Elizabeth of Aragon

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For other people named Isabella of Aragon, see Isabella of Aragon (disambiguation).
Elizabeth of Portugal
Santa Isabel de Portugal.jpg
Santa Isabel de Portugal, by Francisco de Zurbarán, c. 1635
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure 7 January 1325 – July 4 1336
Born 1271
Aljafería Palace, Zaragoza, Kingdom of Aragon[1]
Died 4 July 1336
Estremoz Castle in Estremoz, Alentejo, Kingdom of Portugal
Spouse Denis, King of Portugal
Issue Constanca, Queen of Castile
Afonso IV, King of Portugal
House House of Barcelona
Father Peter III, King of Aragon
Mother Constance of Sicily
Religion Catholic Church

Elizabeth of Aragon, more commonly known as Elizabeth of Portugal,[2] T.O.S.F. (1271 – 4 July 1336; Elisabet in Catalan, Isabel in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish), was queen consort of Portugal, a tertiary of the Franciscan Order and is venerated as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

Elizabeth showed an early enthusiasm for her faith. She said the full Divine Office daily, fasted and did other penance, as well as attended twice-daily choral Masses. Religious fervor was common in her family, as she could count several members of her family who were already venerated as saints. The most notable example is her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, after whom she was named.

Marriage

King Denis of Portugal, the Rei Lavrador, and Queen Elizabeth of Portugal

Her marriage to King Denis of Portugal was arranged in 1281 when she was 10 years old, receiving the towns of Óbidos, Abrantes and Porto de Mós as part of her dowry.[3] It was only in 1288 that the wedding was celebrated, when Denis was 26 years old, while Elizabeth was 17.[3] Denis, a poet and statesman, was known as the Rei Lavrador (English: Farmer King), because he planted a large pine forest near Leiria to prevent the soil degradation that threatened the region.

Elizabeth quietly pursued the regular religious practices of her youth and was devoted to the poor and sick. Naturally, such a life was a reproach to many around her and caused ill will in some quarters. A popular story is told of how her husband's jealousy was aroused by an evil-speaking page, of how he condemned the queen's supposed guilty accomplice to a cruel death and was finally convinced of her innocence by the strange accidental substitution of her accuser for the intended victim.[clarification needed] Eventually, her prayer and patience succeeded in converting her husband, who had been leading a sinful life.[4]

Elizabeth took an active interest in Portuguese politics and was a decisive conciliator during the negotiations concerning the Treaty of Alcañices, signed by Denis and Sancho IV of Castile in 1297 (which fixed the borders between the two countries).[3] In 1304, the Queen and Denis returned to Spain to arbitrate between Fernando IV of Castile and James II of Aragon, brother of Elizabeth.[3]

She had two children:

St. Elizabeth of Portugal.
Queen, Widow and tertiary
Canonized 25 May 1625, Rome by Pope Urban VIII
Major shrine Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, Coimbra, Portugal[1]
Feast 4 July; 8 July (1694–1969 calendars)

Elizabeth would serve as intermediary between her husband and Afonso, during the Civil War between 1322 and 1324. The Infante greatly resented the king, whom he accused of favoring the king's illegitimate son, Afonso Sanches.[3] Repulsed to Alenquer, which supported the Infante, Denis was prevented from killing his son through the intervention of the Queen. As legend holds, in 1323, Elizabeth, mounted on a mule, positioned herself between both opposing armies on the field of Alvalade in order to prevent the combat.[3] Peace returned in 1324, once the illegitimate son was sent into exile, and the Infante swore loyalty to the king.[3]

Dowager Queen

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal. Portrait by José Gil de Castro, Museo Colonial de San Francisco (Santiago, Chile)

After Denis' death in 1325, Elizabeth retired to the monastery of the Poor Clare nuns, now known as the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (which she had founded in 1314) in Coimbra. She joined the Third Order of St. Francis, devoting the rest of her life to the poor and sick in obscurity.[4] During the great famine in 1293, she donated flour from her cellars to the starving in Coimbra, but was also known for modest in her dress, humble in conversation, habit to provide lodging for pilgrims, distributing small gifts, paying the dowries of poor girls, educating the children of poor nobles, and was a benefactor of various hospitals (Coimbra, Santarém and Leiria) and of religious projects (such as the Trinity Convent in Lisbon, chapels in Leiria and Óbidos, and the cloister in Alcobaça.[5]

