Pedro II of Brazil

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Pedro II of Brazil
Emperor of Brazil
Reign	7 April 1831 - 15 November 1889
Coronation	18 July 1841
Born	December 2, 1825(1825-12-02)
Birthplace	Palácio Imperial, Rio de Janeiro
Died	December 5, 1891 (aged 66)
Place of death	Paris, France
Predecessor	Pedro I of Brazil
Successor	Isabel of Brazil
Consort	Teresa of the Two Sicilies
Issue	Afonso de Bourbon e Bragança Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil Princess Leopoldina of Brazil Pedro de Bourbon e Bragança
Royal House	House of Braganza
Royal anthem	Independence Hymn
Father	Pedro I of Brazil
Mother	Maria Leopoldina of Austria

Pedro II, KG (pronounced [ˈpedɾu seˈgũdu]; December 2, 1825 – December 5, 1891) was the second and last Emperor of Brazil. His name in full was Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Bragança e Habsburgo, By the Grace of God and Unanimous Acclamation of the People, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil.

When anglicised, his name would be Peter II of Brazil, full name Peter of Alcantara John Charles Leopold Salvador Bibiano Francis Xavier of Paula Leocadio Michael Raphael Gonzaga of Braganza and Habsburg.

He was born on December 2, 1825 in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh son of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria.

[edit] The Regency

Pedro II at age 12

When he was a boy of five, Pedro became the Emperor of Brazil. His father Pedro I abdicated the Throne on April 7, 1831, after violent protests in Brazil against his careless handling of internal affairs, to fight a civil war in Portugal. The aim of the war in Portugal was to restore the throne of Portugal to Maria II, elder sister of Pedro II.

As a result of caring for his children's interests, in 1834, his father, Pedro I of Brazil (and Pedro IV of Portugal), had a daughter (who was only 15 years old) on the throne of Portugal and a son, Pedro II, who was Emperor of Brazil, at age 9.

During the Emperor's childhood, a series of regents administered the government, in accordance with the Constitution. In 1840, the Brazilian Imperial Parliament, or General Assembly, abolished the regency and declared Pedro to be of age to govern. Though only 14, Pedro already had a reputation as a judicious ruler, and the Imperial Parliament hoped that his popularity would quell the regional revolts that had rocked Brazil in the 1830s. Emperor Pedro II was consecrated and crowned on July 18, 1841.

[edit] Family life

Dom Pedro II was married on September 17, 1842 to Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies (1822–1889), the youngest daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (1777–1830) and Maria Isabella of Spain. (Pedro I had been married to Leopoldina of Austria when he was Crown Prince of Portugal). Pedro II and Teresa Cristina had four children:

• Afonso Pedro de Bragança e Bourbon (1845–1847), Prince of Grão Pará and Prince Imperial of Brazil.
• Isabel de Bourbon e Bragança (1846–1921), who married Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston, comte d'Eu, son of Louis of Orleans, Duke of Nemours.
• Leopoldina de Bourbon e Bragança (1847–1871), who married Prince Ludwig August of Kohary of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
• Pedro de Bourbon e Bragança (1848–1850), Prince of Grão Pará and Prince Imperial of Brazil.

[edit] Emperor of Brazil

Emperor Pedro II in regalia, in the opening of the annual session of the Brazilian Imperial Parliament (General Assembly), 1873.

Pedro II reigned as Emperor of Brazil for 49 years. The period saw the beginnings of industrialization, the first paved roads, the first steam-engine railway, a submarine telegraphy cable, and the introduction of the telephone. He traveled to the United States and attended the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, where Alexander Graham Bell showed him his new telephone. Pedro II probably was the first Brazilian to use the invention. He recited Shakespeare's classic line from Hamlet, "To be or not to be" into it, and exclaimed, "This thing speaks!".

