The Amazon Throne
The Orleans-Braganza of Brazil
By Arturo Beéche
During
the XIXth century Europe exported two dynasties across the Atlantic to
America. The first
was established
by the Portuguese royal family in Brazil during Napoleonic times; the second
was
established
under the sponsorship of Napoleon III in Mexico. Of the two, the Mexican
experiment
was the
most short-lived for it barely lasted four years. In contrast, the Brazilian
empire lasted
almost
the entire century.
Fearing
Napoleon's onslaught the Portuguese royal family left Lisbon and moved
their court to
Brazil,
the crown's most prized possession. Dom Joao of Braganza, Regent of Portugal,
packed his
family
and his demented mother, Queen Maria I, and headed for the sunny coasts
of Brazil. As the
Portuguese
royal family left Lisbon, Napoleon's troops led by the anti-monarchist
General Junot
overran
the Portuguese border. On a cold November morning in 1807, the royal exodus
started its
long voyage
into exile. Along with the royal family came an entourage estimated to
include almost
fifteen
thousand people. The people of Lisbon watched in dismay as their ruler
abandoned the
country
to the fate of the invading Napoleonic legions. But he had made the decision
to escape the
invasion,
nothing would deter Dom Joao who believed that moving to Brazil would save
his
family
from becoming Napoleon's puppets just as some of his royal cousins throughout
Europe had
Dome.
The Portuguese
royal contingent arrived on the coasts of Brazil on January 21, 1808. Brazilians
who witnessed
this most unexpected arrival went wild with ovations for the exiled royals.
Two
months
later the royal party arrived at their final destination, the beautiful
port of Rio de Janeiro. It
was at
Rio that Dom Joao decided to settle his court in exile, and it was from
there that he
vigorously
rebuild the fortunes of his shattered kingdom. Dom Joao opened Brazilian
ports to
foreign
trade and basically constituted the colony into an independent, self-reliant
kingdom under
the rule
of the House of Braganza. In due time, Dom Joao would acquire properties
in the
countryside
to where the royal family would retire to lead a quiet life away from the
exigencies of
court
life.
The fall
of Napoleon in 1814 restored the Portuguese royal family to their throne
in Lisbon.
Despite
this event, Dom Joao refused to return to Europe until the political situation
there settled.
He was
also faced with an uncertain future in Brazil if he departed. Dom Joao,
who was married
to Infanta
Carlota Joaquina of Spain, had two sons, neither of which had reached majority
in 1814.
Dom Pedro,
the eldest of the Braganza princes, was sixteen, his brother Dom Miguel
was only
twelve
years old. And since Brazil had become a semi-independent political entity
during Dom
Joao's
stay, the Prince Regent did not want to lose control over the affairs if
the colony. Further
pressure
to return to Portugal was caused by the death of Queen Maria I in 1816.
Dom Joao had
acted
as regent for his mother for almost two decades. Now he had finally ascended
to he throne as
Joao VI
of Portugal, Joao I of Brazil. His coronation took place in Brazil amid
pomp never before
witnessed
by the colonials.
Once safely
enthroned Dom Joao went about sending envoys to various European courts
in search
for a
bride for his heir. Several potential brides were inspected, yet none had
the qualifications
found
in the Archduchess Maria-Leopoldina of Habsburg. Referred to as Leopoldina,
the Austrian
Archduchess
was one of the daughters of Emperor Franz I and a sister of Empress Marie-Louise,
Napoleon's
second wife. For the faraway Braganzas the hand of Marie-Leopoldina was
a great
dynastic
coup. It certainly did not matter one bit that Dom Pedro had never set
eyes on his future
bride
and that he was more interested in chasing young Brazilian ladies than
in entering a dynastic
union
with an Austrian Archduchess.
Leopoldina
arrived in Brazil at the end of 1817. The Braganzas waited for her with
great
trepidation,
particularly Dom Pedro. now styled as Prince of Beira. Leopoldina must
have made a
good impression
on her husband for several months after her arrival the Brazilian court
announced
her first
pregnancy. Leopoldina's first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, no doubt
caused by the
ravages
the Brazilian climate had inflicted on her frail body. Despite this, Pedro
and Leopoldina
continued
their efforts to provide the crown with an heir. The couple's first child,
Princess Maria
da Gloria
of Braganza, was born in 1819. Two years later the much awaited heir arrived
on March
6, 1821.
