Maria Isabel de Alcântara, Countess of Iguaçu

Maria Isabel de Alcântara Bourbon^[1] (São Paulo, 28 February 1830 – 5 September 1896)^[1] was the third daughter (fifth child) of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and his mistress, Domitila de Castro, Marchioness of Santos.

Maria Isabel received the same name as her second sister, the Duchess of Ceara, who died in 1828.^[2] She was never given any titles by her father due to his marriage to Amélie of Leuchtenberg. Still, Pedro I acknowledged her as his daughter in his will but gave her no share of his state, except asking for his widow to aid in her education and upbringing.^[3] He had wished that she be given a good European education like her oldest sister, the Duchess of Goiás. However, the Marchioness declined to send the girl to Europe.^[4]

On 2 September 1848, at the age of eighteen, Maria Isabel married Pedro Caldeira Brant, the Count of Iguaçu, son of Felisberto Caldeira Brant, Marquis of Barbacena.^[5] At their wedding, Maria Isabel became the second Countess of Iguaçu. The couple had seven children:

Isabel dos Santos
Luís de Alcantâra Caldeira Brant, married Maria Luísa Pereira de Brito
Pedro de Alcântara Caldeira Brant
Deulinda dos Santos, married Claudiano dos Santos
Maria Teresa Caldeira Brant, married Charles Collins
Isabel Maria dos Santos, married Antônio Dias Paes Leme
João Severino de Alcântara Caldeira Brant

She died on 5 September 1896, at sixty-six years of age, in São Paulo.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Veiga, Edison (27 June 2015). "Filha de d. Pedro foi sepultada no Cemitério da Consolação" (in Portuguese). São Paulo: O Estado de S. Paulo. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
^ D. Maria Isabel de Alcântara Brasileira, 1.ª duquesa de Ceará – GeneAll.net
^ Rangel 1928, p. 447.
^ Lewin 2003, p. 155-156.
^ Viana 1968, p. 206.

Bibliography

Lewin, Linda (2003). Surprise Heirs: Illegitimacy, inheritance rights, and public power in the formation of Imperial Brazil, 1822-1889. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804746060. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Rangel, Alberto (1928). Dom Pedro Primeiro e a Marquesa de Santos (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Tours, Indre-et-Loire: Arrault. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Rangel, Alberto (1984). Cartas de Pedro I à Marquesa de Santos (in Portuguese). Editora Nova Fronteira. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)