Maria II of Portugal

Maria II
Maria in 1849
Queen of Portugal
1st reign2 May 1826 – 11 July 1828
PredecessorPedro IV
SuccessorMiguel I
RegentsInfanta Isabel Maria (1826–1828)
Infante Miguel, Duke of Beja (Feb–Jul 1828)
2nd reign26 May 1834 – 15 November 1853
Acclamation20 September 1834
PredecessorMiguel I
SuccessorPedro V
Co-monarchFernando II (1837–1853)
RegentPedro IV (May–Sep 1834)
Born(1819-04-04)4 April 1819
Palace of São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died15 November 1853(1853-11-15) (aged 34)
Necessidades Palace, Lisbon, Portugal
Burial19 November 1853
Spouses
(m. 1835; died 1835)
Issue
Detail
Names
Portuguese: Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga de Habsburgo-Lorena e Bragança
HouseBraganza
FatherPedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal
MotherArchduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria
ReligionCatholicism
SignatureMaria II's signature

Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853) "the Educator" (Portuguese: "a Educadora") or "the Good Mother" (Portuguese: "a Boa Mãe"), was Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 1853. Her supporters considered her to be the rightful queen also during the period between her two reigns.

Maria was born in Rio de Janeiro during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Dom João VI. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Braganza, who later became Emperor Dom Pedro I and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. In 1826, her father became king of Portugal but quickly abdicated in favour of the seven-year-old Maria. Both Pedro and Maria remained in Brazil, and her aunt Dona Isabel Maria initially served as regent for them in Portugal. Later Emperor Pedro's brother Miguel replaced Isabel Maria as regent and was to marry Maria when she came of age. However, a few months after Miguel's arrival in Portugal in early 1828 he deposed the absent Maria and declared himself king, thus beginning the Liberal Wars over royal succession. Maria remained outside Portugal throughout her first reign, finally arriving in Gibraltar just in time to learn of her deposition. She proceeded to England and then returned to Brazil. In 1831 her father (having abdicated the Brazilian throne) returned to Europe with his daughter and led a military expedition in support of Maria's claim while she pursued her education in France. She finally set foot in Portugal for the first time in 1833 after Lisbon was occupied by forces supporting her. In 1834, Miguel was forced to abdicate and Maria was restored as undisputed queen. She remained a member of the Brazilian imperial family until 1835 when she was excluded from the Brazilian line of succession by law.

Maria's second reign was marked by continued political turmoil. In January 1835, she married Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, who died two months after their marriage. In April 1836, Maria remarried to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohary. Maria's second husband was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II a year later in accordance with Portuguese law following the birth of their first child, Pedro. Maria faced a series of difficult pregnancies and ultimately died in childbirth in 1853, at the age of 34. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Dom Pedro V.