Maria Sofia of Neuburg

Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuburg (6 August 1666 – 4 August 1699) was Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Peter II from 1687 until her death in 1699. A popular queen, she was noted for her extraordinary generosity and for being the mother of the famously extravagant John V of Portugal. Life Maria Sophia was born at the Schloss Benrath outside Düsseldorf in the Holy Roman Empire what is now Germany. Her father Philip William was the reigning Count Palatine of Neuburg. In 1685 he became Elector Palatine following the death of his cousin Charles II, an inheritance that greatly increased the family's status within Europe. In December 1676, Maria Sophia's sister Eleonore Magdalene was married to Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I owing to the family's reputation as producing fertile women. After two marriages, Leopold had no living male heirs. The new Empress Eleonore Magdalene fulfilled her function and quickly mothered two future Holy Roman Emperors (Joseph I and Charles VI). A similar succession crisis was occurring in Portugal. Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira, heiress to the throne and only daughter of King Peter II, was childless and had been refused by most European sovereigns due to her sickly nature and strict Portuguese succession rights. As a result, the Portuguese ambassador Manuel da Silva Teles was sent to Heidelberg to ask for the hand of Maria Sophia, with the encouragement of Empress Eleonore Magdalene. The embassy left Lisbon on 8 December 1686 and the marriage contract was signed on 22 May 1687. A dowry of 100,000 florins was agreed on. Queen