Catherine of Braganza ^* (25 November 1638 – 30 November 1705) (Catherine Henrietta, in Portuguese Catarina Henriqueta de Bragança), was the queen consort of King Charles II of England.

Early life

Born in Lisbon, she was the second surviving daughter of King John IV of Portugal (at the time Duke of Braganza) and his wife, Louise of Guzman (Medina-Sidonia). Through her mother, she was a 2nd great granddaughter of Saint Francis Borgia. She was seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 where Portugal was arguably abandoned by France.

Marriage and life as Queen

Following the restoration of Portuguese independence from Spain, and her father's accession to the throne on December 1 1640, Catherine was engaged to Charles II. They married on May 3 or May 21, 1662, in Portsmouth. Her dowry brought Tangier and Bombay to British control. She was not a particularly popular choice of queen, being a Roman Catholic, and her religion prevented her ever being crowned, since Roman Catholics were forbidden to take part in Anglican services.

Despite Charles's reputation as a womaniser, Catherine never gave birth to a live heir, though she had several pregnancies, the last being in 1669. Her position was a difficult one, as Charles continued to have children by his many mistresses, but he insisted that she be treated with respect, and refused to divorce her. Even though she gave him no children, he sided with her over his mistresses in those cases where he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due. It was her dislike for and continued bickering with his mistress Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland that ultimately led to Palmer's dismissal as royal mistress.

Following Charles' death, Catherine remained in England through the reign of James II of England and returned to Portugal during the joint reign of William III and Mary II. She died in Lisbon in 1705.

Catherine introduced the custom of drinking tea in England. Although some have claimed that Queens borough of New York City was named after Catherine of Braganza, her name is not mentioned in the first 200 years of historical documents that have been preserved in the county archives.

A recent effort to build a statue in her honour in Queens was defeated by a group of African American, Irish-American and community groups.

1638 births | 1705 deaths | House of Stuart | English queen consorts | Scottish queen consorts

Catrin o Braganza | Katharina von Braganza | Catalina de Portugal | Catherine de Bragance | Catarina de Bragança | キャサリン・オブ・ブラガンザ | Katarzyna Bragança | Catarina de Bragança | Katarina de Braganza