A Brief History of Portugal

Part  12 - Dona Maria Abolishes Religious Orders

A WARM WELCOME to all my loyal students. Thank you for your patience and understanding during what will be a fourteen part wiz through Portugal's remarkable history. You must admit that, apart from a few duffers, the individuals who have had royalty thrust upon them, through accident of birth, or whatever, turned out to be very interesting characters. With less than a hundred years before Portugal becomes a Republic, let's deal with the tail end of the monarchy. We pick up the trail again in the year 1826:

Dom Pedro IV/ Dona Maria II: 1826-28

On Dom João VI's death, the Regency Council decided to proclaim Dom Pedro IV, who had remained in Brazil when the court returned to Portugal in 1807, as king.  This was on the understanding that he returned to Portugal immediately.  As Pedro was already Emperor of Brazil, which had declared itself an independent nation, he chose to ignore the summons.  Instead, he abdicated on condition that his brother Miguel married Pedro's daughter, Dona Maria II, who was seven years old at the time and act as her Regent until she came of age to rule herself.

But, before finally relinquishing any personal claim to the throne, Dom Pedro IV drew up a Constitutional Charter, similar to the one that was already being used in Brazil, which he asked Miguel to implement.  The new constitution specified a chamber of deputies who would be partly elected and partly nominated.  There was also to be an upper chamber housed entirely by hereditary peers.  Once details of the new constitution became known to the general public, a good deal of unrest ensued.  So much so that Miguel, exercising his new powers, abolished this new constitution and reverted back to the old Cortes style of government.

Usurpation of Dom Miguel: 1828-34

Of course, one could see what was going to happen, and it did; having got the Cortes well established, Miguel decided the time was right and in 1828 declared himself King.  This was done much to the displeasure of the young Dona Maria II, who decided to retreat to England. Once the news of his brother's treachery reached Dom Pedro IV, he immediately abdicated the Brazilian crown and set sail for Terceira, one of the larger islands in the Azores, which formed part of Portugal.  It was from here that Pedro IV proclaimed himself Regent.  His motive was to reinstate his daughter Dona Maria II to her rightful place, as a `lady in waiting' to take power once she was old enough.

Whilst all this was happening, Dom Miguel was getting himself well entrenched on the mainland. And so what became known as the War of Two Brothers began.  Pedro IV set off from his temporary island base and landed on mainland Portugal with around 7,000 men who became known as the `Liberal Army'.  Not to be outdone. Miguel recruited a force of over 13,000 men, under the banner of the `Miguelite Army'.  Despite the overwhelming odds against them, the Liberals, with the help of a British `international brigade', were able to hold their line.  The civil war continued over several years, with the Liberals making ground after one battle only to lose it again to the Miguelites at the next.  But, as Keith Richards' lyrics so succinctly proclaimed in a track from the Rolling Stones album A Bigger Bang: `Its funny how things turn around; but turn around they do'.  And it was, therefore, only a matter of time before the populace of mainland Portugal came round in favour of Pedro IV.  Miguel was sent into permanent exile in 1834.

Dona Maria II: 1834-53

At the tender age of 15, with the help of her father, Maria II was once more installed in the Portuguese seat of power, Lisbon but this time as Queen.  Shortly afterwards, she was to marry the Duke of Leuchtenberg.  But there was to be no `happy ever after' period due to the Duke's demise within a short time of their marriage.  The continual war efforts had drained the Portuguese coffers to an unacceptable level.  There was, therefore, a tightening up of tax collecting and other methods of accumulating more wealth into the government hands.  These actions provoked a period of civil disobedience in the country as a whole, with people finding it harder and harder to scrape together a living.

In an effort to help raise further funds, during the first year of her reign, Dona Maria II supported the Cortes decree that all religious orders be abolished.  As the Church had owned something like a third of all property in Portugal, the sale of the land and buildings brought in a considerable amount of money.  This was bolstered by the confiscation of property from the monarchy and nobility under further legislation which did away with all tithes, privileges, monopolies and feudal obligations.

Within a short time of the Duke of Leuchtenberg death, Maria was once again committed to another marriage.  This time it was to another duke, one Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (just imagine this chap being introduced to you as your new next door neighbour!). Although this marriage proved to be `fruitful', having raised 11 children, the poor lady died giving birth to child number 12 in 1853.

Dom Pedro V: 1853-61

On the death of his mother, Dona Maria II, the mantle was passed on to her son Dom Pedro V. As he was too young to take over the Portuguese throne immediately, his father, the illustrious Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha stepped in to act as his Regent until 1855. Unfortunately, the bad spell which appeared to have been cast over the monarchy during this period, showed no sign of being broken.  Six years after taking full control, Dom Pedro V died in 1861.

Right, with some of you yawning and others stretching, I think we had better hold proceedings at this point with a morsel of Portuguese monarchy still to be unwrapped. So, until the same time and place next month, I bid you a brief farewell!

David Devereux

                                          dfdev@btinternet.com

Why not now have a look at the Family Tree of Kings and Queens of Portugal?

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