Eleonore of Austria
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Eleonore of Austria (November 15 1498 - February 25 1558) was Archduchess of Austria, queen of Portugal (1518-1521) and of France, also duchess of Touraine (1547-1558). Named Leonor de Austria in Spanish and "royne Eleonore" in French.
Born in Lovaina as the eldest child of Philippe the Handsome, archduke of Austria and duke of Bourgoigne and of Joanna of Castile, infanta of Castile and Aragon and later queen of the named countries. Her siblings were: Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand I, also emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Elizabeth queen of Denmark, Mary queen of Hungry and later regent of the Low Countries and Catherine, queen of Portugal.
When she was young, her relatives tried to marry her to the king of England (Henry VII or Henry VIII), the French king (Louis XII or Francois I) or with the Polish king, but they could not, so they had to lower their intentions, finally marrying her to King Manuel I of Portugal. They married July 16 1518. They had two children, the infante Carlos (who died as a child, born February 18 1520) and the infanta Maria (born June 8 1521, and who was later one of the richest princesses of Europe). She became a widow on December 13 1521, when Manuel died of the plague.
Some time later as a widow, by the treaty called "La Paz de las Damas" she married with Francis I of France on July 4 1530. They had no children.
As the French queen she did not have any political power, however she was used as a contact between France and the Empire. She was Charles V's favorite sister. She died in 1558 on the return trip from Badajoz, where she tried to make peace with her daughter Maria.fr:Éléonore de Habsbourg pt:Leonor de Áustria
