Eleanor of Austria | |
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Portrait by Joos van Cleve, c. 1530
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Queen consort of Portugal | |
Tenure | 16 July 1518 – 13 December 1521 |
Queen consort of France | |
Tenure | 4 July 1530 – 31 March 1547 |
Coronation | 31 May 1531 |
Born |
Leuven |
15 November 1498
Died | 25 February 1558 Talavera la Real |
(aged 59)
Burial | Lleida, then El Escorial |
Spouse |
Manuel I of Portugal Francis I of France |
Issue more... |
Maria, Duchess of Viseu |
House | Habsburg |
Father | Philip I of Castile |
Mother | Joanna of Castile |
Eleanor of Austria (15 November 1498 – 25 February 1558), also called Eleanor of Castile, was born an Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and subsequently became Queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and of France (1530–1547). She also held the Duchy of Touraine (1547–1558) in dower. She is called "Leonor" in Spanish and Portuguese and "Eléonore" or "Aliénor" in French.
Eleanor was born in Louvain as the eldest child of Philip of Austria and Joanna of Castile, who would later become co-sovereigns of Castile. Her siblings were Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Queen Isabella of Denmark, Queen Mary of Hungary and Queen Catherine of Portugal.
When she was young, Eleanor's relatives tried to marry her to the future King of England, Henry VIII, to whom she was betrothed. However, when Henry's father died and he became King, Henry decided to marry Eleanor's aunt, Catherine of Aragon, who was the widow of King Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Her relatives also tried to marry her to the French Kings Louis XII or Francis I or to the Polish King Sigismund I, but nothing came of these plans. Eleanor was also proposed as a marriage candidate for Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, in 1510.