July 4, 1336 death of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal/Queen Isabel of Portugal.
She was born January 4 1271 in Aragon. Her father Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon. Her father succeeded the throne in 1276 as Peter III. Her mother was Constance of Sicily, daughter of Manfred of Sicily and Beatrice of Savoy. Elizabeth was named for her paternal great aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Peter's mother was Violant of Hungary, a daughter of Andrew II, and a half-sister to Elizabeth.
Her parents had six children. Three of her brothers were kings:
-Alfonso: succeeded his father as Alfonso III. Died at 25, 6 years after ascending the throne.
-James: succeeded Alfonso as James II. Was married four times. His only children were from his second wife Blanche of Anjou (first marriage was annulled before consummated). Succeeded by his second son Alfonso IV after his elder son renounced his claim and became a monk.
-Frederick: became Frederick III of Sicily. Their mother Constance was queen of Sicily in her own right, and the throne eventually passed to Frederick. Married Eleanor of Anjou and 9 children. Was succeeded by his eldest son Peter.
-Yolande: Duchess of Calabria. Married Robert of Naples, but was never Queen of Naples as she died before her husband took the throne. Bore him two sons. Her husband was succeeded by their granddaughter Joanna.
-Peter-only brother not to be king. married Guillemette, daughter of Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn.
When she was 10 her marriage to Dennis of Portugal was arranged, in 1281. Dennis had come to the throne in 1279 following the death of his father Alfonso III. Dennis was 20. They were married in 1288 when she was 17 and her husband was 26.
Elizabeth showed a deep passion for faith from a young age and this continued during her marriage. She sought to aid the sick and poor of her new country which brought her some ill will at court. But she seemed to have a good affect on her husband.
Elizabeth was quite active in politics (as a saint she is known as the peace maker). She was very active in the Treaty of Alcañices, between her husband and Fernando IV of Castile which fixed the borders of the two countries. She and her husband also helped to arbitrate peace between Fernando and her brother James II.
Between 1322 and 1324 civil war broke out between her husband and their son Alfonso. Alfonso resented his father favored one of his bastards over him. Dennis was prevented from killing his son by his wife. As the story goes Elizabeth road out between the armies on a mule at Alvalade and forced a peace between her husband and son. Peace wasn't truly achieved until the bastard died that same year.
Her husband died in 1325 and she retired to a convent of the Poor Clares Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha . She had founded the convent. She continued her devotion to the poor. She fed people from her own cellars during a great famine. She saw to the education of children of poor nobles and even dowries for girls from poorer families. The convent took in pilgrims for shelter. She was also a benefactor to many hospitals.
In 1336 she was called upon a final time to make peace. Her son Alfonso had marched on the troops of her son in law Alfonso XI of Castile. Her son in law had been abusive of her daughter. Though old and in poor health she headed for Estremoz, and helped to negotiate peace between the two kings. Unfortunately it was too much for her, and it brought on her final illness. She died at Estremoz castle on July 4.
She was not buried with her husband. She was instead originally buried at the Convent of Santa Clara in Coimbra. After a great deal of flooding, in the 17th century, the Poor Clares had her moved to Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova where she was buried in a coffin of silver and crystal in the main chapel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_Santa_Clara-a-Nova
She was beatified in 1526 and canonized by Urban VIII in 1625. Her feast day was moved to July 8 originally due to the Octave of Saint Peter and Paul but the Octave was discontinued and her feast day was moved back. In the US though it is celebrated July 5 due to the US Independence holiday.
She was the mother of two children:
-Alfonso- succeeded his father as Alfonso IV. He was married to Beatrice of Castile, a sister of Ferdinand IV. They had seven children. He broke the mold by having no children out of wedlock. Succeeded by his son Peter.
-Constance- was married to Ferdinand IV of Castile. Had two children, a son Alfonso who succeeded his father, and a daughter Eleanor who originally was to marry James, eldest son of James II of Aragon. James refused to consummate the marriage and eventually was allowed to become a monk. Eleanor ended up married to his younger brother the future Alfonso IV for whom she bore 2 children. She was Alfonso's second wife and he was succeeded by a son from his first marriage.