| Maria Sofia of Neuburg | |
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| Tenure | 11 August 1687 – 4 August 1699 |
| Spouse | Peter II |
| Issue | |
| John V Francisco, Duke of Beja António Manuel Francisca |
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| House | Wittelsbach |
| Father | Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine |
| Mother | Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt |
| Born | 6 August 1666 Germany |
| Died | 4 August 1699 (aged 32) Lisbon |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Countess Palatine Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (6 August 1666 – 4 August 1699) was Queen consort of Portugal as the second wife of Peter II from 1687 until her death in 1699.
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Maria Sofia was the eleventh child of Philip William, Elector Palatine, and Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, born into a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. She had sixteen brothers and sisters, of which the most notable were these:
In 1687 Maria Sofia married the widowed King Peter II of Portugal four years after the death of his first wife, Maria Francisca of Savoy. Supposedly Louis XIV was "greatly chagrined" by Peter's decision to marry a daughter of the Elector Palatine and not another French princess, as he had hoped.[1]
Peter and Maria Sofia had seven children together:
Maria Sofia was described as gentle, and Peter reportedly treated her with respect. While she clashed with her widowed sister-in-law Catherine of Braganza on matters of etiquette, Maria Sofia became friends with her stepdaughter Infanta Isabel Luísa, who would have married a Neuburg prince had she not died in 1690 at age 22.[2]
Queen Maria Sofia was involved with charities supporting widows and orphans and allowed poor patients access to medical care at the royal palace. She had a very intimate friendship with Father Bartolomeu do Quental, who died with the reputation of a saint. In Beja, she financed the foundation of a Franciscan school.
She died in Lisbon of fever, possibly a symptom of erysipelas, on 4 August 1699, two days before her thirty-third birthday.
| Portuguese royalty | ||
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| Preceded by Maria Francisca of Nemours |
Queen consort of Portugal 1687–1699 |
Succeeded by Mary Anne of Austria |
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