Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto
Encyclopedia
Afonso Henriques, Prince Royal of Portugal (ɐˈfõsu ẽˈʁikɨʃ; Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon
, 31 July 1865 – Napoli, Italy
, 21 February 1920) was a Portuguese
prince
of the House of Braganza
, the son of King Luis I of Portugal
and his wife, Maria Pia of Savoy
.
, at the end of the nineteenth century, when he was, concurrently, Viceroy of India. His performance in India motivated his nomination to be Constable of Portugal
. In the early months of 1890, his engagement to Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria was publicised, but later she refused to married him, under the influence of her aut by marriage, Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria, of the Miguelist branch of the Braganza Dinasty.
When threats on the life of his brother, Carlos, became known to him, he adopted the habit of arming himself with a revolver, night and day, making himself ready to defend his family whenever it might be necessary. He urged his nephew, the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, to carry a weapon as well.
Dom Afonso Henriques was a lady's man, known for his kindness, simplicity, and bon-vivant lifestyle. For instance, he liked to act as a fireman with the Ajuda Fire Corps near the Palace of Ajuda, which he patronized as honorary commander-in-chief. He lived at the Palace of Ajuda with the Queen Mother
, Maria Pia of Savoy
, after King Luis's death. (His brother, the king, Carlos, and, later, his nephew, the king, Manuel II
, both lived at the Palace of Necessidades
during their reigns.)
Dom Afonso Henriques was also a lover of automobile races, and he was responsible for the first motor races in Portugal, where he was one of the first drivers. After the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic
in 1910, Afonso went into exile abroad, first at Gibraltar
with his nephew, the deposed king, Manuel II
, and afterwards to Italy
with his mother, Queen Maria Pia. He lived with her at Turin
, and, after her death, he moved to Rome, and, finally, to Naples
.
, from debilitating mental and emotional health after the ferocious 1908 attack on their family, Afonso Henriques de Bragança married, in 1917, a one time divorced, and later, thrice-widowed, American heiress Nevada Stoody Hayes
.
This was a politically significant event, at least to those Portuguese royalists who clung to the hope of a restoration of the House of Braganza
: as significant funding for any power grab was urgently needed.
As of 1917, the Portuguese pretender
, Manuel II, was living in England with his wife of four years, the Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
, but they had no children. The royalists were apprehensive about the prospects for a legitimate Braganza heir, and their anxiety redoubled at the news of Afonso Henriques's marriage to a commoner, especially one of such a dubious reputation.
In Portugal, morganatic marriage
was not recognized. Any legitimate child of Afonso and Nevada could become the lawful heir to the Portuguese throne. Nearly as disturbing was the prospect that both Manuel and Afonso would fail to produce an heir. In this event, the claimant to the Portuguese throne would be a descendent of Miguel I
, the absolutist king who, in 1834, lost the Portuguese War of the Two Brothers
to the liberal line of constitutional monarchs.
Dom Afonso was the fourth husband of Nevada Stoody Hayes. They were unable to marry religiously in Italy, where the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, like the Pope, chose not to recognize the validity of a previous trial marriage in Rome
. She convinced Afonso to marry her again at a Madrid hotel, where a consular officer of the Portuguese Republic performed the civil ceremony, with no family or friends as witnesses. Some believe that the Portuguese consul in Madrid was as cooperative as he was because the Republican government in power at Lisbon was delighted to see one of the last of the Braganzas do such an unpopular thing.
The Prince had previously tried to get the king's approval for his marriage, but he found that his nephew and the rest of the royal family were vehemently opposed to it. After his marriage, his pension was cut by Manuel II, and Dom Afonso, also rejected by his relatives in the Italian royal family, began to live in obscurity and sickness during his final days. He finally died alone, in Naples
, on 21 February 1920. Only one Portuguese servant remained with him until the end.
Even though the terms of a morganatic marriage exclude the surviving spouse from inheriting any of the titles or privileges that are the prerogatives of royalty, they do not exclude the survivor from inheriting property. In his will, Dom Afonso left his entire estate to Nevada Stoody Hayes.
