View source for Matilda of Savoy, Queen of Portugal

{{Short description|Queen of Portugal from 1146 to 1157}}
{{Infobox royalty| name            =Mafalda of Savoy
| succession      =[[Queen consort of Portugal]]
| image           =D._Mafalda_de_Saboia_-_The_Portuguese_Genealogy_(Genealogia_dos_Reis_de_Portugal).png
| reign           =1146–1157/1158
| consort = yes
| birth_date      ={{circa| 1125}}
| birth_place     =[[County of Savoy]]
| death_date      =3 December {{Death year and age|1157|1125}}
| death_place     =[[Coimbra]], [[Kingdom of Portugal]]
| spouse          =[[Afonso I of Portugal]]
| issue           =[[Urraca of Portugal|Urraca, Queen of León]]<br />[[Theresa of Portugal, Countess of Flanders|Theresa, Countess of Flanders]]<br />[[Mafalda of Portugal (daughter of Afonso Henriques)|Infanta Mafalda]]<br />[[Sancho I of Portugal|Sancho I, King of Portugal]]
| house           =[[House of Savoy]]
| father          =[[Amadeus III, Count of Savoy]]
| mother          =[[Mahaut of Albon]]
| place of burial =[[Santa Cruz Monastery]], [[Coimbra]], [[Coimbra (district)|District of Coimbra]], [[Portugal]]
}}
'''Matilda of Savoy''' ({{langx|fr|Mathilde or Maud}}, {{langx|pt|Mafalda or Matilde}}; {{circa| 1125}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=67}}– 3 December 1157/58{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=227}}) was [[List of Portuguese consorts|Queen of Portugal]], after her marriage to King [[Afonso I of Portugal|Afonso Henriques]], the first sovereign of [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], whom she married in 1146.
==Origins ==
Matilda was the second or third daughter of [[Amadeus III, Count of Savoy|Amadeus III]], [[Count of Savoy]] and [[Maurienne]],{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=67}} and [[Mahaut of Albon]]{{sfn|Previte-Orton|1912|p=313}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=67}} (the sister of [[Guigues IV of Albon]], "le Dauphin"). One of her aunts, [[Adelaide of Maurienne]], was queen consort as the wife of King [[Louis VI of France]], and one of her great-granduncles was [[Pope Callixtus II]] whose papacy lasted from 1119 until 1124, the year of his death.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=69}}
==Possible reasons for her marriage==
Her father had joined the [[Second Crusade]] and this could have been one of the reasons why she was chosen as the consort of Portugal's first monarch. Such an alliance would contribute to expelling the Moors from Portuguese territory and would also show the new King's independence by selecting a wife outside the sphere of influence of the [[Kingdom of León]].{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|pp=67–68}} It is also possible that he was not able to select one of the infantas from the neighboring Iberian kingdoms due to reasons of consanguinity.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=80}} The wedding could have also been suggested by Guido de Vico, the papal representative in the [[Iberian Peninsula]] who had been one of the witnesses of the [[Treaty of Zamora]] in 1143.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|pp=67–68}}
==Life as queen consort==
Mafalda first appears with her husband on 23 May 1146 confirming a donation that had been made previously by her mother-in-law, [[Teresa of León, Countess of Portugal|Teresa of León]], to the [[Order of Cluny]].{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=75}} She was very devoted to the [[Cistercians|Cistercian Order]] and founded the Monasterio of Costa in Guimarães and a hospital/hostel for [[pilgrim]]s, the poor and the sick in [[Canaveses]].{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=75}}  She stipulated in her will that this hospital was to be kept always clean, that it should be furnished with good and clean beds and that, if any of those lodged at the institution should die there, three masses were to be celebrated for the salvation of their souls.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=75}}
[[Walter Map]], in his work, ''[[De nugis curialium]]'',  tells a story that "the King of Portugal now living", almost certainly Afonso, had been convinced by evil counselors to murder his pregnant wife out of misplaced jealousy. However, there is no other authority for this account, and it is not generally accepted.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|pp=224–225}}
==Death and burial==
Queen Mafalda died in [[Coimbra]] on 3 December 1157 or 1158{{efn|Mattoso refers to 1157 as the year of her death.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=223}}  Portuguese historian [[:pt:Frederico Francisco Stuart de Figanière e Morão|La Figanière]] mentions the same day but a year later based on a document which proves that the queen was still alive in 1158.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=612, n. 33}} The document, dated 1158 and kept at the [[Torre do Tombo National Archive|Torre do Tombo]], mentioned by La Figanière refers to the donation of [[Atouguia da Baleia|Atouguia]] by King Afonso and his wife to Guilherme ''de cornibus'' where Afonso confirms ''cum uxore mea Regina domna Mahalda filia comitis Amadei ''(sic)'' et de Moriana'' ("with my wife Queen Mafalda, daughter the Count of Savoy and Maurienne") .{{Sfn|La Figanière|1859|p=231}}}} and was buried at the [[Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra)|Monastery of Santa Cruz]] where her husband, who survived her by more than twenty-seven years, was later interred. She was survived by six of her seven children, only three of whom, infantes Sancho, Urraca and Theresa, would reach adulthood.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=77}}
==Marriage and issue==
Although the ''Annales D. Alfonsi Portugallensium Regis'', record that the wedding of Alfonso and Mafalda was celebrated in 1145, it was not until a year later, in May 1146, when they both appear in royal charters. Historian José Mattoso refers to another source, ''Noticia sobre a Conquista de Santarém'' (News on the [[Conquest of Santarém]]), which states that the city was taken on 15 May 1147, less than a year after their marriage. Since at that time no wedding ceremony could be performed during [[Lent]], Mattoso suggests that the marriage could have taken place in March or April of 1146, possibly on Easter Sunday which fell on 31 March of that year.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=220}} The groom was almost thirty-eight years old and the bride was about twenty-one years old.
