Queen D. Maria II opens commemorations of the bicentennial

The exhibition ‘Dona Maria da Glória (1819 -1853): an intimate record’, which opens Monday at Torre do Tombo in Lisbon, opens the program of celebrations for the bicentennial of the birth of Queen Maria II.

The exhibition, which runs until April 6, features documents from the Casa Real registry office, “including some of the correspondence exchanged within the family of this young princess who, having been born in Brazil, became the queen of Portugal“, according to a statement from the National Archive of the Tower of Tombo (ANTT).

At the opening ceremony, Monday at 6:00 p.m., the director of the Museum-Library of the House of Bragança, Maria de Jesus Monge, will make the public presentation of the program of the celebrations and the respective site – http: //www.dmariaii. pt / -.

The exhibition is “an excuse for ANTT to show the documentation of the Royal House registry, consisting of 64 books and 250 boxes of documents, which was in the fortress of the Palace of Necessities in Lisbon and the Ministry of Justice / General of Justice, to where they had been transferred from the Palácio da Pena, in Sintra, in 1912, “according to ANTT.

This documentation, from 1821 to 1910, “provides important information for Portuguese political, military and cultural history as well as for the history of the private life of the royal family“, namely the correspondence between the various members of the Portuguese royal family and the foreign counterparts and also with individualities of the national, international, political, military, cultural and ecclesiastical scene.

D. Maria II, daughter of D. Pedro IV, who proclaimed the independence of Brazil and became its first emperor, assumed the Portuguese throne in 1826, and was deposed two years later by his uncle, he proclaimed himself absolute king.

After a period of civil war, between liberals, who supported the claims of D. Maria II, and the legitimists, who supported those of D. Miguel, won the first, and D. Maria II reassumed the throne in 1834, having reigned until 1853.

In this documentary lot, there are other documents, such as menus, music shows and other cultural events, telegrams, postcards, photographs, birth certificates, sharing titles, drawings and sketches, as well as personal notes, petitions and the paper of letter.

The exhibition is divided into three cores, and all documents shown can be consulted at https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/.

In the first nucleus are presented some of the letters written by D. Pedro IV, “involved in the struggles for the liberal cause and illustrate the enormous tenderness and preoccupations proper to a father who from a distance seeks to accompany the growth and education of this daughter destined for a special role, instilling in her the liberal values, advising her to apply herself to the studies, admonishing her when she considers that this is not happening,” according to ANTT.

In a second nucleus are the letters exchanged with her second husband, D. Fernando II, “one in a more intimate and familiar register, others in a more formal and institutional register, since the king held the post of Commander-in-Chief Army“.

Of this nucleus are also notes and letters sent from Mafra, about the children still children, “giving account of the mumps that had affected one or the fall of a tooth that had happened to another, of the missed feelings – having a letter with a sprig of flowers sent to the mother by the infant D. Joao – or from a small vegetable garden that they cultivated “.

The third nucleus is dedicated to correspondence in the domain of governance, “with personalities that marked the politically agitated events of the time“, with the Duke of Palmela, who presided over the first government of the queen.

Full name Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga, born in Rio de Janeiro, was seven years old when her father, D. Pedro IV, abdicated the throne of Portugal in his favour, in April of 1826.