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Eleanor of Austria
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure	16 July 1518 – 13 December 1521
Queen consort of France
Tenure	4 July 1530 – 31 March 1547
Spouse	Manuel I of Portugal Francis I of France
Issue
Infante Charles of Portugal Infanta Maria, Lady of Viseu
House	House of Valois House of Aviz House of Habsburg
Father	Philip I of Castile
Mother	Joanna of Castile
Born	15 November 1498(1498-11-15) Leuven
Died	25 February 1558 (aged 59)

Eleanor of Austria, also called Eleonor of Castile and Éléonore de Habsbourg in France (15 November 1498 – 25 February 1558) was born Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and became subsequently in turn Queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and of France, also Duchess of Touraine (1547–1558) as dower.

She is called Leonor in Spanish and Portuguese and "Éléonore" or Aliénor in French.

[edit] Biography

Eleanor of Austria coat of arms as queen of France

Born in Louvain as the eldest child of Philip the Handsome, archduke of Austria and Duke of Burgundy 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, Elisabeth Queen of Denmark, Mary Queen of Hungary 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 VIII), whom she was betrothed to but when his father died and he became King he decided to marry her aunt Catherine of Aragon with whom he had been in love with for a number of years prior to their marriage. They also tried to marry her off to the French King (Louis XII or Francis I) or with the Polish King (Sigismund I), but they could not. Finally they married her to Manuel I of Portugal, after the proposed marriage with her cousin (the Crown Prince) did not occur. They married 16 July 1518. They had two children: the Infante Charles (who died as a child, born 18 February 1520) and the Infanta Maria (born 8 June 1521, and who was later one of the richest Princesses of Europe). She became a widow on 13 December, 1521, when Manuel died of the plague.

Some time later as a widow, by the treaty called "La Paz de las Damas" (The Ladies' Peace) she was married to Francis I of France on 4 July 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 Holy Roman 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.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

• Media related to Eleanor of Austria at Wikimedia Commons

[edit] Ancestry