Name Infante Duke | Religion Roman Catholicism | |
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Burial Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty Issue Pedro of BraganzaJoao da Bemposta Mother Maria Sofia of the Palatinate Died July 21, 1742, Obidos, Portugal Children Pedro of Braganza, Peter of Portugal Parents Peter II of Portugal, Maria Sophia of Neuburg Grandparents John IV of Portugal, Luisa de Guzman Similar People Peter II of Portugal, Maria Sophia of Neuburg, Luisa de Guzman, John V of Portugal, Miguel - Duke of Braganza | ||
Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja ([fɾãˈsiʃku]), (Lisbon, 25 May 1691 - Lisbon, 21 July 1742) was a Portuguese infante (prince) son of Peter II, King of Portugal, and his second wife, Maria Sofia of the Palatinate.
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Early Life
Francisco Xavier Jose Antonio Bento Urbano was born on 25 May 1691 in Lisbon. He was given the Duchy of Beja and was made Grand-Prior of Crato and Lord of the Infantado. Plans for him to marry Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria sister of Queen Maria Anna failed in the early stages.
Career
Responding to a request by Pope Clement XI to aid in the fight against the Turks, in 1716, King John V of Portugal (Infante Francisco's brother) sent an armada of Portuguese ships to aid Venice and Austria in their fights against the Turks, led by the Duke of Beja, and Lopo Furtado de Mendonca, Count of Rio Grande.
Affairs and issue
He died unmarried and without legitimate issue (in spite of two illegitimate children from Mariana da Silveira) on 21 July 1742 at the Quinta das Gaeiras in Obidos. He is buried at the Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty in Lisbon.
He had two natural children with Mariana Silveira, a nun, who died during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake: