HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ORDER OF SANTA ISABEL

1801

The Royal Order of Santa Isabel was instituted in 1801, by the Prince Regent D. João, on behalf of Queen D. Maria I. The first Grand Master of the Order was Princess Carlota Joaquina, who awarded the decoration of the Order to Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian dames, distinguished by services rendered to the Crown and to works of beneficence.

1910

The Order continued to exist after the implantation of the republican regime in Portugal in 1910, because it is a Dynastic Order of the House of Bragança and not a State Order. Queen D. Amélia bestowed the Order on her niece, Princess D. Maria Francisca de Orleans e Bragança, at the time of her marriage to the Head of the Portuguese Royal House, D. Duarte Nuno de Bragança. Queen D. Augusta Victoria, wife of the last King of Portugal, D. Manuel II, was the last Grand Master of that period, and several decades of inactivity followed.

2002

In 2002, the Royal Order of Santa Isabel was restored by the Head of the Portuguese Royal House, Dom Duarte de Bragança, with his wife, Dona Isabel, Duchess of Bragança, as Grand Master.

The Holy Queen

D. Isabel of Aragon was born on January 4, 1271 and was the daughter of King Pedro III of Aragon. She married D. Dinis, king of Portugal, from whom she had 2 children: D. Afonso IV and D. Constança. After D. Dinis’s death, she retired to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra, where she wore the habit of the Poor Clares Order. She died in Estremoz on July 4, 1336. She was canonized in 1625, by Pope Urban VIII.

The best known episode of her life is the Miracle of the Roses. According to legend, the Queen left Leiria Castle one winter morning to distribute bread to the poor. Surprised by D. Dinis, who did not approve of her permanent gestures of charity, she asked him what he was carrying in his lap, D. Isabel is said to have replied: “They are roses, Sire!”. D. Dinis inquired suspiciously “Roses, in January?”. As she opened her garments to show the contents of her lap, roses appeared, instead of the loaves she had hidden.

What is most striking about her life is her desire to reconcile people who are at odds with each other. The first time she contributed to a reconciliation was during her childhood, between her father D. Pedro and her grandfather D. Jaime, who did not speak to each other. D. Isabel’s delicate manner captivated both her father and grandfather, and both of them, through their common love for the Infanta, began to soften their relationship and shorten the distance that had been created between them. Later on she would bring two brothers closer: D. Dinis, her husband, and his younger brother, Afonso. On several occasions throughout her life, D. Isabel would intercede for peace between the brothers, and Infante D. Afonso was always very grateful to her sister-in-law for her pacifying role.

Santa Isabel also had great peacemaking intervention in international politics. She intervened in 1292 in the political disputes between her husband and the King of Castile, concerning the marriage of her daughter to the son of Sancho IV of Castile. In 1297, she helped King D. Dinis to establish the borders between Castile and Portugal, in the Treaty of Alcanizes, which remain practically intact until today, and this treaty was also formalized with D. Isabel’s seal. She also intervened in the conflicts between the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon between 1300-1304 Later, in 1317, he sent ambassadors to Sicily and Naples, urging the two kingdoms to peace and begged the Pope to bring them to concord, having achieved her goals.

Image: D. Isabel of Aragon (Rainha Santa Isabel)
Watercolor by Alberto de Souza (1911)

Reproduction of the Sermon of the Church of S. Roque, 1805

Click and view the Reproduction of the Sermon of the Church of S. Roque, from 1805, on the Institution of the Royal Order of Santa Isabel.

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