OTD 26 October 1802 - Birth of King Miguel I of Portugal

On 26 October 1802 a royal baby was born in the noble house of Braganza.
His birth took place in Lisbon, Portugal. The royal boy received the long name:
Miguel Maria do Patrocinio de Bragança e Bourbon.



Family

Dom Miguel was the third son of King John VI of Portugal and his wife
Carlota Joaquina of Spain, although some gossips from that time claimed that
Miguel could be the result of an affair of his mother. But the boy always was
considered as a son of the King.  Miguel would become the Queen's favourite
child.

Anyway the prince would have at least 8 siblings inter alia:
Pedro IV of Portugal who ruled also as Pedro I of Brazil.

Childhood

In 1807, at the age of 5, Miguel accompanied the Portuguese Royal family
to Brazil in order to escape from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte. Though
he returned in 1821 with his father and his mother. His brother, Pedro stayed in
Brazil to act as regent.



Duty

In the 1820 's there was a liberal revolution in Portugal. Though Miguel and his
mother declared the support to the absolute monarchy. The royals had plans to
overthrow the parliamentary system and they dismiss the Cortes.

On 30 April 1824, Miguel overthrew his father and he placed him in custody,
where Miguel could 'defend' the King's life.

Later Miguel went to Vienna where he was a guest of his idol Metternich.
There he learned that on 10 March 1826, his father died and that his brother,
took the rule as Pedro IV of Portugal.

Pedro IV of Portugal abdicated to the throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter:
Maria II. The Emperor of Brazil instituted that there must be a regent. He offered
the post to his sister Isabel Maria.

However Isabel Maria became ill, so Pedro had to entrust the Kingdom to his
brother Miguel. A decree was granted on 3 July 1827.

The prince returned to Portugal on 22 February 1828. In Lisbon he was greeted
with lots of ships and cannon fire. They all were happy that Miguel was back.

On 1 March 1828, dozens of citizens of Lisbon gathered to the royal palace and
they claimed Miguel as their absolute King.

In 1831, other countries as Spain and the Holy See started to recognize Miguel
as the right King of Portugal.




But his brother Pedro didn't agree with the way the royal business went in Portugal.
He came back from Brazil with an army to fight against Miguel.

After a war that lasted at least 3 years, Miguel was forced to abdicate. This took place
on 26 May 1834.

In December 1834 the Cortes banned Miguel and his descendants from Portugal.
Miguel lived the rest of his life in exile.



Death

On 14 November 1866 he died at the age of 64 in Esselbach then a part of the
Kingdom of Württemberg.




Source pictures: Wikipedia


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