Beatrice of Portugal – “Beautiful in face and body” (Part two)

Read part one here.

The journey to Nice lasted 49 days, and the fleet stopped several times along the way. One stop was rather long due to a storm. Beatrice finally arrived on 29 September, and she awaited the arrival of Charles. Chroniclers did not speak particularly well about Charles’s appearance. In 1530, one of the ambassadors wrote that he was twice her age and was ugly.¹ Upon meeting her, Charles kissed on her the cheek and began to prepare to have her disembark the ship, even though this went against the protocol ordered by her father.

On 1 October, the religious ceremony was performed in the church of St. Dominic in Nice. After this, a banquet followed, and in the evening, there was music and dancing. Rumours about the wedding night stated that “after they had retired, the Duke went to the Infanta, and there was the first night with her, during which some of the ladies said that the Duke would not go to hell for the sin of lust.”²

Beatrice was saddened to learn of her father’s death in December 1521 but his successor and her brother, John, tried his best to stay in touch with his sister.  Beatrice kept up a correspondecnce with many members of her family, including her sister Isabella, who married Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1526.

Beatrice had fallen pregnant quickly following the consummation of her marriage. Around 11 in the morning on 19 November 1522, Beatrice gave birth to a son who received the traditional title of Prince of Piedmont. The celebrations were immense, and the bells of the churches rang continuously. One month later, the boy was christened with the names Adrian Jordan Amadeus, and his godfather was Pope Adrian VI. Tragically, the celebrations were short-lived. Little Adrian died on 10 January 1523. It would be the first of many tragedies for Beatrice and Charles.

Beatrice would go on to give birth to a total of ten children, including an unnamed daughter in 1526. Her second, Louis, was born in 1523, but he died at the age of 13 in 1536. A daughter named Catherine was born in 1529, and she died in 1536. Her only surviving child, Emmanuel Philibert, was born in 1528. A daughter named Maria was born in 1530, and she died that same year. A daughter named Isabella was born in 1532, and she died the following year. Both in 1533 and 1534, she gave birth to short-lived sons named Manuel. The birth of her final child, John Maria, in December 1537 would cost Beatrice her life. The infant lived for just a month.

In 1530, Beatrice and Charles attended the imperial coronation of Emperor Charles V in Bologne. She was then 25 years old and was described as being “beautiful in face and body.”³ She rode in on a richly draped horse, wearing a black velvet headdress. According to another report, she was dressed in all white. She was “kind, knowledgable and courteous” as she welcomed ambassadors.⁴  The following year, she was invested with the county of Asti by her brother-in-law, Charles V. In 1533, she sent Prince Louis to the Spanish court to be educated there. He died in Madrid two years later.

On 29 November 1537, Beatrice, who was already feeling very weak, had her will drawn up. She had been ill since at least July when an ambassador wrote that she was weak with fevers.⁵  She expressed her desire to be buried without any pomp. She also asked to be buried in the closest monastery to where her death occurred and to have her grave marked with a simple marble slab.⁶ She requested that her body be dressed in the habit of the Poor Clares.

She gave birth on 3 December 1537, and she felt death coming a few days later. She wrote to her husband, who was in Milan, that she wanted nothing more than to see him. He did not make it in time – Beatrice died on 8 January 1538 at the age of 33. Beatrice was buried with the body of her infant son in the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Assuncao in Nice.

Her only surviving child was just ten years old when she died. Many years after her death and following the death of her grand-nephew King Sebastian, her son would claim his rights to the Portuguese throne. He failed in his quest, and the throne instead went to King Philip II of Spain, the son of Emperor Charles V, and Beatrice’s sister, Isabella.

1. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.132
2. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.135
3. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.163
4. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.164
5. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.146
6. Beatriz de Portugal (1504-1538). A Infanta esquecida by Ana Isabel Buescu p.201