Maria II of Portugal
Maria II also known as "the Educator" or as "the Good Mother", was Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 1853. Her supporters considered her to be the rightful queen also during the period between her two reigns.
Maria was born in Rio de Janeiro during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Dom João VI. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Braganza, who later became Emperor Dom Pedro I and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. In 1826, her father became king of Portugal but quickly abdicated in favour of the seven-year-old Maria. Both Pedro and Maria remained in Brazil, and her aunt Dona Isabel Maria initially served as regent for them in Portugal. Later Emperor Pedro's brother Miguel replaced Isabel Maria as regent and was to marry Maria when she came of age. However, a few months after Miguel's arrival in Portugal in early 1828 he deposed the absent Maria and declared himself king, thus beginning the Liberal Wars over royal succession. Maria remained outside Portugal throughout her first reign, finally arriving in Gibraltar just in time to learn of her deposition. She proceeded to England and then returned to Brazil. In 1831 her father returned to Europe with his daughter and led a military expedition in support of Maria's claim while she pursued her education in France. She finally set foot in Portugal for the first time in 1833 after Lisbon was occupied by forces supporting her. In 1834, Miguel was forced to abdicate and Maria was restored as undisputed queen. She remained a member of the Brazilian imperial family until 1835 when she was excluded from the Brazilian line of succession by law.
Maria's second reign was marked by continued political turmoil. In January 1835, she married Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, who died two months after their marriage. In April 1836, Maria remarried to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohary. Maria's second husband was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II a year later in accordance with Portuguese law following the birth of their first child, Pedro. Maria faced a series of difficult pregnancies and ultimately died in childbirth in 1853, at the age of 34. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Dom Pedro V.
Early life
Birth
Maria II was born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga on 4 April 1819 in the Palace of São Cristóvão in Rio de Janeiro, Kingdom of Brazil. She was the eldest daughter of Prince Dom Pedro de Alcântara, future King of Portugal as Pedro IV and first Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I, and his first wife Dona Maria Leopoldina, herself a daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. She was titled Princess of Beira upon her birth. Born in Brazil, Maria was the only European monarch to have been born outside of Europe, though she was still born in Portuguese territory.Succession crisis
The death of Maria's grandfather, King Dom João VI, in March 1826 sparked a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Dom Pedro, but Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 with himself as Emperor. The late king also had a younger son, Infante Dom Miguel, but he was exiled to Austria after leading a number of rebellions against his father and his liberal regime.Before his death, the king had nominated his favourite daughter, Dona Isabel Maria, to serve as regent until "the legitimate heir returned to the kingdom" — but he had failed to specify which of his sons was the legitimate heir: the liberal Emperor Dom Pedro I in Brazil or the absolutist, exiled Miguel in Austria.
Most people considered Pedro to be the legitimate heir, but Brazil did not want him to unite the Portuguese and Brazilian thrones again. Aware that his brother's supporters were ready to bring Miguel back and put him on the throne, Pedro decided for a more consensual option: he would renounce his claim to the Portuguese throne in favor of his eldest daughter Maria, and that she was to marry her uncle Miguel, who would accept the liberal constitution and act as a regent until his niece reached the age of majority.
During her first reign, Maria remained in Brazil with her father, and her aunt Isabel Maria continued to serve as regent until Miguel agreed to his brother's plan and returned to replace her in that role in early 1828. Miguel pretended to accept the agreement, but a few months after his arrival in Portugal he deposed Maria and proclaimed himself king, abrogating the liberal constitution in the process. Maria had finally sailed from Brazil a few days earlier, escorted by the Marquis of Barbacena. She was expected to land in Genoa and proceed from there to her grandfather's court in Vienna.
Refuge in England and return to Brazil
Maria's first reign was interrupted by the coup d'état led by her uncle, fiancé and regent Miguel, who was proclaimed King of Portugal on 11 July 1828, thus beginning the Liberal Wars that lasted until 1834, the year in which Maria was restored to the throne and Miguel exiled to Germany.The Marquis of Barbacena, arriving in Gibraltar with the Queen on 3 September 1828, was informed by an emissary of what was happening in Portugal. He had the foresight to understand that Miguel had come from Vienna determined to put himself at the head of the absolutist movement, advised by Prince Klemens von Metternich, who was directing European politics, and so it was dangerous for the young Queen to go to Vienna. Taking responsibility, he changed the direction of the journey, and departed for London, where he arrived on 7 October. The Wellington–Peel ministry openly sponsored Miguel, so the asylum the Marquis had sought was not safe. Maria II was received in court with the honors due to her high rank, but the British prevented the Portuguese emigres from going to the garrison on Terceira Island.
