her daughter, a condition to which Fernando and Isabel of Castile agreed.
Catherine was finally dispatched from Navarre in April 1487. She had remained with her mother longer than had initially been intended, but the Catholic Monarchs were willing to wait. Catherine was an immensely desirable bride for their eldest son and it was determined early on that every effort should be made to accommodate her, so long as doing so did not jeopardize the overall objective of seeing her married to Prince Juan. Catherine’s remaining in Navarre was also less of a problem than it otherwise would have been because of her prospective husband’s comparative youth [2]. By the time Catherine arrived in Burgos in May 1487, Prince Juan was 16 years old and deemed well fit enough for marriage. The couple were duly wed there on 2 June 1487. Juan and Catherine quickly set about consummating their marriage and building a family of their own. Catherine was pregnant by the time of their first anniversary and gave birth to her first child, a healthy baby boy, to the delight of her in-laws, in February 1489. The young Infante Fernando, named, of course, for his paternal grandfather, was immediately made Prince of Viana as heir apparent to Navarre, but he would have to wait to become Prince of Asturias and Girona. Catherine was soon pregnant again following Prince Fernando’s birth, bearing a daughter, Isabel, in 1491 and another daughter, Magdalena, in 1492. A second son, Infante Gastón, finally followed in 1494. In all, Catherine and Juan would have ten children, six daughters and four sons. Only two of those children, one son and one daughter, would die in childhood while their youngest son and youngest daughter would both enter the Church, like Infante Miguel.
[1] Of course, this is only because Mary of Burgundy had already married Maximilian of Austria.
[2] Yes, Catherine and Juan were roughly two years apart in age and yes they could technically have been married in 1484 but honestly the Catholic Monarchs seem to have been in no big rush to get their children wedded and bedded IOTL (well except maybe for Catalina but I think the eagerness there was more on the part of the English) and I can’t see that changing in a universe where they have four relatively healthy sons instead of just one sickly one.
IV: Children of Juan and Catherine
Children of Infante Juan, Prince of Asturias and Girona (b. 1470) and Catherine, Queen of Navarre (b. 1468)
* please note that I have not included marriages and certain adult titles *
1) Infante Fernando, Prince of Viana (b. 1489)
2) Infanta Isabel (b. 1491)
3) Infanta Magdalena (b. 1492)
4) Infante Gastón (b. 1494)
5) Infanta Leonor (b. 1496)
6) Infante Francisco (b. 1497, d. 1498)
7) Infante Alfonso (b. 1499)
8) Infanta Catalina (b. 1501)
9) Infanta María (b. and d. 1502)
10) Infanta Ana (b. 1504)
* please note that I have not included marriages and certain adult titles *
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Isabel will die a very happy woman. With that many grandchildren Castile and Aragorn and Navarre are on rock solid.
Yeah, considering that Catherine had 14 children IOTL I figured 10 would be good for her ITTL. She and Juan have very good luck with producing healthy kids. Not all of Juan's siblings are so blessed.
Excellent update, the Spanish succession seems very safe at the moment. I wonder how Spain not being ruled by the Habsburgs(which wouldn't have to deal with the low countries and Germany) would effect their colonial efforts?
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Finally Navarre is secured, and rather peacefully as well, more so than I expected. Also, Charlotte of Savoy as regent of France? I hope Anne is not dead or something.
I can't wait to how butterflies will develop in France, England and the Low Countries. For some reason I have a feeling we might get a surviving York dynasty.
But anyways, nice update!
I can't wait to how butterflies will develop in France, England and the Low Countries. For some reason I have a feeling we might get a surviving York dynasty.
But anyways, nice update!
The birth of Ferdinand of Viana in 1489 must have given the Catholic monarchs a hell of a motivation to finish the Reconquista and unite all of Iberia under their rule. Damn Juan will inherit both Castile and Leon, Aragon, Navarre and the sultanate of Granada. From four kingdoms to one under two generations. What a event in Spanish history.
Also where is Anne de Beaujeu?
Also where is Anne de Beaujeu?
Oooh, ok, I had forgotten that Anne became regent right after the death of her father. She's not dead, I assure you!
Question for anyone interested: who should Manuel of Viseu marry? He definitely won't be King of Portugal ITTL but he will be an important duke who has the royal favor. So I imagine he would get a wife and children.