This day in history for November 25

Catherine of Braganza, future wife to King Charles II of England, was born this date in 1638. She was the second daughter of the Duke of Portugal and his wife Louisa de Guzman, who was the daughter of a Duke herself.

Being the daughter of a King, she had her pick of the litter among the young, single Royals, including Louis XIV and Charles II. And in 1662, 2 years after Charles II was restored to his throne, they married.  Catherine was never crowned because of her religious beliefs, she was a Roman Catholic and they were forbidden to take part in Anglican services.

Charles II, appropriately dubbed The Merry Monarch, had numerous children with his many mistresses, but sadly, Catherine never bore an heir.  Regardless of his mistresses, Charles II was always very respectful of Catherine and made sure she received all that was entitled a Queen.

She survived her husband by twenty years and died in Lisbon on December 31, 1705.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the interesting factoid!

    ReplyDelete
  2. One reason why Charles II treated Catherine of Braganza with so much respect might have been for the sake of her dowry--the island and port of Bombay, modern-day Mumbai, scene of terrorist attacks.

    ReplyDelete

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