Luís I of Portugal

Luís I
Photograph by Augusto Bobone c. 1880s
King of Portugal
Reign	11 November 1861 – 19 October 1889
Acclamation	22 December 1861
Predecessor	Pedro V
Successor	Carlos I
Prime Ministers	See list The Duke of Loulé The Marquis of Sá da Bandeira Joaquim António de Aguiar The Duke of Ávila and Bolama The Duke of Saldanha Fontes Pereira de Melo Anselmo José Braamcamp António Rodrigues Sampaio José Luciano de Castro
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	Pantheon of the Braganzas
Spouse	Maria Pia of Savoy ​ (m. 1862)​
Issue	Carlos I of Portugal Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto
House	Braganza[1]
Father	Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Mother	Maria II of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Dom Luís I (Portuguese pronunciation: [luˈiʃ]; Louis; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as the Popular (Portuguese: o Popular) was King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889. The second son of Queen Maria II and her consort, King Ferdinand, he acceded to the throne upon the death of his elder brother King Pedro V. He was a member of the ruling House of Braganza.^[1]

Reign

Luís was a cultured man who wrote vernacular poetry, but had no distinguishing gifts in the politics into which he was thrust by the death of his older brother Pedro V in 1861. Luís's domestic reign was a series of transitional governments called Rotativism formed at various times by the Progressistas (Liberals) and the Regeneradores (Conservatives), the party generally favoured by King Luís, who secured their long term in office after 1881. Despite a flirtation with the Spanish succession prior to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, Luís's reign was otherwise one of domestic stagnation as Portugal fell ever farther behind the nations of western Europe in terms of public education, political stability, technological progress and economic prosperity. In colonial affairs, Delagoa Bay was confirmed as a Portuguese possession in 1875, whilst Belgian activities in the Congo and the 1890 British Ultimatum prevented the Portuguese from colonizing modern-day Botswana in order to establish a link between Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique at the peak of the Scramble for Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Personal interests

Luís was also very keen with literature, not only with books in Portuguese but also in English. He was the first to bring fully translated Shakespearean works to Portugal, such as The Merchant of Venice, Richard III and Othello, the Moor of Venice. His best-known work in Portugal was his translation of Hamlet.

Marriage and descendants

In June 1862, Luís asked Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1845–1927), a daughter of Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen and Princess 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, King Pedro V, had died in November 1861, without issue and two of his younger brothers, João and Fernando, followed him shortly after, which left the Braganza dynasty almost without heirs. Luís had already selected a number of brides including Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1845-1912), sister of his late sister-in-law Stephanie, 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.^[2]

Luís married Maria Pia, the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and Maria 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:^[3]

• Dom Carlos, Prince Royal of Portugal (28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), successor as King Carlos I; murdered by the Carbonária.
• Dom Afonso, Prince Royal of Portugal (31 July 1865 – 21 February 1920), Infante of Portugal, Duke of Porto, Viceroy of India, and after 1908 Prince Royal.

Illness and death

Luís was a lifelong womanizer. He had a series of extra-marital affairs, the more notorious one with actress Rosa Damasceno.^[4] Queen Maria Pia was displeased at first, but later tolerated her husband's infidelities, ending up having her own affairs when she traveled abroad.^[5]

Sometime in his adult life, Luís contracted syphilis. The infection remained dormant for several years but in 1887 it became persistently manifest, taking its toll. Within two years it had evolved to neurosyphilis, killing the patient after prolonged and excrutiating suffering, on October 19, 1889, at 11:00 a.m.^[6]

Honours

He received the following orders:^[7]

Ancestry

Notes

References

• v
• t
• e

Monarchs of Portugal

House of Burgundy (1139–1383)

• Afonso I
• Sancho I
• Afonso II
• Sancho II
• Afonso III
• Denis I
• Afonso IV
• Peter I
• Ferdinand I
• Beatrice I

House of Aviz (1385–1580)

• John I
• Edward I
• Afonso V
• John II
• Manuel I
• John III
• Sebastian I
• Henry I
• Anthony I

House of Habsburg (1581–1640)

• Philip I
• Philip II
• Philip III

House of Braganza (1640–1910)

• John IV
• Afonso VI
• Peter II
• John V
• Joseph I
• Maria I with Peter III
• John VI
• Peter IV
• Maria II
• Miguel I
• Maria II with Ferdinand II
• Peter V
• Luís I
• Carlos I
• Manuel II

Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.