The newborn Braganza was given the name of Joao.
Soon after
the birth of his grandson, Joao VI finally returned to Portugal. Along
with him went
most members
of the Braganza family, Pedro remained in Brazil to act as regent for his
father.
Initially
Joao VI was appalled at Pedro's desire to remain in Brazil, but after his
son refused to
back away
from his decision, the king agreed to Pedro and Leopoldina remaining behind.
Dom
Miguel,
the king's second son, did not question returning to Portugal for he never
really adapted to
life in
Brazil. Besides it is quite possible that Miguel already foresaw his future
as monarch of
Portugal
while his brother remained ruler of Brazil.
Leopoldina's
life in Brazil was to be fraught with anxieties over her future, that of
her children and
the decreasing
attention paid her by her husband. Her first disappointment was the untimely
death
of little
Prince Joao in 1822. The arrival of a second daughter one month after Joao's
death did not
improve
much the parents' spirits. For Pedro an heir was a necessity since the
heir presumptive to
Portugal
and Brazil was his increasingly troublesome brother Dom Miguel. A third
daughter, Paula
Mariana,
was born in 1823.
In late
1822, Prince Regent Pedro of Braganza decided to stage a coup d'etat to
emancipate Brazil
from the
Portuguese crown. Joao VI himself had recommended this course of action
as a means of
guaranteeing
the Brazilian crown would remain under the Braganzas. During the royal
family's
long stay
in Brazil the colony had learned how to rule itself without Lisbon's guidance.
Once
Napoleon's
regime was ousted, Lisbon faintly tried to restore its control over Brazilian
affairs.
This course
of action was deeply resented by the Brazilians who were deeply resentful
of
Portuguese
involvement in the country's internal affairs. Thus to guarantee that Brazil
would not be
completely
lost, Prince Regent Pedro gave his support to the independence movement
that sealed
the colony's
break from Lisbon. At the age of twenty-four, the Prince Regent became
Emperor
Pedro
I of Brazil.
In the
meantime, Pedro I continued to neglect his Austrian consort. It seemed
that the only reason
why he
spent any time with her was in an effort to produce the long-awaited heir.
The couple's
fourth
daughter, Francisca Carolina, was born in 1824. Pedro's impatience with
Leopoldina knew
no bounds
and he continued to spend more time away from her and in the arms of his
mistresses.
Leopoldina's
life in Brazil had turned into a living inferno, far away from her family,
ignored by
her husband,
the young Brazilian empress slowly fell into deep depression. In Vienna,
Emperor
Franz
I openly referred to his Brazilian son-in-law as a scoundrel. Nonetheless,
Pedro and
Leopoldina
continued their efforts to produce an heir. The arrival of Prince Pedro
de Alcantara of
Braganza
in late 1825, was Leopoldina's crowning satisfaction. Exhausted by constant
childbearing
since her arrival in Brazil, Empress Leopoldina died practically ignored
by her
husband
one year after the birth of the couple's only surviving son.
Old King
Joao VI died in early 1826. Faced with the quandary concerning the succession
to his
two thrones,
Pedro I abdicated the Portuguese crown on his daughter Maria da Gloria.
Pending her
arrival
in Portugal, Dom Miguel was declared Prince Regent of Portugal. Pedro also
agreed to
have his
daughter marry her uncle Miguel upon becoming of age. Despite these future
plans, Dom
Miguel
had other ideas in mind. It would not be long before Pedro I was faced
with a rebellious
brother
who had tired of acting second fiddle for an absent monarch. In fact, Dom
Miguel of
Braganza
considered himself the rightful heir to the Portuguese crown. Before Maria
da Gloria's
arrival,
Dom Miguel staged a palace coup d'etat and declared enthroned himself as
King Miguel I
of Portugal.
Maria da Gloria and her entourage sought refuge in London, pending a solution
to
Miguel's
treacherous act. Three years she spent as the guest of the British monarch
while Pedro I
did little
to strip Miguel of his illegally obtained kingly mantle. In 1829, Maria
da Gloria returned
to Brazil
on the same ship transporting her widowed father's new bride, Princess
Amelia of
Leuchtenberg.
