The House of the Infantado ( Portuguese: ''Casa do Infantado'') was an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

for the second eldest son of the Portuguese monarch.

History

The House of the Infantado was created in 1654 by King

John IV of Portugal ''Dom (honorific), Dom'' John IV (; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), also known by the Portuguese as John the Restorer (), was the List of Portuguese monarchs, King of Portugal from 1640 until his death in 1656. He Portuguese Restoration War, ...

from properties and riches confiscated from the

Marquis of Vila Real Marquis of Vila Real (in Portuguese ''Marquês de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to ''Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II of ...

, supporters of

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

during the

Portuguese Restoration War The Restoration War (), historically known as the Acclamation War (''Guerra da Aclamação''), was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a forma ...

. It belonged to and was passed on to the second-born son of each King — i.e., the

Infante Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

that was not entitled to the crown — as his

. This member of the

Portuguese royal family The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

was known as the Lord of the House of the Infantado (''Senhor da Casa do Infantado'') or simply the Lord of the Infantado (''Senhor do Infantado''). The measure was intended to "perpetuate and extend as much as possible the blood of the royal family." The extinction of the

House of Aviz The House of Aviz (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Casa de Avis'' ), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (''Dinastia Joanina''), was a dynasty of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which flourished during the Portuguese Renaissance, Renaissanc ...

in 1580 had brought the Kingdom of Portugal in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

with Spain, ''de facto'' subjecting the country to Spanish rule. Thus the country's independence depended also on the fertility of the royal house. With a large income, second sons are encouraged to marry to produce

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

es capable of perpetuating the royal line. The basis of the donation was the city of Beja, with the ducal title, which belonged to King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...

. As this income was not enough, the lands Vila Real and Caminha, confiscated in 1641, were added to it. The donation covered the villages, places, castles,

padroado The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and g ...

s, land, forums, rights and duties for the second house, which guaranteed the title of ''Duke of Vila Real'' to the eldest son of Infante Dom Pedro. The House continued to receive new grants from the crown: the fifth of Queluz and their appurtenances; the palaces and houses of Corte-Real in Lisbon, which had belonged to the 2nd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo; the town of Serpa and with their barns and de Moura; rents of the Military Order of Christ to which the infante had been named Commander; the marshlands of Golegã, Borba, Mouchões and Silveira, near the Tagus river, from São Liborio to Santarém; saboarias of Porto and villages and places of Entre Douro and Minho and Tras-os-Montes. Other favors were added after the accession of Afonso VI, giving Dom Pedro an annual grant of 1000 quintals of Brazil wood without payment of duties; and the purchase that he made from his sister, Queen

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, King Charles II, which la ...

, of the city of Lamego and the marsh of Magos. Thus, it was not just dominial extension defining the House of Infantado, but the whole of their income in vast urban and rural areas from Tras-os-Montes to Alentejo. Its main wealth was agricultural, but also benefited from maritime interests (Caminha, Aveiro) and rivers. Thus, after the

King of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...

and the

Prince of Brazil Prince of Brazil () was the title held by the heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Portugal, from 1645 to 1815. Tied with the title of Prince of Brazil was the title Duke of Braganza and the various subsidiary titles of the Dukedom of Braganza. The ...

, the Infantado was the wealthiest household in the Kingdom in terms of seigneurial demesnes. The primary purpose of the appanage was to enrich the secundogeniture infante with a source of income that would allow him to retain the status expected of a prince. However, the enormous wealth became a source of strife and discord as it did on the death of the Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, brother of King

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 ...

in 1742. The next younger brother of the King, Dom António, claimed the succession to the House of Infantado, which was instead given to the second son of King John V, which greatly worsened the relationship between the two brothers.

Heritage

The following estates were part of the Casa do Infantado: *Corte-Real Palace * Queluz Estate * Santa Maria da Feira Castle *

Bemposta Palace The Bemposta Palace ('), also known as the ''Paço da Rainha'' (''Queen's Palace''), is a neoclassical palace in the area of Bemposta, now the civil parish of Pena, in Lisbon. It was originally built for Queen Dowager Catherine of Braganza on he ...

Lords of the Infantado

External links

Information about the National Palace of Queluz
{{Portuguese royalty Seigniories in Portugal