After he and Manuel II had both died (1932), his widow demanded that the Portuguese government recognize her rights to a substantial part of the House of Braganza
's patrimony. Her husband had named her his sole legal heir in his last will. As the marriage, and the will, was legally disputed in Lisbon, Nevada was briefly arrested shortly after she arrived at Lisbon to claim her inheritance. Eventually, however, she proved a substantial portion of her claim, and she was officially granted the right to remove many objects of art and expensive goods from the Portuguese royal palaces.
The 35-year-old former Duchess of Porto traveled to Portugal from Italy with the body of her late husband, and she arranged for its installation in the Braganza pantheon in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
in Lisbon
.
Insofar as titles are concerned, Afonso was, first and foremost, Infante of Portugal. The Infante Afonso was born during the reign of his father, Luis I, and, at birth, he was granted the title, Duke of Porto
. He became Prince Royal of Portugal
under unfortunate circumstances. His brother, Carlos I
, and his nephew, were assassinated in 1908
, whereupon Manuel II
became king and Afonso was acknowledged as the heir to the throne, a position that takes the title, Prince Royal
.
Before becoming Prince Royal, Afonso Henriques fulfilled the charges of 51st Viceroy of Portuguese India and 24th Constable of Portugal
. He was the 109th and last Governor of Portuguese India to receive the title of viceroy, which is reserved, as a high personal reward for service to Portugal, to aristocracy of the highest standing and royalty only. He was also Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
, a British Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and a Spanish Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
.
|-
|-
|-
|-
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, 31 July 1865 – Napoli, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 21 February 1920) was a Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of the House of Braganza
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...
, the son of King Luis I of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and his wife, Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon...
.
Biography
Afonso Henriques had a military career. In fact, he was a general of some considerable competence in the Portuguese Army, where, previously, he had been the inspector-general of artillery. His exemplary military background allowed him to be chosen to command military forces at GoaGoa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, at the end of the nineteenth century, when he was, concurrently, Viceroy of India. His performance in India motivated his nomination to be Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
. In the early months of 1890, his engagement to Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria was publicised, but later she refused to married him, under the influence of her aut by marriage, Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria, of the Miguelist branch of the Braganza Dinasty.
When threats on the life of his brother, Carlos, became known to him, he adopted the habit of arming himself with a revolver, night and day, making himself ready to defend his family whenever it might be necessary. He urged his nephew, the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, to carry a weapon as well.
Dom Afonso Henriques was a lady's man, known for his kindness, simplicity, and bon-vivant lifestyle. For instance, he liked to act as a fireman with the Ajuda Fire Corps near the Palace of Ajuda, which he patronized as honorary commander-in-chief. He lived at the Palace of Ajuda with the Queen Mother
Queen mother
Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577...
, Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon...
, after King Luis's death. (His brother, the king, Carlos, and, later, his nephew, the king, Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
, both lived at the Palace of Necessidades
Palace of Necessidades
The Palace of Necessidades is a historical building in the Largo do Rilvas, a public square in Lisbon, Portugal...
during their reigns.)
Dom Afonso Henriques was also a lover of automobile races, and he was responsible for the first motor races in Portugal, where he was one of the first drivers. After the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic
Portuguese First Republic
The Portuguese First Republic spans a complex 16 year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the 5 October 1910 revolution and the 28 May coup d'état of 1926...
in 1910, Afonso went into exile abroad, first at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
with his nephew, the deposed king, Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
, and afterwards to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with his mother, Queen Maria Pia. He lived with her at Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, and, after her death, he moved to Rome, and, finally, to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
Marriage
Suffering, like his mother, the dowager Queen Maria Pia of SavoyMaria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon...
, from debilitating mental and emotional health after the ferocious 1908 attack on their family, Afonso Henriques de Bragança married, in 1917, a one time divorced, and later, thrice-widowed, American heiress Nevada Stoody Hayes
Nevada Stoody Hayes
Nevada Stoody Hayes , sometimes called Nevada de Bragança, was an American socialite who became the wife of Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto, whose nephew, Manuel II, was the last king of Portugal...
.
This was a politically significant event, at least to those Portuguese royalists who clung to the hope of a restoration of the House of Braganza
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...
: as significant funding for any power grab was urgently needed.
As of 1917, the Portuguese pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
, Manuel II, was living in England with his wife of four years, the Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern was a German princess...
, but they had no children. The royalists were apprehensive about the prospects for a legitimate Braganza heir, and their anxiety redoubled at the news of Afonso Henriques's marriage to a commoner, especially one of such a dubious reputation.
