John IV of Portugal

• Name — John IV • Succession — King of Portugal • More Text — (more...) • Reign — 1 December 1640 – 6 November 1656 • Coronation — 15 December 1640 • Predecessor — Philip III • Successor — Afonso VI • Born — 19 March 1604 • Birthplace — Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, Vila Viçosa, Portugal • Died — 6 November 1656 • Place of death — Ribeira Palace, Lisbon, Portugal • Burial Place — Pantheon of the Braganzas • Spouse — Luisa de Guzmán (m. married 1633) • Issue — Teodósio, Prince of Brazil Joana, Princess of Beira Catherine, Queen Consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland Afonso VI of Portugal Peter II of Portugal • Issue Link — #Marriages and descendants • House — Braganza[1] • Father — Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza • Mother — Ana de Velasco y Girón • Religion — Catholicism • Native Lang1 — Portuguese • Native Lang1 Name1 — João, o Restaurador

• Illustration — John as an infant; Pedro Américo, 1879. John IV was born at Vila Viçosa and succeeded his father Teodósio II as Duke of Braganza[2] when the latter died insane in 1630. He married Luisa de Guzmán (1613–66), the eldest daughter of Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzmán, 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1633. John was described as having blonde hair and an average height.

• Illustration — John as king of Portugal by José de Avelar Rebelo, c. 1640s. When Philip II of Portugal (III of Spain) died, he was succeeded by his son Philip III (IV of Spain), who had a different approach to Portuguese issues. Taxes on the Portuguese merchants were raised, the Portuguese nobility began to lose its influence, and government posts in Portugal were increasingly occupied by Spaniards. Ultimately, Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province, meaning Portuguese nobles stood to lose all of their power. This situation culminated in a revolution organised by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, executed on 1 December 1640, sixty years after the accession of Philip II of Spain to the throne of Portugal. A plot was planned by several associates, known as the Forty Conspirators, who killed the Secretary of State, Miguel de Vasconcelos, and imprisoned the king's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, the Vicereine of Portugal, governing the country in the King's name. Philip III's troops were at the time fighting the Thirty Years' War and also dealing with a revolution in Catalonia, which severely hampered Spain's ability to quash the rebellion. Within a matter of hours and with popular support, John, then the 8th Duke of Braganza, was acclaimed as King John IV of Portugal (as the legend goes, with the persuasion of his wife), claiming legitimate succession through his grandmother Catherine, Duchess of Braganza. The ensuing conflict with Spain brought Portugal into the Thirty Years' War as, at least, a peripheral player. From 1641 to 1668, the period during which the two nations were at war, Spain sought to isolate Portugal militarily and diplomatically, and Portugal tried to find the resources to maintain its independence through political alliances and maintenance of its colonial income.

His accession led to a protracted war with neighbouring Spain, a conflict known as the Portuguese Restoration War, which ended with the recognition of Portuguese independence in a subsequent reign (1668).[4] Portugal signed lengthy alliances with France (1 June 1641) and Sweden (August 1641) but by necessity its only contributions in the Thirty Years' War were in the field against Spain and against Dutch encroachments on the Portuguese colonies. The period from 1640 to 1668 was marked by periodic skirmishes between Portugal and Spain, as well as short episodes of more serious warfare, much of it occasioned by Spanish and Portuguese entanglements with non-Iberian powers. Spain was involved in the Thirty Years' War until 1648 and the Franco-Spanish War until 1659, while Portugal was involved in the Dutch–Portuguese War until 1663. In Spain, a Portuguese invasion force defeated the Spanish at Montijo, near Badajoz, in 1644.

Abroad, the Dutch took Portuguese Malacca (January 1641), and the Imam of Oman captured Muscat (1650). Nevertheless, the Portuguese, despite having to divide their forces among Europe, Brazil, and Africa, managed to retake Luanda, in Portuguese Angola, from the Dutch in 1648 and, by 1654, had recovered northern Brazil, which effectively ceased to be a Dutch colony. This was countered by the loss of Portuguese Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) to the Dutch, who took Colombo in 1656.

John married Luisa de Guzmán,[10] daughter of Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzmán, 8th Duke of Medina-Sidonia. From that marriage several children were born. Because some of John's children were born and died before their father became king, they are not considered infantes or infantas (heirs to the throne) of Portugal. • Name — Birth — Death — Notes • By Luisa de Guzmán (13 October 1613 – 27 February 1666; married on 12 January 1633) • Infante Teodósio — 8 February 1634 — 13 May 1653 — Prince of Brazil and 9th Duke of Braganza. Died at the age of 19. • Ana de Bragança — 21 January 1635 — 21 January 1635 — Stillborn. • Infanta Joana (Joan) — 18 September 1635 — 17 November 1653 — Died at the age of 18. • Infanta Catherine (Catarina) — 25 November 1638 — 31 December 1705 — Commonly known as Catherine of Braganza. Queen consort through marriage to Charles II of England. • Manuel de Bragança — 6 September 1640 — 6 September 1640 — Stillborn. • Infante Afonso — 21 August 1643 — 12 September 1683 — Prince of Brazil and 10th Duke of Braganza. Succeeded him as Afonso VI, King of Portugal. • Infante Peter (Pedro) — 26 April 1648 — 9 December 1706 — Duke of Beja, Constable of the Kingdom, Lord of the Casa do Infantado and Regent of the Kingdom before succeeding his brother Afonso as Peter II, King of Portugal. • Illegitimate offspring • Maria de Bragança — 30 April 1644 — 7 February 1693 — Natural daughter.

He also worked under the name O Vitorioso. The authorities additionally record the heading King João IV of Portugal. His recorded language was Portuguese. His recorded confession was Catholicism. He was the child of Teodósio II, Duke of Braganza and Ana de Velasco y Girón.