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| Luís I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait,c. 1861–1889 | |||||
| King of Portugal | |||||
| Reign | 11 November 1861 – 19 October 1889 | ||||
| Acclamation | 22 December 1861 | ||||
| Predecessor | Pedro V | ||||
| Successor | Carlos I | ||||
| Prime Ministers | |||||
| Born | (1838-10-31)31 October 1838 Necessidades Palace,Lisbon,Portugal | ||||
| Died | 19 October 1889(1889-10-19) (aged 50) Citadel Palace,Cascais,Portugal | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
| |||||
| House | Braganza[a] | ||||
| Father | Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
| Mother | Maria II of Portugal | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
DomLuís I[1] (Luís Filipe Maria Fernando Pedro de Alcântara António Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis João Augusto Júlio Valfando; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as "the Popular" (Portuguese:o Popular) wasKing of Portugal from 1861 to 1889.
Luís was a member of the rulingHouse of Braganza.[a] The second son ofQueen Maria II and her consort,King Ferdinand II, and born as theDuke of Porto, he acceded to the throne upon the death of his elder brotherKing Pedro V.
Prince Luís was born on 31 October 1838, at 11.30pm. Although his status as second son did not suggest that Luís would ascend to the Portuguese throne, his education was meticulous and largely shared with his older brother, the Royal Prince Pedro: he was tutored by the counsellor Carl Andreas Dietz, who had been his father Fernando's preceptor until April 1847, when Dietz was forced to leave Portugal on charges of meddling in national politics associated with hisProtestant religious affiliation, and was replaced by the Viscount of Carreira, assisted by Manuel Moreira Coelho.[2]
Pedro and Luís divided their time between the palaces ofMafra,Sintra andVila Viçosa, as well as sporadic stays at thePalace of Belém.[2]
As the second-born son of the royal couple, Luís embarked on a naval career, having been appointed private in the Company of the Marine Guards and recognized in a ceremony at the Navy Arsenal on October 28, 1846, when he was only 8 years old. He would be promoted successively to second lieutenant (1851), lieutenant captain (1854), frigate captain (1858) and sea captain (1859). He had his first naval command in September 1857, on the brig Pedro Nunes, in which he made a cruise off the coast of Portugal and a trip toGibraltar. He was appointed, by his brother King Pedro V, commander of the corvetteBartolomeu Dias, on June 21, 1858. Commanding theBartolomeu Dias, he completed nine service missions between 1858 and 1860: he led the expedition to the archipelagos ofMadeira and theAzores; he was responsible for transporting PrinceGeorge of Saxony to Lisbon, where he marriedInfanta Maria Ana, his sister; took the couple toEngland; traveled toTangier; and, in 1860,Angola; he went to Madeira again on the orders of EmpressElisabeth of Austria; and brought PrinceLeopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen fromSouthampton, for his wedding with InfantaAntonia, then took the bride and groom toAnvers.[2]
D. Luís inherited the crown in November 1861, succeeding his brother Pedro V as he left no descendants, and was acclaimed king on 22 December of the same year. On 27 September of the following year, he marriedMaria Pia of Savoy, daughter of KingVictor Emanuel II of Italy, by proxy.
