Maria II of Portugal
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAR : Maria II of Portugal
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In March 1826, King João VI died, creating a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Dom Pedro, but Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 and he was now Emperor Pedro I of that country. The late king also had a younger son, Miguel, but he was exiled in Austria after leading a number of revolutions against his father and his liberal regime.
The king had nominated his favorite daughter, Isabel Maria, as regent until "the legitimate heir returned to the Kingdom". But he didn't specify who was the legitimate heir. Pedro, the liberal Emperor of Brazil, or Miguel, the absolutist exiled prince?
Most people considered that Pedro was the legitimate heir, but nobody wanted him to unite Portugal and Brazil's thrones again. Aware that his brother's supporters were ready to bring Miguel back and put him in the throne, he decided for a more consensual option: he abdicated the throne to his eldest daughter, Maria da Gloria (who was only 7 years old), and she should marry her uncle Miguel, who should accept the Liberal Constitution and act as a regent until his niece was an adult.
Miguel pretended to accept, but when he arrived in Portugal he deposed Maria and proclaimed himself King, abrogating the liberal constitution in the process. During his reign of terror, Maria traveled to many European courts, including her grandfather's in Vienna, as well as to London and Paris.
Pedro abdicated the Brazilian throne in 1831 in favor of his son (and Maria's younger brother, Pedro II), and from his base in the Azores he attacked Miguel, forcing him to abdicate in 1834. Maria was thereupon restored to the throne, and obtained an annulment of her marriage.
On 26 January 1835 she married, at the age of 15, Charles, Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, and grandson of Empress Josephine. He died after two months on 28 March 1835.
On 1 January 1836 she married the cultured and able Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who ruled with her as King Consort. That title he received, in accordance with Portuguese custom, when their first child, a heir to the throne, was born.
Maria's reign saw a revolutionary insurrection on May 16, 1846, but this was crushed by royalist troops on February 22, 1847, and Portugal otherwise avoided the European upheavals of 1848. Maria's reign was also notable for a public health act aimed at curbing the spread of cholera throughout the country. She also pursued policies aimed at increasing the levels of education throughout the country.
After constant pregnancies and births, doctors kept informing Maria of the danger of giving birth to nearly one child per year. She neglected the risks that had also killed her mother; "If I die, I die in my post", she said. Maria II died while giving birth to Prince Eugene in 1853. (Her mother had also died of miscarriage.)
Maria II is remembered as a good mother and a kind person, who always acted according to her convictions in an attempt to help her country. She was later given the surname "The Good Mother."
Maria's marriages and descendants
Maria first married Auguste Charles, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, grandson of Empress Josephine, who died soon arriving in Portugal. She married again to Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Ferdinand August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Maria Antoniette Gabrielle of Kohari.
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auguste, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg (December 9 1810-March 28 1835; married in 1835) | |||
| By Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg- and Gotha (October 29 1816-December 15 1885; married on April 9 1836) | |||
| Prince Peter | September 16 1837 | November 11 1861 | Who succeeded his mother as Peter V, the 31st (or according to some historians 32nd) King of Portugal. |
| Prince Louis | October 31 1838 | October 19 1889 | Who succeeded his brother Peter as the 32nd (or according to some historians 33rd) King of Portugal. |
| Princess Maria | October 4 1840 | October 4 1840 | |
| Prince John | March 16 1842 | December 27 1861 | Duke of Beja |
| Princess Maria Ana | August 21 1843 | February 5 1884 | Married King George of Saxony and was mother of King Frederick August III of Saxony. |
| Princess Antónia | February 17 1845 | December 27 1913 | Married Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Singmaringen and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania. |
| Prince Ferdinand | July 23 1846 | November 6 1861 | Died of cholera in 1861. |
| Prince Augustus | November 4 1847 | September 26 1889 | Duke of Coimbra. |
| Prince Leopold | May 7 1849 | May 7 1849 | |
| Princess Maria da Glória | February 3 1851 | February 3 1851 | |
| Prince Eugene | November 15 1853 | November 15 1853 | |
See also: List of Portuguese monarchs
See also
Peter IV
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Michael
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|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Michael
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Peter V
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Forefathers - John VI of Portugal - Queen Carlota Joaquina
First generation - Pedro I - Empress Leopoldina - Princess Amélie of Leuchtenberg
Fourth generation - Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza - Princess Maria Pia
Fourth generation - Prince Pedro of Alcantara - Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky
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