In Portugal, morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
was not recognized. Any legitimate child of Afonso and Nevada could become the lawful heir to the Portuguese throne. Nearly as disturbing was the prospect that both Manuel and Afonso would fail to produce an heir. In this event, the claimant to the Portuguese throne would be a descendent of Miguel I
Miguel of Portugal
Dom Miguel I, sometimes Michael , was the King of Portugal between 1828 and 1834, the seventh child and second son of King John VI and his queen, Charlotte of Spain....
, the absolutist king who, in 1834, lost the Portuguese War of the Two Brothers
Liberal Wars
The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...
to the liberal line of constitutional monarchs.
Dom Afonso was the fourth husband of Nevada Stoody Hayes. They were unable to marry religiously in Italy, where the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, like the Pope, chose not to recognize the validity of a previous trial marriage in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. She convinced Afonso to marry her again at a Madrid hotel, where a consular officer of the Portuguese Republic performed the civil ceremony, with no family or friends as witnesses. Some believe that the Portuguese consul in Madrid was as cooperative as he was because the Republican government in power at Lisbon was delighted to see one of the last of the Braganzas do such an unpopular thing.
The Prince had previously tried to get the king's approval for his marriage, but he found that his nephew and the rest of the royal family were vehemently opposed to it. After his marriage, his pension was cut by Manuel II, and Dom Afonso, also rejected by his relatives in the Italian royal family, began to live in obscurity and sickness during his final days. He finally died alone, in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, on 21 February 1920. Only one Portuguese servant remained with him until the end.
Even though the terms of a morganatic marriage exclude the surviving spouse from inheriting any of the titles or privileges that are the prerogatives of royalty, they do not exclude the survivor from inheriting property. In his will, Dom Afonso left his entire estate to Nevada Stoody Hayes.
After he and Manuel II had both died (1932), his widow demanded that the Portuguese government recognize her rights to a substantial part of the House of Braganza
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...
's patrimony. Her husband had named her his sole legal heir in his last will. As the marriage, and the will, was legally disputed in Lisbon, Nevada was briefly arrested shortly after she arrived at Lisbon to claim her inheritance. Eventually, however, she proved a substantial portion of her claim, and she was officially granted the right to remove many objects of art and expensive goods from the Portuguese royal palaces.
The 35-year-old former Duchess of Porto traveled to Portugal from Italy with the body of her late husband, and she arranged for its installation in the Braganza pantheon in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
The Church or Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls" is a 17th century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.
Name, titles, and honors
His full name was Dom Afonso Henriques Maria Luís Pedro de Alcântara Carlos Humberto Amadeu Fernando António Miguel Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis João Augusto Júlio Volfando Inácio de Bragança Saxe-Coburgo Gotha e Sabóia.Insofar as titles are concerned, Afonso was, first and foremost, Infante of Portugal. The Infante Afonso was born during the reign of his father, Luis I, and, at birth, he was granted the title, Duke of Porto
Duke of Porto
Duke of Porto was an aristocratic Portuguese title with the status of royal dukedom, associated with the Portuguese royal house, created in 1833, by Queen Maria II of Portugal for herself, in honor of the city of Oporto, due its loyalty to the liberal cause she represented.From then on, this title...
. He became Prince Royal of Portugal
Prince Royal of Portugal
Prince Royal of Portugal is the official title attributed to the heirs presumptive of the Crown of Portugal...
under unfortunate circumstances. His brother, Carlos I
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
, and his nephew, were assassinated in 1908
Lisbon Regicide
The Lisbon Regicide was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican interests...
, whereupon Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
became king and Afonso was acknowledged as the heir to the throne, a position that takes the title, Prince Royal
Prince Royal of Portugal
Prince Royal of Portugal is the official title attributed to the heirs presumptive of the Crown of Portugal...
.
Before becoming Prince Royal, Afonso Henriques fulfilled the charges of 51st Viceroy of Portuguese India and 24th Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
. He was the 109th and last Governor of Portuguese India to receive the title of viceroy, which is reserved, as a high personal reward for service to Portugal, to aristocracy of the highest standing and royalty only. He was also Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa is an dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the former Portuguese Royal Family...
, a British Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and a Spanish Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
.
Ancestry
External links
|-
|-
|-
|-