Background
Born in Lisbon, Henry was the fifth son of King Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon.
abbot archbishop Catholic priest
Born in Lisbon, Henry was the fifth son of King Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon.
He ruled Portugal between 1578 and 1580, and was known as Henry the Chaste (Portuguese: Henrique o Casto). Cardinal
Henry was the younger brother of King John III of Portugal and, as a younger son, he was not expected to succeed to the Portuguese throne. He rose fast through the Church hierarchy, becoming in quick succession Archbishop of Braga, Archbishop of Évora and Grand Inquisitor before receiving a Cardinal"s hat in 1545, along with the Titulus Ss.
Quattuor Coronatorum.
From 1564 to 1570 he was Archbishop of Lisbon. Henry, more than anyone, endeavoured to bring the Jesuits to Portugal and employed them in the colonial empire.
Reign
Henry served as regent for his grandnephew, King Sebastian, after 1562, replacing his sister-in-law (and Sebastian"s grandmother) the Queen dowager Catherine, and then succeeded him as king after the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 in which Sebastian died. Henry attempted to renounce his ecclesiastical office and sought to take a bride for the continuation of the Avis dynasty, but Pope Gregory XIII, not wanting to anger Philip II, did not release him from his vows.
= Death and succession The Cardinal-King died in Almeirim without having appointed a successor, leaving only a Regency to care for the kingdom.
One of the closest dynastic claimants was King Philip II of Spain who, in November 1580, sent the Duke of Alba to claim Portugal by force. Lisbon soon fell, and Philip was elected King of Portugal at the Portuguese Cortes of Tomar in 1581—on the condition that the kingdom and its overseas territories would not become Spanish provinces.