Theresa of Portugal, Countess of Flanders

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Theresa of Portugal
Maud of Savoy

Theresa of Portugal^[a] (Portuguese: Teresa or Tereza, [tɨˈɾezɐ]; Archaic Portuguese: Tarasia; 1151 – 1218) was Countess of Flanders by marriage to Philip I, Count of Flanders, and Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to Odo III, Duke of Burgundy. She was the daughter of the Portuguese king Afonso I and Matilda of Savoy. She served as co-regent of Portugal with her brother during the illness of their father Afonso I of Portugal from 1172 until 1173, and regent of Flanders in 1191 during the interim period after the death of her spouse and the accession of his heir.

Regent of Portugal

Theresa was the daughter of the Portuguese king Afonso I and Matilda of Savoy.^[2] Theresa, her brother Sancho, and sister Urraca were the only children of Afonso and Matilda to survive to adulthood. Named after her paternal grandmother, Countess Theresa, she was reputedly King Afonso I's favourite.

During their father's illness, Sancho at first exercised

alone but from 1172 he shared the government with Theresa. At that time Afonso started considering to allow Theresa to succeed to the throne, and in 1173 he declared Sancho and Theresa co-heirs. As Afonso's illness progressed, the role of the siblings increased. Sancho took over military matters, while Theresa assumed administrative functions.

Due to her proximity to the throne and fears of a loss of independence, a marriage with an Iberian lord was undesirable. Theresa thus remained unmarried until relatively late.

Countess of Flanders

Around 1183 envoys came from the

.

Theresa lived in one of the most luxurious courts of Europe, in which Philip patronized

.

After Philip's death in August 1191, Theresa, holding extensive dower lands in southern and coastal Flanders, was powerful enough to challenge the rule of her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, provoking unrest among the public in her dower lands by raising the taxes and becoming a central figure of the part of the nobility opposing the succession of Margaret and Baldwin, but was forced to relent.^[3]

Duchess of Burgundy

In 1193, Theresa married again, this time to Odo III, Duke of Burgundy. Her second marriage produced no children, and so, she ended up being repudiated by the Duke, so that he could marry Alice of Vergy. She returned to Flanders and would be instrumental in arranging the marriage of her nephew Ferdinand to Margaret I and Baldwin VIII's granddaughter, Joan, Countess of Flanders.

Theresa died when her carriage accidentally fell into a marsh near Veurne where she drowned.

She is celebrated in Bruges every year.

Notes

References

Sources

• Nicholas, David M. (1992). Medieval Flanders. Routledge.
• Nicholson, Helen J. (2023). Women and the Crusades. Oxford University Press.

Royal titles
Vacant Title last held by Elisabeth of Vermandois	Countess consort of Flanders 1183–1191	Vacant Title next held by Marie of Champagne
Vacant Title last held by Béatrice of Albon	Duchess consort of Burgundy 1194–1195	Vacant Title next held by Alice of Vergy