| Catherine of Braganza | |
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| Tenure | 23 April 1662 – 6 February 1685 |
| Spouse | Charles II of England |
| Full name | |
| Catherine Henrietta Portuguese: Catarina Henriqueta de Bragança |
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| House | House of Stuart (by marriage) House of Braganza (by birth) |
| Father | John IV of Portugal |
| Mother | Luisa of Medina-Sidonia |
| Born | 25 November 1638 Vila Viçosa, Portugal |
| Died | 31 December 1705 (aged 67) Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal |
| Burial | Jerónimos Monastery, Belém, Lisbon |
Catherine of Braganza (Catarina de Bragança, in Portuguese) (25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was a Portuguese Infanta and the queen consort of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.
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Infanta Catarina of Portugal (or of Braganza) was born in Vila Viçosa as the second surviving daughter of John IV of Portugal (at the time Duke of Braganza) and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán, a daughter of the duke of Medina-Sidonia. Through her mother, Catherine was a 3rd great granddaughter of Saint Francis Borgia. Although she was raised in a convent, Catherine's upbringing and education were closely supervised by her mother.
Following the restoration of a Portuguese Royal House, and her father's accession to the throne on 1 December 1640, she was proposed as a bride for John of Austria, François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, Louis XIV and Charles II. She was seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in which Portugal was arguably abandoned by France. Upon Charles's restoration to the English throne in 1660, Catherine's mother reopened negotiations with his counsellors, and a marriage treaty was signed 23 June 1661.
She was married by proxy in Lisbon on 23 April 1662. After arriving in Portsmouth on 14 May 1662, the couple were married in two more ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service – on 21 May. Catherine married late for a woman of her era, at 23.
Her large dowry brought the port cities of Tangier and Bombay to British control. The former had only a transitory significance, but the latter had a major lasting influence on the development of the British Empire and the History of India, as the British would develop Bombay - which had only 10,000 inhabitants under the Portuguese - into a major centre of commerce.
At the time, she was not a particularly popular choice of queen, being Roman Catholic, and her religion prevented her from being crowned, as Roman Catholics were forbidden to take part in Anglican services. She initially faced hardships due to the language barrier, the king's infidelities and the political conflicts between Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Over time, her quiet decorum, loyalty and genuine affection for Charles changed the public's perception of her.
Catherine became pregnant and miscarried at least twice, and during a severe illness in 1663, she thought, for a time, she had given birth. Charles comforted her by telling her she had indeed given birth to two sons and a daughter. Her position was a difficult one, as Charles continued to have children by his many mistresses, but insisted she be treated with respect, and sided with her over his mistresses when he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due.
Throughout his reign, he firmly dismissed the idea of divorcing Catherine, even when Parliament exerted pressure to beget or declare a Protestant successor.
Though known to keep her faith a private matter, her religion and proximity to the king made her the target of anti-Catholic sentiment. In 1678, the murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey was ascribed to several of her servants. In November of the same year she was accused by Titus Oates, an instigator of the "Popish Plot", of being part of a conspiracy to poison the king, even though Charles himself disbelieved the entirety of the plot. Although both the evidence in her case and the Popish Plot were later discovered to be fabrications, the House of Commons voted unsuccessfully for an address calling for the Queen and her household to be banished from Whitehall. In 1679 she was defended against the allegations by the king himself.
At Charles' final illness in 1685 she showed anxiety for his reconciliation with the Roman Catholic faith, and exhibited great grief at his death. Later in the same year, she unsuccessfully interceded with James II for the life of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Charles's illegitimate son and leader of the Monmouth Rebellion - even though Monmouth in rebellion had called upon the support represented by the staunch Protestants opposed to the Catholic Church.
Catherine remained in England, living at Somerset House, through the reign of James and his deposition in the Glorious Revolution by William III and Mary II.
Initially on good terms with William and Mary, her position deteriorated as the practice of her religion led to misunderstandings and increasing isolation. A bill was introduced to Parliament to limit the number of Catherine's Catholic servants, and she was warned not to agitate against the government. She finally returned to Portugal in March 1692.
She supported the Treaty of Methuen in 1703 with England and acted as regent for her brother, Peter II, in 1701 and 1704-05. She died at the Bemposta Palace in Lisbon on 31 December 1705 and was buried at the Jerónimos Monastery, in Belém, Lisbon.
Catherine introduced the custom of drinking tea in England, a custom that was already very popular among the Portuguese nobility at the time. The tea had been imported to Portugal from the Portuguese possessions in Asia as well as through the trade Portuguese merchants maintained with China and Japan.
Although some have claimed that Queens, a borough of New York City, was named after Catherine of Braganza, her name is not mentioned in the first 200 years of historical documents that have been preserved in the county archives. She was, however, queen when Queens County was established, alongside Kings County(Brooklyn) in 1683.
Because it was alleged that the Queen and her family had profited from the slave trade, a recent effort to build a 10 m (33 ft)-tall statue in her honour in Queens was defeated by local African American, Irish-American and community groups.[1] A quarter-scale model survives at the site of Expo '98, in Lisbon, Portugal, facing Queens across the Atlantic.
According to the Museum Director, of the house of Braganza,it was not only drinking tea but "High Tea" at 16:00(some people believe it to be at 17:00) which is still a Portuguese tradition, Catherine also introduced the fork to the dining tables of England.
The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with the arms granted to her as the 2nd Princess of Beira.
