{{short description|Portuguese noblewoman and nun (died 1320)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox royalty | name = | image = D. Maria (1302-1320), filha de D. Dinis - The Portuguese Genealogy (Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal) (cropped).png | image_size = | alt = A 16th-century miniature of a nun, wearing grey robes, flipping through a book | caption = Maria Afonso depicted in a 16th-century miniature | birth_name = | birth_date = {{circa|1301}} | birth_place = | death_date = 1320 | death_place = | death_cause = Murder | burial_date = | burial_place = Monastery of São Dinis de Odivelas | native_lang1 = <!-- up to | native_lang5 = --> | native_lang1_name1 = <!-- up to | native_lang5_name1 = --> | house = Burgundy | father = Denis of Portugal | religion = Roman Catholicism | occupation = Nun }} '''Maria Afonso''' ({{circa}} 1301 – 1320) was a Portuguese noblewoman and nun. The illegitimate daughter of Denis of Portugal, she was a nun at the Monastery of São Dinis de Odivelas, where she built an altar for Andrew the Apostle. She was murdered in 1320. The whereabouts of her remains have been subject to controversy. In 2022, she was portrayed in Portuguese drama series ''A Rainha e a Bastarda'', which was about her death and the subsequent investigation.
== Biography == Maria Afonso was the illegitimate daughter of Denis of Portugal.<ref name="Fernandes" />{{rp|73}} The identity of her mother has been debated upon by scholars. While some attribute Branca Lourenço de Valadares, a member of the noble Valladares family, as her mother, others say her mother was unknown.<ref name="Parra">{{cite report |last=da Cruz Parra |first=Ana Raquel |date=2017–2018 |title=A Paternidade na Idade Média: o caso de D. Dinis |url= |trans-title= |work= |language=pt |location= |publisher=University of Lisbon |docket= |access-date=|pages=109–110}}</ref>{{rp|109}} She was brought up in Odivelas, and is believed to have been born in 1301, based on a document dated that year that stated Denis granted her presumed mother, Branca Lourenço, the town of Mirandela in exchange for her body.<ref name="Vaz" /> Her half-siblings were the legitimate Constance of Portugal and Afonso IV of Portugal, and the illegitimate Afonso Sanches, Pedro Afonso, João Afonso, Fernão Sanches, Maria Afonso, and another Pedro Afonso. Maria Afonso was the youngest child of Denis.<ref name="Vaz">{{cite web |last1=Máxima Vaz |first1=Maria |title=D. Dinis – dois filhos legítimos e sete naturais |url=https://capeiaarraiana.pt/2013/10/13/69219/ |publisher=Capeia Arraiana |access-date=11 May 2026 |language=pt |date=13 October 2013 |trans-title=King Dinis – two legitimate children and seven illegitimate children.}}</ref>
She became a nun at the Monastery of São Dinis de Odivelas at an unknown date,<ref name="Fernandes" />{{rp|73}} which her father had founded in 1295.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Carrero Santamaría |first=Eduardo |title=Mosteiro de Odivelas: documentos fundacionais, coord. científica Saul António Gomes, Odivelas, Odivelas: Cámara municipal-Mosteiro de Odivelas-Centro de Història Universidade de Lisboa, 2021 |journal=Medievalia |publisher=Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona |volume=25 |issue=1 |date=21 November 2022 |issn=2014-8410 |doi=10.5565/rev/medievalia.593 |language=pt|pages=158–160}}</ref>{{rp|159}} During her time as nun, she helped build an altar for Andrew the Apostle.<ref name="Fernandes">{{cite report |last=Varela Fernandes |first=Carla |date=December 2006 |title=Proposta de identificação de um jacente medieval. O infante D. João |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/2005434/2006_infante-DJoao-libre.pdf?1390824691=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DProposta_de_identificacao_de_um_jacente.pdf&Expires=1778503169&Signature=AzAL8XKpEmd73lZbiT55roITWlUi1452nEfY1VSH~gLJfG~ELXP7pVbxD7s8XWGgBvKrTMkxHjN88Php3ApdcmChdjc~yA8nImR8M-iJeHekg2~-Tc0g8Sy~O~PAEk-mL8cmMHG8rPN3aBEXJE4mu7TgOdBTtqdJymt6kBylY8W4sxjF2iXdUx~z3ZpJ1OpRHGtIc4yLeHOVqy7iONZS1V8clw1KktlZcAl3pU8tifFJtJrPB~S3E6CCxS0B9vHBE7NGw278sbXUNMkLlNwvp7UqyCdV8xSQjAYPJti9I6r-2UbjpERXHe58d7qZvFO--epIGTNKeEiHSbEVyewasg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |trans-title=Proposal for identification of a medieval recumbent effigy. Prince John |work= |language=pt |location= |pages=73–87|publisher=Art History Institute - University of Lisbon |docket= |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>{{rp|73}}
