Barbara De Braganza - BELOVED Queen Of Spain

Barbara de Braganza was born in Lisbon, Portugal, on December 4, 1711. She was the daughter of John V of Portugal and Maria Anna of Austria. Although her parents had married in 1708, they remained childless for almost three years. Therefore, the king made a promise to God that if an heir to the throne was born, a large convent would be built as a sign of the king's gratitude. When Barbara was born, as promised, the king had the convent of Mafra built. Barbara was born as heir presumptive to the Portuguese throne. She lost this status after her mother, the queen, gave birth to a son, Pedro, in 1712. Pedro died at the age of two in 1714. However, at this time, the queen had already given birth to another son, the future Joseph I of Portugal. His birth prevented Barbara from regaining the status of heir presumptive. As the daughter of a monarch, Barbara received an excellent education. She was fluent in French, German and Italian, and later in life, when she moved to Madrid, she would also learn Spanish. The young princess was a cultured woman and a great lover of the fine arts. Like her father, she loved music. In 1725, Barbara was among the princesses considered for marriage to King Louis XV of France. However, there were concerns about her family's perceived physical and mental health, as well as her young age, and she was eventually eliminated as a candidate. On January 10, 1723, when Barbara was just 12 years old, she was betrothed to the Spanish Infante Ferdinand, son of Philip V of Spain. The fathers of Barbara and Ferdinand were the two great Iberian monarchs of the first half of the 18th century. John V reigned from 1707 to 1750 and Philip V from 1700 to 1746. Both monarchs sought this union to improve relations between the two kingdoms after they had been at war from 1704 to 1715 during the War of the Spanish Succession. After the war ended in 1715, relations between the two countries had been unstable. In 1719, the skilled Portuguese diplomat Luis da Cunha was appointed ambassador to Madrid, which somewhat improved the relations between the two countries. It was now hoped that a marriage between Ferdinand and Barbara would further improve the bond between Portugal and Spain. The promise of marriage was thus declared on January 10, 1723 at Ribera Palace in Lisbon. At this time, the Infante Ferdinand was still only second in line to the Spanish throne. However, the following year was a turbulent one in Spain. First, Philip V abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Louis I of Spain. Unfortunately, Louis died 8 months into his reign at the age of 17, which forced Philip V to return to the throne. With the death of his elder brother, Ferdinand was now the heir to the Spanish throne. Thus, Barbara could become Queen of Spain. As Barbara was only 12 years old in 1723 and the future King of Spain was only 9, it would take several years before the wedding took place. Barely a year after the marriage contract had been signed, new conflicts had arisen between Portugal and Spain. To avoid further animosity and to add strength to the planned alliance, Spanish diplomacy proposed a double marriage. In addition to the marriage between Ferdinand and Barbara, the heir to the Portuguese throne, Joseph, would marry Mariana Victoria of Spain, who had returned to the Spanish court after a failed betrothal to Louis XV of France. John V accepted the proposal of the double marriage and two years later, after the children had reached a somewhat more acceptable age, the marriage agreements were signed. Finally, after years of preparation, the exchange of princesses took place on January 19, 1729. When Ferdinand saw his bride Barbara for the first time, he found her to be so unattractive that he wanted to abstain from the wedding. According to Ferdinand, he was deceived about the appearance of his future bride, whose face was full of scars. But he eventually agreed to the wedding, which took place on January 20, 1729. In time, Ferdinand's initial antipathy was transformed into a deep affection for his wife. The resolute and sensitive princess was able to win the trust of her indecisive husband. As a result, he heavily relied on her support and advice. In 1733, Barbara became pregnant but gave birth to a stillborn child, after which she had no more children. Barbara and Ferdinand were married for 17 years before they ascended the throne in 1746. During this period, and as Philip V's health deteriorated, Barbara and her husband had to endure the hostility of the Queen and stepmother of Ferdinand, Elisabeth Farnese, who wanted to keep Ferdinand away from court. In July 1746, Philip V died, after which Ferdinand ascended the throne and Barbara became Queen of Spain at the age of 34. After her husband's accession to the throne, Barbara was exposed to attempts to drive a political wedge between her and Ferdinand. These attempts were mostly engineered by supporters of the Dowager Queen. Encouraged by Barbara, Ferdinand banished the Dowager Queen from court in July 1747. During her husband's reign, Barbara organized magnificent parties and concerts at her favorite retreat, the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. Barbara left a positive impression on the public. She was not a self-confident and politically ambitious Queen, like Elisabeth Farnese, and her policies focused mainly on a friendly relationship between Spain and Portugal in cooperation with her father and the Portuguese ambassador Belmonte. As Queen, Barbara was regularly involved in affairs of state. The Spanish ministers respected her and presented all state documents to her before they were handed over to the King. Barbara played an important role at the Spanish court, especially as a mediator between her father, the King of Portugal, and her husband. Barbara suffered from asthma throughout her life and was overweight in her later years. She died in the early hours of August 27, 1758 at the age of 46 in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. Her body was dressed in a Franciscan habit and was laid in state in the hall of the palace. The next day her body was transferred to Madrid and buried in the convent of the Salesian Sisters which she had founded in 1748. Her death provoked a state of madness in her distraught husband who died one year later on August 10, 1759. Thank you for watching.