Margarida of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal
Encyclopedia
Montferrat
Montferrat is part of the region of Piedmont in Northern Italy. It comprises roughly the modern provinces of Alessandria and Asti. Montferrat is one of the most important wine districts of Italy...
(28 April 1589 - 26 June 1655) (Italian: Margherita, Spanish: Margarita, Portuguese: Margarida, French: Marguerite) was best known as the last Spanish Vicereine of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. In Portuguese she is known as Duquesa de Mântua.
Early life and duchess of Montferrat
She was born in TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, during the imperial reign of her maternal grandfather Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, as the fifth child of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I , known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630...
(1562–1630) and infanta Catherine Micaela of Spain (1567–1597). She is the Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
She was married to the future Francis IV, Duke of Mantua (1586–1612) and Montferrat on 19 February 1608, the wedding being celebrated in Turin.
In 1612 her husband succeeded his father Vincent I, Duke of Mantua
Vincent I, Duke of Mantua
Vincenzo Gonzaga was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat from 1587 to 1612.-Biography:He was a son of Guglielmo X Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Archduchess Eleanor of Austria...
. Shortly afterwards, she was widowed. Their marriage had produced three children, but only one daughter, Maria, Duchess of Montferrat, survived childhood.
As the couple had no surviving male issue, in 1612 duke Francis' next brother succeeded him in the Duchy of Mantua
Duchy of Mantua
The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, Northern Italy, subject to the Holy Roman Empire.-History:After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Byzantines, Longobards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana...
, whereas in the Duchy of Montferrat
Duchy of Montferrat
The Duchy of Montferrat was created out of what was left of the March of Montferrat after the last Palaeologus heir had died and the margraviate been briefly controlled by Spain . After that brief interlude, it passed to the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua...
he was succeeded by his three-year-old daughter , because it had been historically inherited by females, being a margraviate. Indeed, it had been brought to the Mantuan princely dynasty (the Gonzaga) by the marriage of Margherita Paleologa, Margravine of Montferrat, in 1531. Accordingly, the baby Maria's claims were asserted and dowager duchess Margaret required to be made her regent in Montferrat.
This was a contested inheritance - Maria was a minor for the next decade - and ultimately, duke Francis' brothers failed to produce any legitimate issue, and the entire inheritance became subject to Mantuan War of Succession (1627–32).
Duchess Margaret's daughter Maria was in 1627 married to Charles, the eldest son of the distant Gonzaga heir-male (at that point Charles I, Duke of Mantua
Charles I, Duke of Mantua
Charles Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also Duke of Rethel and Nevers, as well as Prince of Arches.-Biography:...
), in order to join two of the Mantuan claims. They had to wage war, but in the end their line prevailed and they commanded universal recognition as Dukes of Mantua and Montferrat.
Vicereine of Portugal
Upon the death in 1633 of her maternal aunt, Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, ruler of the Low CountriesLow Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, her brother Victor Amadeus
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus I was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also titular King of Cyprus and Jerusalem. He was also known as the Lion of Susa-Biography:...
became heir to the rights of their maternal grandmother Elisabeth of Valois
Elisabeth of Valois
Elisabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early life:She was born in the Château de Fontainebleau...
, eldest daughter and in her issue the heiress of Henry II of France and Catherine of Medici.
She had ancestral links to Portugal: two of her great-grandmothers (i.e: Empress Isabella
Isabella of Portugal
Isabella of Portugal was a Portuguese Princess and Holy Roman Empress, Duchess of Burgundy, and a Queen Regent/Consort of Spain. She was the daughter of Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon. By her marriage to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella was also Holy Roman Empress and Queen...
and Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy
Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy
Infanta Beatrice of Portugal ; ) was Duchess of Savoy by marriage.-Family:She was the second daughter of Manuel I of Portugal and his second wife, Maria of Aragon...
) had been daughters of king Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
.
In 1635, after the demise of the Count of Basto, she was named by her cousin Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
Vicereine of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, at the time in a dynastic union
Iberian Union
The Iberian union was a political unit that governed all of the Iberian Peninsula south of the Pyrenees from 1580–1640, through a dynastic union between the monarchies of Portugal and Spain after the War of the Portuguese Succession...
with Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where she moved to in 1634. This nomination was the result of the efforts of Diogo Soares, member of the Council of Portugal at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, a friend of the Count-Duke of Olivares and a relative of Miguel de Vasconcelos
Miguel de Vasconcelos
Miguel de Vasconcelos e Brito was the last Secretary of State of the Kingdom of Portugal, during the Iberian Union, in which both kingdoms of Portugal and Spain remained separated but united by the same king and foreign policy .He was in office from 1635 to...
who, in 1635, would be named secretary of state of Portugal.
As a result of the Portuguese revolution (called Restoration of Independence) of 1640, Vasconcelos was assassinated and the Duchess of Mantua tried to calm the Portuguese people during demonstrations in the Portuguese Terreiro do Paço (at the time Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
's main square). The Portuguese proclaimed the duke of Braganza
John IV of Portugal
|-|John IV was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal. John was nicknamed John the Restorer...
as their new king. Margaret was surrounded in her headquarters in Lisbon, and her support collapsing, the new potentate allowed her to depart to Spain.
She died in Miranda de Ebro
Miranda de Ebro
Miranda de Ebro is a city on the Ebro river in the province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, on the border with the province of Álava and the autonomous community of La Rioja...
in 1655, her daughter Duchess Maria of Rethel and Montferrat surviving her, with two grandchildren, of whom the daughter Eleanor had in 1651 become the Holy Roman Empress and the son Charles
Charles III, Duke of Mantua
Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat was the son of Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers of Rethel, Nevers, Mantua and Montferrat and Maria Gonzaga...
in 1637 the reigning duke of Mantua. At her death, both her grandchildren had already produced great-grandchildren for her.
Ancestors
| Margaret of Savoy | Father: Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I , known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630... |
Paternal Grandfather: Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert was Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580.... |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Charles III, Duke of Savoy Charles III, Duke of Savoy Charles III of Savoy , often called Charles the Good, was Duke of Savoy from 1504 to 1553, although most of his lands were ruled by the French between 1536 and his death.... |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Infanta Beatriz, Duchess of Savoy |
|||
| Paternal Grandmother: Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry was the daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duchess of Brittany.-Early life:Margaret was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye... |
Paternal Great-Grandfather: Francis I of France Francis I of France Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch... |
||
| Paternal Great-Grandmother: Claude of France Claude of France Claude of France was a princess and queen consort of France and ruling Duchess of Brittany. She was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany.... |
|||
| Mother: Catherine Michelle of Spain |
Maternal Grandfather: Philip II of Spain Philip II of Spain Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count.... |
Maternal Great-Grandfather: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As... |
|
| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal was a Portuguese Princess and Holy Roman Empress, Duchess of Burgundy, and a Queen Regent/Consort of Spain. She was the daughter of Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon. By her marriage to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella was also Holy Roman Empress and Queen... |
|||
| Maternal Grandmother: Elisabeth of Valois Elisabeth of Valois Elisabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early life:She was born in the Château de Fontainebleau... |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Henry II of France Henry II of France Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,... |
||
| Maternal Great-Grandmother: Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II of France.... |
Issue
Margaret had three children- MariaMaria GonzagaMaria Gonzaga or Maria of Mantua was an Italian princess of the House of Gonzaga, and regent of Mantua.-Biography:...
(1609–1660); married Charles II Gonzaga, duke of Nevers, in 1627 - Ludovico (April 27, 1611 – August 3, 1612)
- Eleonora (September 12–13, 1612)