Henry of Portugal

:"For the Count of Portugal see: Henry, Count of Portugal; for the Prince see Henry the Navigator"Infobox Portuguese Royalty|monarch
name =Henry
title =King of Portugal
and the Algarves
of either side of the sea in Africa


caption =17th century painting of Cardinal-King Henry
reign =August 4, 1578—January 31, 1580
predecessor =Sebastian
successor =Anthony ("disputed")
royal house =House of Aviz-Beja
father =Manuel I of Portugal
mother =Maria of Aragon
date of birth =January 31, 1512
place of birth =Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
date of death =January 31, 1580
place of death =Almeirim, Kingdom of Portugal
place of burial =Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon, District of Lisbon, Portugal|

Henry, Cardinal-King of Portugal or Henrique (in Portuguese, pronounced|ẽˈʁik(ɨ)) "the Chaste" (Portuguese "o Casto") (Lisbon, January 31, 1512 — Almeirim, January 31, 1580) was the seventeenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He ruled between 1578 and 1580.

Henry was the younger brother of King John III and, as a younger son, he was not expected to succeed to the Portuguese throne. Early in his life, Henry took Holy Orders to promote Portuguese interests within the Catholic Church, then dominated by Spain. He rose fast through the Church hierarchy, becoming in quick succession Archbishop of Braga, Archbishop of Évora and Grand Inquisitor before receiving a Cardinal's hat, receiving the "Titulus Ss. Quattuor Coronatorum". Henry, more than anyone, endeavoured to bring the Jesuits to Portugal and employed them in the colonial empire.

He served as regent for his grand-nephew, king Sebastian I of Portugal, after 1557, and then succeeded him as king after the disastrous Battle of Alcácer-Quibir in 1578. Henry renounced his clerical offices and sought to take a bride for the continuation of the Avis dynasty, but Pope Gregory XIII, affiliated with the Habsburgs, did not release him from his vows. The Cardinal-King died without having appointed a Council of Regency to choose a successor. One of the closest dynastic claimants was King Philip II of Spain who, in November 1580, sent the Duke of Alba to claim Portugal by force. Lisbon soon fell, and Philip was elected King of Portugal on condition that the kingdom and its overseas territories would not become Spanish provinces.

Links

*Manuel I of Portugal
*Sebastian of Portugal
*struggle for the throne of Portugal
*War of the Portuguese Succession

Ancestors