At the
time of Amelia's arrival in Brazil, Pedro I was deeply involved with the
woman who had
made Leopoldina's
last years a living hell. Domitila, Marqueza of Santos, was the mother
of
several
of Pedro's illegitimate offspring. A woman of intense ambition she had
poisoned Pedro
against
the his proud Austrian wife. Domitila had also wanted the emperor to legitimize
their
children,
thus making them princes of the blood and placing them in competition with
Leopoldina's
own children.
Already faced with a rebellious brother in Portugal, Pedro instead sent
envoys to
Europe
in search of a new bride. Princess Amelia was their choice. She was the
daughter of
Eugene
de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and Princess Auguste of Bavaria.
Amelia was not
only the
niece of the King of Bavaria, but her step-grandfather had been none other
than Napoleon
Bonaparte.
Pedro is
said to have fallen madly in love with Amelia. Within months of her arrival
in Rio de
Janeiro,
Amelia had basically displaced the Marqueza de Santos. The fact that Amelia
seemed
unable
to bear children allowed her to always be willing and ready to satisfy
the demanding needs
of her
husband. Pedro was also very relieved to see that his new wife was immediately
accepted
by his
orphaned children.
In 1831
Pedro I finally decided to face his brother Miguel. The Emperor was also
facing
increasing
criticism from his Brazilian subjects who demanded more imperial offices
for natives.
After
touring the country with Amelia by his side, Pedro convinced himself that
maybe it would be
wise to
enthrone little Dom Pedro as the new Brazilian monarch. Doing so would
allow Pedro I
the time
to return to Portugal and put his brother Miguel in place. Finally, and
not after serious
confrontations
with an increasingly angry populace, Pedro gave up and abdicated his throne
on his
only son
Pedro II. A regency was quickly organized to rule Brazil until the infant
monarch reached
his legal
age. Dom Pedro and Empress Amelia boarded an English ship, along with Maria
de
Gloria,
and sailed towards Portugal. It had been twenty-four years since Pedro
had set foot in his
native
Portugal.
As soon
as they arrived in Europe, Pedro and Amelia toured several royal courts
in search of help
to overthrow
King Miguel I. Despite Miguel's lack of support among other European monarchs,
Pedro
was not able to enlist their help for his enterprise. It was while in Paris,
where he was
visiting
King Louis-Philippe, that Pedro came in contact with a large community
of Portuguese
refuges
exiled by his authoritarian brother. After consultation with the leaders
of the Portuguese
community
in Paris, Pedro accepted to lead the effort to overthrow Miguel. He also
promised to
uphold
constitutional government in Portugal in exchange for the restoration of
Maria da Gloria to
her throne.
Dom Pedro
mortgaged most of his property with London bankers. These funds allowed
him the
money
needed to stage his surprise invasion of Portugal. In 1832 the rebel force
quietly
congregated
on the Azores from where they sailed for Portugal. Dom Pedro and his seven
thousand-strong
army landed in Oporto in July of 1832. The city's garrison was surprised
and
Oporto
surrendered before Pedro's forces fired a single shot. One year later,
Pedro and Miguel
faced
each other in the battlefield. Pedro's armies was able to trap Miguel's
forces administering
the royal
usurper's cause a deadly blow. Days later, Miguel hurriedly Abandoned Portugal
and
headed
for exile in France. Dom Miguel would never recover his throne and eventually
settled in
Austria.
It was there that he married a Lowenstein-Wertheim princess and fathered
several
children.
His descendants finally made peace with the eldest branch of the Braganza
family in the
1920's.
And it is his great-grandson, Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza, who is the
head of the
Portuguese
royal family today.
Pedro did
not live long enough to enjoy the success of his venture, for within a
year of Miguel's
overthrow
he died unexpectedly. The former King of Portugal and former Emperor of
Brazil was
thirty-five
years old. Maria II was fifteen when her father died and a ruling monarch
in her own
right.
However, the young Queen of Portugal did not have a direct heir. In 1835
Maria II was
married
to the very handsome Prince Augustus of Leuchtenberg, Amelia's brother.
Still, the
misfortune
which never left her parents' side struck soon enough and Augustus died
eight months
after
their wedding. Disconsolate and lonely in her vast Lisbon palace, Maria
II desperately
needed
a husband. Several candidates were offered from France, Naples, Germany
and Sardinia.