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John I, Duke of Braganza | ||||||||||||
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Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza |
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Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza | ||||||||||||
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John IV of Portugal |
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Juan Fernández de Velasco, Duke of Frias | ||||||||||||
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Ana de Velasco y Girón |
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Ana Ángela de Aragón y Guzmán | ||||||||||||
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Catherine of Braganza |
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Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, Duke of Medina-Sidonia | ||||||||||||
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Juan Manuel de Guzmán El Bueno, Duke of Medina-Sidonia |
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Ana de Sylva y Mendoza | ||||||||||||
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Luisa de Guzmán |
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Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma | ||||||||||||
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Juana Lourença Gómez de Sandoval y la Cerda |
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Catarina de Lacerda | ||||||||||||
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Catherine of Braganza
Cadet branch of the House of Aviz
Born: 25 November 1638 Died: 31 December 1705 |
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| British royalty | ||
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| Vacant
Title last held by
Henrietta Maria of France |
Queen Consort of England and of Ireland 1662–1685 |
Succeeded by Mary of Modena |
| Queen Consort of Scots 1662–1685 |
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CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA (1638-1705), queen consort of Charles II. of England, daughter of John IV. of Portugal, and of Louisa de Gusman, daughter of the duke of Medina Sidonia, was born on the 15/25 of November 1638 at Villia Vicosa. She was early regarded as a useful medium for contracting an alliance with England, more necessary than ever to Portugal after the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 whereby Portugal was ostensibly abandoned by France. Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of Charles I., were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on the 23rd of June, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed, England securing Tangier and Bombay, with trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal and two million Portuguese crowns (about 300,000); while Portugal obtained military and naval support against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. She reached England on the 13th of May 1662, but was not visited by Charles at Portsmouth till the loth. The next day the marriage was solemnized twice, according to the Roman Catholic and Anglican usages. Catherine possessed several good qualities, but had been brought up in a conventual seclusion and was scarcely a wife Charles would have chosen for himself. Her personal charms were not potent enough to wean Charles away from the society of his mistresses, and in a few weeks after her arrival she became aware of her painful and humiliating position as the wife of the selfish and licentious king. On the first presentation to her of Lady Castlemaine, Charles's mistress en titre, whom he insisted on making lady of her bedchamber, she fainted away. She withdrew from the king's society, and in spite of Clarendon's attempts to moderate her resentment, declared she would return to Portugal rather than consent to a base compliance. To overcome her resistance nearly the whole of her Portuguese retinue was dismissed. She was helpless, and the violence of her grief and anger soon changed to passive resistance, and than to a complete forbearance and complaisance which gained the king's regard and favour. In the midst of Charles's debauched and licentious court, she lived neglected and retired, often deprived of her due allowance, having no ambitions and taking no part in English politics, but keeping up rather her interest in her native country.
As the prospect diminished of her bearing children to Charles, several schemes were set on foot for procuring a divorce on various pretexts. As a Roman Catholic and near to the king's person Catherine was the special object of attack by the inventors of the Popish Plot. In 1678 the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was ascribed to her servants, and Titus Oates accused her of a design to poison the king. These charges, of which the absurdity was soon shown by cross-examination, nevertheless placed the queen for some time in great danger. On the 28th of November Oates accused her of high treason, and the Commons passed an address for her removal and that of all the Roman Catholics from Whitehall. A series of fresh depositions were sent in against her, and in June 1679 it was decided that she must stand her trial; but she was protected by the king, who in this instance showed unusual chivalry and earned her gratitude. On the 17th of November Shaftesbury moved in the House of Lords for a divorce to enable the king to marry a Protestant and have legitimate issue; but he received little support, and the bill was opposed by Charles, who continued to show his wife "extraordinary affection." During the winter the calumnies against the queen were revived by Fitzharris,who, however, before his execution in 1681 confessed to their falsity; and after the revival of the king's influence subsequent to the Oxford parliament, the queen's position was no more assailed.
During Charles's last illness in 1685 she showed great anxiety for his reconciliation with the Romish Church, and it was probably effected largely through her influence. She exhibited great grief at his death. She afterwards resided at Somerset House and at Hammersmith, where she had privately founded a convent. She interceded with great generosity, but ineffectually, for Monmouth the same year. On the 10th of June 1688 she was present at the birth of the prince of Wales and gave evidence before the council in favour of the genuineness of the child. She was still in England at the Revolution, having delayed her return to Portugal to prosecute a lawsuit against the second earl of Clarendon, formerly her chamberlain. She maintained at first good terms with William and Mary; but the practice of her religion aroused jealousies, while her establishment at Somerset House was said to be the home of cabals against the government; and in 1691 she settled for a short time at Euston. She left England finally with a train of one hundred persons in March 1692, travelling through France and arriving at Lisbon on the 20th of January 1693. She took up her residence at the palace of Bemposta, built by herself, near Lisbon. In 1703 she supported the Methuen Treaty, which cemented still further the alliance between Portugal and England, and in 1704 she was appointed regent of Portugal during the illness of her brother King Pedro II., her administration being distinguished by several successes gained over the Spaniards. She died on the 31st of December 1705, bequeathing her great wealth, the result of long hoarding, after the payment of divers charitable legacies, to King Pedro; and was buried with great ceremony and splendour at Belem.
See L. C. Davidson, Catherine of Braganza (1908).
Categories: CAS-CAT | English and British royalty
Catherine of Braganza (Catarina de Bragança, in Portuguese) (25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was a Portuguese Infanta and the queen consort of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.
   | Catherine of Braganza - Britannia: Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell |
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