by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Born on May 13, 1767, at the Palace of Queluz in Queluz, Portugal, João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael was the third of the six children and the third but the only surviving son of Maria I, Queen of Portugal and her husband and paternal uncle Pedro III, King of Portugal. Because Maria I’s father José I, King of Portugal had no sons, it was inevitable that Maria would become the reigning Queen of Portugal. However, since female succession to the throne of Portugal had never happened before, her father decided that Maria would marry his younger brother Infante Pedro of Portugal, then the first male in the line of succession. Pedro was Maria I’s co-ruler, as Pedro III, King of Portugal, but he was only a nominal king because the actual regal authority was vested solely in Maria I. Pedro III never participated in politics and always left government affairs to his wife. João VI’s paternal grandparents were João V, King of Portugal and Maria Anna of Austria. His maternal grandparents were José I, King of Portugal and Mariana Victoria of Spain.

João VI had five siblings:

• José, Prince of Brazil (1761 – 1788), married his maternal aunt Infanta Benedita of Portugal, no children, José died from smallpox
• João Francisco of Braganza, Infante of Portugal (born and died 1763), died in infancy
• Mariana Victoria of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1768 – 1788), married Infante Gabriel of Spain, had three children, Mariana Victoria died from childbirth complications along with her last child
• Maria Clementina of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1774 – 1776), died in childhood
• Maria Isabella of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1776 – 1777), died in infancy

João’s elder brother José was expected to become King of Portugal and João spent his childhood in his elder brother’s shadow. There is little information about João’s education. In 1788, João’s elder brother José died from smallpox at the age of twenty-seven. As José’s marriage had produced no children, 21-year-old João became the heir to the throne of Portugal and received the titles Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza. There is some indication that João was considered ill-prepared for his future role. However, the mental instability of his mother Maria I would make João’s role even more important.

Maria I, Queen of Portugal is considered to have been a good ruler in the period before her mental instability, which was first noticed in 1786 when she had to be carried back to her apartments in a state of delirium. Her mental instability continued to worsen. The deaths of her husband Pedro III in 1786, her eldest son and heir José in 1788, and her confessor Inácio de São Caetano, Archbishop of Salonica in 1788 may have caused major depressive disorder. Another potential causal factor of her mental instability may have been inbreeding, as Maria I’s two unmarried sisters Maria Ana Francisca and Maria Doroteia had similar conditions. In 1792, João took over the government on his mother’s behalf but he did not assume the title of Prince Regent until 1799.

In 1785, a marriage was arranged between 18-year-old João and 10-year-old Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain, daughter of the future Carlos IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. João’s maternal grandmother Mariana Victoria of Spain was the sister of Carlota Joaquina’s paternal grandfather Carlos III, the King of Spain at the time. Because João and Carlota Joaquina were related and because the bride was only ten years old, the marriage required a papal dispensation. A proxy marriage was held in Spain on May 8, 1785, and three days later, Carlota Joaquina left for Lisbon, Portugal. The in-person wedding took place in the chapel of the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa on June 9, 1785. Due to the bride’s young age, the consummation of the marriage was delayed for five years.

João and Carlota Joaquina had nine children:

• Maria Teresa of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1793 – 1874), married (1) her first cousin Infante Pedro Carlos of Spain and Portugal, had one son (2) her maternal uncle Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, widower of her sister Maria Francisca, no children
• Francisco António of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal, Prince of Beira (1795 – 1801), died in childhood
• Maria Isabel of Braganza, Infante of Portugal (1797 – 1818), married (2nd wife) Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, had one daughter who died in infancy and one stillborn daughter, Maria Isabel died due to childbirth complications
• Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal (1798 – 1834), married (1) Maria Leopoldina of Austria, had seven children, Maria Leopoldina died due to complications of a miscarriage (2) Amélie of Leuchtenberg, had one daughter
• Maria Francisca of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1800 – 1834), her maternal uncle Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, had three children
• Isabel Maria of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1801 – 1876), unmarried, Regent of Portugal (1826 to 1828)
• Miguel I, King of Portugal (1802 – 1866), King of Portugal (1828 – 1834), forced to abdicate, married Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, had seven children
• Maria da Assunção of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1805 – 1834), died unmarried
• Ana de Jesus Maria of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1806 – 1857), married Nuno José Severo de Mendonça Rolim de Moura Barreto, Marquis of Loulé and Count of Vale de Reis, had five children

When João became Prince Regent, his wife Carlota Joaquina would often interfere in matters of state, trying to influence her husband’s decisions. Her attempts at meddling in politics displeased the Portuguese nobility and the Portuguese people. Because she was excluded from government decisions, Carlota Joaquina plotted to remove João from his position as Prince Regent by arresting him and declaring that like his mother, he was incapable of ruling. The plot was discovered in 1805 and an investigation and the arrest of those involved were proposed. João wanted to avoid a public scandal and instead of an investigation and arrests, he confined Carlota Joaquina to the Palace of Queluz and Ramalhão Palace, and he moved to the Palace of Mafra, effectively causing a marital separation.

