Maria II of Portugal

Maria II
Queen Maria II around age 31, c. 1850
Queen of Portugal and the Algarves
1st reign	2 May 1826 – 23 June 1828
Predecessor	Pedro IV
Successor	Miguel I
Regents	See Infanta Isabel Maria (2 May 1826 – 26 February 1828) Infante Miguel (26 February – 23 June 1828)
2nd reign	26 May 1834 – 15 November 1853
Predecessor	Miguel I
Successor	Pedro V
Co-monarch	Fernando II
Regent	See King Pedro IV (26 May – 18 September 1834)
Prime Ministers	See list Duke of Palmela Count of Linhares Duke of Saldanha José Jorge Loureiro Duke of Terceira Count of Lumiares Marquess of Valença Marquis of Sá da Bandeira António Dias de Oliveira Baron of Ribeira de Sabrosa Count of Bonfim Joaquim António de Aguiar Marquis of Tomar
Born	4 April 1819 Palace of São Cristóvão Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	15 November 1853 (aged 34) Necessidades Palace Lisbon, Portugal
Burial	Pantheon of the Braganzas, Lisbon, Portugal
Spouse	Miguel I of Portugal (m. 1826; annulled 1834) Auguste of Leuchtenberg (m. 1834; wid. 1835) Fernando II of Portugal (m. 1836; her death 1853)
Issue among others...	Pedro V Luís I Infante João Infanta Maria Ana Infanta Antónia Infante Fernando Infante Augusto
Full name Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga
House	Braganza
Father	Pedro I of Brazil
Mother	Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853) "the Educator" (Portuguese: "a Educadora") or "the Good Mother" (Portuguese: "a Boa Mãe"), was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves from 1826 to 1828 and again from 1834 to 1853. She was a member of the House of Braganza.

Early life

Maria II at age 10, 1829

Maria II around age 14, c.1833

Born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga,^[1] in Rio de Janeiro, she was the daughter of the future King of Portugal and first Emperor of Brazil, Pedro IV and I and his first wife Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria, herself a daughter of Emperor Francis II. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Maria is the only European monarch to have been born outside Europe, though she was still born in Portuguese territory.

Succession crisis

Effigy of Maria II, 1849

When Maria's grandfather King João VI died in March 1826, there was a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Pedro, but Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 and he was then 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.

Before his death, the king had nominated his favourite daughter, 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: Peter, the liberal Emperor of Brazil, or Miguel, the absolutist exiled prince.

Most people considered Peter to be the legitimate heir, but Brazil did not want him to unite Portugal and Brazil's thrones again. The European country had been under Brazilian rule when both were part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, established by King João VI during his stay in Rio de Janeiro from 1808 until 1820. Aware that his brother's supporters were ready to bring Miguel back and put him on the throne, Peter decided for a more consensual option; he abdicated the throne to his eldest daughter, Maria da Glória (who was only seven 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 London and Paris.

Pedro abdicated the Brazilian throne in 1831 in favor of his son (and Maria's younger brother, Pedro II), and joined the forces loyal to Maria in the Azores in their war against Miguel, forcing him to abdicate in 1834. Maria was thereupon restored to the throne, and obtained an annulment of her betrothal.

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, in English, Queen's Lancers Regiment, with the motto "Morte ou Glória", "Death or Glory" (same as 17th Lancers, since Lt. Col. Sir Anthony Bacon was its first commander), a fortunate coincidence since the Queen's name was Maria da Glória.

Maria II was heir to her brother Pedro II as Princess Imperial until her exclusion from the Brazilian line of succession by law no. 91 of 30 October 1835.

Reign

Queen Maria II by John Simpson

Queen Maria II, around age 33, one year before her death, c. 1852. Painting by Sir William Charles Ross.

On 26 January 1835 Maria married, at the age of fifteen, Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, and grandson of Empress Josephine. However, he died only two months later on 28 March 1835.

On 1 January 1836, she married the cultured and able Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He received the title of King consort in 1837, in accordance with Portuguese custom, upon the birth of their first child Peter, an heir to the throne.

In 1842, Pope Gregory XVI presented Maria with a Golden Rose.

Maria's reign saw a revolutionary insurrection on 16 May 1846, but this was crushed by royalist troops on 22 February 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 raising the levels of education throughout the country.

After constant pregnancies and births, doctors warned Maria of the dangers of giving birth nearly every year. However, she ignored the risks that had killed her mother, who had died of complications following a miscarriage after many births; "If I die, I die at my post", Maria said. In 1853 she died in Lisbon, while giving birth to her eleventh child, Infante Eugénio, who also died.

Maria II is remembered as a good mother and a kind person, who always acted according to her convictions in the attempt to help her country. She was later given the surname "The Good Mother."

Marriages and issue

Maria first married Auguste Charles, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, grandson of Empress Josephine, who died soon after arriving in Portugal. She married again; her second husband was Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág.

Royal styles of Queen Maria II of Portugal
Reference style	Her Most Faithful Majesty
Spoken style	Your Most Faithful Majesty
Alternative style	Ma'am

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Auguste de Beauharnais			Married in 1835
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha			Married on 9 April 1836
Pedro V	16 December 1837	11 November 1861	Succeeded his mother as Peter V, the 31st (or, according to some, 32nd) King of Portugal.
Luís I	31 October 1838	19 October 1889	Succeeded his brother, Pedro, as the 32nd (or, according to some, 33rd) King of Portugal.
Infanta Maria	4 October 1840		Stillborn daughter.
Infante João	16 March 1842	27 December 1861	Duke of Beja
Infanta Maria Ana	21 August 1843	5 February 1884	Married King George of Saxony and was the mother of King Frederick August III of Saxony.
Infanta Antónia	17 February 1845	27 December 1913	Married Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania.
Infante Fernando of Portugal	23 July 1846	6 November 1861	Died of cholera at age 15.
Infante Augusto	4 November 1847	26 September 1889	Duke of Coimbra
Infante Leopoldo	7 May 1849		Stillborn son.
Infanta Maria da Glória	3 February 1851		Died some hours after her birth.
Infante Eugénio	15 November 1853		Died some hours after the death of his mother.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Maria II of Portugal

16. John V of Portugal               8. Peter III of Portugal                       17. Mary Anne of Austria               4. John VI of Portugal                             18. Joseph I of Portugal               9. Maria I of Portugal                       19. Mariana Victoria of Spain               2. Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal                                   20. Charles III of Spain               10. Charles IV of Spain                       21. Maria Amalia of Saxony               5. Charlotte of Spain                             22. Philip, Duke of Parma               11. Maria Luisa of Parma                       23. Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France               1. Maria II of Portugal                                         24. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor               12. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor                       25. Maria Theresa of Austria               6. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor                             26. Charles III of Spain (= 20)               13. Maria Louisa of Spain                       27. Maria Amalia of Saxony (= 21)               3. Maria Leopoldina of Austria                                   28. Charles III of Spain (= 20)               14. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies                       29. Maria Amalia of Saxony (= 21)               7. Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies                             30. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (= 24)               15. Marie Caroline of Austria                       31. Maria Theresa of Austria (= 25)

See also

• War of the Two Brothers

Footnotes

1. Sousa 1972a, p. 112.

References

• Sousa, Otávio Tarquínio de (1972a). A vida de D. Pedro I (in Portuguese) 1. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio.