| Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Miguel of Portugal |
| Issue | |
| Maria das Neves, Duchess of San Jaime Miguel, Duke of Braganza Infanta Maria Theresa Infanta Maria Josepha Adelgundes, Duchess of Guimarães Maria Anne, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Maria Antonia, Duchess of Parma |
|
| Full name | |
| German: Sophie Amelie Adelheid Louise Johanne Leopoldine | |
| House | House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg House of Braganza |
| Father | Constantine, Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg |
| Mother | Princess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg |
| Born | 3 April 1831 Kleinheubach |
| Died | 16 December 1909 (aged 78) Ryde, Isle of Wight |
Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (3 April 1831 – 16 December 1909) was the wife of King Miguel of Portugal but only following his deposition. As a widow, she secured advantageous marriages for their six daughters.
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Adelaide was born in Kleinheubach, near Miltenberg, Bavaria. She was a daughter of Constantine, Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1802–1838), who died about seven years after her birth, and Princess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
Her paternal grandparents were Karl Thomas, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1783–1849) and his wife Sophie of Windisch-Graetz. Her maternal grandparents were Charles Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Amalia, Countess of Solms-Baruth.
On 24 September 1851, Adelaide married Miguel of Portugal. The bride was 20 years old while the groom was almost 49.
Miguel had at first served as Regent in Portugal for his niece and betrothed Mary II of Portugal but had seized the throne for himself on 23 June 1828. He was an avid conservative and admirer of Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. He had invalidated the Constitutional Charter written by his brother, Pedro I of Brazil, and tried to rule according to the concept of absolute monarchy. This resulted in the so-called Liberal Wars (1828–1834), actually a prolonged civil war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists.
The war had ended in 1834 with the deposition of Miguel who renounced all claims to the throne of Portugal in exchange for an annual pension. (Since he renegued on the terms of his deposition, he never collected the pension.) He was forced into a lifelong exile. While he remained the senior male member of the Portuguese line of the House of Braganza, his rights of succession were never restored. On 15 January 1837, his support of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, the first Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne, resulted in the removal of his own rights to said throne.
While Adelaide married into royalty, the fact that her husband was a controversial figure for the entire Iberian Peninsula, as well as a symbol of absolute monarchy and conservatism seemingly left little prospects for any of his descendants.
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maria das Neves | 5 August 1852 | 15 February 1941 | Married Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime, Infante of Spain. Pretender to the Spanish Throne (See: Carlism) |
| Miguel | 19 September 1853 | 11 October 1927 | Duke of Braganza. Grandfather of the present day throne claimant Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza. |
| Maria Teresa | 24 August 1855 | 12 February 1944 | Married Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria as his third wife. |
| Maria José | 19 March 1857 | 11 March 1943 | Married Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria (brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria) as his second wife. |
| Adelgundes, Duchess of Guimarães | 10 November 1858 | 15 April 1946 | Married Prince Henry of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, son of Charles III of Parma. |
| Maria Ana | 13 July 1861 | 31 July 1942 | Married Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. |
| Maria Antónia | 28 November 1862 | 14 May 1959 | Married Robert I, Duke of Parma as his second wife. |
Her husband, Miguel, died on 14 November 1866 before any of their children had reached adulthood. Adelaide would spend the next several decades attempting to secure prominent marriages for her children.
As a result of her largely successful attempts, her grandchildren would include (among others) Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, Elisabeth Amalia, Princess of Liechtenstein, Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians, Marie Gabrielle, Crown Princess of Bavaria, Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Antoinette, Crown Princess of Bavaria, Xavier, Duke of Parma, Zita, Empress of Austria, Felix of Bourbon-Parma and Infanta Maria Adelaide of Portugal. Many of her descendants have inherited her longevity.
In 1895, two years after the marriage of her last daughter, Adelhaid, a devout Catholic, retired to the abbey of Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes in north-western France. The community later moved to Cowes and then to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, where Adelhaid died on 16 December 1909 at the age of 76. In 1967 both her body and that of her husband were moved to the Braganza mausoleum in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon.
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