The royal
race was won by King Leopold I of the Belgians who had submitted the candidacy
of his
nephew
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The marriage contract was signed
at the end of
1835 and
several months later Ferdinand arrived in Portugal. Maria II and Ferdinand
were
married
at Lisbon on April 8, 1836.
In Brazil,
young Pedro II was kept in ignorance as to most of the events faced by
his sister in
Lisbon.
The child emperor was placed under a regency until he reached the age required
by law to
begin
his reign without supervision. In an effort to avoid Pedro II becoming
a philandering
womanizer,
as his father had been, his tutors centered on raising his conscientiousness
and
morality.
They also built within Pedro and his sisters a deep love and respect for
the historical
figure
represented by their long-suffering mother. In doing so, the tutors of
the imperial children
turned
Empress Leopoldina into a semi-divine figure who would be an ever present
part
throughout
the life of Pedro II in particular.
The regency
came to an end in 1840, when young Pedro, by then a tall, blue-eyed Germanic
youth,
was but
fifteen years of age. Brazilian politicians had engulfed themselves in
an increasing power
struggle
which was leading the empire to ruin. To put an end to political squabbling
it was decided
that Pedro
II's majority would be declared before it was due. Doing so, the politicians
believed,
would
allow the emperor to play a mediating role in the constant power struggles
of the country's
leading
political parties. Soon after Pedro II's coronation the royal succession
once again became
an issue.
The Braganzas had been very good at producing offspring, unfortunately
for the dynasty
most of
these children were little Infantas. According to the laws of succession
in Brazil, women
would
only succeed in the absence of a male prince. This also posed a problem
concerning the
search
for suitable husbands for the emperor's sisters. For after all, these prospective
husbands
would
have to be brought to Brazil and their children raised as Brazilian princes.
In the 1840's not
many European
princelings were willing to travel halfway across to world to settle in
an empire
that at
times seemed tittering on the brink of collapse. Hence, Pedro II had to
be married off very
soon to
perpetuate the existence of the dynasty into the future.
Emissaries
were sent to Europe. The main royal courts were visited and the results
were less than
satisfactory.
Not only was there an absence of marriageable princesses, but those who
remained
unmarried
were of a less than attractive nature. The Brazilian emissaries, rebuffed
by the principal
European
courts, then headed to those which were not as politically relevant. One
of these minor
kingdoms
was located in the city of Naples, where a branch of the Spanish royal
family had ruled
for over
a century as Kings of the Two Sicilies. In fact, Pedro II's great-grandfather,
King Carlos
IV of
Spain, was a brother of Ferdinand I of the Two-Sicilies, grandfather of
the princess who was
chosen
as Pedro II's bride. Princess Theresa of the Two-Sicilies, a quiet and
unpretentious soul,
did not
inherit any of the good looks held by some members of her family. It has
been said that
upon meeting
his bride for the first time, the day before their marriage, Pedro II was
simply
dismayed
at having to share his future with such an unbecoming royal bride. "They
deceived me...I
can't
make her my wife. She is terrible," a deeply upset Pedro moaned . One of
his tutors is
purported
to have reminded Pedro of the sad fate of his own mother and of his cavalier
obligation
towards
fulfilling the needs of the imperial nursery. Nonetheless, and regardless
of his
misapprehension
concerning Theresa, Pedro II married his Neapolitan cousin and settled
to the
procreation
of a new generation of Braganza infants. Pedro's sisters, Francisca and
Januaria, also
married
European princes at about the same time. Francisca of Braganza was married
to Prince
Philippe
of Bourbon-Orleans, the fourth son of King Louis-Philippe of France; Januaria
of Brazil
was married
to Prince Louis of the Two-Sicilies, Count of Aquila, brother of Empress
Theresa.
Within
a year of their marriage, Pedro II and Theresa were the parents of a little
boy. Prince
Affonso
of Brazil was born in 1845 and his arrival brought a further closeness
to the loveless
union
of his parents. One year later another child arrived, Princess Isabel.
