Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Denmark

Eleanor
Eleanor of Portugal, in Antonio de Hollanda's Genealogy of the Royal Houses of Spain and Portugal (1530–1534)
Junior Queen consort of Denmark
Tenure	1229–1231
Born	c. 1211 Kingdom of Portugal
Died	28 August 1231 (aged 19–20) Denmark
Burial	St. Bendt's Church
Spouse	Valdemar the Young
Issue	Princess Infanta Ingeborg
House	Burgundy
Father	Afonso II of Portugal
Mother	Urraca of Castile
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Eleanor of Portugal (Portuguese: Leonor [liuˈnoɾ]; c. 1211 – 28 August 1231) was a Portuguese infanta, the only daughter of Afonso II of Portugal and Urraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal. Eleanor was Queen consort of Denmark by marriage to Danish King Valdemar the Young, son of Valdemar II, in 1229.^[1]

Bishop Gunner of Viborg had first thought of the idea of the marriage, as Eleanor's aunt Berengaria had been Valdemar's stepmother. The wedding took place in Ribe on 24 June 1229, and the next day Eleanor received southern half of the island Funen as a wedding present from her husband. Even though she was junior queen, she was the only queen since her aunt had died eight years prior and her father-in-law had not remarried.

Silk and lock of hair from tomb of Queen Eleanor

Only two years later Eleanor died in childbirth on the 28 August 1231, and three months later her husband was killed by an accidental shot.

When examining Eleanor's grave in Ringsted Church, it was discovered that her skeleton showed traces of cancer of the bones, which probably was contributory to her death. At the foot piece of Eleanor's grave was a leaden coffin, which contained the bones of a child about 6 months old, already sickly and scrofulous from birth. So Eleanor probably gave birth to a child, who survived her by only six months.^[2]

Ancestors

References