Teresa | |
---|---|
Queen of Portugal | |
Titularity | May 1117 – 11 November 1130 |
Successor | Afonso I |
Countess of Portugal | |
Tenure | late 1095 or early 1096 – 24 June 1128 |
Born | c. 1080 Disputed: Póvoa de Lanhoso, Portugal or Monastery of Montederramo, Galicia |
Died | 11 November 1130 Monastery of Montederramo, Galicia |
Burial | Braga Cathedral, Braga, Portugal |
Spouse | Henry, Count of Portugal |
Issue Detail |
Afonso I of Portugal |
House | Jiménez |
Father | Alfonso VI of León and Castile |
Mother | Jimena Muñoz |
Teresa of León (Portuguese: Teresa; Galician-Portuguese: Tareja) (1080 – 11 November 1130) was Countess and Queen of Portugal. She rebelled against vassalic ties with her half-sister Urraca , was recognised as Queen by Pope Paschal II in 1116, but forced to accept Portugal's vassalage to León in 1121, although keeping her royal title. Her political and amorous affairs with Galician nobleman Fernando Pérez de Traba led to her ouster by her son, Afonso Henriques, who with the support of the Portuguese nobility and clergy defeated her at the Battle of São Mamede in 1128.
Teresa was the illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso VI of León and Castile by Jimena Muñoz. In 1093, her father married her to a French nobleman, Henry of Burgundy, nephew of Queen Constance, a brother of the Duke of Burgundy, a descendant of the kings of France in the male line. Henry was providing military assistance to his father-in-law against the Muslims on the Portuguese march.
In the first months of 1096, Henry and his cousin Raymond of Burgundy, husband of Queen Urraca, reached an agreement whereby each swore under oath that Raymond would give Henry the kingdom of Toledo and one-third of the royal treasury after King Alfonso's death and, if that was not possible, Henry would receive the kingdom of Galicia, while Henry, in turn, promised to support his cousin Raymond in securing all of the king's dominions and two-thirds of the treasury. King Alfonso, however, after becoming aware of this covenant, appointed Henry governor of all the land between the Minho River and Santarém, governed until then by Raymond, thereby limiting his son-in-law's government to Galicia. The two cousins then, instead of being allies, became rivals, each vying to obtain the king's favor. Upon the death of King Alfonso, Henry and Teresa continued governing these lands south of the Minho, and later, in December 1111 under the reign of Queen Urraca, were also governing Zamora.