Miguel's coup d'état had not gone unopposed. On 16 May 1828, the garrison of Porto revolted, and in Lagos an infantry battalion did likewise. The revolts were stifled. Saldanha, Palmela, and others, who had come to take charge of the movement in Porto, re-embarked on the ship Belfast, which had brought them; the Porto garrison, reinforced by the academic volunteers of Coimbra and other liberal troops, emigrated to Galiza and from there to England. In January 1829, at the head of a small liberal expedition, the Marquis of Saldanha attempted to disembark in Terceira, Azores, but was prevented from doing so by the British frigate HMS Ranger, which was unable to prevent the Count of Vila Flor from disembarking on 22 June 1829. In time, because in August 1829 appeared in front of the island a large Miguelist squadron that landed a body of disembarkation. A battle ensued on August 11th in the village of Praia, where the Miguelists were defeated. When the emigrants in England received the news of the victory, they felt great enthusiasm. They soon lost hope when they found out that the young Queen was returning to Brazil. In fact, Maria II's situation in the British court, alongside the unfriendly attitude of the Wellington–Peel ministry, became embarrassing and humiliating. The Queen left London for Portsmouth to join the ship carrying her new stepmother, Amélie of Leuchtenberg from Ostend to Brazil. They left together on 30 August 1829 for Rio de Janeiro, arriving on 16 October.
The constitutional cause was considered lost. The scattered emigrants were divided into rival factions. Only Terceira Island recognized constitutional principles, and even there, Miguelist guerrillas emerged, and Maria remained there for four months. France was ready to recognize Miguel's government when the July Revolution broke out in Paris in 1830, which emboldened Portuguese liberals.
Civil war
On 7 April 1831, Dom Pedro I abdicated the imperial crown of Brazil on behalf of his son Dom Pedro II, Maria's younger brother, and came to Europe with his second wife and his daughter, to support Maria's rights to the crown of Portugal and join the forces loyal to her in the Azores in their war against Miguel. He took the title of Duke of Braganza, and of Regent in her name.Almost at the same time, the regency of Terceira Island, named by Pedro and composed of the Marquis of Palmela, the Count of Vila Flor and José António Guerreiro, prepared an expedition that soon took possession of the Azores. While extending the constitutional territory, Pedro disembarked in France, being welcomed with sympathy by the new government and by Louis Philippe I. Miguel's government had defied the immunities of French subjects and had not at once satisfied the complaints of the French government, which had sent a squadron commanded by Admiral Roussin to force the bar of Lisbon and impose humiliating conditions of peace.
Pedro left his daughter in Paris to finish her education in the care of her stepmother, Empress Amélie, with good teachers, and left for the Azores at the head of an expedition organized on Belle Isle, bringing his supporters together. Arriving in the Azores on 3 March 1832, he formed a new ministry, assembled a small army, whose command he gave to the Count of Vila Flor, and giving command of the fleet to Admiral Sartorius, departed for mainland Portugal, disembarking on 8 July at Memória Beach in Matosinhos. It was followed by the Siege of Porto and a series of battles until, on 24 July 1833, the Duke of Terceira entered victorious in Lisbon, having won the Battle of Cova da Piedade the day before. Porto and Lisbon, the main cities, were in the power of the liberals.
Maria and her stepmother crossed from France to England, were received by King William IV and Queen Adelaide at Windsor, and then left for Portugal on a British naval ship, finally arriving in Lisbon for the first time in September 1833. Pedro pursued the war, eventually forcing his brother, Miguel to abdicate in 1834. Maria was thereupon restored as undisputed queen, and obtained an annulment of her betrothal. Soon after her restoration to the throne and her declaration of majority, her father died from tuberculosis.
On 7 February 1833, in order to protect the Queen, the 2nd Lancers Regiment was created, first known as the Regimento de Lanceiros da Rainha, with the motto Morte ou Glória, "Death or Glory", a fortunate coincidence since the queen's name was Maria da Glória.
Occupying the Portuguese throne, Maria II was still heir presumptive to her brother Pedro II as Princess Imperial of Brazil, until her exclusion from the Brazilian line of succession by law no. 91 of 30 October 1835.