== Death and burial == She died in 1320, and was buried at the Monastery she worked at.<ref name="Fernandes" />{{rp|73}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Reis, Rainhas e Presidentes de Portugal - D. Dinis |url=https://www.arqnet.pt/portal/portugal/temashistoria/dinis.html |publisher=O Portal da História |access-date=11 May 2026 |language=pt |trans-title=Kings, Queens, and Presidents of Portugal - King Dinis}}</ref> She is believed to have been murdered in the Monastery, at around 20 years old.<ref name="Parra" />{{rp|110}}
A reliquary in the Epistle chapel of the Monastery was believed to have contained the remains of Afonso. However, the reliquary was not decorated with items that would be typical of a woman like Afonso, such as religious elements or veils.<ref name="Rossi" />{{rp|438–439}} Historian Carla Varela Fernandes proposed that it actually held the remains of a son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife Beatrice of Castile, named John.<ref name="Rossi">{{cite book |last1=Rossi Vairo |first1=Guilia |title=Família, Espaço e Património |publisher=CITCEM |isbn=9789898351142|pages=433–448 |language=pt |chapter=O Mosteiro De S. Dinis E S. Bernardo De Odivelas, Panteão Régio (1318-1322) |chapter-url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/37489770/Rossi_Vairo_CITCEM-libre.pdf?1430670252=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DO_Mosteiro_de_S_Dinis_de_Odivelas_pantea.pdf&Expires=1778501779&Signature=ELjNgMlyFUHjG5VgtiEEXd~ami3kHIquB7tTDZg9YpP~aRNU5R~A1p6uOnuyKTiuPcDJ2ps1CGO7zOU9dspgN5DhcC1PTewhgJ1JrXhMd9Yf6zq52jodm2uoz9KiQgSHvkSqg0nOfjr3CIeQUAPhJMnv0NTv6~~aH~XcND64N6LWD~XNV~4TqBrUwC7SKFeJn5RXaQXnKNEqSX2CZeOU91fc9b5GSrPmmwt1Xzjqw6-i179-HyNm4Ir-ov~XUQKp1ozZpNMVnQPKDJZ8AO5ngxRM90E~t~GuYWQrNPMVHcsvOVyQxSQF-fph7oPqgI-CuyRPGLRDVKbNLxK5SbmNmw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA|trans-title=Family, Space and Heritage}}</ref>{{rp|439}} He was Maria's nephew.<ref name="Fernandes" />{{rp|76}}
From a report from Borges de Figueiredo from when he opened the reliquary, it contained the remains of a child that was no older than a year of age and a child's coat. Varela Fernandes noted that the child's description matched that of John.<ref name="Fernandes" />{{rp|83}}
== Legacy == In 2022, Afonso was portrayed in the Portuguese drama series ''{{ill|A Rainha e a Bastarda|pt}}'', which centers around the investigation into her murder.<ref name="RTP">{{cite web |title=A Rainha e a Bastarda |url=https://media.rtp.pt/extra/estreias/a-rainha-e-a-bastarda/ |publisher=Rádio e Televisão de Portugal |access-date=11 May 2026 |language=pt |date=16 February 2022 |trans-title=The Queen and the Bastard}}</ref><ref name="Joana">{{cite news |last1=Amaral Cardoso |first1=Joana |title=A Rainha e a Bastarda é a senhora que se segue nas séries da RTP1 |url=https://www.publico.pt/2022/02/22/culturaipsilon/noticia/rainha-bastarda-senhora-segue-series-rtp1-1996350 |access-date=11 May 2026 |work=Público |date=22 February 2022 |language=pt |trans-title=The Queen and the Bastard is the next series on RTP1.}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} {{House of Burgundy-Portugal}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Afonso, Maria}} Category:1300s births Category:1320 deaths Category:14th-century Portuguese nobility Category:14th-century Portuguese nuns Category:Daughters of kings Category:Female murder victims Category:Portuguese House of Burgundy Category:Illegitimate children of Portuguese monarchs Category:People from Odivelas Category:People murdered in Portugal Category:Portuguese murder victims