Maria I of Portugal

Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana was born on 17 December 1734 at the Ribeira Palace, in Lisbon. She was daughter of King José of Portugal (not yet king) and his wife, Mariana Victoria of Spain. On the day of her birth, her grandfather, King João V of Portugal, created her Princess of Beira.

When her father succeeded to the throne in 1750, Maria (aged 16) became his heiress presumptive and was given the traditional titles of Princess of Brazil and Duchess of Braganza.

Maria grew up in a time when her father’s government was dominated completely by the Marquis of Pombal. He took control of the government after the terrible Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755, in which around 100000 people lost their lives. After the earthquake, King José was often uncomfortable at the thought of staying in enclosed spaces, and later suffered from claustrophobia. He then had a palace built away from the city centre, which became known as Real Barraca de Ajuda (Royal Hut of Ajuda) because it was made of wood. The royal family spent much time at the large palace.

In 1760, Maria married her uncle Pedro, younger brother of her father. They had six children: José, João, João Francisco, João, Mariana Victoria, Maria Clementina and Maria Isabel.

In 1777, Maria became the first Queen regnant of Portugal and the Algarves; her husband became King of Portugal as Pedro III, but the actual regal authority was vested solely in Maria. Maria is considered to have been a good ruler in the period prior to her madness. Her first act as Queen of Portugal was to dismiss the Marquis of Pombal, partially because of Pombal’s Enlightenment, anti-Jesuit policies.

Queen Maria suffered from religious mania and melancholia. This acute mental illness (perhaps due to porphyria) made her incapable of handling state affairs after 1792. Maria’s madness was first noticed in 1786, when she had to be carried back to her apartments in a state of delirium. Afterward, the Queen’s mental state became increasingly worse. In May 1786, her husband died, and Maria was devastated; she forbade any court entertainments. According to a contemporary, state festivities started to resemble religious ceremonies. Her health further deteriorated after the death of her eldest son, aged 27, and of her confessor, in 1791.

In February 1792, Maria was deemed mentally insane and was treated by Francis Willis (who attended King George III of Great Britain). Willis wanted to take her to England, but the plan was refused by the Portuguese court. Maria’s second son, João, took over the government in her name.

In 1801, the Spanish Prime Minister, Manuel de Godoy, sent an army to invade Portugal with backing from Napoleon, resulting in the War of the Oranges. Though the Spanish ended their invasion, the Treaty of Badajoz (1801) forced Portugal to cede Olivença and other border towns to Spain.

The refusal of the Portuguese government to join the French-sponsored Continental Blockade against Britain culminated in the late 1807 Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal led by General Jean-Andoche Junot. The ultimate Napoleonic plan for Portugal was to split it into three sections. Northern Portugal would become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania and its throne was promised to King Carlo Lodovico II of Etruria; the Alentejo province and the Kingdom of the Algarve would be merged into the Principality of the Algarves, of which Manuel de Godoy would be sovereign; the remaining portion would have been ruled by France.

At the urging of the British government, the entire Braganza dynasty fled on 29 November 1807 to establish a government in exile, in the Portuguese Viceroyalty of Brazil. Along with the royal family, Maria was transported aboard the carrack Príncipe Real. During her move, she was heard screaming throughout the trip, in the middle of the crowd and in the carriage. The Queen’s dementia was so great that she feared that she was going to be tortured or robbed.

In January 1808, Prince Regent João and his court arrived in Salvador da Bahia. Under pressure by local aristocracy and the British, João signed a commercial regulation that opened commerce between Brazil and friendly nations. This law broke an important colonial pact that had previously allowed Brazil to maintain direct commercial relations only with Portugal.

On 1 August 1808, General Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) landed a British army in Lisbon to initiate the Peninsular War. The impact of Wellesley’s initial victory over Junot at the Battle of Vimeiro was wiped out by his superiors in the Convention of Cintra, which allowed the defeated French troops to evacuate peacefully from Portugal. Wellesley returned to Portugal on 22 April 1809 to recommence the campaign. Portuguese forces under British command distinguished themselves in the defence of the Lines of Torres Vedras and in the subsequent invasion of Spain and France.

In 1815, the government of the Prince Regent elevated Brazil to the status of Kingdom, and Maria I was proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. When Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815, Maria and her family remained in Brazil.

Maria lived in Brazil for a total of eight years, always in a state of incapacitation. On 20 March 1816, she died in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 81. After her death, Queen Maria’s body was returned to Lisbon to be interned in a mausoleum in the Basílica da Estrela.

Queen Maria is a greatly admired figure in both Brazil and Portugal due to the tremendous changes and events that took place during her reign. In Portugal, she is celebrated as a strong female figure; in Brazil, she is admired as a key figure in the eventual independence of Brazil. It was during her reign that many of the national institutions and organisations in Brazil were created. These were the precursors to their modern-day equivalents and granted power to the Brazilian colonials. While she is often called A Louca (The Mad), Brazilian and Portuguese historians hold her in high esteem.

Maria I of Portugal

Giuseppe Troni

c. 1783