Role B. 1997 | Name Infanta Francisca Religion Roman Catholicism | |
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Spouse Infante Carlos, Count of Molina Issue Infante Carlos, Count of MontemolinJuan, Count of MontizonInfante Fernando Parents Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, Isabel, Duchess of Braganza Siblings Afonso, Prince of Beira, Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto Grandparents Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza Uncles Infante Henrique, Duke of Coimbra, Infante Miguel, Duke of Viseu Similar People Duarte Pio - Duke of Braganza, Isabel - Duchess of Braganza, Afonso - Prince of Beira, Infante Dinis - Duke of Porto, Duarte Nuno - Duke of B |
Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal (or of Bragança; [mɐˈɾiɐ fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃkɐ]; English: Mary Frances; full name: Maria Francisca de Assis da Maternidade Xavier de Paula e de Alcântara Antónia Joaquina Gonzaga Carlota Mónica Senhorinha Sotera e Caia de Bourbon e Bragança; 22 April 1800 – 4 September 1834) was a Portuguese infanta (princess) daughter of King John VI of Portugal and his spouse Carlota Joaquina of Spain.
Biography
Maria was born in Queluz, Portugal. On 22 September 1816 in Madrid, she married her uncle Infante Carlos Maria Isidro of Spain, "Count of Molina". The couple had three children:
In 1833, Maria Francisca, her husband and children were exiled from Spain because they refused to recognize Isabella II as heiress to the Spanish throne. They went first to Portugal and then to Alverstoke, Hampshire, UK, where she died one year later. A crowd of several thousand were known to have visited the village to pay their respects as her body lay at the rectory awaiting burial at the Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty. Four years after her death, Carlos remarried, to Maria Francisca's own sister Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira.
Although initially interred in Gosport Catholic Church, Maria Francisca's remains were later transferred to Trieste Cathedral in Italy, next to those of her husband and children.