Duarte
Duke of Guimarães, Constable of Portugal
Unidentified portrait considered to possibly depict the 5th Duke of Guimarães.[1]
5th Duke of Guimarães
Tenure1541 - 1576
PredecessorDuarte of Portugal
SuccessorTitle abolished
later John IV of Portugal
BornMarch 1541
Almeirim
Died28 November 1576(1576-11-28) (aged 35)
Évora
HouseAviz
FatherDuarte of Portugal, 4th Duke of Guimarães
MotherIsabel of Braganza, Duchess of Guimarães

Duarte, Duke of Guimarães (March 1541, in Almeirim – 28 November 1576, in Évora) was a Portuguese infante (prince), son of Duarte of Portugal, 4th Duke of Guimarães and his wife, Isabel of Braganza. He served as Constable of the Kingdom, the highest military authority in the Portuguese Empire, second only to the monarch.

Early life

Arms used by the Duke of Guimarães.

Through his father, he was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal; through his mother, he was a grandson of James, 4th Duke of Braganza.

He was born posthumously and he inherited his father's titles and estates: the Dukedom of Guimarães. He was one of the most influential nobles during the reigns of Kings John III and Sebastian.

Political career

As member of the State Council he voted, in 1569, for the marriage of King Sebastian to Margaret of Valois (who later became Henry IV's first wife) and, in 1574, he escorted King Sebastian in his first trip to Tangiers, in north Africa.

In 1557, when King John III died, Duarte was one of the three legitimate surviving male descendants of King Manuel I of Portugal (together with King Sebastian and Cardinal-Infante Henry).

Personal life

King Sebastian was jealous of this and several times showed disrespect for Duarte's rank. When the King didn't invite Duarte to a royal bullfight, in Xabregas (Lisbon), Duarte was quite upset and, finally, he retired to Évora where, some months later, he died single and without issue.

Duarte had two sisters, both married to remarkable Renaissance princes:

Once she was married to a Portuguese, Infanta Catherine of Guimarães inherited her brother estates and rights to the Dukedom of Guimarães. During the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis, Catherine and her husband, John I of Braganza, were important claimants to the Portuguese throne.

Ancestry

See also

References

Bibliography

"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. II, page 651. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.

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