Spouse Peter II Name Maria of | House Wittelsbach | |
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Tenure 11 August 1687 – 4 August 1699 Born 6 August 1666Schloss Benrath, Dusseldorf ( 1666-08-06 ) Burial Sao Vicente de Fora, Lisbon, Portugal Issue Joao, Prince of BrazilJohn V of PortugalInfante Francisco, Duke of BejaInfante AntonioInfanta Francisca XavieraInfanta Teresa MariaInfante Manuel, Count of OuremInfanta Francisca Josefa | ||
Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (6 August 1666 – 4 August 1699) was queen of Portugal as the wife of King Peter II from 1687 until her death in 1699. A popular queen, she was noted for her extraordinary generosity and for being the mother of the famously extravagant John V of Portugal.
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Background
Maria Sophia was born at the Schloss Benrath outside Dusseldorf modern day Germany. Her father Philip William was the reigning Count Palatine of Neuburg. In 1685 he became the Elector Palatine following the death of his cousin Elector Charles II, an inheritance which subsequently increased the family's status within Europe. In December 1676, Maria Sophia's sister Princess Eleonore Magdalene was married to the Emperor Leopold I owing to the family's reputation as producing fertile women and the lack of heirs in Austria. The new Empress Eleonore Magdalene fulfilled her function and quickly mothered two future Holy Roman Emperors (Joseph I and Charles VI).
A similar succession crisis was occurring in Portugal. The Isabel Luisa, Princess of Beira, heiress to the throne and only daughter of King Peter II was childless and had been refused by most European sovereigns due to her sickly nature and strict Portuguese succession rights. As a result, with the encouragement of Empress Eleonore Magdalene, the Portuguese ambassador Manuel da Silva Teles was sent to Heidelberg to ask for the hand of Maria Sophia. The embassy left Lisbon on 8 December 1686 and the marriage contract was signed on 22 May 1687 and a dowry of 100,000 florins was agreed.
Marriage
Following a proxy marriage on 2 July 1687 in Heidelberg, Maria Sophia left her native Germany the following August travelling up the Rhine receiving the honours of all courts along the river. At Brila, Maria Sophia embarked on an English yacht which was to be used at her disposal by order of James II of England. She was accompanied by an English fleet which travelled to Plymouth with the Duke of Grafton, son of the late Charles II of England, travelling also. The new queen arrived in Lisbon 12 August 1687 amid great celebration and the same day the couple were formally married by the Archbishop of Lisbon at the Ribeira Palace. Supposedly Louis XIV was "greatly chagrined" by Peter's decision to marry a daughter of the Elector Palatine and not another French princess, as he had hoped.
The young queen quickly gained the affection of stepdaughter Isabel Luisa herself being merely six years younger than Maria Sophia. She was also loved by her husband who was quickly presented with a son the year after marriage. Despite this, the son survived only three weeks but a year later Maria Sophia had another son who would succeed his father as John V of Portugal who would marry his first cousin Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of Empress Eleonore Magdalene.
Maria Sophia was described as gentle, and Peter reportedly treated her with respect. While she clashed with her widowed sister-in-law Catherine of Braganza on matters of etiquette she was described as a popular queen who was decidedly generous and set about helping the poor of Lisbon. Her pious nature also made her a popular queen. She was frequently involved with charities supporting widows and orphans and allowed poor patients access to medical care at the royal palace. She had a very intimate friendship with Father Bartolomeu do Quental, who died with the reputation of a saint. In Beja, she financed the foundation of a Franciscan school. She died in Lisbon of fever, possibly a symptom of erysipelas, on 4 August 1699, two days before her thirty-third birthday. Her body was laid to rest at the Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora in Lisbon.