Royal Palace of Évora
With King John II's death, in 1495, his cousin, Manuel I, Duke of Beja and Viseu, succeeded King John II as King Manuel I of Portugal. King Manuel I's personal monopoly on the spice trade allowed the King to be a great patron of the arts, constructing numerous palaces, convents, and churches throughout the country. King Manuel I took a great interest in Évora, establishing his court there on various occasions. From 1502 to 1520, King Manuel I ordered a vast series of renovations, constructions, and enlargements. During the Manueline Campaigns, as the works are collectively known as, the palace grew to one of the largest palaces in Iberia. Through architects Martim Lourenço, Álvaro Anes, and António de Lagoa the Manuline Campaign saw the construction of Couto Hall, the Wing of the Infantes, an infirmary, the Royal Gardens and Hunting Grounds, the Royal Library, and the Gallery of Dames, which is the only part of the palace to survive to present day. Alongside expansion of the palace, King Manuel I also renovated the existing parts of the palace, remodeling the Queen's Hall, the servants quarters, and the Rossio of the Palace. In 1519, King Manuel I ordered architect André Pires to turn the plain Hall of Ambassadors into a Manueline Throne Room, which would direct itself towards the Palace Rossio.
Manuel, Hereditary Prince of Portugal
On 7 November 1597, Manuel wed Countess Emilia of Nassau (1569–1629), a daughter of William I, Prince of Orange and Princess Anna of Saxony. The bride's family were prominent representatives of Calvinism in Europe while the groom was Roman Catholic. Their families opposed the marriage but this did not prevent the couple from being secretly married by a Roman Catholic priest. Consequently, Manuel was forced to flee to Wesel, Germany. Emilia – initially under house detention – was able to follow him in December 1597. The following children were issued from this marriage:Because of the circumstances of the wedding, Manuel and Emilia used to live in a permanent shortage of money during the first years of their marriage. Only in 1608, Philip William, Prince of Orange was able to arrange the reconciliation of Manuel and Emilia on the one hand and Maurice of Nassau, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, on the other hand. The couple was granted a pension and residences. Life at the stadtholder's court was not easy for them since the Catholic Manuel was shunned by the local society. Therefore, he started secret negotiations with the stewards of the Catholic Spanish Netherlands, the infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and her husband Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, who promised them a higher apanage than House Orange was paying. After the death of Maurice, when the tensions between his successor Frederick Henry and Manuel were increasing, the latter went to Brussels. His wife who saw Isabella's father king Philip II of Spain as the driving force behind assassination of her own father decided not to follow Manuel and moved to Geneva together with her daughters where she died in 1629.