After theGlorious Revolution deposedIsabel II of Spain in September 1868, the newCortes began the task of searching for a suitable liberal-leaning candidate from a new dynasty to replace her.[3]
In 1869, Luís I made it public that he did not want to bemonarch of Spain and made a point of making that clear both to the Council of Ministers, chaired by theDuke of Loulé, and to the Portuguese people. Two days after his patriotic letter appeared in the Government's gazette, it was published in the Diário de Notícias, thus serving the Royal House to deny the rumour that there would be an abdication: "I was born Portuguese, Portuguese I want to die," proclaimed Luís on the front page of the newspaper on 28 September 1869. If Luís accepted the Spanish crown, he would have to abdicate in Portugal toCarlos, his son of only 6 years, withFerdinand II as regent, opening up the possibility of anIberian Union in the medium term. After Luís refused, the Spanish throne was handed over to his brother-in-law,Amadeu of Savoy.[3][4]
During his reign, and as a result of the creation of the general consumption tax, which was poorly received by public opinion, a riot calledJaneirinha broke out (at the end of 1867). There was also a military revolt on 19 May 1870, promoted by MarshalDuke of Saldanha, who wanted the government to resign. The monarch responded to the 19 May revolt on 29 August by dismissing Saldanha's ministry and callingSá da Bandeira to power.[5]
In September 1871,Fontes Pereira de Melo came to power and organised a regenerative cabinet, which remained in power until 1877. This was followed by theDuke of Ávila, who couldn't hold on for long because he lacked a majority. Thus, after the parliamentary conflict that broke out in 1878, Fontes was called back to form a cabinet. As a result, the progressives accused the king of scandalously patronising the regenerators. This episode encouraged the development of republicanism. In 1879, King Luís called on the progressives to form a government.[5]
These series of transitional governments was calledRotativism. The governments at various times were composed by the Progressistas (Liberals) and the Regeneradores (Conservatives), the party generally favoured by King Luís, who secured their long term in office after 1881.
It was during the reign of King Luís I that some of Portugal's political parties were founded: the Reformist Party (1865), which came to power in 1868, the Portuguese Socialist Party (1875), under the name of the Socialist Workers' Party, and the Progressive Party (1876), which came to power in 1879. In 1883, the Congress of the Organising Committee of the Portuguese Republican Party was held. By the end of his reign, the Republican Party was already a perfectly structured political force.
During his time, the Coimbrã Question (1865–1866) arose and the Casino Conferences (1871) took place, to which the names ofAntero de Quental andEça de Queiroz were linked, the exponents of a generation that became notable in Portuguese intellectual life. At the time these young intellectuals reacted against romantic degeneracy and the country's cultural, educational, technological and economic backwardness.
In 1884, theBerlin Conference took place, resulting in the so-calledPink Map, which defined the division of Africa between the great colonial powers: theGerman Empire,Belgium,France, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Portugal.[6]
During his reign,Delagoa Bay was confirmed as a Portuguese possession in 1875, whilstBelgian activities in theCongo and the1890 British Ultimatum prevented the Portuguese from colonizing modern-dayZambia andZimbabwe in order to establish a link betweenPortuguese Angola andPortuguese Mozambique at the peak of theScramble for Africa.[6]
With a calm and conciliatory temperament, he was a model constitutional monarch, scrupulously respectful of public freedoms. Of particular note during his reign was the start of work on the ports ofLisbon andLeixões, the extension of the road and railway network, the construction of theCrystal Palace in Porto, the abolition of the death penalty for civil offences, theabolition of slavery in the Portuguese empire and the publication of the firstCivil Code.[5]
Luís followed in the footsteps of his mother, Maria II, by having cultural associations built and founded. On 1 June 1871, Luís was inSeixal (a town founded by his mother) to witness the founding of theSociedade Filarmónica União Seixalense.[7] On the same day, theFranco-Prussian War ended.
With great artistic sensitivity, hepainted,composed and played thecello[8] andpiano.[9] Apolyglot, he spoke some European languages correctly, and enjoyed writing vernacular poetry. He made translations of works byWilliam Shakespeare,[10] such asThe Merchant of Venice,Richard III andOthello, the Moor of Venice. His best-known work in Portugal was his translation ofHamlet.
