Isabella of portugals biography

Queen of Castile and León from 1447 to 1454

For other uses, see Isabel of Portugal (disambiguation).

Isabella of Portugal (Isabel in Portuguese and Spanish) (1428 – 15 August 1496) was Queen of Castile and León as the second wife of King John II.

She was the mother of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Early life

Isabella was born as a scion of a collateral branch of the Aviz dynasty that had ruled Portugal since 1385.

Isabella of portugals biography

Her parents were John, Constable of Portugal, the youngest surviving son of John I of Portugal, and his half-niece and wife, Isabella of Barcelos, the daughter of the Duke of Braganza, an illegitimate son of the king. In 1442, when Isabella was 14 years old, her father died.

Little is known about Isabella's life before her marriage, but it is likely that she received an education at the Portuguese court befitting of a young noblewoman at the time.

Marriage

Isabella was betrothed to the much older King John II of