Maria II of Portugal

"Maria II" redirects here. For other uses, see Queen Mary II.

For other people with the same name, see Maria of Portugal.

Maria II
Queen of Portugal and the Algarves
Reign	2 May 1826 – 23 June 1828
Predecessor	Pedro IV
Successor	Miguel I
Regents	Infanta Isabel Maria (1826–28) Infante Miguel (1828)
Reign	26 May 1834 – 15 November 1853
Acclamation	20 September 1834
Predecessor	Miguel I
Successor	Pedro V
Co-monarch	Fernando II
Regent	Pedro IV (1834)
Prime Ministers	See list The Duke of Palmela The Count of Linhares The Duke of Saldanha José Jorge Loureiro The Duke of Terceira The Count of Lumiares The Marquess of Valença The Marquis of Sá da Bandeira António Dias de Oliveira The Baron of Ribeira de Sabrosa The Count of Bonfim Joaquim António de Aguiar The Marquis of Tomar
Born	(1819-04-04)4 April 1819 Palace of São Cristóvão Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	15 November 1853(1853-11-15) (aged 34) Necessidades Palace Lisbon, Portugal
Burial	Pantheon of the Braganzas, Lisbon, Portugal
Spouses	Auguste of Leuchtenberg ​ ​ (m. 1834; died 1835)​ Fernando II of Portugal ​ ​ (m. 1836)​
Issue among others...	Pedro V Luís I Infante João Infanta Maria Ana Infanta Antónia Infante Fernando Infante Augusto
Names Template:Lang-pt
Dynasty	Braganza
Father	Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal
Mother	Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853) "the Educator" (Template:Lang-pt) or "the Good Mother" (Template:Lang-pt), 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

Born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga in Rio de Janeiro, she was the eldest 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 Brazil, Maria was the only European monarch to have been born outside of Europe, though she was still born in Portuguese territory.

Succession crisis

Maria II at age 10, 1829

The death of Maria's grandfather, King João VI, in March 1826 sparked a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Pedro, but Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 with himself as Emperor. The late king also had a younger son, Miguel, but he was exiled to Austria after leading a number of revolutions against his father and his liberal regime.

Maria II around age 14, c.1833

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: Pedro, the liberal Emperor of Brazil, or Miguel, the absolutist exiled prince.

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 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 of terror, Maria traveled to many European courts, including her maternal grandfather's in Vienna, as well as London and Paris.

Pedro abdicated the Brazilian throne in 1831 in favour of his son, 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 (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.

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

Effigy of Maria II, 1849

Maria married Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, and grandson of Empress Josephine on 26 January 1835, at the age of fifteen. 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. In accordance with Portuguese law, Ferdinand received the title of king upon the birth of their first child and heir, Peter.

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 Revolution 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 multiple births; "If I die," she said, "I die at my post". In 1853 she died in Lisbon giving birth to her eleventh child, Infante Eugénio, who himself died not long after.

Queen Maria II is remembered as a good mother and a kind person who always acted according to her convictions in her attempt to help her country. She was later given the nickname "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 then married 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.

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Auguste de Beauharnais (9 December 1810 – 28 March 1835; married on 1 December 1834)
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885; married on 9 April 1836)
Pedro V	16 December 1837	11 November 1861	Succeeded his mother as Peter V, 31st (or, according to some, 32nd) King of Portugal.
Luís I	31 October 1838	19 October 1889	Succeeded his brother, Pedro, as 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

Family 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)

Titles, styles and honours

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

Titles and styles

• 4 April 1819 - 6 March 1821: Her Highness The Princess of Beira
• 6 March 1821 - 4 February 1822: Her Highness Infanta Maria da Glória of Portugal
• 4 February 1822 - 12 October 1822: Her Highness The Princess of Beira
• 12 October 1822 - 2 December 1825: Her Imperial Highness The Princess Imperial of Brazil
• 2 December 1825 - 2 May 1826: Her Imperial Highness The Princess of Grão-Pará
• 2 May 1826 – 23 June 1828: Her Most Faithful Majesty The Queen of Portugal and the Algarves
• 23 June 1828 - 26 May 1834: Her Most Faithful Majesty Queen Maria II of Portugal
• 26 May 1834 - 15 November 1853: Her Most Faithful Majesty The Queen of Portugal and the Algarves

Honours

Domestic

• She was Grand Mistress of the following orders:
  • Military Order of Our Knights of Lord Jesus Christ
  • Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
  • Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
  • Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
  • Order of the Tower and Sword
  • Order of Saint Isabel

Foreign

• Spain: Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
• Empire of Brazil: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross
• Russia: Dame of the Order of St. Catherine

See also

• War of the Two Brothers

References

• Sousa, Otávio Tarquínio de (1972a). A vida de D. Pedro I (in Portuguese). Vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)