Maria II of Portugal
From Freepedia
Maria II da Glória, (English: Mary II), the Educator (Port. a Educadora) - (Rio de Janeiro, April 4, 1819 - Lisbon, November 15, 1853), named Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga was the daughter of the future King Pedro IV (Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I) and his first wife, Archduchess Maria Leopoldine Josepha Caroline, herself a daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria. She was the second Queen of Portugal and the 29th (or 30th according to some historians) Portuguese monarch.
In March 1826, King João VI died, creating a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Dom Pedro, but Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 and he was now 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.
The king had nominated his favorite daughter, Isabel Maria, as regent until "the legitimate heir returned to the Kingdom". But he didn't specify who was the legitimate heir. Pedro, the liberal Emperor of Brazil, or Miguel, the absolutist exiled prince?
Most people considered that Pedro was the legitimate heir, but nobody wanted him to unite Portugal and Brazil's thrones again. Aware that his brother's supporters were ready to bring Miguel back and put him in the throne, he decided for a more consensual option: he abdicated the throne to his eldest daughter, Maria da Gloria (who was only 7 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 to London and Paris.
Pedro abdicated the Brazilian throne in 1831 in favor of his son (and Maria's younger brother, Pedro II), and from his base in the Azores he attacked Miguel, forcing him to abdicate in 1834. Maria was thereupon restored to the throne, and obtained an annulment of her marriage.
On 26 January 1835 she married, at the age of 15, Charles, Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais, and grandson of Empress Josephine. He died after two months on 28 March 1835.
On 1 January 1836 she married the cultured and able Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who ruled with her as King Consort. That title he received, in accordance with Portuguese custom, when their first child, a heir to the throne, was born.
Maria's reign saw a revolutionary insurrection on May 16, 1846, but this was crushed by royalist troops on February 22, 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 increasing the levels of education throughout the country.
From her second marriage, she had the following children:
- Pedro V, who succeeded her
- Luis I, who eventually succeeded his brother
- Maria (1840)
- João, Duke of Beja, born in 1842, who died of cholera in 1861
- Maria Anna, (1843-1884) who married King George of Saxony and was mother of king Frederick August III of Saxony
- Antonia, (1845-1913) who married prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Signaringen and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania
- Ferdinand, who was born in 1846 and also died of cholera in 1861
- Augustus, Duke of Coimbra (1847-1889)
- Leopold (1849)
- Maria da Glória (1851)
- Eugene (1853-53)
After constant pregnancies and births, doctors kept informing Maria of the danger of giving birth to nearly one child per year. She neglected the risks that had also killed her mother; "If I die, I die in my post", she said. Maria II died while giving birth to Prince Eugene in 1853. (Her mother had also died of miscarriage.)
Maria II is remembered as a good mother and a kind person, who always acted according to her convictions in an attempt to help her country. She was later given the surname "The Good Mother."
See also: War of the Two Brothers
| Preceded by: Pedro IV | Queen of Portugal 1826-1828 | Succeeded by: Miguel |
| Preceded by: Miguel | Queen of Portugal 1834-1853 | Succeeded by: Pedro V |
| Imperial Family of Brazil |
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Forefathers - John VI of Portugal - Queen Carlota Joaquina First generation - Pedro I - Empress Leopoldina - Princess Amélie of Leuchtenberg
The Vassouras Branch (dynastic)
Fourth generation - Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza - Princess Maria Pia
The Petrópolis Branch (non-dynastic)
Fourth generation - Prince Pedro of Alcantara - Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky
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