Dom Miguel I (Anglicized: Michael I, 26 October 1802 – 14 November 1866), known by several nicknames, but mainly “the usurper“,"the Absolutist" (), "the Traditionalist" () and "the Usurper" () was King of Portugal from 1828 to 1834. He was the son of King John VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina.
Following his exile as a result of his actions in support of absolutism in the April Revolt (Abrilada) of 1824, Miguel returned to Portugal in 1828 as regent and fiancé of his niece who was Queen Maria II. As regent, he claimed the Portuguese throne in his own right, since according to the so-called Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom his older brother Pedro IV and therefore the latter's daughter had lost their rights from the moment that Pedro had made war on Portugal and become the sovereign of a foreign state (Brazilian Empire). This led to a difficult political situation, during which many people were killed, imprisoned, persecuted or sent into exile, and which culminated in the Portuguese Liberal Wars between authoritarian absolutists and progressive constitutionalists. In the end, Miguel was forced out from the throne and lived the last 32 years of his life in exile.
Early life Miguel Maria do Patrocinio de Bragança e Bourbon, the third (second surviving) son of King John VI and Carlota Joaquina, was born in the Queluz Royal Palace, Lisbon, and was raised by his father Duke of Beja. Some sources have suggested that Miguel I could be the biological son from an adulterous affair between his mother, Queen Carlota, and one of her alleged lovers, possibly D. Pedro José Joaquim Vito de Meneses Coutinho, Marquis of Marialva. Apparently sources close to King John VI confirmed as much by asserting that he had not had sexual relations with his wife for two and a half years prior to Miguel's birth (a period when his parents carried out a conjugal war, during which they were involved in permanent conspiracies, and only encountered each other in rare official circumstances).
But despite the gossip, Miguel was always considered to be a son of the king, by the king, by his mother, by the rest of the family, by the court, and by the church. The "illegitimate child" theories may have had their origins in the writings of pro-liberal propagandists or royalists who wanted to denigrate the queen and undermine the claims of Miguel and of his descendants to the Portuguese throne.
What is clear is that Miguel was the queen's favourite child. After the death of her firstborn, it was Miguel who received most of her attention, rather than Pedro, who was closer to his father.
In 1807, at the age of 5, Miguel accompanied the Portuguese Royal Family on their transfer to Brazil in order to escape from the first Napoleonic invasion of Portugal; he returned in 1821 with John VI and his mother, while his brother Peter remained behind as regent of Brazil.
Miguel was a mischievous child, sometimes seen in the miniature uniform of a general. At sixteen he was seen galloping around Mata-Cavalos, knocking off the hats of passers-by with his riding crop. He spent most of his time with a rowdy band of half-caste or Indian farm-hands. In general, Miguel was spoiled by the queen and her royal household, and clearly influenced by the base tendencies of others. The Duke of Palmela described him as:
"A good man when among good men, and when among the bad, worse than they."
Revolt
Miguel was an avowed conservative and admirer of Prince Metternich, who had referred to the liberal revolutions in the 1820s as unrealistic and without any historical roots: A people who can neither read nor write, whose last word is the dagger – fine material for constitutional principles!...The English constitution is the work of centuries....There is no universal recipe for constitutions.
Miguel was 20 years old when he first challenged the liberal institutions established after the 1820 revolution, which may have been part of a wider strategy by the queen. He was at the head of the counter-revolution of 1823, known as the Vilafrancada, which erupted on 27 May 1823 in Vila Franca de Xira. Early in the day, Miguel joined the 23rd Infantry Regiment, commanded by Brigadier Ferreira Sampaio (later Viscount of Santa Mónica) in Vila Franca, where he declared his support for an absolutist monarchy. He immediately called on General Pampluna (later Marquis of Subserra) to join him and his cause. The general, not a fan of the liberal constitution, obeyed his summons and within five days he controlled the insurrectionary forces. The prince, supported by the queen, went so far as to demand the abdication of the king, who, faithful to his earlier oath, wanted to maintain the 1822 Constitution, despite the growing support for absolutist forces in Vila Franca.
Miguel and the queen were interested in overthrowing the parliamentary system and, inspired by the return of the absolutist monarchy in Spain (where the Holy Alliance and French Army had intervened to destroy the liberal forces there) they exploited factionalism and plotted with outside reactionaries to overthrow the liberal Cortes. But General Pampluna was loyal to the king, and made it perfectly clear that he would do nothing to defy the monarch, and advised the prince to obey his father's summons. The king himself marched on Vila Franca where he received the submission of the troops and his son. But he also took advantage of the situation to abolish the 1822 Constitution and dismiss the Cortes. Many liberals went into exile. Although Miguel returned to Lisbon in triumph, the king was able to maintain complete control of power and did not succumb to the ultra-reactionary forces that supported his abdication.
