Maria Leopoldina of Austria
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Archduchess Maria Leopoldina Josepha Caroline of Austria (22 January 1797 – 11 December 1826), Empress consort of Pedro I of Brazil, and, for two months, simultaneously Queen consort of Pedro IV of Portugal.
She was born in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies. Among her many siblings were Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Archduchess Marie Louise, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1817 she sailed to Brazil to marry the future crown prince of Portugal, Dom Pedro of Alcantara. The Portuguese royal family had been living there in exile for ten years, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. Leopoldine was highly cultured, fluent in six languages, and very interested in the natural sciences. In the years that followed she brought several researchers and biologists to her new homeland, starting with Johann Baptist von Spix, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, and Johann Natterer, who accompanied her in 1817.
When his father, King João VI, returned to Lisbon in 1821, Dom Pedro chose to remain in Brazil with Leopoldine and their children. In 1822, Dom Pedro headed Brazil's declaration of independence from Portugal, and was crowned as the country's Emperor. Princess Leopoldina thus became Brazil's first Empress consort.
When his father died, on 10 March 1826, Pedro inherited the Portuguese throne as King Pedro IV, while remaining Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. However, only two months later he was forced to give up the Portuguese throne to his 7-year-old daughter Maria, Thus, for a couple of months, Leopoldine was both Empress consort in Brazil and Queen consort in Portugal.
Leopoldine gave Peter seven children before she died in 1826 following a a miscarriage:
- Queen Maria II da Glória of Portugal, following Pedro's devotion to Our Lady of Glória
- Michael (1820)
- John Charles (1821-1822)
- Januária (1822-1901), named after the city of Rio de Janeiro, married Prince Louis of Two Sicilies (b.1824-d.1897), son of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies.
- Paula Mariana (1823-1833)
- Frances Caroline (1824-1898) married François d'Orleans, prince of Joinville (1818–1900), son of Louis-Philippe King of the French.
- Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825-1891), married Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies (1822–1889), the youngest daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies.
The largest railway station in Rio de Janeiro is named Imperatriz Leopoldina after her.
| Preceded by Charlotte of Spain |
Queen consort of Portugal 10 March - 28 May 1826 |
Succeeded by Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais |
[edit] External links
- Article by Princess Michael of Kent about Leopoldine Retrieved 26 January 2006
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Forefathers - John VI of Portugal - Queen Carlota Joaquina First generation - Pedro I - Empress Leopoldina - Princess Amélie of Leuchtenberg Fourth generation - Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza - Princess Maria Pia Fourth generation - Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza - Countess Elisabeth Dobrzensky |
