Liberal Wars
Encyclopedia
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834. Embroiled parties included Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
, Portuguese rebels, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, France
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
, the Catholic Church and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Roots of the conflict
The death of King João VIJohn VI of Portugal
John VI John VI John VI (full name: João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael; (13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826) was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (later changed to just King of Portugal and the Algarves, after Brazil was recognized...
in 1826 created a dispute over royal succession. The rightful heir to the throne was his eldest son, Dom Pedro, who was briefly made Dom
Dom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
Pedro IV. Neither the Portuguese nor the Brazilians wanted a unified monarchy; consequently, Pedro abdicated the Portuguese Crown in favor of his daughter, Dona Maria da Glória, a child of seven, on the condition that when of age she marry his brother, Miguel
Miguel of Portugal
Dom Miguel I, sometimes Michael , was the King of Portugal between 1828 and 1834, the seventh child and second son of King John VI and his queen, Charlotte of Spain....
. In April 1826, as part of the succession settlement, Pedro revised the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
granted in 1822, the first constitution of Portugal, and left the throne to Maria, with his sister Isabella Maria as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
.
A new constitution
In the Portuguese Constitutional Charter, Pedro attempted to reconcile absolutists and liberals by allowing both factions a role in the Government. Unlike the Constitution of 1822, this new document established four branches of the Government. The LegislatureLegislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
was divided into two chambers. The upper chamber, the Chamber of Peers, was composed of life and hereditary peers and clergy appointed by the king. The lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, was composed of 111 deputies elected to four-year terms by the indirect vote of local assemblies, which in turn were elected by a limited suffrage of male tax-paying property owners. Judicial power was exercised by the courts; executive power by the ministers of the Government; and moderative power by the King, who held an absolute veto over all legislation.
Discontent
The absolutist party of the landowners and the ChurchRoman Catholicism in Portugal
The Roman Catholic Church in Portugal is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian organization....
, however, were not satisfied with this compromise, and they continued to regard Miguel as the legitimate successor to the throne on the grounds that according to the Portuguese succession rules (approved by the Cortes
Portuguese Cortes
In the Medieval Kingdom of Portugal, the Cortes was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm - the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie. It was called and dismissed by the King of Portugal at will, at a place of his choosing...
after the 1640 Restoration
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
), Pedro had lost the right to the Portuguese Crown, and therefore to choose a successor, when he took possession of a foreign crown (Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
). They were alarmed by the liberal reforms that had been initiated in Spain by the detested Revolutionary French (reforms which the Portuguese feudal aristocracy had been spared) and took heart at the recent restoration of the autocratic Ferdinand VII in Spain (1823) who was eradicating all the Napoleonic innovations. In February 1828, Miguel returned to Portugal, ostensibly to take the oath of allegiance to the Charter and assume the regency. He was immediately proclaimed king by his supporters, who pressed him to return to absolutism. A month after his return, Miguel dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers and, in May, summoned the traditional Cortes of the three estates of the realm to proclaim his accession to absolute power. The Cortes of 1828 assented to Miguel's wish, proclaiming him king as Miguel I of Portugal and nullifying the Constitutional Charter.
Rebellion
This alleged usurpation did not go unchallenged by the liberals. On May 18, the garrison in PortoPorto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, the center of Portuguese progressives, declared its loyalty to Pedro, to Maria da Glória, and the Constitutional Charter. The rebellion against the absolutists spread to other cities. Miguel suppressed these rebellions, and many thousands of liberals were either arrested or fled to Spain and Britain. There followed five years of repression.
