In 2008 Rio de Janeiro and Brazil will celebrate the 200 Year Anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil. The mad queen Maria I, her son João the prince regent, his Spanish wife Carlota Joaquina and their children along with a retinue of some 450 courtiers, landed in Rio on 7 March, 1808. Four months before, they had fled Lisbon to cross the Atlantic in the cramped conditions of the dilapidated Portuguese fleet. The wretched passengers landed in Rio de Janeiro after a brief stop in Salvador.
The British government had persuaded the royal family to escape to its Brazilian colony in order to avoid falling into the hands of the invading Napoleonic army. In light of the royal family’s lack of enthusiasm, the British government convincingly orchestrated the escape. It had provided a strong escort, probably to deter the prince regent from changing his mind and returning to Lisbon! The British assistance was not totally altruistic: In exchange, the Portuguese had grudgingly agreed to open the Brazilian ports to friendly nations, in other words to England. The narrow escape of the whole royal household is well-recorded and is the stuff of action movies. Moving the centre of government to the colony was the defining moment about which Brazil could not have dreamed. This event shaped the country’s development until even these days.
Two hundred years later the royals are again making news in Rio de Janeiro. After nearly 120 years of republican governments, the Cariocas are discovering a fondness for royal memorabilia. The city has embarked on the urban renewal of its colonial centre. Many exhibitions have been set up to document the added-value of the royal stay. Magazines, newspapers and writers have anticipated the anniversary with a flurry of articles, reports and fiction novels about the royal family. João and his wife Carlota Joaquina are so hip that a book on their eating habits and favorite foods has even been published! More books are on their way. The countless Brazilian heirs of the royal family are also receiving large media coverage, even if their lifestyle is more bourgeois than royal.
Brazilian history is finally being revisited; events and people are reassessed through a less biased lens. Through this restoration process the main actors have grown from two-dimensional to full fledged-characters, with flesh and bones and even soul.
The 2008 royal anniversary extravaganza will certainly focus on the males of the family, namely João the future number VI (1767-1826); his son Pedro I (1798-1834), the first Emperor of Brazil and his grandson Pedro II (1825-1891), the last one. The three of them physically ruled Brazil for 81 years. Among the three, the reputation of João VI has probably the most to gain from this revival effort. An image makeover is long overdue. João’s British-sponsored move to Brazil was misapprehended by many historians; as a result he has been relegated to the wasteland of history. He is still being criticized by the Portuguese for abandoning the mother country, hence accelerating its decline. In their rabid republican fervor the Brazilian historians further ridiculed him as an inconsistent, dithering, filthy and chubby glutton.
João VI may have looked the part, but evidence indicates that under pressure he was tactically astute; after all did he not manage to avoid Napoleon’s jail? Moreover, he worked to modernize Brazil. João had grudgingly agreed to sail to Brazil and 13 years later he had to sail back to Portugal just as grudgingly. Had he fallen under the spell of the tropics? He probably felt that his modernizing efforts were more rewarding and welcome in the lush environment of Rio de Janeiro than in the literally poisonous atmosphere of dilapidated Lisbon. In fact arsenic may have something to do with his death. But this is another story that historians are more capable than I to recount.
Historians often treat royal women with benign neglect. On the occasion of this historic restoration, theses women also deserve the limelight. Actually, one of them never left the limelight. From the outset, João’s wife Carlota Joaquina (1775-1830) became fodder for historians of all stripes and the consensus was intensely negative. She became a caricature of a caricature, the queen of mean and as such ultimate material for soap operas and films. Obviously the opprobrium was deserved. She was short, ugly, promiscuous, violent, wicked and a congenital schemer and conspirator. Her hot temper did not augur well for a harmonious relationship with laid-back João. Legend has it that at the tender age of 14, during her wedding night, she bit her husband’s ear.
Even by 21st century standards, the Braganza family of Portugal qualifies as highly dysfunctional. Queen Maria was mad with hallucinations. João and Carlota Joaquina were so estranged that they sailed to Brazil on separate ships. Carlota was not an affectionate mother; she even resented the presence of most of her nine children. When in Rio, she was either plotting or cavorting with her lovers. Her kids ran wild usually in the company of slaves, without any parental guidance. Carlota Joaquina hated Brazil and the Carioca eagerly returned the favor.
She took upon herself to direct all her energy and wits to plot against João VI for the benefit of her mother country Spain. Her political ambition was in an almost inverse proportion to that of her principles. In fact, Carlota Joaquina resented being known as the “wife of”, she wanted to be queen not consort. Her quest for power led her to try unsuccessfully to become queen of la Plata, the region surrounding Buenos Aires. She was part of the “women lib” movement before the movement was born! She plotted against her husband until the bitter end, and died embittered and alone in 1830. Pity her cruelty ruined her reputation; or she could have been reincarnated into a feminist icon.
How can two ugly parents like João and Carlota produce such a good looking lad? Pedro was considered dashingly attractive by his contemporaries. He was an outstanding horseman and in spite of his chaotic education was socially charming and a creative musician. Women fell for his passionate big dark eyes; he embodied “the Latin lover” even before the term was coined. Obviously all these outstanding features were enhanced on his official portraits. When an arranged marriage was planned, such portraits were presented to young Duchess Leopoldina of Austria, and it was love at first sight on her side. Austria had long specialized in marrying away its princesses. Actually princesses had become a national export “Let others wage war; you fortunate Austrians marry” was the proverbial motto of the royal family.
