Manuela Isabel of Portugal (Blooming Roses)

Manuela Isabel of Portugal (28 June 1610 - 19 July 1638) was the youngest daughter of Queen Isabel and King Duarte of Portugal. She was the second wife of Constantine XII by her first marriage and the first wife of Antoine I by her second marriage. Her elder sister, Anna Caterina, was married to a younger brother of Constantine and together the two sisters managed to bolster Portuguese influence in Constantinople.

Early Life and First Marriage
Manuela Isabel was born in the early hours of 28 June 1610, the seventh child and the fourth daughter of Queen Isabel Sofia and King Duarte of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were Philippa of England and Francis Hercule of France. Her paternal grandparents were Anne Amelia of England and Sebastian I of Portugal. She was given an education typical for a Princess of her day, learning music, religion, and dancing. She was fluent in Portuguese, English, French, and Latin.

When she was four, she was betrothed to Archduke Charles of Austria, but the engagement plans came to nothing. Her hand was later offered to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, but was rejected in favor of Anne of Constantinople. In 1627, Empress Marina of Constantinople died giving birth and Emperor Constantine was in need of a new bride. Manuela's sister, Anna Caterina was already Lady of Morea and suggested her younger sister for the Emperor.

The marriage was signed off after a year of negotiations and the young bride made her way to Constantinople. She and Constantine were married days after her arrival. Manuela was seventeen, her husband forty-four.

Empress Manuela was baptised as Theodora in the Orthodox faith and was called such in her adopted country. She and her sister often consulted with one another about the political situation and schemed on how to increase Portuguese influence at court to benefit their brother. Empress Theodora was allowed even more influence once she gave her husband a son, barely a year into their marriage. Anna Caterina and Manuela Isabel often married their Portuguese ladies to male courtiers to help build a loyal base around them as the court at Constantinople was often the center of murderous plots more so than other courts of the day.