In late 1807, Spanish and Napoleonic forces threatened Portugal, causing Prince Regent João, in the name of his mother Queen Maria I, to move the royal court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. In 1815, Prince Regent João’s government elevated Brazil to the status of a kingdom, and his mother Maria was proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. On March 20, 1816, Maria I, Queen of Portugal died, aged 81, at the Carmo Convent in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and her son succeeded her as João VI, King of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. Despite her mental instability, in Brazil, Maria is admired as an important figure in the eventual independence of Brazil. It was during her reign, although through the government of João’s regency, that many of the national institutions and organizations in Brazil were created.

In 1821, after a series of revolutions and army mutinies in Portugal, João VI, under pressure from the Portuguese parliament, departed Brazil for Portugal, leaving behind his eldest son Pedro as Regent of Brazil. In 1807, when the Portuguese royal family left Portugal for Brazil, Portugal was an absolute monarchy. However, Napoleonic troops and political attitudes fostered by Spain’s Cortes of Cádiz had brought revolutionary ideas to Portugal. In 1821, João VI, under pressure, called a constitutional Cortes Gerais, consisting of all three estates – the nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie – to draft a constitution that made Portugal a constitutional monarchy. João VI made vows to uphold the new constitution.

However, João’s wife Carlota Joaquina had other ideas. She allied with her youngest son Miguel, who shared his mother’s conservative views. In 1824, using Miguel’s position as army commander, they took power and held João VI as a virtual prisoner in the palace. Carlota Joaquina tried to make João VI abdicate in favor of his son Miguel. João VI received help from a British naval fleet in the port. From aboard a Royal Navy warship, João VI reprimanded his son Miguel, deposed him from command of the army, and exiled him. João VI then returned to Bemposta Palace, reorganized the council of ministers, and showed generosity to the others who had rebelled. Later in the year, another rebellion organized by João VI’s wife Carlota Joaquina was discovered and she was placed under house arrest in the Palace of Queluz.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, João VI’s son Pedro initiated an autonomous government for Brazil In January 1822, a decisive step in the history of Brazil, which was definitely due to the influence of Pedro’s wife, born Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria. Known as Leopoldina, she was the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. The step of giving Brazil an autonomous government was done because it was known that Portugal intended to recall Pedro and relegate Brazil to the status of a colony. In August 1822, Pedro appointed Leopoldina Regent while he went on a political trip to the Province of São Paulo. While Pedro was away, Leopoldina received news that Portugal was about to take action, and without waiting for Pedro’s return, she met with the Council of State on September 2, 1822, and signed the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil independent from Portugal. Pedro was declared Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil on October 12, 1822, his 24th birthday, and Leopoldina became Empress of Brazil.

João VI spent the last years of his life living at Bemposta Palace. On March 4, 1826, after returning from a visit to the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, João suddenly fell ill with symptoms that included vomiting and convulsions. Although he appeared to be getting better, he designated his daughter Infanta Isabel Maria to act as Regent of Portugal. João VI took a turn for the worse and died on March 10, 1826, aged 58, at Bemposta Palace in Lisbon, Portugal. Infanta Isabel Maria immediately assumed power and Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil was recognized as his father’s heir. João VI, King of Portugal was interred in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal. Doctors could not definitively determine a cause of death but it was suspected that João VI had been poisoned. In 2000, a team of researchers exhumed the Chinese ceramic pot that contained João VI’s heart. An analysis of his heart detected enough arsenic to kill two people, confirming suspicions that João VI had been murdered.

João VI’s death caused a succession crisis. His elder son Pedro was ruling as Emperor of Brazil, and his younger son Miguel (the future King Miguel I of Portugal) had been exiled to Austria after leading several revolutions against his father. While Pedro was the legitimate heir to the Portuguese throne, the Brazilian people did not want the two thrones to be reunited. Pedro reigned as King Pedro IV of Portugal for only two months and then abdicated the Portuguese throne on May 2, 1826, in favor of his seven-year-old daughter Queen Maria II. João VI’s wife Carlota Joaquina remained confined in the Palace of Queluz, where she died alone and abandoned by her children on January 7, 1830, at the age of 56.

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Works Cited

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