Infante Louis, Duke of Beja

The Infante Louis, 5th Duke of Beja (Portuguese pronunciation: [luˈiʃ]; English: Louis or Lewis) (Abrantes, 3 March 1506 — Marvila, in Lisbon, 27 November 1555) was the second son of King Manuel I of Portugal and his second wife Maria of Aragon (the third daughter of the Catholic Monarchs), and therefore a Portuguese infante (prince).

Louis succeeded his father as the 5th Duke of Beja and was also made 9th Constable of the Kingdom (Portuguese: Condestável do Reino) and Prior of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, with its Portuguese headquarters in the town of Crato.

He did not marry but had a natural son by Yolande (Violante) Gomes, a Pelicana (the she-pellican), a New Christian, who is said to have died a Nun in Almoster, Santarém, on 16 July 1568, daughter of Pedro Gomes, from Évora. Some say they eventually married perhaps at Évora, thus legitimating their issue for every purpose.^[1] Their son António, Prior of Crato, would be one of the claimants to the throne after the disaster of Alcácer Quibir and subsequent death of King Sebastian of Portugal and the dynastic crisis that followed, and, according to some historians, the 18th King of Portugal during the year of 1580.

Ancestry

See also

• Duke of Beja
• conquest of Tunis
• Botafogo (galleon)

External links

• Genealogy of Infante Luís, 5th Duke of Beja, in Portuguese

Bibliography

”Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil” – Vol. I, pages 382/384. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.

References