Seeing as God made
you without peer
In goodness of heart
and goodness of speech,
Nor is your equal
anywhere to be found,
My love, my lady, I
hereby tell you:
Had God desired to
ordain it so,
You would have made a
great king.
Princess Isabel was born in Saragossa, Spain
in about 1271. As the daughter of King Pedro III of Aragon she became a
valuable asset to be married off to another powerful family. She was wooed by the Kings of Sicily and France
and was sought as a bride for the son of Edward IV of England, but her father
chose King Dinis of Portugal as her spouse.
Married by proxy at the age of 12, she only travelled to Portugal a year
and a half later and probably saw little of her husband for many years.
Isabel had been brought up studious and devout and she was
described as very beautiful. Her husband
King Denis (or Dinis) was a good ruler but an unfaithful spouse, who had seven
illegitimate children. Isabel was a
dutiful wife and a daughter, Constanza, was born after the couple had been
married for eight years. A year later their only son, Afonso, was born.
Renowned for her modesty and cheerfulness, Isabel spent
her days caring for and tutoring all of Denis’s children as well as establishing
orphanages, a hospice, a hospital, churches and a convent. In fact, she directly supervised the erection
of these buildings, drafting the sketches herself, and managing the projects.
Twentieth-century scholars have identified the buildings by their common
architectural features, and have concluded that she developed her own style.
Her generosity and compassion extended to hands-on gifts to
the poor. An apocryphal story tells of
how she hid bread beneath her clothing to take out of the palace and that when
challenged by the King the bread was discovered to have changed into
roses. This Miracle of the Roses explains why she was later beatified as Saint Elizabeth of Portugal. Roses are symbols of beauty and love and
their short life connects with martyrdom.
 |
| Santa Isabel de Portugal by Francisco de Zurbaran |
The King was not quite the tyrant he is claimed to have
been. Known as the “troubadour
king," for his acclaimed poetry, Denis was fully aware of his wife’s
virtues. In one verse he wrote,
I don't know how to
justify myself to my lady,
Should God lead me to
stand before her eyes;
Once I'm before her
she will adjudge me
Her betrayer, and
with plenty of reason.
Isabel’s other name was the Angel of Peace. Her calming presence was usually very
effective. But Afonso, her son was
jealous of one of his half-brothers whom, he believed, their father preferred,
so Afonso led a revolt against his own father.
Isabel did her best to bring peace between her husband and son, each
of whom led an army.
 |
| Isabel Reyna de Portugal by Jose Gil de Castro |
When King Denis died in 1325 Isabel retired to Poor Clare’s
Convent which she had founded at Coimbra.
She died eleven years later as she rode between the armies of Alfonso XI
of Castile and that of her son, Alfonso IV of Portugal.
Rainha Santa as Saint Elizabeth (Isabel) is called is remembered
on July 4th.
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