of the
throne of Portugal, was the natural son of Louis (Luis), duke of Beja,
by Yolande (Violante) Gomez, a Jewess, who is said to have died a nun.
His father was a younger son of Emanuel, king of Portugal (1495-1521).
Antonio was educated at Coimbra, and was placed in the order of St John.
He was endowed with the wealthy priory of Crato. Little is known of his
life till 1578. In that year he accompanied King Sebastian (1557-1578)
in his invasion of Morocco, and was taken prisoner by the Moors at the
battle of Alcazar-Kebir, in which the king was slain. Antonio is said to
have secured his release on easy terms by a fiction. He was asked the
meaning of the cross of St John which he wore on his doublet, and
replied that it was the sign of a small benefice which he held from the
pope, and would lose if he were not back by the 1st of January. His
captor, believing him to be a poor man, allowed him to escape for a
small ransom. On his return to Portugal he found that his uncle, the
cardinal Henry, only surviving son of King John III. (1521-1557), had
been recognized as king. The cardinal was old, and was the last
legitimate male representative of the royal line (see PORTUGAL:
_History_). The succession was claimed by Philip II. of Spain. Antonio,
relying on the popular hostility to a Spanish ruler, presented himself
as a candidate. He had endeavoured to prove that his father and mother
had been married after his birth. There was, however, no evidence of the
marriage. Antonio's claim, which was inferior not only to that of Philip
II., but to that of the duchess of Braganza, was not supported by the
nobles or gentry. His partisans were drawn exclusively from the inferior
clergy, the peasants and workmen. The prior endeavoured to resist the
army which Philip II. marched into Portugal to enforce his pretensions,
but was easily routed by the duke of Alva, the Spanish commander, at
Alcantara, on the 25th of August 1580. At the close of the year, or in
the first days of 1581, he fled to France carrying with him the crown
jewels, which included many valuable diamonds. He was well received by
Catherine de' Medici, who had a claim of her own on the crown of
Portugal, and looked upon him as a convenient instrument to be used
against Philip II. By promising to cede the Portuguese colony of Brazil
to her, and by the sale of part of his jewels, Antonio secured means to
fit out a fleet manned by Portuguese exiles and French and English
ad