WI: England and Portugal united

"A further marriage between the Portuguese and English royal families occurred in 1662 when Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_–_United_Kingdom_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Portuguese_Alliance

Since I didn't bother researching the royal line of Portugal, what if, all male sons of King John died (with no heirs), and Charles and Catherine had a male child, heir to both thrones?

Basically, what would happen if the King of England was the King of Portugal too?
 
"A further marriage between the Portuguese and English royal families occurred in 1662 when Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_–_United_Kingdom_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Portuguese_Alliance

Since I didn't bother researching the royal line of Portugal, what if, all male sons of King John died (with no heirs), and Charles and Catherine had a male child, heir to both thrones?

Basically, what would happen if the King of England was the King of Portugal too?


It would be chaos in Portugal, but how troubled the Portuguese situation would be depends on when both male heirs of John IV dies. If it's before February 1668 then Portugal would still be fighting its Independence War from Spain, which started in 1640. If the Portuguese were fighting in order to not be under the same king as Spain, a neighbourgh country with similar culture, I doubt they would be pleased with the idea of a union with England, a much distant country with different culture and religion.

John IV had a bastard daughter - Maria Josepha - who lived as a nun. Maybe the Portuguese Courts could accept her as their monarch - although she would probably refuse it, or would elect other noble with a distant blood relation with the Portuguese monarchs. Following the line of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza - from whom the Braganza claim to the throne came from - the nearest relatives lived in Spain. The senior line would be the one of the Counts of Oropesa, who were firmly integrated into the Spanish government. The living count in 1668 would be Duarte Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, who even served as Vice-Roy in Navarre for the Habsburgs. So they probably wouldn't be an option, as they would defend their monarch's right to Portugal.

If we follow the descendents of Antonio, the pretender who claimed the throne in 1580, he had by 1668 two great grandsons: Manuel Eugénio de Portugal and Fernando Alexandre de Portugal. I don't have much information about them, but considering that their father (Luis Guilherme de Portugal) died in Madrid and married an Italian woman from a Neapolitan noble family (so subject to the Habsburgs) we can assume they also have accepted the Habsburgs as their monarchs.

So, the only other Portuguese option would be go with the Lencastre family, that is originary from "Jorge de Lencastre", a bastard son of John II of Portugal born in 1481. His eldest descendent in 1668 was Agostinho de Lencastre (1639 - 1720) However he also defended the Habsburg claim, and lived in Spain. So the nearest relative who defended the Portuguese independence was Pedro de Lencastre, who was 60 years old by then and didn't have children as he was Archbishop of Braga.

Given this messy situation, the Portuguese would probably have two options: or they try to make a deal with the Spanish and accept the Habsburgs in exchange for some political freedom, or they go with Catherine of Braganza, hoping that she can give birth to more than one child, and so allowing the possibility of a division of the Stuart realms (England the the eldest child, Portugal to the second).

However, if the Braganzas become extinct after February 1668, when Spain had already recognized in the peace treaty the Braganza claim to Portugal, then they could ask Duarte Fernando Álvarez de Toledo or his son to be their king, preserving the country's independence and, at the same time, ensuring a good relationship with Spain. The chances of Catharine are few, as after 1640 the Portuguese law excluded princess married with foreign rulers from the succession and, as I said before, the Portuguese wouldn't be so willing to accept a Protestant distant king as their monarch. We probably could have a Portuguese succession war if Charles II tries to defend his children rights to the throne.
 
Top