Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain

Lisbon, 4 Dec 1711 – Aranjuez, 27 Aug 1758

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born4 Dec 1711, Lisbonnot verified1 source
  • TitleConsort of Spain, 1746–1758not verified1 source
  • Died27 Aug 1758, Aranjueznot verified1 source
  • MotherMaria Anna of Austrianot verified1 source
  • FatherJohn V of Portugalnot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 4 Dec 1711

    Born in Lisbon

  2. 1746–1758

    Consort of Spain

  3. 27 Aug 1758

    Dies in Aranjuez, aged 46

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

During her lifetime

She lived through 5 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Lisbon.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1710s · Barbara is born in Lisbon

Who governed

In the news1700–1714

War of the Spanish Succession begins

The War of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1700, bringing years of heavy taxation, conscription, and famine that crippled local economies like Ubeda.

Music

Instruments in royal and public life

Musicians used wind and percussion instruments, such as trumpets, shawms (charamelas), and timbales, to provide harmonic accompaniment for court ceremonies and public processions. These ensembles played at royal river excursions on the Tagus and during festive street celebrations.

War of the Spanish Succession. Europe’s powers fought for thirteen years over who would inherit the Spanish throne; a Bourbon kept it, and Britain gained Gibraltar.In Europe · 1701–1714

War of the Spanish Succession. Europe’s powers fought for thirteen years over who would inherit the Spanish throne; a Bourbon kept it, and Britain gained Gibraltar.

DavidDijkgraaf · CC0

Daily life

Dark homes with paper windows

Ordinary homes were dark because the poor could not afford glass and instead covered their small windows with oiled paper. Light and protection against the cold were luxuries reserved for the wealthy.

In the news1716

Nueva Planta decrees centralize administration

In 1716, Philip V issued the Nueva Planta decrees, which abolished regional laws and parliaments in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia to create a centralized, unitary state.

What people wore

Simple and borrowed festive wear for fishermen

Fishermen wore simple, uniform clothing including linen drawers, a woolen hat, and a sleeveless vest, adding a jacket only in cold weather. On feast days, they upgraded to a suit with silver shoe buckles and striped cotton stockings, often borrowed from relatives if they did not own one.

Getting around

Main modes of transport were primitive

During this period, most people traveled on foot, on horseback, on mules, or by boat, as there were no railways or regular stagecoach lines.