Saint of the Week – St Elizabeth of Portugal



Name: Elizabeth (Isabella) Queen Consort of Portugal,
Born: 12 January 1271 AD; Zaragoza Kingdom of Aragon
Died: 4 July 1336 AD; Estremoz, Kingdom of Portugal
Feast Day: 4^th July
Patron Saint of:  Healing family conflicts

It is sometimes said (somewhat disparagingly) that such-and-such a person was ‘born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth’. The accusation (for what it is) could certainly be levelled at Elizabeth of Hungary who was born into a complex web of royalty. Elizabeth (whose name in Spanish is Isabella) was the daughter of King Peter III of Aragon and his wife, Constance of Sicily. Three of her brothers would go on to become kings in their own right: Alfonso II, James II of Aragon and Frederick of Sicily. Elizabeth was the great niece of St Elizabeth of Hungary (daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary), after whom she was named and whose life of charity formed a shining exemplar for Isabella. In spite of this life of privilege and affluence, Elizabeth was from a very young age exceptionally devout and austere in her customs.

Elizabeth lived in an age when children were required to grow up quickly. In 1281 a marriage alliance was stuck between the ten-year-old Elizabeth and the twenty-year-old King Denis of Portugal, who had succeeded his father two years earlier. The wedding itself took place in 1288 when Elizabeth was seventeen. Her life as queen continued to be one of outstanding Christian charity and selfless dedication to her duties. She attended Mass and prayed the Divine Office daily, and showed personal attention to the needs of pilgrims and the poor.

Denis was in many respects a learned and judicious King but although entirely favourable to the Catholic Faith he lacked the personal piety and moral impeccability of his wife. Denis’ occasionally abusive behaviour and marital infidelity was an immense cross and humiliation that Elizabeth bore with patience and forbearance. Further to this, various slanderous accusations levelled against the Queen within the court succeeded in turning the King against his wife, who for a time found herself effectively banished from the court. Elizabeth bore these injustices with the sufferance of a saint remaining always charitable in her disposition towards her husband, whose salvation was her primary concern. Elizabeth understood her duties not only to her husband but also as queen consort of her adopted homeland, seeking always to better the lot of her people. Elizabeth used her influence and means to attend to the poor and the sick to whom she dedicated a considerable amount of her attention despite the demands of life at court.

In spite of their marital difficulties, Denis and Elizabeth bore two children, Constanza and Afonso. In his earlier years Denis sired a number of illegitimate children and apparently showed these sons a preferential treatment to Afonso, the infante (heir). As Afonso grew to maturity, he grew to bitterly resent his father’s neglect of him, resulting in family tensions over many years that between 1322-1324 erupted into a civil war. Afonso gathered his own army of supporters and effectively sought to kill his father in the hopes of succeeding him as king of Portugal. His attempt at a coup failed and Afonso was forced to retreat to his supporters at Alenquer. In the ensuing battle in 1323 Denis sought to settle the score with his son, but was prevented from killing him through the intervention of Elizabeth, who mounted on a mule, rode right into the battlelines positioning herself between the two armies of father and son bringing the battle to a standstill. The following year the illegitimate son was exiled from the kingdom restoring peace between Denis and Afonso. Elizabeth’s gift as a peace-maker also came into play in the broader political arena. Through her intervention Elizabeth averted war between Denis and Ferdinand IV of Castile, and later quelled hostilities between Ferdinand IV and James II of Aragon (her brother) .

The restoration of a family peace came just in time because later in 1324 Denis felt gravely ill. Elizabeth attended to her husband with undivided attention, only ever leaving his bedside to attend Mass or prayers at the church. Elizabeth’s prayers and charitable example ultimately paid off, and towards the end of his life Denis had a personal conversion, repenting of his past immorality and ill-treatment of his wife. The King of Portugal died on 6th January 1325 and their son Afonso succeeded him to the throne. Elizabeth was now effectively released from her stately obligations as Queen consort. She undertook a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St James in Compostela, in the hope of retiring to a convent of Poor Clares that she had helped establish. She was dissuaded from this course and instead was professed as a Third Order Franciscan. She built a house near her convent and leaving behind her former life as queen, proceeded to live a life of Franciscan simplicity and austerity, devoted to prayer and serving the poor.

There was one final occasion where Elizabeth stepped into her role as peacemaker, this time between King Afonso IV and King XI of Castile on account of a personal family grievance. Hearing of the imminent conflict, Elizabeth hurried to Estremoz where the two king’s armies were preparing for battle. She arrived completely exhausted but through her gentle persuasion was able to negotiate terms for peace, averting yet another bloody conflict. This exertion brought on a fever that led to her final illness and Elizabeth passed away in 1336 at the age of 65.

Ever since, Elizabeth of Portugal has been honoured as a Peacemaker and the patron saint of family conflicts. Her iconographic attributes usually include the dove or olive branch. In all too many instances today we see painful marital tensions and divisions within families, that can turn homes into warzones. We also see the looming threat of global conflict between the family of nations, and even the family of the Church is not spared these ugly divisions. Such a state of conflict is always a tragedy, and does great harm to all involved. Perhaps we can invoke St Elizabeth of Portugal as both an intercessor and an example of how to be a peacemaker each in our own gentle way. Her qualities of humility, patience, and indefatigable charity worked like balm to soothe even the bitterest of tensions. Her soul was steeped in the love of God and this gave her an ability to incline hearts towards peace and forgiveness, a charism we can only hope to imitate. We pray that like St Elizabeth we may strive to be bridge-builders and healers in our homes and communities, so that we too can receive the blessing promised by Christ: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

St Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for us!