After the events of the Vilafrancada, Miguel was made Count of Samora Correia and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army. But the queen could not tolerate the king's continuing benevolence towards liberals and moderates, nor that he continued to be influenced by and to support ministers such as Palmela and Pamplona, who were more moderate in their outlook.
The mysterious death of the Marquis de Loulé in Salvaterra on 28 February 1824, in which it was suspected that Miguel or his friends were involved, was a symptom of the instability of the period. Prince Miguel was always influenced by his mother; and two months later, on 30 April 1824, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army he gathered his troops and ordered them to arrest ministers and other important people under pretext that a masonic conspiracy to assassinate the king existed, and placed his father in protective custody and incommunicado at Bemposta, where Miguel could "defend and secure his life". The Abrilada, as this was to be known, worried many of the foreign powers. The foreign diplomatic corp (and in particular Marshal Beresford), realising that the king was a prisoner of his son, travelled to Bemposta and was able to ferry the king away and on board a British warship, the Windsor Castle. On board, the king summoned his son, whom he dismissed as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and immediately exiling him to Vienna, where he remained for over three years.
Exile and return
While in Vienna, he was a guest and friend of the Prince Metternich. Meanwhile, on 10 March 1826, his father, King John VI, died and his brother Peter, the heir-apparent to the throne, became king as Peter IV. Peter, however, was committed to continuing as Emperor of Brazil and therefore abdicated the crown of Portugal after two months (on 2 May) in favour of his daughter, Maria II. Since the young sovereign was not yet of age, he instituted a regency, under his sister, Isabel Maria. Peter had already attempted to coerce Miguel to Brazil (1822) away from their mother without any success. Following the death of their father, Peter once again attempted to mend fences within the family and ensure Maria II's right to the throne by offering Miguel the regency of Portugal (when he became 25) under a new liberal Constitutional Charter that would re-establish a constitutional monarchy. Under this arrangement, Queen Maria II and Miguel would be married when she came of age; until then Miguel would be her regent in Portugal. The new Constitutional Charter gave the crown moderating authority between the legislative, executive and judiciary, and introduced a 100-member Chamber of Peers (which included aristocrats and bishops and archbishops), a royal veto and indirect elections. Miguel accepted the proposal from his brother, swore to uphold the Constitutional Charter and, since the young Queen was only nine years old, waited until she would reach the age of marriage.
The regency under Isabel Maria was extremely unstable; discord reigned in the government, there were divisions within the municipal councils, rivalries between ministers and at one point, after the resignation of General Saldanha, a revolt in Lisbon. With Isabel Maria dangerously ill, Peter resolved to entrust his brother Miguel with the kingdom, which Miguel was only too eager to accept. A decree was promulgated on 3 July 1827 that granted Miguel his new role, and he departed from Vienna for Lisbon.
On the trip back to Lisbon he stopped in England, arriving on 30 December 1827. He was met by the Duke of Clarence, heir-presumptive to the British throne, and by other upper members of the English Court who had gathered at the dock to meet him. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, then leading an unpopular Tory government, hoped that they could mold Miguel into accepting the constitutional framework that Peter IV had devised, and used this visit to facilitate the transition. After lunching at the Hospital Governor's home, he travelled to London with his entourage in regal carriages and, escorted by cavalry officers, to the Palace of Westminster where he was met by a throng of people. While in London he stayed at the palace of Lord Dudley, on Arlington Street where he entertained his new friends; he was received by the ministers, ambassadors and municipal officials of King George IV, and was generally feted by English nobility, attending concerts and pheasant hunts, and visiting public works (such as the Thames Tunnel on 8 January 1828 which was then under construction and, ironically, collapsed a few days after his visit). On New Year's Eve he visited the King at Windsor Castle and was honoured with a magnificent banquet. Later at Rutland House, Miguel received members of the Portuguese diaspora living in England, who presented him with a commemorative medallion. Throughout his visit he was generally well received.
Regent
On 13 January 1828 Miguel departed London; after spending some time at Stratfield Saye House, the country home of the Duke of Wellington, he travelled to Plymouth en route to Lisbon. Due to bad weather, he was only able to transfer to the Portuguese frigate Pérola on 9 February, which arrived in England accompanied by two British ships. On 22 January the Gazeta de Lisboa (English: Lisbon Gazette) published an open letter from the Ministério da Justiça (English: Ministry of Justice) which permitted any general demonstrations of jubilation (unless otherwise prohibited by law). The prince's ship arrived in Lisbon on 22 February and was met by cannon salvos from ships along the Tagus River and from the hilltops, beginning at two in the afternoon. The river was filled with ships when the Pérola arrived.