Yet, the imperial
couple's
increasing domestic happiness was seriously affected by the untimely death
of their
firstborn
in 1847. The little Prince Affonso was found dead in his crib, without
any apparent
medical
reason for this most unexpected event. the initial sadness caused by Affonso's
death was
lifted
by the birth of a third child in that same year, Princess Leopoldina. Pedro
II's sadness at the
loss of
his only male child was relieved by the birth of a second son in 1848,
Pedro, Prince
Imperial
of Brazil. However, within two years of this happy event, death would take
the little
prince
away. Desolate by the death of his son, Pedro II penned a sonnet in which
his utter
frustration
was revealed:
"Twice have I already suffered death,
For the father dies, whose eyes see his son dead.
Mine is the most dismal of fates:
During sweet infancy I lacked father and mother--
And now my own small sons are gone."
After the
loss of their second son, Pedro and Theresa were unable to have any more
issue. The
emperor
resigned himself to having his daughter Isabel created Princess Imperial
of Brazil, the
official
heiress of the empire. His inner sadness was extemporized by the abandoning
of former
court
festivities and the transformation of his entourage into a serious and
hardworking enterprise.
The emperor
gradually abolished many of the ceremonies that had previously demanded
great
pomp and
circumstance, while also opening the imperial family to more contact with
a larger
number
of Brazilian subjects.
Pedro II
gained widespread recognition as a liberal ruler. At the time of his enthronement,
Brazil
was suffering
under the evil system of slavery. A large majority of Brazilians were considered
the
property
of their owners. The slave trade also enjoyed a booming business. Pedro
II was repulsed
by the
trading of human beings as property. The slave trade also brought Brazil
into open conflict
with Great
Britain, the world's dominant power at the time, as well as a sworn enemy
of slavery.
Once a
slave trading nation herself, great Britain had long ago discovered that
this practice did
more harm
than good. Besides disrupting ancient tribes in the colonies, the slave
trade interrupted
the socio-economic
advancement of those colonies where it was still in practice. To bring
an end
to this
despicable business, London finally abolished it and tried to force other
slave trading
nations
to follow suit.
In 1826
Great Britain and Brazil signed a pact to bring an end to the slave trade.
In exchange for
the recognition
of Brazil's independence, Great Britain obtained Pedro I's promise to abolish
the
slave
trade in his empire. Pedro I tried to keep his promise, although imperial
efforts were
considerably
disrupted by the actions of pirates and bootleg slave traders whole smuggled
their
human
cargo into Brazil. Two decades after signing the pact, Great Britain and
Brazil were forced
to renegotiate
a settlement of the slave trade issue. Given the enormous size of Brazil,
many
plantations
and agricultural enterprises had experienced economic chaos by the disruption
of the
slave
trade. An absence of hired hands had caused the collapse of many crops.
Faced with this
economic
chaos, Pedro II was convinced by some of his advisers not to renew the
pact with Great
Britain.
London's reaction was swift and a fleet of patrol boats was dispatched
to police the
Brazilian
coastline. Unable to defend its coastline, the Brazilian eventually bowed
to London's
demands
and in 1850 Pedro II and his government brought about a change in position.
Brazilian
efforts
to interfere with Great Britain maritime policy along the coasts of the
empire were
Abandoned.
More than a decade later Pedro II took the momentous decision to personally
strike
against
Brazilian slave owners. Another pact was signed with Great Britain whereby
"human
traffic
from Africa, Asia or any other continent remained forever forbidden." In
1871, Pedro II
sponsored
a law liberating the womb of all female slaves. This meant that every child
born from a
slave
from then on would be free from birth. A further strike against slavery
was delivered in 1885
when the
imperial government declared that all slaves over the age of 60 years were
free. Three
years
later, and acting as regent for her absent father, Princess Isabel finally
abolished slavery in
Brazil.
This act of sublime liberalism gained Isabel the title of "Redemptress,"
yet it cost the
dynasty
its imperial throne.
The Brazilian Imperial Family: Seating on the steps:
Prince Antoine. From left to right: Empress Donna Theresa;
Princess Imperial Izabel; Emperor Pedro II; Prince edro Augusto of Saxe-Coburg-Braganza;
Prince Luiz; Gaston, Count
d'Eu; Prince Pedro de Alcántara. c.1888.
