Carlota Joaquina of Spain

Doña Carlota Joaquina of Spain (Carlota Joaquina Teresa Caetana; 25 April 1775 – 7 January 1830) was a Queen consort of Portugal as wife of John VI. She was the eldest daughter of King Charles IV of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma.

Early life

She was born in Aranjuez during the reign of her paternal grandfather, Charles III of Spain, the eldest surviving child born to her parents. Her father was the second son of Charles III and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony; her mother, Maria Luisa of Parma was a granddaughter of Louis XV of France through her mother Princess Louise Élisabeth of France. Louise Élisabeth's husband Philip, Duke of Parma, was a younger brother of Charles III. Carlota Joaquina's future husband was a grandson of Mariana Victoria of Spain, sister of Charles III and the Duke of Parma.

The subject of Carlota Joaquina's marriage was arranged by Mariana Victoria and Charles III in the late 1770s when Mariana went to Spain to encourage diplomatic relations between the estranged countries. Carlota Joaquina was to marry the future John VI of Portugal (at that time only an Infante of Portugal), and Carlota Joaquina's uncle Infante Gabriel was to marry the Infanta Mariana Vitória of Portugal, another grandchild of Mariana Victoria of Spain.

Marriage

On 8 May 1785 Carlota Joaquina was officially married to the future John VI, King of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, the second son of Queen Maria I of Portugal and the late King Peter III of Portugal. The marriage was not consummated until 9 January 1790.

In 1788, when his eldest brother Joseph, Prince of Brazil, died, John became the first in line to his mother's throne. Soon he received the titles Prince of Brazil and 15th Duke of Braganza. Between 1788 and 1816, Carlota Joaquina was known as Princess of Brazil. John, her husband, was good-natured, indolent, corpulent and almost as ugly as she was. His religious observances bored her, and they were quite incompatible. Nevertheless they produced nine children and, because they were all handsome, it was rumoured that especially the younger ones had a different father. After the birth of the ninth child they began to live separate lives, he at Mafra and she at Queluz. Here it was rumoured that she had bought a retreat where she indulged in sexual orgies.

In 1807, the Portuguese royal family left Portugal for Brazil because of the Napoleonic invasion.

In Brazil

While in Brazil, Carlota Joaquina made attempts to obtain the administration of the Spanish dominions in Latin America, a project known as Carlotism. Spain itself was controlled by Napoleon and its kings, her father and brother Ferdinand, were held by Napoleon in France. Carlota Joaquina regarded herself as the heiress of her captured family. Allegedly among her plans was to send armies to occupy Buenos Aires and northern Argentina to style herself "Queen of La Plata". The Portuguese-Brazilian forces, however, only managed to annex the eastern banks of the Rio de la Plata as Cisplatina, which were kept in the Empire of Brazil after 1822 and seceded in 1828 as the Republic of Uruguay.

Queen

When the Portuguese royal family returned to Portugal in 1821 after an absence of 14 years, Carlota Joaquina met a country that had changed much since their departure. In 1807, Portugal had lived stably under absolutism. Napoleonic troops and political attitudes fostered by the Cádiz Cortes in Spain had brought revolutionary ideas to Portugal. In 1820, a liberal revolution commenced in Oporto. A constitutional Cortes Gerais had been promulgated, and in 1821 it gave Portugal its first constitution. The queen had arch-conservative positions and wanted a reactionary response in Portugal. Her husband, however, did not want to renege on his vows to uphold the constitution. Carlota Joaquina made an alliance with her youngest son Miguel, who shared his mother's conservative views. In 1824, using Miguel's position as army commander, they took power and held the king a virtual prisoner in the palace, where the queen tried to make him abdicate in favor of Miguel. The king received British help against his wife and son and regained power, finally compelling his son to leave the country. The queen had also to go briefly into exile.

King John VI lived in Bemposta Palace and Queen Carlota Joaquina in Queluz. Though she lived there quietly, she became decidedly eccentric in dress and behaviour. However, their eldest son Pedro, left behind as regent in Brazil, was proclaimed and crowned on 1 December 1822 as its independent Emperor. John VI refused to accept this until he was persuaded by the British to do so in August 1825. He died in March 1826. Claiming ill-health, Carlota Joaquina refused to visit his deathbed and started the rumour that her husband had been poisoned by the Freemasons.

Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, now became King of Portugal as well, but knowing that carrying out the duties of both positions would be impossible, Pedro abdicated in Portugal and made his eldest daughter Maria the Queen of Portugal as well as betrothing her to Miguel, his younger brother. In the meantime, Carlota Joaquina's daughter, the Infanta Isabel Maria was to be Regent in Portugal instead of Carlota Joaquina, who ordinarily would have held such a post as Queen Dowager. About two years later the little queen set out for Portugal, only to find upon arrival at Gibraltar that her uncle and fiancé had not only removed the regent, but declared himself King of Portugal.

Queen Carlota Joaquina died or killed herself at Queluz.

Issue

• Maria Teresa Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga of Portugal (1793–1874), m. Pedro Carlos of Spain and Portugal (they had one child, Sebastian of Spain). m2. Infante Carlos of Spain, pretender of Spain, widower of her younger sister
• António (Francisco António) (1795–1801), 4th prince of Beira
• Maria Isabel Francisca of Portugal (1797–1818), m. Ferdinand VII of Spain, her uncle
• Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim of Portugal (1798–1834), prince of Beira, then Duke of Braganza and Prince of Brazil himself, later Emperor of Brazil
• Maria Francisca de Assis da Maternidade Xavier de Paula de Alcântara Antónia Joaquina Gonzaga Carlota Mónica Senhorinha Soter e Caia of Portugal (1800–1834), m. Infante Carlos of Spain, future pretender to the Spanish throne, her uncle
• Isabel Maria da Conceição Joana Gualberta Ana Francisca de Assis de Paula de Alcântara Antónia Rafaela Micaela Gabriela Joaquina Gonzaga of Portugal (1801–1876), Regent of Portugal in 1826
• Miguel Maria do Patrocínio João Carlos Francisco de Assis Xavier de Paula Pedro de Alcântara António Rafael Gabriel Joaquim José Gonzaga Evaristo of Portugal (1802–1866) later King of Portugal
• Maria da Asuncao Ana Joana Josefa Luiza Gonzaga Francisca de Assis Xavier de Paula Joaquina Antonia de Santiago of Portugal (1805–1834)
• Ana de Jesus Maria Luís Gonzaga Joaquina Micaela Rafaela Francisca Xavier de Paula of Portugal (1806–1857), m. 1827 Nuno José Severo de Mendoça Rolim de Moura Barreto, 1st Duke of Loulé

Carlota in film and television

• Carlota Joaquina - Princesa do Brazil (1994) – Directed by Carla Camurati. Cast: Marco Nanini, Marieta Severo, Vera Holtz, Ney Latorraca and Marcos Palmeira. Tells a summarized tale, mixing history with legend, of the Princess's life, from her childhood until her (mythical) suicide.
• O Quinto dos Infernos (2003) – Directed by Wolf Maya. Cast: André Mattos, Betty Lago, Eva Wilma, Marcos Pasquim and Humberto Martins. A television miniseries produced by Rede Globo which tells the tale of the Portuguese Royal Family during their stay in Brazil.

Ancestors

Further reading

• Azevedo, Francisca Nogueira de. Carlota Joaquina na Corte do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2003.
• Azevedo, Francisca Nogueira de. Carlota Joaquina: cartas inéditas. Rio de Janeiro, Casa da Palavra, 2007.
• Cassotti, Marsilio. Carlota Joaquina - o Pecado Espanhol. Lisboa, A Esfera dos Livros, 2009.
• Cheke, Marcus. Carlota Joaquina: Queen of Portugal. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1947
  • (Portuguese) Carlota Joaquina, a Rainha Intrigante; tradução de Gulnara Lobato de Morais Pereira. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1949.
• Lima, Oliveira. D. João VI no Brasil. Topbooks.
• Pereira, Sara Marques (1999), D. Carlota Joaquina e os Espelhos de Clio: Actuação Política e Figurações Historiográficas, Livros Horizonte, Lisboa, 1999.
• Pereira, Sara Marques (2008), D. Carlota Joaquina Rainha de Portugal, Livros Horizonte, Lisboa, 2008.