Maria Manuela of Portugal
(1527-1545)
BIRTH
October 15, 1527
PLACE
Coimbra, Portugal
NAME
Maria Manuela
DEATH
July 12, 1545
PLACE
Valladolid, Spain
FAMILY
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Maria Manuela of Portugal was the first wife of Philip II of Spain, whom she married while he was still prince; she died at the age of seventeen, days after giving birth to their son Don Carlos. Maria Manuela traveled to Spain, and she and Philip married on November 12, 1543, at Salamanca. The couple settled at Valladolid, where Philip governed Spain as regent for his father. She died on July 12, 1545, four days later, at the age of seventeen.
EARLY LIFE
Maria Manuela was born on October 15, 1527, in Coimbra, Portugal, the eldest daughter of King John III of Portugal and Catherine of Austria, a sister of Emperor Charles V. She was raised at the Portuguese court, where she received a careful education. The Portuguese and Spanish royal families were closely related, and marriages between them were frequent. In 1543 an agreement was reached for her to marry her double first cousin, Prince Philip of Spain, the son and heir of Charles V.
Maria Manuela traveled to Spain, and she and Philip married on November 12, 1543, at Salamanca. The couple settled at Valladolid, where Philip governed Spain as regent for his father.
On July 8, 1545, at Valladolid, she gave birth to a son, Carlos, Prince of Asturias. She died on July 12, 1545, four days later, at the age of seventeen.
Because she died before Philip became king, she never held the title of queen. She was later buried at the Escorial.
CAREER
DEATH
Maria Manuela of Portugal was later buried at the Escorial. Maria Manuela of Portugal was the first wife of Philip II of Spain, whom she married while he was still prince; she died at the age of seventeen, days after giving birth to their son Don Carlos. Maria Manuela traveled to Spain, and she and Philip married on November 12, 1543, at Salamanca. The couple settled at Valladolid, where Philip governed Spain as regent for his father. She died on July 12, 1545, four days later, at the age of seventeen. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.
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