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Matilda of Savoy, Queen of Portugal

Matilda of Savoy
D. Mafalda de Saboia - The Portuguese Genealogy (Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal).png
Matilda in Genealogy of the Kings of Portugal (António de Holanda, 1530–1534)
Queen Consort of Portugal
Tenure 1146–1157/1158
Born c.  1125
County of Savoy
Died 4 November 1157 (aged 31–32)
Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial Santa Cruz Monastery, Coimbra, District of Coimbra, Portugal
Spouse Afonso I, King of Portugal
Issue Infanta Mafalda
Urraca, Queen of León
Sancho I, King of Portugal
Theresa, Countess of Flanders
House House of Savoy
Father Amadeus III, Count of Savoy
Mother Mahaut of Albon
Religion Roman Catholicism

Matilda of Savoy (French: Mathilde, Portuguese: Mafalda; c.  1125– 3 December 1157/58) was Queen of Portugal. after her marriage to King Afonso Henriques, the first sovereign of Portugal, whom she married in 1146.

She was the second or third daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy, Piedmont and Maurienne, and Mahaut of Albon (the sister of Guigues IV of Albon, "le Dauphin"). One of her aunts, Adelaide of Maurienne,was queen consort as the wife of King Louis VI of France, and one of her great-granduncles was Pope Callixtus II whose papacy lasted from 1119 until 1124, the year of his death.

Her father had participated in the Second Crusade and this could have been one of the reasons why she was chosen as the consort of Portugal's first monarch. Such an alliance would contribute to expelling the moors from Portuguese territory and would also show the new King's independence by selecting a wife outside the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of León. It is also possible that he was not able to select one of the infantas from the neighboring Iberian kingdoms due to reasons of consanguinity. The wedding could have also been suggested by Guido de Vico, the papal representative in the Iberian Peninsula who had been one of the witnesses of the Treaty of Zamora in 1143.

Matilda first appears with her husband on 23 May 1146 confirming a donation that had been made previously by her mother-in-law, Teresa of León, to the Order of Cluny. She was very devoted to the Cistercian Order and founded the Monasterio of Costa in Guimarães and a hospital/hostel for pilgrims, the poor and the sick in Canaveses. She stipulated in her will that this hospital was to be kept always clean, that it shoud be furnished with good and clean beds and that, if any of those lodged at the institution should die there, three masses were to be celebrated for the salvation of their souls.


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