Meanwhile, in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, relations between Pedro and Brazil's agricultural magnates had become strained. In April 1831 Pedro abdicated in Brazil in favor of his son, Pedro II, and sailed for Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. He organized a military expedition there and then went to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, which were in the hands of the liberals, to set up a government in exile. In July 1832, with the backing of liberals in Spain and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
an expedition led by Dom Pedro landed near Porto, which the Miguelites abandoned and where, after military activities including the Battle of Ponte Ferreira
Battle of Ponte Ferreira
The Battle of Ponte Ferreira, fought on 22–23 July 1832, was the first major battle of the Portuguese Civil War between the forces of Dom Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil and Regent for his daughter Maria da Glória, and the army of his brother Dom Miguel, who had usurped the throne of Portugal...
, Pedro and his associates were besieged by Miguelite forces for nearly a year. To protect British interests, a naval squadron under Commander William Glascock
William Glascock
William Glascock served as seventh Chairman of the Executive Council of Georgia during the American Revolution. He was the father of Brigadier General Thomas Glascock, Sr. and grandfather of Brigadier General Thomas Glascock Jr....
in HMS Orestes
HMS Orestes
Several ships of the Royal Navy have carried the name HMS Orestes: was a Dutch-built brig-sloop. She was captured from the Dutch in 1781. was a ship sloop of 16 guns, purchased in 1803 and wrecked in 1805, but without loss of her crew. was a of 16 guns, launched in 1805 and broken up in 1817. was...
was stationed in the Douro
Douro
The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
, where it came under fire from both sides.
In June 1833, the liberals, still encircled at Porto, sent to the Algarve a force commanded by the Duke of Terceira supported by a naval squadron commanded by Charles Napier
Charles Napier (naval officer)
Admiral Sir Charles John Napier KCB GOTE RN was a Scottish naval officer whose sixty years in the Royal Navy included service in the Napoleonic Wars, Syrian War and the Crimean War, and a period commanding the Portuguese navy in the Liberal Wars...
, using the alias 'Carlos de Ponza'. Terceira landed at Faro
Faro, Portugal
Faro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...
and marched north through the Alentejo to capture Lisbon on July 24. Meanwhile Napier's squadron encountered the absolutists' fleet near Cape Saint Vincent (Cabo São Vincente) and decisively defeated it at the fourth Battle of Cape St. Vincent
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1833)
The fourth Battle of Cape St Vincent was fought on 5 July 1833 and was a decisive encounter in Portugal's Liberal Wars. A naval squadron commanded by the British officer Charles Napier, on behalf of Dom Pedro IV, regent for the rightful Queen Maria II, defeated the navy of the usurper Dom...
. The liberals were able to occupy Lisbon, where Pedro moved from Porto and repulsed a Miguelite siege. A stalemate of nine months ensued. Towards the end of 1833 Maria da Glória was proclaimed Queen, and Dom Pedro was made Regent. His first act was to confiscate the property of all who had served under Dom Miguel. He also suppressed all religious houses and confiscated their property, an act that suspended friendly relations with Rome for nearly eight years, until mid-1841. The absolutists controlled the rural areas, where they were supported by the aristocracy, and by a peasantry that was galvanized by the Church. The liberals occupied Portugal's major cities, Lisbon and Porto, where they commanded a sizeable following among the middle classes. Operations against the Miguelites began again in earnest in early 1834. Meanwhile, the liberal army had suffered a sound defeat at Alcácer do Sal
Alcácer do Sal
Alcácer do Sal is a municipality in Portugal, located in Setúbal District. It has a total area of and a total population of 13,624 inhabitants.-History :-Earliest settlement:...
, which proved that, despite the Duke of Terceira's recent march from Faro to Lisbon, the South was still loyal to the Miguelites.
Peace
The Battle of Asseiceira, fought on May 16, 1834, was the last and decisive engagement of the Portuguese Civil War. The Migueliste army was still formidable (about 18,000 men), but on May 24, 1834, at Évora-Monte, a peace was declared under a convention by which Dom Miguel formally renounced all claims to the throne of PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, was guaranteed an annual pension, and was definitively exiled. Dom Pedro restored the Constitutional Charter, but he died September 24, 1834.
Maria da Glória resumed her interrupted reign as Maria II of Portugal.