Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja

Luísof Portugal
Duke of Beja
File:Portrait of Infante Luis, Duke of Beja, Belem Collection.JPG
Born	Abrantes, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	Marvila, Kingdom of Portugal
Issue	António, Prior of Crato Juan Gomez de Portugal Joanes Gomez de Portugal
House	House of Aviz
Father	Manuel I of Portugal
Mother	Maria of Aragon
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Infante Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (3 March 1506, in Abrantes – 27 November 1555, in Marvila, in Lisbon) was the second son of King Manuel I of Portugal and his second wife Maria of Aragon (the third daughter of the Catholic Monarchs). He participated in the Conquest of Tunis.

Early life

File:Príncipe D. Luís, duque de beja.jpg

Luís in the Triptych of the Infantes; by the Master of Lourinhã, 1516.

Luís succeeded his father as the Duke of Beja and was also made Constable of the Kingdom (Portuguese: Condestável do Reino) and Prior of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, with its Portuguese headquarters in the town of Crato.

Conquest of Tunis

In the Conquest of Tunis (1535) Luís, brother-in-law of Charles V, commanded the Portuguese army. The Portuguese galleon São João Baptista, also known as Botafogo was specifically requested by Charles V, and it was the most powerful ship in the world at the time, with 366 bronze cannons. It was the Botafogo spur ram that broke up the chains at La Goletta, which defended the port entrance of Tunis, allowing the Christian allied fleet to reach and conquer the city.

Family

He did not marry but had a natural son by Yolande (Violante) Gomes, a Pelicana (the she-pelican), a New Christian, who is said to have died a Nun in Almoster, Santarém, on 16 July 1568, daughter of Pedro Gomes, from Évora. Some say they eventually married perhaps at Évora, thus legitimating their issue for every purpose.

Their son António, Prior of Crato, would be one of the claimants to the throne after the disaster of Alcácer Quibir and subsequent death of King Sebastian of Portugal and the dynastic crisis that followed, and, according to some historians, the King of Portugal for approximately a month in the year 1580. They may have also had other sons named Juan Gomez de Portugal (1536-1610), and Joanes Gomez de Portugal (b.1540). Juan would become one of the founders of Villa de Santa María de los Lagos, Nueva Galicia (later renamed Lagos de Moreno) in present day Jalisco, Mexico on 31 March 1563.

Ancestry

Family of Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja

16. John I of Portugal (= 20)               8. Edward of Portugal                       17. Philippa of Lancaster (= 21)               4. Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu                             18. Ferdinand I of Aragon (= 24)               9. Eleanor of Aragon                       19. Eleanor of Alburquerque (= 25)               2. Manuel I of Portugal                                   20. John I of Portugal (= 16)               10. Infante João, Lord of Reguengos (= 30)                       21. Philippa of Lancaster (= 17)               5. Infanta Beatriz of Portugal                             22. Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza               11. Isabella of Barcelos (= 31)                       23. Beatriz Pereira de Alvim               1. Luís of Portugal                                         24. Ferdinand I of Aragon (= 18)               12. John II of Aragon                       25. Eleanor of Alburquerque (= 19)               6. Ferdinand II of Aragon                             26. Fadrique Enríquez de Mendoza               13. Juana Enríquez                       27. Mariana Fernández de Córdoba y Ayala               3. Maria of Aragon                                   28. Henry III of Castile               14. John II of Castile                       29. Katherine of Lancaster               7. Isabella I of Castile                             30. Infante João, Lord of Reguengos (= 10)               15. Isabella of Portugal                       31. Isabella of Barcelos (= 11)

See also

• Duke of Beja
• Conquest of Tunis (1535)
• Botafogo (galleon)
• Descendants of Manuel I of Portugal

Bibliography

”Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil” – Vol. I, pages 382/384. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.