• BIOGRAPHY
  Isabel of Aragón was born in Saragossa on 4 January 1271, the daughter of Pedro III 'the Great', king of Aragón, and Constance of Sicily. At the age of eleven Isabel was married to the twenty-year-old King Diniz of Portugal, on 24 June 1282 in Barcelona. Eight years later she gave birth to a daughter Constance, to be followed by a son Afonso a year later, both of whom would have progeny.
  
  Diniz was a strong and effective ruler, but a bad husband. He neglected and was unfaithful to Isabel. However, she provided strong support to him in his rule. She also founded a hospital, a 'rescue home' for women and an orphanage for foundlings. In later years she tried to reconcile her husband and their son Afonso who clashed bitterly over the king's preference for his illegitimate sons. However Diniz suspected her motives and banished her for a time to a remote fortress.
  
  In 1325 Isabel became a widow and retired to Coimbra, where she lived near the convent of Poor Clare nuns she had founded. Here she devoted her time to a religious life and the poor of the area. In 1336 her son, now King Afonso IV 'o Bravo' of Portugal, went to war with King Alfonso XI of Castile. Isabel followed her son's army, determined to make peace between the warring kings. In this she succeeded, but she had asked too much of herself and she died on 4 July 1336 before she could return to Coimbra.