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Ferdinand II of Portugal

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Ferdinand II
King of Portugal
Reign16 September 1837 – 15 November 1853
PredecessorMaria II
SuccessorPedro V
SpouseMaria II of Portugal
Issue
among others...		Pedro V of Portugal
Louis of Portugal
Infante João, Duke of Beja
Infanta Maria Ana
Infanta Antónia, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Infante Augusto, Duke of Coimbra
HouseHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
FatherPrince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
MotherPrincess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885), named Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, was King of Portugal as husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal from the birth of their son in 1837 to her death in 1853.

In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in 1837 did he acquire the title of King, reigning as Ferdinand II of Portugal. His reign came to end with the death of his wife in 1853, but he was regent for his son Pedro V to 1855. He was born a German prince, of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Early life

Ferdinand was the son of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife, Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Prince Ferdinand grew up in several places: the family's lands in modern day Slovakia, the Austrian court, and Germany. He was a nephew of Leopold I of Belgium, and a first cousin to his children Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico, as well as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert.

King of Portugal

Coat of arms

According to the Portuguese laws, the husband of a queen regnant could only be titled king after the birth of any child from that marriage (that was the reason the Queen's first husband, Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, did not have that title). After the birth of the future Peter V of Portugal, he was proclaimed Ferdinand II of Portugal.

Although it was Maria to whom the ruling power belonged, they were a good team and together resolved many problems in Maria's reign. The King had a very important part in Portuguese political history, reigning by himself during his wife's pregnancies.

Eventually, Maria died as a result of the birth of their eleventh child. Ferdinand's reign ended, but he had to assume regency of Portugal (1853–1855) because his son King Peter V was only 16 years old.

Later life

In 1869 he rejected an offer to the Spanish throne.

Late in his life Ferdinand married the opera singer Elisa Hensler, Countess of Edla. He was an intelligent and artistically-minded man with modern and liberal ideas. He was adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Arts, lord-protector of the university of Coimbra and Grand-Master of the Rosicrucians.

In 1838 he built near Sintra the Pena National Palace, a wild architectural fantasy in an eclectic style, full of symbolism that could be compared with the castle Neuschwanstein of king Ludwig II of Bavaria. He spent his last years in this castle with his second wife, receiving the greatest artists of his time.

Marriages and descendants

Ferdinand married Maria II, Queen-regnant of Portugal, daughter of Peter IV of Portugal (I Emperor of Brazil). Later in his life, after the death of Maria, he married in Lisbon on 10 June 1869 actress Elisa Hensler[1] (Neuchâtel, 22 May 1836 – Lisbon, Coração de Jesus, 21 May 1929), created Gräfin von Edla, without issue.[2]

Name Birth Death Notes
By Maria II of Portugal (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853; married on 9 April 1836)
Pedro V 16 September 1837 11 November 1861 Who succeeded his mother as Peter V, the 31st (or according to some historians 32nd) King of Portugal.
Luís I 31 October 1838 19 October 1889 Who succeeded his brother Peter as the 32nd (or according to some historians 33rd) King of Portugal.
Infanta Maria 4 October 1840 4 October 1840  
Infante João 16 March 1842 27 December 1861 Died of cholera in 1861.
Infanta Maria Ana 21 August 1843 5 February 1884 Married King George of Saxony and was mother of King Frederick August III of Saxony, and grandmother of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria.
Infanta Antónia 17 February 1845 27 December 1913 Married Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Singmaringen and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania.
Infante Fernando 23 July 1846 6 November 1861 Died of cholera in 1861.
Infante Augusto 4 November 1847 26 September 1889 Duke of Coimbra.
Infante Leopoldo 7 May 1849 7 May 1849  
Infanta Maria da Glória 3 February 1851 3 February 1851  
Infante Eugénio 15 November 1853 15 November 1853  

Notes

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  1. ^ Sister of Anton Hensler, children of Jean Conrad Hensler (Röschitz, c. 1797 – Vienna, 14 April 1872) and wife Josephe Hechelbacher (Wallerstein, c. 1805 – aft. 1872), paternal grandchildren of Michael Hensler and wife Katharina Prauneis and maternal grandchildren of Karl Hechelnbacher and wife Theresia Schretzmayer.
  2. ^ She had a daughter by an unknown father named Alice Hensler (Paris, 25 December 1855 – Lisbon, Benfica, 18 June 1941), who married in Lisbon, Alcântara, on 30 September 1883 Portuguese Navy Officer Azorian Manuel de Azevedo Gomes (Pico, São Roque do Pico, Santo Amaro, 19 October 1848 – Cascais, São Domingos de Rana, Casa das Pedras, 14 July 1907), by whom she had issue.
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Portugal and the Algarves
16 September 1837 – 15 November 1853
with Maria II 		Succeeded by
Portuguese royalty
Preceded by Royal consort of Portugal
9 April 1836 – 16 September 1837 		Succeeded by

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