Author:
Mrs E. Rosenthal
Report:
HA 2
Page:
59
Year:
1938
Subject Matter:
Catherine of Braganza
Excerpt:
As November 25, 1938 is the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Catherine of Bragança, some notes about her life in Portugal prior to her marriage and after her return as a widow may be of interest. Much less is known about these two periods than about the years she spent in England.
Catherine’s birthplace, the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança, at Vila Viçosa in Alentejo, still retains the appearance which it presented in the seventeenth century. The structure was begun in 1501 by Dom Jaime, 3rd Marquis of Vila Viçosa and 4th Duke of Bragança, and was greatly enlarged by his successors [i]. It is very large and imposing and the interior, like the exterior, is in an excellent state of preservation.
Close to the main building is the so-called Janela de Lisboa, «Lisbon Window», from which the Duchess of Bragança, Catherine’s mother, is said to have watched for the messengers who brought the news that the Spanish Vice-Reine had been overthrown, and that the Duke of Bragança had been proclaimed King John IV of Portugal.
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