Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853)
"the Educator" (Portuguese: "a
Educadora")
or "the Good Mother" (Portuguese: "a Boa
Mãe"), reigned as Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834
to 1853. Born in Rio de Janeiro, she was
the first child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina,
and thus a member of the House of Braganza. One of the two surviving children born when
Pedro was still heir apparent to
Portugal, she inherited Portuguese titles and was placed in the line of
succession to the former Portuguese throne, even after becoming a member of
the Brazilian Imperial Family,
from which she was excluded in 1835 after her definitive ascension to the
Portuguese throne. Maria II was born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota
Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela
Gonzaga[1] 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 (née
Archduchess Caroline Josepha Leopoldine of Austria), 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. 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 revolutions 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 or the absolutist, exiled Miguel. Most people considered Pedro to be
the legitimate heir, but Brazil did not want him to unite Portugal and Brazil's
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 favour of his daughter
Maria (who was only seven years old), 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. Miguel
pretended to accept, but upon his arrival in Portugal, he immediately deposed
Maria and proclaimed himself king, abrogating the liberal constitution in the
process. During his reign, Maria traveled to many European courts, including
her maternal grandfather's in Vienna, as well as London and Paris. Maria's first reign was
interrupted by the absolutist uprising led by her uncle, fiancé and regent
Miguel, who proclaimed himself King of Portugal on 23 June 1828. Then began
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 princess 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.
English policy was not conducive to its purpose. The Duke of Wellington's
office 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 their subjects or Portuguese emigres to go to reinforce
the garrison of the island Terceira. Miguel's coup d'état had not gone
unopposed. On 16 May 1828, the garrison of Porto revolted, and in Lagos an
infantry battalion. The revolts were stifled. Saldanha, Palmela, and others,
who had come to take charge of the movement in Porto, re-embarked on the shipBelfast ,
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. At the head of a small liberal expedition, the Marquis of Saldanha attempted
to disembark in Terceira, Azores, but was not allowed to take the
English cruise, whose vigilance he could not avoid for some time after the
Count of Vila Flor, later of Terceira, was able to disembark. In time, because
in August 1829 appeared in front of the island a huge Miguelist squadron that
landed a body of disembarkation. Then there was the Battle of 11 August 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 of knowing that the young queen was returning to the Brazilian Empire to her father. In fact, the situation of
Maria II in the English court, next to the ministry in the power, became
embarrassing and humiliating. The Queen left London to meet her future
stepmother, Amélie of Leuchtenberg.
They left together on 30 August 1829 for Rio de Janeiro, arriving on 16 October. The constitutional
cause was thought to have been lost. The dispersed emigres (France, England and
Brazil) were divided into rival factions. Only Terceira Island recognized the
constitutional principles, and even there appeared Miguelist guerillas. France
was ready to recognize Miguel's government when the revolution of July broke
out in Paris in 1830, which encouraged the Portuguese liberals. In 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 daughter and his second wife, to support
his daughter's rights to the crown from Portugal and joined the forces loyal to
Maria in the Azores in their war against Miguel. He took the title of Duke of Braganza, and Regent in her name. Almost at the same
time the regency of the Ilha Terceira, 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, 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, delivered to her stepmother, Empress Amélie, with good
masters, and left for the Azores at the head of an expedition organized on the
island of 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 carried him aboard a squadron
which he delivered to the English officer Sartorius, and departed for mainland
Portugal. 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. Pedro came to Lisbon, and summoned his daughter from Paris, forcing
his brother, Miguel to abdicate in 1834. Maria
was thereupon restored to the throne, and obtained an annulment of her
betrothal. Soon after her restoration to the throne, 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 (Queen's
Lancers Regiment), with the motto Morte ou Glória, "Death or
Glory" (the same as the 17th Lancers, since Lt. Col. Sir Anthony Bacon was
its first commander), 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.