Luís was also a man of science, with a passion foroceanography. He invested a large part of his fortune in financing scientific projects and oceanographic research vessels, which travelled the oceans in search of specimens. He successfully practised photography.[6][5]
In June 1862, Luís asked Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1845–1927), a daughter ofArchduke Albert, Duke of Teschen andPrincess Hildegard of Bavaria, to marry him in a letter sent to her father. It was urgent for him to get married as his older brother, KingPedro V, had died in November 1861, without issue and two of his younger brothers,João andFernando, followed him shortly after, which left the Braganza dynasty almost without heirs. Luís had already selected a number of brides includingPrincess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1845–1912), sister of his late sister-in-lawStephanie,Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria (1847–1897),Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (1847–1911) and also considered some Austrian archduchesses, Maria Theresa being one of them, but didn't know which one to choose. So he sent letters to his cousin,Queen Victoria, and his great-uncle,King Leopold I of Belgium, to ask for their advice. Both agreed that the best choice was Maria Theresa. Thus, King Luís sent his letter. However, his wish was not fulfilled as her father, Archduke Albert, thought she was too young at the time (she was one month away from turning 17) and needed to finish her education. Two weeks after, Luís asked for the hand of Princess Maria Pia of Savoy and, this time, was accepted, even though Maria Pia, born in 1847, was even younger than Maria Theresa.[11]
Luís married Maria Pia, the daughter ofVictor Emmanuel II of Italy andMaria Adelaide of Austria, on 6 October 1862. They both had a deep love at first, but Luís's countless mistresses led Maria Pia to depression. Together they had two sons:[12]
Luís was a lifelong womanizer. He had a series of extra-marital affairs, the more notorious one with actressRosa Damasceno.[13] Queen Maria Pia was displeased at first, but later tolerated her husband's infidelities, ending up having her own affairs when she traveled abroad.[14]
Sometime in his adult life, Luís contractedsyphilis. The infection remained dormant for several years but in 1887 it became persistently manifest, taking its toll. Within two years it had evolved toneurosyphilis, killing him after prolonged and excruciating suffering, on 19 October 1889, at 11:00 a.m.[15]
He received the following orders:[16]
Austria: Grand Cross of theRoyal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen,1854[17]
Baden:[18]
Bavaria:Knight of St. Hubert,1867[19]
Belgium:
Order of Leoopold (Grand Cordon) (Belgium) ,9 July 1854[20]
Brazil:
National Order of the Southern Cross (Grand Collar)[b] (Brazil) ,1861
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,18 April 1864[21]
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order,1854[22]
France:
Legion of Honour (Grand Cross)[c] (France)
Greece:Grand Cross of the Redeemer
Hanover:[23]
Hawaii: Grand Cross of theOrder of Kamehameha I,19 August 1881[24]
Hesse and by Rhine: Grand Cross of theLudwig Order,7 December 1865[25]
Japan: Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Chrysanthemum,20 April 1883[26]
Liberia: Grand Cross of theOrder of African Redemption
Mecklenburg:Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore and Collar
Mexico:Grand Cross of the Mexican Eagle, with Collar,1865[27]
Monaco:Grand Cross of St. Charles
Netherlands:Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
Ottoman Empire:
Order of the Medjidie (Class I: Gold)[d] (Ottoman Empire) , 1st Class in Diamonds
Tunisia: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Glory, in Diamonds
Prussia:Knight of the Black Eagle,24 July 1854; with Collar,1862[28]
Romania:
Russia:
San Marino:Grand Cross of San Marino
Sardinia:
Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:Grand Cross of the White Falcon,1 August 1854[30]
Saxony:Knight of the Rue Crown,1854[31].svg)
Serbia:Grand Cross of the Cross of Takovo
Siam:Knight of the Nine Gems
Spain:
Sweden-Norway:
United Kingdom:Stranger Knight of the Garter,17 June 1865[36]
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown,1865[37]Luís I of Portugal Cadet branch of theHouse of Aviz Born: 31 October 1838 Died: 19 October 1889 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Portugal 1861–1889 | Succeeded by |
| Portuguese royalty | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of Porto 1838–1861 | Succeeded by |
| House of Burgundy (1139–1383) | _-_Lesser.png) | |
|---|---|---|
| House of Aviz (1385–1580) | ||
| House of Habsburg (1581–1640) | ||
| House of Braganza (1640–1910) | ||
Debatable or disputed rulers are initalics. | ||
| 1st generation |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation |
| |
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Braganza was not a recognized house in the formerKingdom of Portugal and monarchs following Maria II and Ferdinand II officially continued to be members of theHouse of Braganza | ||