She was called to act once more as a peacemaker in 1336, when Afonso IV marched his troops against King Alfonso XI of Castile, to whom he had married his daughter Maria, and who had neglected and ill-treated her. In spite of age and weakness, the Queen-dowager insisted on hurrying to Estremoz, where the two kings' armies were drawn up. She again stopped the fighting and caused terms of peace to be arranged. But the exertion brought on her final illness. As soon as her mission was completed, she took to her bed with a fever from which she died on 4 July, in the castle of Estremoz. She earned the title of Peacemaker on account of her efficacy in solving disputes.[4]

Although Denis' tomb was located in Odivelas, Elizabeth was buried in the Convent of Santa Clara in Coimbra, in a magnificent Gothic sarcophagus. After frequent flooding by the Mondego River in the 17th century, the Poor Clares moved her mortal remains to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova (also in Coimbra). Her body was transferred to the main chapel, where it was buried in a sarcophagus of silver and crystal.

Sainthood

Miracles were said to have followed upon her death.[examples needed] She was beatified in 1526 and canonized by Pope Urban VIII on 25 May 1625.[6] Her feast was inserted in the General Roman Calendar for celebration on 4 July. In the year 1694 Pope Innocent XII moved her feast to 8 July, so it would not conflict with the celebration of the Octave of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles.[7] In 1955, Pope Pius XII abolished this octave.[8] The 1962 Roman Missal changed the rank of the feast from "Double" to "Third-Class Feast".[9] The 1969 revision of the Calendar classified the celebration as an optional memorial and restored it to 4 July. Her feast is also kept on the Franciscan Calendar of Saints.

Family and Ancestors

Isabel (as she remains known by speakers of Portuguese and Spanish) was named after her grand-aunt Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. King Alfonso III of Aragon, King James II of Aragon and King Frederick III of Sicily were her brothers.

Popular culture

She was the subject of a 1947 Portuguese-Spanish film The Holy Queen in which she was played by Maruchi Fresno.

Ancestry

Family of Elizabeth of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Alfonso II of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Peter II of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Sancha of Castile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. James I of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. William VIII of Montpellier
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Maria of Montpellier
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Eudokia Komnene
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Peter III of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Béla III of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Andrew II of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Agnes of Antioch
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Violant of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Peter II of Courtenay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Yolanda de Courtenay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Yolanda of Flanders
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Elizabeth of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Constance of Sicily
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Manfred of Sicily
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Bianca Lancia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Constance of Sicily
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Thomas I, Count of Savoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Margaret of Geneva
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Beatrice of Savoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Marguerite of Burgundy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Beatrice of Albon
 
 
 
 
 
 
Preceded by Queen Consort of Portugal
1282–1325		 Succeeded by
Beatrice of Castile

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year," edited by Rev. Hugo Hoever, S.O.Cist.,Ph.D., New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1955, p.257
  2. ↑ The name given to her in the Roman Missal and in many books on the saints of the General Roman Calendar, and also in books such as Kelley Harness, Echoes of Women's Voices (University of Chicago Press 2006 ISBN 978-0-22631659-8), p. 48; Douglas L. Wheeler, Walter C. Opello, Historical Dictionary of Portugal (Scarecrow Press 2010 ISBN 978-0-81087075-8), pp. 161–162; Jeanette Pinto, The Indian Widow (St Pauls BYB 2002 ISBN 978-81-7108533-0, p. 71; Anke Gilleir, Alicia A. Montoya, Suzanna van Dijk (editors), Women Writing Back / Writing Women Back (BRILL 2010 ISBN 978-90-0418463-3), p. 43; Michael Ray (editor), Portugal and Spain (Britannica Educational Publishing 2013 ISBN 978-1-61530993-1), p. 52.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 João Ferreira (2010), p.30
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ João Ferreira (2010), p.31
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 96
  8. ↑ General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII
  9. ↑ 3rd Class
Sources
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External links

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