Isabel of Coimbra


Infanta Isabel of Coimbra was a Portuguese infanta and a queen consort of Portugal as the first spouse of King Afonso V of Portugal.

Life

Isabella was a daughter of the Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgel. Her paternal grandfather was King John I of Portugal and her maternal grandfather was James II, Count of Urgel.
Isabella's father was the regent for her cousin Afonso V during his minority. Reportedly, Isabella and Afonso fell in love with each other. They were engaged in 1445, which caused a conflict between Peter of Coimbra and Duke Afonso of Braganza, who had wished for the monarch to marry his grandchild. Isabella was given the income of Santarém, Alvaiázere, Sintra and Torres Vedras at her wedding.

Marriage and issue

Isabella and Afonso V were married on 6 May 1447. Both the bride and groom were fifteen. They had three children:
In 1448, the king took Afonso of Braganza as his advisor. Isabella's father died, and her brother John was exiled. Isabella herself did not fall out of favour with the king, however, and she took control of the duchy of Coimbra until her brother returned to Portugal in 1454. In 1455, Isabella had her father honoured with a grand ceremony of exoneration at court and had him re-buried in a grand way. Shortly after this, she died at age twenty-three, possibly from poisoning.

Ancestry