Maria Isabel of Portugal

Maria Isabel of Portugal (Maria Isabel Francisca; 19 May 1797 – 26 December 1818) was an Infanta of Portugal and was later the Queen of Spain as the second wife of Ferdinand VII of Spain.

Biography

Maria Isabel was an Infanta of Portugal and daughter of John VI of Portugal and his wife Carlota of Spain. She was a sister of Pedro I of Brazil.

She married her maternal uncle King Ferdinand VII of Spain on 29 September 1816, whose first wife, Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, had died childless ten years before.

Maria Isabel was again pregnant soon after the birth of her firstborn, but the birth was a difficult one. The baby was in breech and the physicians soon found that the child had died. Maria Isabel stopped breathing soon thereafter and the doctors thought she was dead; when they started cutting her up to extract the dead fetus, she suddenly shouted in pain and collapsed on her bed, bleeding heavily.

She died on 26 December 1818 in the Palace of Aranjuez while giving birth to a large, stillborn daughter and was buried at the Escorial, having failed to provide her husband with an heir to the throne.

Legacy

It is due to Queen Maria Isabel's dedication and affection for the art world that she managed to gather many treasures from the past and create a royal museum, which would end up being the beginnings of Museo del Prado. It opened on 19 November 1819, a year after the Queen's death.

Issue

• Infanta María Luisa Isabel of Spain (21 August 1817 – 9 January 1818) died in infancy.
• Stillborn daughter (26 December 1818).

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 19 May 1797 – 29 September 1816 Her Royal Highness the Infanta Dona Maria Isabel of Portugal
• 29 September 1816 – 26 December 1818 Her Majesty the Queen of Spain

Honours

• Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa

Arms

Arms of Spain and Portugal

See also