Ferdinand II of Portugal
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Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (October 29, 1816 - December 15, 1885), named Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, was King of Portugal and co-ruler with Maria II of Portugal from their marriage in 1836 to her death in 1853. In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in 1837 was he styled Ferdinand II of Portugal. He was regent for his son Pedro V from 1853 to 1855. He was born a German prince, of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
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[edit] Early life
Ferdinand was the son of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife, Princess Maria Antonia Koháry. Prince Ferdinand grew up in several places: the family's lands in modern day Slovakia, the Austrian court, and Germany. He was a nephew of Leopold I of Belgium, and a first cousin to his children Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico, as well as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert.
[edit] King of Portugal
According to the Portuguese laws, the husband of a Queen Regnant could only be titled King after the birth of any child from that marriage (that was the reason the Queen's first husband, Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, did not have that title). After the birth of the future Peter V of Portugal, he was proclaimed Ferdinand II of Portugal.
Although it was Maria to whom the ruling power belonged, they were a good team and together resolved many problems in Maria's reign. The King had a very important part in Portuguese political history, acting frequently as regent during his wife's pregnancies.
Eventually, Maria died as a result of the birth of their eleventh child and Ferdinand had to assume regency of Portugal (1853-1855) because his son King Peter V was only 13 years old.
[edit] Later life
In 1869 he rejected an offer to the Spanish throne.
Late in his life Ferdinand married the opera singer Elisa Hensler, Countess of Edla. He was an intelligent and artistically-minded man with modern and liberal ideas. He was adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Arts, lord-protector of the university of Coimbra and Grand-Master of the Rosicrucians.
In 1838 he built near Sintra the Pena National Palace, a wild architectural fantasy in an eclectic style, full of symbolism that could be compared with the castle Neuschwanstein of king Ludwig II of Bavaria. He spent his last years in this castle with his second wife, receiving the greatest artists of his time.
[edit] Marriages and descendants
Ferdinand married Maria II, Queen-regnant of Portugal, daughter of Peter I of Brazil (IV of Portugal). Later in his life, after the death of Maria, he married Elisa Hensler.
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| By Maria II of Portugal (April 4, 1819-November 15, 1853; married on April 9, 1836) | |||
| Peter V | September 16, 1837 | November 11, 1861 | Who succeeded his mother as Peter V, the 31st (or according to some historians 32nd) King of Portugal. |
| Luís I | October 31, 1838 | October 19, 1889 | Who succeeded his brother Peter as the 32nd (or according to some historians 33rd) King of Portugal. |
| Infanta Maria | October 4, 1840 | October 4, 1840 | |
| Infante João | October 4, 1840 | December 27, 1861 | |
| Infanta Maria Ana | August 21, 1843 | February 5, 1884 | Married King George of Saxony and was mother of King Frederick August III of Saxony. |
| Infanta Antónia | February 17, 1845 | December 27, 1913 | Married Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Singmaringen and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania. |
| Infante Fernando | July 23, 1846 | November 6, 1861 | Died of cholera in 1861. |
| Infante Augusto | November 4, 1847 | September 26, 1889 | Duke of Coimbra. |
| Infante Leopoldo | May 7, 1849 | May 7, 1849 | |
| Infanta Maria da Glória | February 3, 1851 | February 3, 1851 | |
| Infante Eugénio | November 15, 1853 | November 15, 1853 | |
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael |
King of Portugal and the Algarves 1834 – 1853 Maria II |
Succeeded by Peter V |