Liberal in outlook, Pedro II took steps to end slavery; the final abolition edict, the Golden Law, was signed in his absence by his daughter Princess Isabel, on May 13, 1888. Pedro II also took pains to learn Guarani, the most widely spoken indigenous language in nineteenth-century Brazil. He was widely respected by Brazilians of all social levels as an enlightened monarch who ruled in a principled, rational, moderate fashion. Historian Thomas Skidmore has compared Pedro II to Queen Victoria, another nineteenth-century monarch who was popular for similar reasons.

Though an enlightened monarch, Pedro II nonetheless retained extensive power over the Brazilian government. Under the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, the Emperor possessed Poder Moderador (Moderating Power), i.e. the power to temper the will of Brazil's representative government. In practice, this meant that Pedro II had the right to veto legislation, dissolve the lower house of the legislature (the only one that was elected), and call new elections at his pleasure. Pedro II generally respected the wishes of the electorate, but his favoritism towards the Conservative party in 1868 marred his reputation for evenhandedness. The unexpectedly long and costly Paraguayan War of 1865-1870 also diminished his popularity.

Photograph of Emperor Pedro II in 1876.

In the wake of the Paraguayan War, a war not started by Brazil, the monarchy was seen by some to be an obstacle to modernization and economic growth. Liberals called both for greater regional autonomy. The abolition of slavery in Brazil, the last place where it still existed in the Americas, irritated the wealthy elite. A military coup d'etat on November 15, 1889 overthrew the monarchy. The Emperor and his family went into exile in Portugal, and Brazil created a new federalist, republican government under the Brazilian Constitution of 1891.

Pedro II died on December 5, 1891 in Paris, France. The government of France gave a state funeral to the old emperor. At the same time, the Brazilian Republic censored the details of Pedro's death and funeral.

His and his wife's remains were taken from Portugal to Brazil in 1922, and were reburied in Petrópolis, their former summer residence, in 1939.

The Imperial Mausoleum at Petrópolis Cathedral.

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] Books

• Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891. 1999.
• Brown, Rose. American Emperor: Dom Pedro II of Brazil. 1945.
• da Costa, Emilia Viotti. The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. 2000; 1985.
• Harding, Bertita. Amazon Throne. London: Harrap, 1942.
• Schwarcz, Lilia Moritz. The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and His Tropical Monarchy in Brazil. Trans. John Gledson. 2003.
• Skidmore, Thomas. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

[edit] See also

• Empire of Brazil
• History of Brazil

[edit] External links

• Pedro II and America
• Historical Text Archive
• Brazilian Senate webpage (in Portuguese)
• Museu Imperial - Brasil

Pretenders to the Brazilian throne since 1889
Empire of Brazil
Emperor Pedro II (1889-1891) Princess Imperial Isabel (1891-1921) Vassouras Prince Pedro Henrique (1921-1981) Prince Luís (1981-) Petrópolis Prince Pedro Gastão (1940-2007) Prince Pedro Carlos (2007-)
See also Brazilian Imperial House

v • d • e The Brazilian Imperial Family Main Line Forefathers - John VI of Portugal  · Queen Charlotte (née Infanta of Spain) First generation - Emperor Pedro I  · Empress Leopoldina (née Archduchess of Austria)  · Empress Amélie (née Princess of Leuchtenberg) Second Generation - Emperor Pedro II  · Empress Teresa Cristina (née Princess of the Two Sicilies)  · Maria II of Portugal  · Januária, Princess Imperial of Brazil  · Princess Francisca of Brazil, Princess of Joinville Third generation - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil  · Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu  · Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, Princess of Koháry Fourth generation - Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Elisabeth of Orléans-Braganza (née Countess Dobrzensky)  · Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria Pia of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of the Two Sicilies)  · Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza The Vassouras Branch Fifth generation - Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria Elisabeth of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Bavaria) Sixth generation - Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Christine of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Ligne) Seventh generation - Prince Pedro Luís of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Amélia of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria Gabriela Fernanda of Orléans-Braganza The Petrópolis Branch Fifth generation - Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Isabel of Orléans-Braganza, Countess of Paris  · Princess Francisca of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince João of Orléans-Braganza Sixth generation - Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Cristina of Orléans-Braganza Seventh generation - Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Filipe of Orléans-Braganza