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Marie Francoise of Savoy, Mademoiselle d'Aumale

Maria Francisca of Savoy
Maria Francisca de Saboia, Convento Francesinhas.PNG
Portrait of Queen Maria Francisca;
António de Oliveira e Louredo, 1704.
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure 2 August 1666 – 24 March 1668
Tenure 12 September – 27 December 1683
Born (1646-06-21)21 June 1646
Hôtel de Nemours, Paris, France
Died 27 December 1683(1683-12-27) (aged 37)
Palhavã, Lisbon, Portugal
Burial Pantheon of the Braganzas
Spouse Afonso VI of Portugal
(m. 1666; annulled 1668)

Peter II of Portugal
(m. 1668)
Issue Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira
Full name
English: Mary Frances Elizabeth
French: Marie-Françoise-Élisabeth
Portuguese: Maria Francisca Isabel
House Savoy
Father Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours
Mother Élisabeth de Bourbon
Religion Roman Catholicism
Full name
English: Mary Frances Elizabeth
French: Marie-Françoise-Élisabeth
Portuguese: Maria Francisca Isabel

D. Maria Francisca of Savoy (Marie Françoise Élisabeth; 21 June 1646 – 27 December 1683) was twice queen consort of Portugal as the spouse of two Portuguese kings. She first became queen of Portugal at the age of 20 on the day of her marriage to Afonso VI. Since the marriage was never consummated, she was able to obtain an annulment. On 28 March 1668, she married Afonso's brother, the Infante Peter, Duke of Beja, who was appointed prince regent the same year due to Afonso's perceived incompetence. Maria Francisca became queen of Portugal for the second time when Peter succeeded his brother as Peter II in 1683. She herself died later that year.

Maria Francisca was born in Paris as the younger daughter of Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours, and Élisabeth de Bourbon. Elisabeth was a granddaughter of Henry IV of France and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées. Her only surviving sibling was Marie Jeanne of Savoy. Prior to marriage she was styled Mademoiselle d'Aumale, a title derived from the duchy of Aumale which was a property of her father.

In need of support from Portugal against their mutual enemy Spain, the king of France, Louis XIV, arranged a marriage between Marie Françoise, an important member of the French nobility as a cousin of the king, and the new Portuguese king, Afonso VI, an ill young man who was paralysed on his left side and mentally unstable.

She departed from La Rochelle aboard the Vendôme. Upon her arrival in Portugal, she became known as Maria Francisca Isabel de Sabóia. She was deeply disappointed with her new life at the court of Portugal. The wedding with King Afonso took place on 2 August 1666. She soon saw fit to participate in a palace coup that ended the government of Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor, in cooperation with her brother-in-law, the Infante Peter.


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