Infanta Benedita of Portugal

Maria Benedita of Braganza (Maria Francisca Benedita Ana Isabel Antónia Lourença Inácia Teresa Gertrudes Rita Rosa; 25 July 1746 – 18 August 1829) was a Portuguese infanta and the youngest daughter of King Joseph I of Portugal and his wife Mariana Victoria of Spain. She was the Crown Princess of Portugal by marriage to her nephew between 1777 and 1786. Early life Benedita was born in Lisbon, and was named after Pope Benedict XIV. She was well educated, with a focus on religion and accomplishments in the arts. She was educated in music by Davide Perez and in painting by Domingos Sequeira: a panel made by her and her sister can still be seen in the Estrela Basilica. She attended the accession of her father to the throne in 1750, and the wedding of her sister to their uncle in 1760. In contrast to her siblings, who all experienced physical and mental conditions of some kind during their lives, Benedita was in good physical and mental health during her entire life. Crown Princess There were discussions to arranged a marriage between Benedita and Ferdinand VI of Spain as well as with Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, but the negotiations did not succeed. It was the wish of her father that she should marry her nephew, and in 1775, he successfully obtained a Papal dispensation to arrange the marriage if he deemed it necessary, which he did two years later.