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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 Zambia and Zimbabwe 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
Photograph of Luís I, c. 1869
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.[1]
Portuguese coin minted during Luís I's reign, c. 1879
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:[2]
Luís was a lifelong womanizer. He had a series of extra-marital affairs, the more notorious one with actress Rosa Damasceno.[3] Queen Maria Pia was displeased at first, but later tolerated her husband's infidelities, ending up having her own affairs when she traveled abroad.[4]
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 19 October 1889, at 11:00 a.m.[5]
^ ab"While remaining patrilineal dynasts of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha according to pp. 88, 116 of the 1944 Almanach de Gotha, Title 1, Chapter 1, Article 5 of the 1838 Portuguese constitution declared, with respect to Ferdinand II of Portugal's issue by his first wife, that 'the Most Serene House of Braganza is the reigning house of Portugal and continues through the Person of the Lady Queen Maria II'. Thus their mutual descendants constitute the Coburg line of the House of Braganza"
^Portuguese: Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul – Grande Colar
^Lopes, Maria Antónia (2013). Rainhas Que o Povo Amou - Estefânia de Hohenzollern e Maria Pia de Sabóia. Temas e Debates. p. 121.
^Lencastre, Isabel (2012). Bastardos Reais: Os filhos ilegítimos dos Reis de Portugal. Oficina do Livro. p. 149.
^Saraiva, José António (2024). O Homem que Mandou Matar o Rei D. Carlos: os Bastidores de um Crime (1st ed.). Lisboa: Gradiva. pp. 74–75. ISBN978-989-785-265-7.
^Martins, Rocha (1926). D. Carlos: História do seu Reinado (in Portuguese). Author's edition. pp. 149–156.
^Albano da Silveira Pinto (1883). "Serenissima Casa de Bragança". Resenha das Familias Titulares e Grandes des Portugal (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Empreza Editora de Francisco Arthur Da Silva. p. xiv.
* also an infante of Castile and León, Aragon, Sicily and Naples,§ also an infante of Spain and an archduke of Austria,# also an infante of Spain,‡ also an imperial prince of Brazil,¶ also a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony,◙ also a prince of Braganza,¤ title removed in 1920 as their parents' marriage was deemed undynastic,ƒ claimant infante
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Braganza was not a recognized house in the former Kingdom of Portugal and monarchs following Maria II and Ferdinand II officially continued to be members of the House of Braganza
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