The Archduchess Maria Leopoldina Josepha Carolina had a dazzling lineage. She was one of the daughters of the king of Austria, the darling sister of Napoleon’s estranged wife Empress Marie Louise and the niece of the beheaded French queen Marie Antoinette. She was romantic, cultured and fluent in many languages; well-versed in natural sciences, she more specifically loved botany. Unfortunately she presented few of the feminine attributes a Latin lover would value. She was rather plain, short, on the portly side and sporty. In impoverished Austria a marriage proposal coming from the son of the king of Brazil and Portugal was not to be overlooked. Brazil was the modern Eldorado. If Pedro’s portraits swept Archduchess Leopoldina to her feet, her family was more sensitive to the Brazilian gifts, namely precious stones, and gold ornaments lavishly distributed by the Luso-Brazilian ambassador. In 1817 the 20-year old princess sailed to Brazil with many eager scientists among her important and distinguished retinue.
Consequently, her exotic marriage encouraged many European immigrants to seek a better life in Brazil. Once again Brazil was strengthening its bonds with Europe. However, even if Pedro and Leopoldina were seen hunting together in the hills around Rio de Janeiro, they had very few common interests. Leopoldina’s life with her husband seemed idyllic at the beginning, but the fairy tale did not last long. Pedro was known to be an irredeemable philanderer and a promiscuous sex-maniac. When visiting the countryside he was always on the prowl for sexual escapades. Apparently, Brazilian families hid their daughters when Pedro was around. Pedro increasingly neglected his wife, despite the fact that he forced her to become a baby-making machine.
In 1821 after the return of her in-laws to Portugal, she and Pedro stayed behind to look after the king’s business. Having been a kingdom in its own right, Brazil had no intention to returning to its former colonial status. Leopoldina was quick to sense this longing for independence. She was politically astute and her intelligence was very much appreciated by the court’s advisers. Pedro recognized her talents, trusted her and when away put her in charge of the day-to-day political affairs. Once when he was on a pacifying mission far from Rio, she lost no time signing the Independence Act; soon after on 7 September, 1822 she become the first empress of Brazil. Modern day Brazilian flags still proudly display the yellow color of the Hapsburg family of Austria!
She died on 11 December, 1826 after a miscarriage. She was only 29 but left seven orphans. She was deeply mourned and her legacy endures. Numerous towns, streets, colleges, railway stations and other institutions bear her name. This being Brazil, a samba school is even named after her.
The last princess of Brazil was Isabel, Leopoldina’s granddaughter. Like Leopoldina Isabel’s legacy is associated with critical political decisions that she, as Princess Imperial Regent, took when her father the Emperor Pedro II was traveling overseas. During his long reign, Pedro II traveled a lot, consequently Isabel’s political role increased as her father aged. In 1888 she signed the Golden Law ending slavery in Brazil. She gained the affectionate nickname “Isabel the Redeemer”, but as result of this decisive and principled act she lost her throne. In 1889, a bunch of disgruntled military officers staged a bloodless coup and the imperial family was shipped in secret and at night into exile to France.
In the absence of surviving males, Isabel had been groomed to become the official heiress. Isabel and her younger sister Leopoldina received the best education. The two sisters were so close that it was decided that they would be married at the same time. Suitable “blue blood” princes were selected in Europe and shipped to Brazil for the joint betrothals. Isabel was expected to marry a German prince of impeccable ancestry; her sister was promised to a prince of lesser rank, a Frenchman. Court gossips revealed that things did not go according to plans. The sisters requested their parents to agree to a switch of suitors. Subsequently the French prince of the house of Orleans, Gaston comte d’Eu, was rewarded the heiress Isabel. They lived happily ever after.
Isabel the Redeemer was very revered; some black communities even worshiped her. She personally bought many slaves’ freedom and financially helped the quilombo (free slave community) of Leblon. Leblon has now morphed into an upper-class suburb of Rio; its original black population has long moved to less posh areas. Princess Isabel was the first woman senator of Brazil, and in correspondence she questioned why women were denied the vote. She was liberal in other ways too and wanted to start a land reform programme to benefit poor farmers and back people. She was too virtuous and too religiously devout to please the political class of the time. When in exile, she publicly admitted that the freedom of slaves gave her great happiness and that she didn’t regret losing the throne for her action. Isabel was 75 when she died in France in 1921.
A year latter at the occasion of the 100 year anniversary of the independence of Brazil, the republican government finally allowed the royal family to travel back to Brazil. Her husband accepted the invitation but died on board the ship which was taking him to Rio.
After taking such a bad rap from historians, it is heartening to see that the royal history is being positively revisited outside the rarefied atmosphere of historians. Rio is enthralled with royal mania and samba schools are doing their educational bit: João and Carlota Joaquina will be the highlights of the 2008 carnival.
Disclaimer: This article is a snapshot of a 100-year-long period. The Portuguese and Brazilian royals have made evident that reality often goes beyond fiction. Consequently popular culture has cast the three female characters as soap opera heroines. However, I have tried to portray them with respect and in this process no eminent historian was plagiarized.
Beatrice Labonne, 7 December, 2007.
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