John IV of Portugal

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:JoaoIVPortugal.jpg
Template:House of Braganza

John IV of Portugal (Portuguese: João IV de Portugal pron. IPA /Template:IPA/; March 1603–November 6, 1656) was the king of Portugal and Algarves from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal. John was the nicknamed the John the Restorer (João o Restaurador).

John was born at Vila Viçosa and succeeded his father Teodósio II as Duke of Braganza when the latter died insane in 1630. He married Luisa de Guzman (1613-1666), eldest daughter of the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, in 1633. By the unanimous voice of the people he was raised to the throne of Portugal (of which he was held to be the legitimate heir) during the revolution on December 1, 1640, against the Spanish king Philip IV.

His accession led to a protracted war with Spain, which only ended with the recognition of Portuguese independence in a subsequent reign (1668). Portugal signed alliances with France (June 1, 1641) and Sweden (August 1641) but by necessity its only contribution in the Thirty Years' War were in the field against Spain and against Dutch encroachments on the Portuguese colonies.

Image:ArmasjoaoIV.gif In Portugal, a Spanish invasion was defeated at Montijo (1650). Abroad, the Dutch took Malacca (Jan 1641) and the Sultan of Oman captured Muscat (1648). However by 1654 most of Brazil was back in Portuguese hands and had effectively ceased to be a viable Dutch colony. This was countered by the loss of Ceilan (Portuguese Ceilão), present day Sri Lanka, to the Dutch who took Colombo in 1656.

King John IV died in 1656 and was succeeded by his son Afonso VI. His daughter Catarina married King Charles II of England.

John was a patron of music and the arts, and a considerably sophisticated writer on music; in addition to this, he was a composer. During his reign he collected one of the largest libraries in the world, but it was destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Among his writings is a defense of Palestrina, and a Defense of Modern Music (Lisbon, 1649).

John's marriages and descendants

John married Luisa de Guzman, daughter of Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzman, 8th Duke of Medina-Sidonia. From that marriage several children were born. Because some of John's children were born and died before his father became King they are not considered princes or princesses (infantes) of Portugal.

NameBirthDeathNotes
By Luisa de Guzman (October 13 1613-October 27 1666; married on January 12 1633)
Prince TeodósioFebruary 8 1634May 13 1653Prince of Brazil and 9th Duke of Braganza. Died young.
AnaJanuary 21 1635January 21 1635 
Princess JoanSeptember 18 1635November 17 1653 
Princess CatherineNovember 25 1638December 31 1705Queen consort through marriage to Charles II of England.
ManuelSeptember 6 1640September 6 1640 
Prince AfonsoAugust 21 1643September 12 1683Who succeeded him as 21st (or 22nd according to some historians) King of Portugal.
Prince PeterApril 26 1648December 9 1706Who succeeded his brother Afonso as 22nd (or 23rd according to some historians) King of Portugal.
Illegitimate offspring
Maria de BragançaApril 30 1644February 7 1693Natural daughter.

Template:S-start Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:End

References

de:Johann IV. (Portugal) es:Juan IV de Portugal fr:Jean IV de Portugal it:Giovanni IV di Portogallo nl:Johan IV van Portugal pl:Jan IV (król Portugalii) pt:João IV de Portugal ru:Жуан IV (король Португалии) fi:Juhana IV (Portugali)