Teresa of the Two Sicilies

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Teresa Cristina
Empress Consort of Brazil
Empress Teresa Cristina
Reign 4 September 1842 - 15 November 1889
Full name Teresa Cristina Maria Josefa Gaspar Baltazar Melquior Januária Rosália Lúcia Francisca de Assis Isabel Francisca de Pádua Donata Bondosa André d'Avelino Rita Leodegária Gertrudes Venância Tadéia Espiridião Roca Matilda de Bourbon-Sicílias e Bragança
Titles HIM D. Teresa Cristina, Empress of Brazil
HM The Empress
HRH Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies
Dona Teresa Cristina
Born 14 March 1822
Birthplace Naples
Died 28 December 1889
Place of death Porto
Buried Imperial Mausoleum, Petrópolis[1]
Consort Pedro II
Issue Afonso de Bourbon e Bragança
Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil
Princess Leopoldina of Brazil
Pedro de Bourbon e Bragança
Royal House House of Bourbon
House of Braganza
Father Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Mother Maria Isabella of Spain

Teresa Cristina Maria of Brazil, born Teresa Cristina Maria of the Two Sicilies (Portuguese: Teresa Cristina Maria de Bourbon-Sicílias e Bragança; 14 March 1822 - 28 December 1889) was the empress consort of Pedro II of Brazil and Princess of the Two Sicilies. She was the daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Isabella of Spain.

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[edit] Early life and marriage

The drawing portrait picture of Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies.
The drawing portrait picture of Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies.

On 4 September 1842, Teresa married Pedro II of Brazil, a marriage that would last 46 years, until her death. Empress Teresa was endowed with rare cordiality and sense. Discreet and intelligent, she won her husband's favour with their common interest in culture. In the fleet to Brazil she brought artists, musicians, professors, botanists and other scholars. A good singer and amateur musician, she entertained at the palace. Moreover, she was a dedicated mother.

[edit] Exile and death

Empress Teresa suffered from a cardiac arrest a few days after the military coup of 15 November 1889. During the journey of the Imperial Family to exile, Teresa was horrified by the rude treatment of the republicans dedicated to destroying the dynasty. To the ambassador of Austria she said that, "we are treated as criminals". On landing in Portugal she left for a simple hotel, in the city of the Porto, where she became ill. A doctor was called in and said nothing could be done. She was buried in the Pantheon of São Vicente de Fora, from where her remains have been transferred to the Imperial Mausoleum of the Cathedral of Petrópolis.

"Brazil, blessed land that I will never see again."
The Empress's last words, whispered to Maria Isabel, the Baroness of Japurá.

[edit] Titles and honours

The cities of Teresina, Teresópolis, Cristina, and Santo Amaro da Imperatriz were named after her.

When donating his 48,000 volume iconographic collection to the National Library of Brazil, D. Pedro II laid down only one requirement: that the collection be named after his wife (Collection Teresa Cristina Maria). The collection was recently classified as Memory of the World by UNESCO.

[edit] Issue

Teresa Cristina was mother of Prince Alfonso (1845 - 1847), Princess Isabel (1846 - 1921), Princess Leopoldina (1847 - 1871) and Dom Pedro (1848 - 1850).

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Empress was initially buried in the Pantheon of the House of Braganza, in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, in Lisbon, Portugal. After the ban against the imperial family was lifted (1921), the remains of the Empress were transferred to the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro, where it would remain for 18 years. In 1939, President Getúlio Vargas inaugurated the Imperial Mausoleum in Petrópolis, where she now rests, along with the other members of the Imperial Family of Brazil. [1]

[edit] External links