Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal

For other people of the same name, see Eleanor of Aragon.
Eleanor of Aragon

Queen Leonor in Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal (António de Holanda; 1530-1534)
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure 14 August 1433 – 9 September 1438
Born (1402-02-01)1 February 1402
Medina del Campo
Died 19 February 1445(1445-02-19) (aged 43)
Toledo
Burial Batalha Monastery
Spouse Edward of Portugal
Issue Infante John
Infanta Philippa
Afonso V of Portugal
Infanta Maria
Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu
Eleanor, Holy Roman Empress
Infante Edward
Infanta Catherine
Joan, Queen of Castile
House House of Trastamara
Father Ferdinand I of Aragon
Mother Eleanor of Alburquerque
Religion Roman Catholicism

Eleanor of Aragon (1 February 1402 – 19 February 1445) was queen consort of Portugal as the spouse of Edward I of Portugal and the regent of Portugal as the guardian of her son. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque.

Biography

She married King Edward of Portugal on 22 September 1428. They had nine children, of whom five survived to adulthood.

When her husband died on 13 September 1438, she was appointed regent of Portugal in his will, which was confirmed by the Portuguese Cortes. However, she was inexperienced and, as an Aragonese, unpopular with the people, who preferred the late king's brother Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra. The confirmation of her regency therefore caused a riot in Lisbon. The riot was suppressed by her brother Count John of Barcelona, later King John II of Aragon. Eleanor was supported by the nobility and the will, while Peter was supported by a fraction of the nobility and by the people. Negotiations for a compromise arrangement were drawn out over several months, but were complicated by the interference of the Count of Barcelos, who supported her, and the Archbishop of Lisbon, who supported Peter. This period also witnessed the birth to her of a posthumous daughter, Joan in March 1439 and the death of her eldest daughter, Philippa.

Eventually, the Cortes appointed Peter the sole regent. Eleanor continued conspiring, but was forced to go into exile in Castile in December 1440. She died at Toledo in February 1445 and is buried in Batalha, Portugal.

Issue

Ancestry

Preceded by
Philippa of Lancaster		 Queen Consort of Portugal
14 August 1433 – 13 September 1438 		Succeeded by
Isabel of Coimbra
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