Sebastian (Portuguese: Sebastião I [sɨβɐʃˈti.ɐ̃w]; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz.
He was the only child of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and Joanna of Austria. He was the grandson of King John III of Portugal and Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal. He disappeared (presumably killed in action) in the battle of Alcácer Quibir, against the Saadi Sultanate of Morocco. Sebastian I is often referred to as the Desired (Portuguese: o Desejado) or the Hidden (o Encoberto), as the Portuguese people longed for his return to end the decline of Portugal that began after his death. He is considered to be the Portuguese example of the King asleep in the mountain legend as Portuguese tradition states his return, in a foggy dawn, in Portugal's greatest hour of need.
Sebastian was born shortly after eight in the morning of 20 January 1554 (the feast of Saint Sebastian), and he was given the saint's name in commemoration. The name Sebastian was highly unusual for members of any European royal family at the time.
Sebastian was born heir apparent to the throne of Portugal, since his birth occurred two weeks after the death of his father. Soon after his birth, his mother Joanna of Spain left her infant son to serve as regent of Spain for her father, Emperor Charles V. After his abdication in 1556, she served in the same capacity for her brother Philip II of Spain. Joanna remained in Spain until her death in 1573, never to see her son again.
Sebastian succeeded to the throne at the age of three, on the death of his paternal grandfather King John III. Since he was still a child, a regency was necessary. It was handled first by his paternal grandmother, Catherine of Austria, and then by his great-uncle, Cardinal Henry of Évora. This period saw the continued Portuguese colonial expansion in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and Malacca, as well as the annexation of Macau in 1557.
Sebastian was a bright and lively boy. Contemporaries described him as fearless due to his great physical strength. Tall, slim, and blond, he was brought up by his grandmother Catherine. She was a domineering woman who exercised firm control over her grandson. Obedient as a child, he became obstinate and impulsive in later life.
The young king grew up under the guidance and heavy influence of the Jesuits. Aleixo de Meneses, a military man of solid reputation and former tutor and guardian of Prince John, was appointed tutor to Sebastian. Other teachers included the priest Luís Gonçalves da Câmara and his assistant, the priest Amador Rebelo.
His upbringing made Sebastian extremely devout. He carried a copy of Thomas Aquinas on a belt at his waist and was constantly accompanied by two clerics of the Theatine Order who were intent on preserving the king's innocence. As a child, Sebastian reportedly would react to visitors by running off into hiding with the monks until the visitors had gone.
Sebastian died young and did not marry. However, he was involved in some proposed marriage alliances. In particular, the Queen dowager of France, Catherine de' Medici, nurtured a plan for a long time to marry her youngest daughter, Margaret of Valois, to Sebastian, a plan which never came to fruition, likely due to Castilian interference, which had become pervasive at the Portuguese Court since the time of King Manuel I.
Sebastian himself, however, put an end to that plan, declaring that he was unimpressed by the mild suppression of the Huguenot Protestants in France, and that he would not bind himself to the House of Valois until he had seen how the situation would develop. Later, he agreed — being persuaded by emissaries of the Pope — to marry Margaret in order to prevent her from marrying the Huguenot Henry of Navarre; by that time, however, the French king and his mother were already intent on Margaret marrying Henry. Sebastian's proposal was rejected, and Margaret married Henry in 1572.
Sebastian was also offered his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, the daughter of Emperor Maximilian II (Maximilian was Charles V's nephew.). Sebastian himself made a proposal in 1577 to his first cousin Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of his maternal uncle Philip II of Spain.
During Sebastian's short personal reign, he strengthened ties with the Holy Roman Empire, England and France through diplomatic efforts. He also restructured much of the administrative, judicial and military life in his kingdom. In 1568, Sebastian created scholarships to assist students who wished to study medicine or pharmacy at the University of Coimbra.
That same year he rewarded indigenous Brazilians in Brazil who helped in the fight against the French. The chief of the Temiminós Tribe, Arariboia, was given lands near the Bay of Guanabara. In 1569, Sebastian ordered Duarte Nunes de Leão to compile all the laws and legal documents of the kingdom in a collection of Leis Extravagantes known as the Código Sebastiânico (Sebastian's code).
During the great plague of Lisbon in 1569, Sebastian sent for doctors from Seville to help the Portuguese doctors fight the plague. He created two hospitals in Lisbon to take care of those afflicted with the disease.
In his concern for the widows and orphans of those killed by the plague, he created several Recolhimentos (shelters) known as the Recolhimento de Santa Marta (shelter of Santa Marta) and the Recolhimento dos Meninos (shelter of the children) and provided wet nurses to take care of the babies.
Sebastian created laws for the military, the Lei das Armas, that would become a military organization model. Goa was attacked by a pan-Asian alliance in 1570 during the War of the League of the Indies, but the Portuguese were successful in repulsing the assault. Also in 1570, Sebastian ordered that the Brazilian Indians should not be used as slaves and ordered the release of those held in captivity.
In 1572, the poet Luís de Camões presented his masterpiece Os Lusíadas and dedicated a poem to Sebastian that won him a royal pension. In 1573, he commissioned the construction of the Royal Basilica in Castro Verde as a tribute to the Battle of Ourique. In 1575 with the Carta de Lei de Almeirim, the king established a system of measures for solid and liquid products and also defined the role of public servants.
The Celeiros Comuns (Communal Granaries) were inaugurated in 1576 on Sebastian's orders. These were lending institutions intended to help to poor farmers when farm production decreased, giving credit, lending seeds and commodities to the needy. They were allowed to pay back their debts with farm products when they recovered from losses.