In 1480, Prince Afonso, who at that time was five years old, went to live in the town of Moura with his maternal grandmother, Beatrice.

The queen of Castile, whose mother and nurse were Portuguese, wanted to strengthen the ties with Portugal,[10] and, at the same time, this would allow her to "keep an eye on and control the steps of her eternal rival, Joanna la Beltraneja", through her daughter.

[8] In July 1491, the royal family was spending the summer in the Santarém District near the banks of the River Tagus.

[11]According to the same author, when Afonso's mother heard the news of the accident, stricken with grief, she ran, riding on a mule, accompanied by her daughter-in-law, to be with her son who was lying on the ground.

[7] King John tried without success until the end of his life to legitimize the ten-year-old Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, his illegitimate son.

In 1494, King John, whose health had worsened, executed his last will in which named his cousin and brother-in-law, the Duke of Beja, his successor.