Maria was born in Coimbra on 15 October 1527 and was one of the two children of John III to survive childhood.[2] In her youth, Maria received a humanistic education that was considered typical for a princess of her time.[3]
Marriage and later life
She married her double first cousin Philip II of Spain on 12 November 1543 at Salamanca.[4] As she was to be married to the Prince of Asturias, heir apparent to the Spanish crown, and being an Infanta of Portugal, their wedding became one of the most remarkable in the history of Spain due to its opulence. Contemporary writers have left detailed descriptions of the journey from Madrid to Badajoz to Salamanca to receive the princess and of the luxuries she was given by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in Badajoz.
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^ a bKamen 1998, p. 20.
^ a bMcMurdo, Edward (1889). The history of Portugal, from the Commencement of the Monarchy to the Reign of Alfonso III. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. pp. 152–153. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^Delbrugge, Laura (2015). Self-Fashioning and Assumptions of Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia. Netherlands: Brill. p. 230. ISBN 9789004250482.
^Kamen 1998, p. 12.
^ a b c dStephens, Henry Morse (1903). The Story of Portugal. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 139, 279. ISBN 9780722224731. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
^ a bJordan, Annemarie (1994). The Development of Catherine of Austria's Collection in the Queen's Household: Its Character and Cost. Providence, R. I.: Brown University. p. 700.
^ a bLiss, Peggy K. (10 November 2015). Isabel the Queen: Life and Times. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 11. ISBN 9780812293203.