D. Fernando II, um rei avesso à política

Abstract

Biografia do rei de Portugal D. Fernando II (de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha), 1816-1885. Biography of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry), 1816-1885, king of Portugal. Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born in Vienna in 1816, within a Saxon-Austro-Hungarian family. With his wedding in 1836 with Queen of Portugal Maria II, he became a Portuguese Prince and the following year, with the birth of an heir, King Consort of Portugal, D. Fernando II. Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha has been studied as an artist, patron and creator of Palace of Pena. This biography highlights the family network in which he was integrated: grandson, son and brother of magnates and members of the Hungarian High House, grandson, nephew and cousin of sovereigns of Cobourg, nephew of Leopold of Belgian, first cousin of Queen Victoria of England and her husband Albert; by marriage, member of Braganza family who held the crowns of Portugal and Brazil; finally brother in law of three princes of Orleans. With all of them the King kept intense epistolary sociability, which is explored here. Its political action also emerges in these letters. We realize now better both his role in the repeated Portuguese political disruptions as what he thought of the Portuguese rulers. So, who comes to us is not only a public figure but also a son, brother, husband, father, nephew, cousin, friend and host; the lover of music, art, landscapes, gardens, animals and travels; the man with his interests, occupations, beliefs, aversions, egotisms, vanities, joys, sorrows and frustrations.