The 7 Things to Know About Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza stood smaller in stature in contrast to other powerful women in English history. Nevertheless, she became a turning point that directed the history of the British Empire.

1. Portuguese Princess

Born on November 25, 1638, Catherine was the daughter and the 3rd child of Duke John (João) of Braganza (Bragança) of Portugal. Only 2 years old, in 1640, Catherine became a princess of Portugal as his father Duke John ascended as the new King of Iberian country after 60 years of Spanish domination. His father, henceforth, became known as the John the Restorer and the founder of the Braganza Dynasty. As a princess, many described her as someone lacking beauty and intelligence, nevertheless, her beautiful voice and exceptional grace compensated well.

2. A Political Pawn

Princesses in Europe then lived up to the lines "raised like a cattle to be sold off". Kings and Queens used their daughters to be married off to establish dynastic relations and cement alliances. Catherine met this fate. Her mother Luisa de Guzman served as Regent from 1656 and wanted to cement an alliance with France against their common enemy Spain. Catherine planned to be proposed as a wife to the young French monarch King Louis XIV by her mother the Queen Regent.

In 1659, however, France and Spain struck a deal under the Treaty of the Pyrenees that ended the Franco-Spanish War. The agreement led King Louis XIV to marry Maria Theresa of Spain symbolizing peace and France cut ties with Portugal. Queen Luisa then looked to Portugal’s longtime ally England for support restoring an age-old friend that dated back to the 14th century. She proposed a marriage between Catherine and the newly restored Stuart King Charles II.

Charles II

3. Subject of a Tremendously Expensive Marriage

Queen Regent Luisa’s plan to establish an alliance with England cemented by marriage came into fruition on June 23, 1661. Catherine in her early 20s left her home Portugal for her new country England. She landed in Portsmouth where she married Charles II in a secret Catholic rite before an Anglican ceremony. She fulfilled her duty and her part in a very expensive marriage arrangement.

Catherine of Braganza married Charles II for a tremendously hefty dowry. The dowry payment to England stood at a whooping for its time 2 million cruzados along with territories that included Tangier in Morocco and Bombay in India. Moreover, once Portugal regained Ceylon, she would turn over the port of Galle to England. Free trade also to be provided to English merchants in Portuguese overseas ports of Goa, Cochin, and Diu in India and Bahia, Pernambuco, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In exchange for the massive concessions, Catherine received her freedom of practicing Catholicism in a suspicious Anglican English court. Portugal received English military assistance, thus after Catherine arrived in England, 2,000 soldiers and 700 cavalries sailed for Portugal to aid in the fight against Spain.

Catherine of Braganza departs Lisbon from the Palace Square, 23 April 1662

4. A Trend-setter

Catherine became a royal trendsetter in England. She brought with her practices, taste, and furniture that went into vogue in the English court. Most notably, many recognized her as the Queen who popularized tea as a staple drink rather than a medicinal supplement being advertised then. Her use of porcelain teacups and pots made it more stylish and elaborate that many in court imitated. She also brought with her unique furniture from the east such as cane furniture, Japan or lacquer cabinets, and calicoes. Her popularization of tea alone, altered the English taste and later on culture and economy.

Queen Catherine as St Catherine of Alexandria, 
by Jacob Huysmans

5. Unlucky Marriage

Whether marrying Louis XIV or Charles II, Catherine walked a path of a one-sided marriage filled with infidelity by her husband. She shockingly discovered her husband’s numerous liaisons fainting upon hearing the initial news. She endured Charles’ affairs with Lucy Walter, Barbara Villiers, Nell Gwyne, Louise de Keroualle, among others. 

She also had to live with the fact that their marriage turned out to be childless while Charles fathered numerous illegitimate children. Catherine did become pregnant 4 times, but all tragically ended in miscarriages. Her failure to produce an heir damaged her prestige and criticisms worsened as Charles continued to father illegitimate children. James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, took a prominent position at court as Charles’ bastard child with Lucy Walter and an alternative heir to the throne. All in all, Charles said to have fathered 14 children from various mistresses with some born before the marriage to Catherine. Catherine's barren marriage contributed to the ending of the male line of the Stuart Dynasty.

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth

6. Mistrusted Queen

As a Catholic, many hardliners in the Anglican-dominated English court looked into Catherine with deep suspicions. Catholic and Protestant tensions remained high and controversial. In 1678, she became embroiled in the so-called Popish Plot. Despite heavy criticisms, Charles stood beside her trusting her and defending her innocence.

Her religion and her failure to produce an heir weakened Catherine’s position in court making her vulnerable to attacks. Many in the court even suggested for a divorce and Catherine to be sent to a nunnery. But the King, despite all her infidelities continued supporting Catherine and the marriage remained. Catherine’s influence, however, to the King later on grew. While her husband laid in his deathbed in 1685, Catherine supported Charles II’s conversion to Catholicism.

King Charles II and Queen Catherine

7. A Regent of Portugal

After Charles II passed away in 1685, Catherine retired to Somerset House in the banks of the Thames River. She remained in England witnessing the fall of Charles II’s brother and successor the Catholic James II in the Glorious Revolution and the arrival of William of Orange as King William III of England. Her Catholicism, however, led to misunderstandings with the new monarchs that forced her to leave England in 1692 returning home to Portugal after 3 decades. In 1704, she went back into the political limelight of Portugal as she became the regent of Portugal on behalf of her ill brother Pedro II. Her regency, however, fell short as she passed away in 1705.

Summing Up

Catherine of Braganza lived a tumultuous life being in a barren marriage, enduring as a Queen of a King who loved more than 1 woman fathering more than a dozen children, and staying in a country suspicious of her religion. Nevertheless, her marriage allowed for English expansion in India that gave rise to the British Raj after a few centuries later. Her popularization of tea altered English taste and economy that influenced London’s trade policy with China leading the way to the Opium Wars. Catherine of Braganza might only be a footnote in contrast to other women in British history, but her life created an impact directed the flow of history as we know it.

See also:

Empress Dowager Cixi

Bibliography:
Websites:

Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Catherine of Braganza.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on September 20, 2020. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-of-Braganza

Cannon, John. "Catherine of Braganza." The Oxford Companion to British History. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed on August 11, 2020. URL: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/catherine-braganza

Books:
Anderson, James. The History of Portugal. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.

Holmes, Frederick. The Sickly Stuarts: The Medical Downfall of a Dynasty. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, Ltd., 2003.

Orr, Clarissa (Ed.). Queenship in Britain, 1660 – 1837: Royal Patronage, Court Culture and Dynastic Politics. New York, New York: Manchester University Press, 2002.