The children of this marriage were:
* Henry (5 March 1147{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=60}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=71}}{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}– June 1155),{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=71}} named after his paternal grandfather, [[Henry, Count of Portugal|Henry]], he died when he was only eight years old.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}} Despite being just a child  he represented his father at a council in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] at the age of three.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}} He died in 1155, shortly after the birth of his brother Sancho.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}
* [[Urraca of Portugal|Urraca]] (1148{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}– 1211{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=79}}), married King [[Ferdinand II of León]] and was the mother of King [[Alfonso IX of León|Alfonso IX]]. The marriage was subsequently annulled in 1171 or 1172 and she retired in [[Zamora, Spain|Zamora]], one of the villas that she had received as part of her [[Las arras#Origins and representation|''arras'']],  and later at the Monastery of Santa María in [[Wamba, Valladolid]] where she was buried.;{{Sfn|Arco y Garay|1954|p=168}}
* [[Theresa of Portugal, Countess of Flanders|Theresa]] (1151{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}– 1218{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=80}}), [[Countess of Flanders|Countess consort of Flanders]] due to her marriage to [[Philip I, Count of Flanders|Philip I]]{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|pp=372-373}} and [[List of Burgundian consorts|Duchess consort of Burgundy]] through her second marriage to [[Odo III, Duke of Burgundy|Odo III]];{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=79}}
* [[Mafalda of Portugal (daughter of Afonso Henriques)|Mafalda]] (1153{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=71}}– after 1162). In January 1160, her father and [[Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona]], negotiated the marriage of Mafalda to Alfonso, future King [[Alfonso II of Aragon]]{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=60}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=78}} who at that time was three or four years old. After the death of Ramón Berenguer IV in the summer of 1162, King Ferdinand II of León convinced his widow, Queen  [[Petronilla of Aragón|Petronilla]], to cancel the infante's wedding plans with Mafalda and for Alfonso to marry instead [[Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Sancha]], daughter [[Alfonso VII of León]] and his second wife Queen [[Richeza of Poland, Queen of Castile|Richeza of Poland]].{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|pp=287-288 and 290}} Mafalda died in her childhood at an unrecorded date.
* Sancho, the future King [[Sancho I of Portugal]] (11 November 1154{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=71}}– 26 March 1211). He was baptised with the name of Martin for having been born on the [[Martin of Tours|saint's]] feast day.;{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=226}}
* John (1156 – 25 August 1164);{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|p=227}} and
* Sancha (1157 – 14 February 1166/67), born ten days before the death of her mother, Sancha died before reaching the age of ten.{{Sfn|Mattoso|2014|pp =227 and 383}}{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=71}} on 14 February according to the death registry at the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra) where she was buried.{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=60}}
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last =Arco y Garay|first= Ricardo del| publisher =  Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas|title = Sepulcros de la Casa Real de Castilla| year = 1954|location = Madrid|oclc = 11366237}}
*{{Cite book|last= Caetano de Souza|first=Antonio|title=Historia Genealógica de la Real Casa Portuguesa|volume = I|year= 1735|publisher= Lisboa Occidental, na oficina de Joseph Antonio da Sylva |isbn= 978-84-8109-908-9|location=Lisbon|language=pt|url = http://purl.pt/776/4/hg-2593-v/hg-2593-v_item4/hg-2593-v_PDF/hg-2593-v_PDF_24-C-R0150/hg-2593-v_0000_1-800_t24-C-R0150.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last=La Figanière|first =Frederico Francisco de|title =Memorias da rainhas de Portugal|year = 1859|publisher =Typographia Universal|language =pt|location=Lisbon|oclc=680459800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEQLAAAAYAAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Mattoso|first = José|authorlink =José Mattoso|title = D. Afonso Henriques|year = 2014|publisher = Temas e Debates|language =pt|location=Lisbon|isbn= 978-972-759-911-0}}
*{{cite book |last=Previte-Orton |first=C.W. |title=The Early History of the House of Savoy: 1000-1233 |url=https://archive.org/details/earlyhistoryofh00prev |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1912 }}
* {{cite book|last=Rodrigues Oliveira|first= Ana|title= Rainhas medievais de Portugal. Dezassete mulheres, duas dinastias, quatro séculos de História|language= PT |publisher= A esfera dos livros |location = Lisbon| year= 2010|isbn= 978-989-626-261-7}}
{{Refend}}
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{{succession box|title=[[List of Portuguese consorts|Queen consort of Portugal]]|before=None|after=[[Dulce of Aragon]]|years=1146–1157/58}}
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{{Portuguese consorts}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savoy, Matilda of, Queen of Portugal}}
[[Category:1120s births]]
[[Category:1158 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century people from the Savoyard State]]
[[Category:12th-century Portuguese people]]
[[Category:12th-century Portuguese women]]
[[Category:House of Savoy|Matilda]]
[[Category:Queens consort of Portugal]]
[[Category:12th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:12th-century Italian people]]
[[Category:Mothers of Portuguese monarchs]]