By the
mid-1860's, Dom Pedro II's two surviving daughters reached marriageable
age. The crown
needed
to secure the imperial succession and suitable consorts were in great demand
for the
Brazilian
princesses. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity to ally his family
to yet another great
dynasty,
King Leopold I of Belgium played an important role in securing that two
of his nephews
would
find future, careers and happiness in Brazil. The two young princes were
also grandsons of
King Louis-Philippe
of France and his wife Marie-Amelie of Bourbon-Sicilies, an aunt of Dom
Pedro's
wife. Thus it was with great trepidation that Duke Louis-Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
and Prince
Gaston of Bourbon-Orleans arrive at the end of 1864 in Rio de Janeiro.
The royal
matchmakers
had chosen Louis-Augustus as the future husband of the Imperial Princess
Isabel,
while
Gaston would marry Princess Leopoldina. In the end no amount of intervention
from the
parents
made the two sisters change their mind, Isabel fell in love with Gaston,
while Leopoldina
happily
chose Louis-Augustus. Dom Pedro himself was rather satisfied knowing that
his two
daughters
would marry for love and not for reasons of state, which had been the case
between him
and his
wife.
The two
marriages turned out successfully, for both Isabel and Leopoldina were
very happy with
their
respective consorts. Within a year of their wedding Leopoldina and Louis-Augustus
became
the parents
of a healthy boy. And even though Leopoldina of Brazil died unexpectedly
in 1871 at
the age
of twenty-four years, she and her husband had four little sons by then.
Louis-Augustus was
devastated
by the loss of his wife, as were her grief-stricken parents, and the widower
never again
married.
Louis-Augustus eventually settled in Brazil with his dynastic children.
When the Brazilian
throne
was overthrown, Louis-Augustus and his sons returned to Europe, settling
in Austria where
their
family had large properties from their Kohary inheritance.
Imperial
Princess Isabel and Prince Gaston of Bourbon-Orleans remained childless
for the first
decade
of their marriage. Their first child, Luiza Victoria was born in 1874.
A very weak baby,
the little
princess only survived birth by a few hours. In October of 1875 Isabel
gave birth to a
healthy
boy who was baptized with the name of Pedro d'Alcantara. It was this little
prince who
guaranteed
the direct line of succession for yet another generation, for if his parents
had remained
childless
the crown would have passed to the descendants of Leopoldina. Nevertheless,
the
imperial
nursery rapidly filled with the arrival of two more healthy sons, Luis
born in 1878, and
Antoine
born in 1881. The birth of seven grandsons provided Pedro II with a large
degree of
satisfaction,
while it also served to smooth his unhappiness at being unable to father
a son.
The placid
existence of the Brazilian imperial family came to an end in the late 1880's.
Although
initially
a conservative ruler, Pedro II eventually recognized the inherent unfairness
of the slavery
system
affecting so many millions of his subjects. As mentioned before, Pedro
gradually passed
laws that
liberated his subjects. By the late 1880's it was just a matter of time
before the emperor
abolished
slavery in Brazil altogether. Unfortunately for the Crown, Brazilian landowners
and the
country's
military leadership were not keen on the liberalizing policies of Pedro
II. The abolition
of slavery
subjected landowners to higher capital investment in manpower, and since
these
conservative
groups were the mainstay of the military, the armed forces were predisposed
to side
with the
land owning classes. Dom Pedro was traveling in Europe when Princess Isabel,
acting as
regent
in her father's stead, passed a law abolishing slavery in Brazil on May
13, 1888. This law,
commonly
known as the Golden Law, not only brought international praise to the Brazilian
imperial
family, but also condemned the Crown. The landowners quickly organized
and built
opposition
to the monarchy. Revolts broke out in different regions of the country.
In many instances
these
revolts were helped by Brazil's republican neighbors, countries that had
always resisted
having
an emperor in Latin America.
Princess
Imperial Isabel's decree eventually led to the proclamation of the Brazilian
republic on
November
16, 1889. Pedro II and his family were politely exiled to Europe. The Brazilian
exiles
first
settled in Portugal, where Dom Pedro's nephew King Carlos I reigned. It
was not long after
the their
arrival in Portugal, that Pedro II and his family suffered the loss of
Empress Donna
Theresa.
The Empress was devastated by their exile from the land where she had settled
almost
half a
century before. She died unexpectedly, some have argued that she died of
grief, on
December
28, 1889. Dom Pedro II followed his wife two years later, when he died
while visiting
Paris
on December 5, 1891.
