Joseph I of Portugal

Joseph I (Portuguese: José I, Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ], 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), "the Reformer" (Portuguese: "o Reformador"), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 31 July 1750 until his death.

Early life

Dom Joseph in his youth as Prince of Brazil, by Domenico Duprà

He was the third child of King John V of Portugal and his wife Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. Joseph had an older brother, Peter (but he died at the age of two), an older sister and three younger brothers. At the death of his elder brother, Joseph became Prince of Brazil as the heir apparent of the king, and Duke of Braganza.

Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera.^[1] Indeed, he assembled one of the greatest collections of operatic scores in Europe.

Marriage

On 19 January 1729, Joseph married a Spanish Infanta, Mariana Victoria of Spain, daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese, and his elder sister Barbara of Portugal married the future Ferdinand VI of Spain. Mariana Victoria loved music and hunting,^[2] but she was also a serious woman who disliked the King's affairs and did not hesitate to expose them to acquaintances.

Reign

He succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1750, when he was 36 years old,^[3] and almost immediately placed effective power in the hands of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, better known today as the Marquess of Pombal.^[4] Indeed the history of Joseph's reign is really that of Pombal himself. King Joseph also declared his eldest daughter Maria Francisca as the official heiress of the throne, and proclaimed her Princess of Brazil. By this time, the king did not believe he would have a son.

Marquess of Pombal

The powerful Marquess sought to overhaul all aspects of economic, social and colonial policy to make Portugal a more efficient contender with the other great powers of Europe, and thus secure his own power status as a result. A conspiracy of nobles aimed at murdering King Joseph and the Marquess gave Pombal the opportunity (some say, the pretext) to get rid of the Távora family, and to expel the Jesuits in September 1759, thus gaining control of public education and a wealth of church lands and ushering Portugal, which had been a backwater dominated by the High Aristocracy and a very conservative brand of Catholicism, into the Enlightenment age.

Legacy and death

The reign of Joseph was also famous for the great Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755, in which around 100,000 people died.

The earthquake caused Joseph to develop a severe case of claustrophobia and he was never again comfortable living within a walled building. Consequently, he moved the royal court to an extensive complex of tents in the hills of Ajuda.

The capital was eventually rebuilt at great cost, and an equestrian statue of King Joseph still dominates Lisbon's main plaza.

Joseph I monument in Lisbon

With Joseph's death on 24 February 1777 the throne passed to his daughter Maria I and brother/son-in-law Peter III. Pombal's iron rule was sharply brought to an end, because she hated him very much for his arrogance and violent behaviour.

Issue

Joseph I fathered eight children by the Queen, but only four daughters survived:^[5][6]

1. Maria Francisca Isabel Rita Gertrudes Joanna (17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816), married her uncle Infante Peter of Portugal and had issue. Later Queen regnant of Portugal.
2. Maria Ana Francisca Dorotea Josefa Antonia Gertrudes Rita Joanna Efigenia (7 October 1736 – 6 May 1813), potential bride for Louis, Dauphin of France, but her mother refused to consent to the marriage, died unmarried.
3. Stillborn daughter (February 1739).
4. Maria Francisca Doroteia Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joanna Efigénia de Braganca (21 September 1739 – 14 January 1771), potential bride for Philippe Égalité but she refused to marry him, died unmarried.
5. Stillborn son (7 March 1742).
6. Stillborn son (15 October 1742).
7. Stillborn son (May 1744).
8. Maria Francisca Benedita Ana Isabel Joanna Antonia Laurencia Inacia Teresa Gertrudes Rita Rosa (25 July 1746 – 18 August 1829) married her nephew Infante Joseph, Prince of Beira, no issue.

Titles, honours, and styles

Titles and styles

• 6 June 1714 – 29 October 1714 His Royal Highness the Most Serene Infante Joseph of Portugal
• 29 October 1714 – 31 July 1750 His Royal Highness the Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza, etc...
• 31 July 1750 – 24 February 1777 His Most Faithful Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, ..

Honours

• Knight and Grandmaster of the Order of Christ
• Grandmaster of the Order of Saint James of the Sword
• Grandmaster of the Order of Aviz

Ancestors

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph I of Portugal.

Monarchs of Portugal House of Burgundy (1139–1383) Afonso I Sancho I Afonso II Sancho II Afonso III Dinis I Afonso IV Pedro I Fernando I House of Aviz (1385–1580) João I Duarte I Afonso V João II Manuel I João III Sebastião I Henrique I House of Habsburg (1581–1640) Filipe I Filipe II Filipe III House of Braganza (1640–1853) João IV Afonso VI Pedro II João V José I Maria I with Pedro III João VI Pedro IV Maria II Miguel I Maria II with Fernando II House of Braganza-Coburg (1853–1910) Pedro V Luís I Carlos I Manuel II

Dukes of Braganza Feudal Dukes Afonso Fernando I Fernando II Jaime Teodósio I João I Teodósio II João II Heir to the Throne Teodósio Afonso João José Maria José João Pedro Miguel Maria Pedro Carlos Luís Filipe Claimant to the Throne Miguel Duarte Nuno Duarte Pio

References