Pedro I of Brazil
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Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil (pron. IPA /'pedɾu/ in Brazilian Portuguese and /'peðɾu/ in European Portuguese; English: Peter) (full name: Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon), known as "Dom Pedro Primeiro" (October 12, 1798 – September 24, 1834), proclaimed Brazil independent from Portugal and became Brazil's first Emperor. He also held the Portuguese throne briefly as Pedro IV of Portugal, the Soldier-King (Port. o Rei-Soldado), 28th (or 29th according to some historians) king of Portugal and Algarves.
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[edit] Early years
Pedro I was born October 12, 1798, at Queluz Palace, near Lisbon. His father was the prince regent at the time and would later become King John VI of Portugal (João VI); his mother was Charlotte of Spain (Carlota Joaquina), daughter of Charles IV of Spain. Under the full name Pedro de Alcântara Francisco António João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon, he was the second son born to the royal couple. When his elder brother the Infante Antonio Francisco died in 1801, Pedro was created Prince of Beira as he was the heir-apparent of the then-Prince of Brazil, his father.
In 1807, when Pedro was nine, the royal family left Portugal as an invading French army approached Lisbon. (See Napoleonic Wars.) Arriving in Brazil with a British escort in early 1808, the family would remain in the country for 13 years. Their presence made Rio de Janeiro the de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire, and led to Brazil's elevation to the status of a kingdom co-equal with Portugal. Upon the death in 1816 of his paternal grandmother, Queen Maria I, Pedro became the heir to both kingdoms and received the titles Prince of Brazil and 18th Duke of Braganza. He married the Austrian Archduchess Maria Leopoldina in Rio on November 5, 1817.
[edit] Brazilian independence
When King João VI finally returned to Portugal, in the early 1820s, most of the privileges that had been accorded to Brazil were rescinded, sparking the ire of local nationalists. Pedro, who had remained in the country as regent, sided with the nationalist element and even supported the Portuguese Constitutionalist movement that led to the revolt in Oporto in 1820. When pressed by the Portuguese court to return, he refused. For that, he was demoted from regent to a mere representative of the Lisbon court in Brazil. This news reached him on September 7, 1822, when he had just arrived in São Paulo, from a visit to the port of Santos. On the banks of the Ipiranga River, he unsheathed his sword, and declared "Independence or death!" This later became his famous speech "The Grito Do Ipiranga." He was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil on October 12 and crowned on December 1.
[edit] Troubled reign
The early years of Brazilian independence were very difficult ones. Dom Pedro I assumed the title of Emperor instead of King, both to underline the diversity of the Brazilian provinces and to emulate Napoleon, who linked the idea of Empire — as opposed to that of Kingdom — to the French Revolution and modernity. Nevertheless, Dom Pedro I had to navigate between the relatively cosmopolitan society of Rio de Janeiro and the more conservative and patriarchal rest of the country. He soon appeared to forget his liberal ideals by enacting a Constitution (proclaimed on February 24, 1824) that gave him substantial power, although this was seen as necessary to keep control of the interior, particularly in the yet-feudal North. Many provinces, particularly in the North, favored continued association with Portugal. Republican sentiment soared, and in 1825, during a war with Argentina, the Cisplatine province seceded to become Uruguay. Furthermore, Pedro had a number of illicit affairs, which cost him some popularity.
On the death of his father, Pedro chose to inherit his title as King of Portugal (Pedro IV) on March 10, 1826, ignoring the restrictions of his own Constitution. He promulgated the Portuguese liberal constitution of April 26, but was forced to abdicate on May 28 from the Portuguese crown in favor of his daughter Maria II. Since she was then only 7 years old, he nominated his brother Dom Miguel as steward, on the promise that he would marry her. Meanwhile, his apparent indecision between Brazil and Portugal further damaged his waning popularity.
On October 17, 1829 he married his second wife, Princess Amélie de Beauharnais von Leuchtenberg in Rio de Janeiro. Amélie was the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, and the granddaughter of the Empress Josephine. She was also the sister of Charles Auguste Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais, who married his (Pedro's) daughter Maria II.
[edit] Return to Portugal
In the aftermath of a political crisis that followed the dismissal of his ministers, and amid a growing economic crisis, Pedro abdicated his throne in Brazil in favor of his son Pedro II on April 7, 1831, who was only 5 at the time. Pedro reasserted his use of his old title, 18th Duke of Braganza. He then returned to Portugal to fight against his brother King Miguel, who meanwhile had usurped the Portuguese crown (the War of the Two Brothers). In 1834 he overthrew the usurper and restored his daughter Maria II to her kingdom.
He died in Queluz, the palace of his birth, aged 35, of tuberculosis. In 1972, his remains were returned to Brazil and reinterred in the present Ipiranga Museum.
[edit] Ancestors
| John V of Portugal |
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Joseph I of Portugal |
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Mariana Victoria of Spain |
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Charles III of Spain |
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Maria Amalia of Saxony |
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Philip, Duke of Parma |
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Peter III of Portugal |
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Maria I of Portugal |
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Charles IV of Spain |
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Maria Luisa of Parma |
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John VI of Portugal |
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Charlotte of Spain |
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Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro IV of Portugal |
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[edit] Children
By his first wife, Maria Leopoldina, Empress of Brazil (22 January 1797–11 December 1826):
- Maria II of Portugal (4 April 1819–15 November 1853)
- Miguel de , Prince of Brazil (26 April 1820, stillborn)
- Joao Carlos de Bragança, Prince of Brazil (6 March 1821–4 February 1822)
- Januária de Bragança, Princess Imperial of Brazil (11 March 1822–13 March 1901). Married Luigi Prince of the Two Sicilies, Count di Aquila, son of Francis I of the Two Sicilies, and had issue.
- Paula de Bragança, Princess of Brazil (17 February 1823–16 January 1833).
- Francisca de Bragança, Princess of Brazil (2 August 1824–27 March 1898). Married Francis d'Orleans, Prince de Joinville, son of Louis-Philippe of France, and had issue.
- Pedro II of Brazil (2 December 1825–5 December 1891)
By his second wife, Amélie de Beauharnais von Leuchtenberg (31 July 1812–26 January 1873):
- Maria Amélia de Bragança, Princess of Brazil (1 December 1831–4 February 1853).
He had also nine illegitimate children, including five with his best-known lover Domitila, Marchioness of Santos, one with her sister, and one with a nun in Portugal.
[edit] External links
- Dom Pedro: The struggle for Liberty in Brazil and Portugal, 1798–1834 Review of his biography by Neil Macauly.
[edit] See also
| House of Braganza Cadet Branch of the House of Aviz Born: 12 October 1798 Died: 24 September 1834 |
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| New Title Independence from Portugal |
Emperors of Brazil 1822–1831 |
Succeeded by Peter II |
| Preceded by John VI |
Kings of Portugal 1826 |
Succeeded by Maria II |
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Forefathers - John VI of Portugal - Queen Carlota Joaquina First generation - Pedro I - Empress Leopoldina - Princess Amélie of Leuchtenberg Fourth generation - Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza - Princess Maria Pia Fourth generation - Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza - Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky |
Categories: Brazilian monarchs | Portuguese monarchs | People of South American wars of independence | People of the Argentina-Brazil War | Capetian dynasty | Dukes of Braganza | Knights of the Golden Fleece | Portuguese-Brazilians | Spanish-Brazilians | Roman Catholic monarchs | 1798 births | 1834 deaths
