Afonso VI ( ; English Alphonzo or
Alphonse), or Affonso (Old Portuguese), (21
August 1643 – 12 September 1683) was the twenty-second (or
twenty-third according to some historians) king of Portugal
and the
Algarves, the second of the House of Braganza, known as "the
Victorious" (Portuguese o
Vitorioso).
At the age of three, Afonso suffered an illness that left him
paralyzed on the left side of his body, as well as leaving him
mentally unstable. His father created him 10th
Duke of Braganza.
After the 1653 death of his eldest brother
Teodósio, Prince of Brazil,
Afonso became the
heir-apparent to the
throne of the kingdom. He received also the crown-princely title
2nd
Prince of Brazil.
He succeeded his father (
João IV) in
1656 at the age of thirteen. His mother, (
Luisa of Medina-Sidonia) was named
regent in his father's will. His mental instability and paralysis,
plus his disinterest in government, left his mother as regent for
six years, until 1662.
Afonso oversaw military victories over the
Spanish
at Ameixial (8
June 1663) and Montes Claros
(17 June 1665), culminating in the final Spanish recognition of
Portugal's independence on 13 February 1668 in the Treaty of Lisbon.
Colonial
affairs saw the Dutch
conquest of
Jaffnapatam
, Portugal's last colony in Sri Lanka
(1658) and the cession of Bombay
and Tangier
to England
(23 June
1661) as dowry for Afonso's sister, Catherine of Braganza who had married
King Charles II of
England. English mediation in 1661 saw the Netherlands
acknowledge Portuguese rule of Brazil
in return
for uncontested control of Sri Lanka.
In 1662, the
Count of Castelo
Melhor saw an opportunity to gain power at court by befriending
the king. He managed to convince the king that his mother was out
to steal his throne and exile him from Portugal. As a result,
Afonso took control of the throne and his mother was sent to a
convent.
He was married to
Marie
Françoise of Nemours, the daughter of the
Duke of Savoy, in 1666, but this marriage
would not last long. Marie Françoise, or Maria Francisca in
Portuguese, filed for an annulment in 1667 based on the impotence
of the king. The Church granted her the annulment, and she married
Afonso's brother, Pedro, Duke of Beja, (future (
Peter II)). That same year, Pedro
managed to gain enough support to force the king to relinquish
control of the government and he became Prince Regent in 1668.
Afonso was exiled to the island of
Terceira
in the
Azores for seven years, returning to
mainland Portugal shortly before he died at
Sintra in 1683.
His trial is the base for
João Mário Grilo's 1990 film,
The King's Trial (
O Processo do Rei).
Ancestors
References