Queens of Portugal / Rainhas de Portugal

 

Anthonis Mor, Portrait of Catherine of Austria, 1552, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

© Museo Nacional del Prado

 

 

For those of you interested in the history of Queens, I suggest consulting the blog: Rainhas de Portugal, which is dedicated to the published series of biographies (in Portuguese) of the all the queens of Portugal.

Have a look: http://rainhasdeportugal.blogspot.ch/

 

Vol. 10 was written by me and the wife of King John III, Catherine of Austria, is the protoganist of this book. The following is the text to be found on the back cover:

CATHERINE OF AUSTRIA

QUEEN & COLLECTOR

In 1496 “the” wedding of the century was celebrated in Brussels with great pomp. Juana of Castile married Archduke Philip, the most attractive bachelor of Europe. Their union joined the royal house of Spain with the Burgundian-Habsburg dynasties: the dawn of a world empire. Their six children were born to rule as future Emperors and Queens. The youngest lead an isolated childhood in remote Northern Spain, cut off from the brilliant court of Charles V. But this Habsburg princess was resolute, matching her famous grandmother, Isabella of Castile, in intelligence, and her father in beauty. Happily married to John III, she ruled Portugal as Queen Consort and Regent for over fifty years. Catherine of Austria was a gifted stateswoman, philanthropist and major art collector, only to see her dreams shattered by the premature deaths of her nine children.

This new biography retraces the fascinating life of a brilliant Renaissance queen, filled with new insights based upon years of archival research in Portugal, Spain, Austria, England and the Vatican.