D. Afonso VI, the Flabbergasted King

As Sancho II in the first dynasty, Afonso VI also revealed himself to be a rex inutilis, to use the happy phrase by the historian José Mattoso.

Afonso VI (Lisbon, August 21st, 1643 - Sintra, September 12th, 1683) was the twenty-second king of Portugal and the Algarves and the second of the House of Bragança, known as «o Vitorioso» (the Victorious) – all in all, History's pure irony…

At the age of three, Afonso suffered an illness that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body, as well as leaving him mentally unstable. His father created him 11th Duke of Bragança.

After the 1653 sudden death of his eldest brother Teodósio, Prince of Brazil and heir to the throne, Afonso became the heir-apparent.

He succeeded his father, João IV, in 1656 at the age of thirteen. His mother, D. Luísa de Gusmão (Medina-Sidonia), was named regent in his father's will.

His mental instability and paralysis, plus his disinterest in government, left his mother as regent for six years, until 1662. D. Luísa oversaw military victories over the Spanish armies at Ameixial (June 8th, 1663) and Montes Claros (June 17th, 1665), culminating in the final Spanish recognition of Portugal's independence on February 13th, 1668 in the Treaty of Lisbon, almost 28 years after Portugal had actually regained its independence as a sovereign State in 1640.

Colonial affairs saw the cession of Bombay and Tangier to England (June 23rd, 1661) as dowry for Afonso's sister, Catherine of Bragança, who made an unfortunate marriage to Charles II of England.

In 1662, Count of Castelo Melhor saw an opportunity to gain power at court by befriending the king. He managed to convince him that his mother was out to steal the throne and exile him from Portugal. As a result, Afonso took control of the throne, and his mother entered a convent.

He was married to Marie Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nemours et d'Aumale, daughter of the Duke of Nemours, in 1666, but this marriage would not last long. Marie Françoise – or D. Maria Francisca Isabel de Sabóia in Portuguese – filled for an annulment in 1667 based on the impotence of the king. The Church granted her the annulment, and she married Afonso's brother, Pedro, Duke of Beja, future Pedro II.

That same year, Pedro managed to gain enough support to force his brother to relinquish control of the government, and so he became Prince Regent. Afonso was exiled to the island of Terceira in the Azores, returning to Portugal in 1674. He died in the Sintra Royal Palace in 1683.

Legend or not, part of the floor in his quarters shows evidence of being worn out by someone who had walked to and fro indefinitely…

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, the eminent Spanish writer, published in 1989 «Crónica del Rey Pasmado» (Chronicle of The Flabbergasted King).

Afonso's trial is the base for José Mário Grilo's 1990 film «O Processo do Rei» (The King's Trial).

RIC & Wikipedia