While Princess
Leopoldina's children settled in Austria, Princess Imperial Isabel and
Prince
Gaston
established themselves in France. Gaston, a grandson of King Louis-Philippe,
had
properties
in France. The Chateau d'Eu, located in Normandy, became their primary
residence.
The couple
also possessed properties in Paris, where they became leading members of
among
royalist
groups. Upon Dom Pedro II's death, Isabel became titular Empress of Brazil
and her eldest
son, Dom
Pedro d'Alcantara received the title of Prince Imperial of Brazil. In 1908,
two weeks
prior
to his wedding, Dom Pedro renounced his rights to the Brazilian crown,
as well as those of
any future
descendants. This he did in order to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky
de
Dobrzenicz,
a Czech aristocrat. The Imperial Brazilian succession was passed then to
Isabel and
Gaston's
second son, Prince Dom Luis, who in 1908 married his cousin princess Maria-Pia
of
Bourbon-Sicilies.
Dom Pedro
d'Alcantara and his wife were the parents of five children. Isabelle, their
eldest child,
married
her cousin Prince Henri of Bourbon-Orleans, Count of Paris, and present
Head of the
House
of Bourbon-Orleans. The other children are: Dom Pedro Gastao, married to
Princess
Maria-Esperanza
of Bourbon-Orleans, an aunt of King Juan Carlos I of Spain; Donna Francisca,
who married
her cousin Dom Duarte of Braganza, Duke of Braganza; Dom Joao, a businessman
in
Brazil;
and Donna Theresa who married a Portuguese commoner.
Prince
Imperial Dom Luis of Brazil and his wife were the parents of three children:
Dom
Pedro-Henrique,
who married Princess Maria of Bavaria; Dom Luis who died unmarried; and
Donna
Pia-Marie, who married Count René de Nicolaÿ. Prince Imperial
Dom Luis died in Cannes,
on March
26, 1920. His younger brother, Prince Dom Antoine, an officer in the Austrian
Imperial
Army,
had died at the end of the Great War in November of 1918. Prince Dom Antoine
died
unmarried.
The deaths
of her two youngest sons saddened the last years of Princess Isabel and
Prince Gaston.
Isabel
died in 1921 never having seen Brazil since her family were exiled three
decades earlier.
Prince
Gaston of Bourbon-Orleans survived his wife by less than a year. He died
on board a ship
destined
to Brazil in 1922. By then, the Brazilian government had abrogated to banishment
of the
Imperial
Family, and Gaston, accompanied by his only surviving son and his family,
decided to
return
to the land of his wife. Already in frail health, for by then Gaston was
in his eightieth year,
he did
not survive the journey.
The abrogation
of the law of exile not only allowed the Orleans-Braganzas to return to
Brazil, but
it also
restored ownership of many of their properties. Since then, many of the
descendants of
Isabel
and Gaston have settled in Brazil. They continue to hold leading positions
among the
country's
ruling elite, as well as deriving great respect from many of their former
subjects. In fact,
a few
years ago Brazil held a referendum to select the country's form of government.
the
restoration
of the imperial crown was one of the choices offered to the Brazilian people.
Many of
the Orleans-Braganza
actively campaigned in favor of the monarchy, which in the end received
about
20% of the popular vote. After one century of republicanism, this result
was nothing short of
impressive
for the heirs of Dom Pedro II.
Today,
the Brazilian Imperial Family remains divided in two opposing branches.
On the one side
are the
descendants of Dom Pedro d'Alcantara, particularly Dom Pedro Gastao, who
refuse to
recognize
their ancestor's renunciation of his rights in 1908. On the other side
are the
grandchildren
of Prince Imperial Dom Luis, most oh whom have retained their dynastic
rights.
Experts
in these sort of issues have argued that the document signed by Dom Pedro
d'Alcantara in
1908 was
irrevocable. Even Princess Isabel, before her death, refused to allow the
revocation of
her son's
renunciation. Thus, it seems that the descendants of Dom Luis have a solid
dynastic hold
on their
Brazilian inheritance. Yet, if Brazil were to choose a new monarchy as
a from of
government,
many feel that all descendants of Dom Pedro II have the right to present
themselves as
candidates
to the Brazilian people.
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