by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022
Pedro III, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia
Pedro III, King of Portugal was co-monarch with his wife and niece Maria I, Queen of Portugal. However, the regal authority was vested entirely in Maria, the rightful heir to the throne. Born on July 5, 1717, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, Pedro Clemente Francisco José António was the fifth of the six children and the fourth of the five sons of João V, King of Portugal and Maria Anna of Austria. By the time Pedro was nineteen years old, three of his four brothers had died and he was the second surviving son after his brother, the future José I, King of Portugal. Pedro’s paternal grandparents were Pedro II, King of Portugal and his second wife Maria Sophia of Neuburg. His maternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife, Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg. His grandmothers were sisters.
Pedro in 1745; Credit – Wikipedia
Pedro had five siblings:
- Infanta Barbara of Portugal (1711 – 1758), married Fernando VI, King of Spain, no children
- Infante Pedro of Portugal (1712 – 1714), died in early childhood
- José I, King of Portugal (1714 – 1777), married Mariana Victoria of Spain, had four daughters including his successor Maria I, Queen of Portugal who married her paternal uncle Pedro
- Infante Carlos of Portugal (1716 – 1736), died of a high fever, aged 19
- Infante Alexandre of Portugal (1723 – 1728), died in childhood from smallpox
Pedro’s wife Maria I, Queen of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia
Pedro’s brother José I, King of Portugal had four daughters and no sons. Therefore, it was nearly inevitable that Maria, José I’s eldest daughter, would become the reigning Queen of Portugal. However, since female succession to the throne of Portugal had never happened before, her father decided that Maria would marry his younger brother Pedro, the first male in the line of succession. On June 6, 1760, 25-year-old Maria married her 42-year-old paternal uncle Pedro. Despite the age gap, the couple had a happy marriage.
Pedro and Maria had six children:
- José, Prince of Brazil (1761 – 1788), married his maternal aunt Infanta Benedita of Portugal, no children, José died from smallpox
- João Francisco of Braganza, Infante of Portugal (born and died 1763), died in infancy
- João VI, King of Portugal (1767 – 1826), married Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain, had nine children
- Mariana Victoria of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1768 – 1788), married Infante Gabriel of Spain, had three children, Mariana Victoria died from childbirth complications along with her last child
- Maria Clementina of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1774 – 1776), died in childhood
- Maria Isabella of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal (1776 – 1777), died in infancy
Maria I, Queen of Portugal and Pedro III, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia
After José I, King of Portugal suffered a series of strokes, his wife Mariana Victoria was created Regent of Portugal on November 29, 1776, and remained Regent until José’s death on February 24, 1777. His eldest daughter and Pedro’s wife and niece became the first queen regnant of Portugal, reigning as Maria I. Pedro became co-monarch, as Pedro III, King of Portugal, when Maria ascended the throne. However, he was only a nominal king because the actual regal authority was vested solely in Maria. He never participated in politics and always left government affairs to his wife. Instead, Pedro spent his time hunting or in religious activities.
Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia
Pedro, III, King of Portugal, died on May 25, 1786, aged sixty-eight, at the Queluz Royal Palace in Queluz, Portugal. He was buried at the Pantheon of the Royal House of Braganza in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal. His death, together with several other factors, contributed to the mental instability of his wife Queen Maria I, which was first noticed shortly after Pedro’s death when Maria had to be carried back to her apartments in a state of delirium.
Maria’s mental instability continued to worsen with the deaths in 1788 of both her eldest son and heir José and her confessor Inácio de São Caetano, Archbishop of Salonica. Another potential causal factor of her mental instability may have been inbreeding, as Maria’s two unmarried sisters Maria Ana Francisca and Maria Doroteia had similar conditions. Eventually, in 1792, Maria’s eldest surviving son, the future João VI, King of Portugal, took over the government on her behalf but he did not assume the title of Prince Regent until 1799. Maria, always in a state of mental instability, survived her husband by thirty years, dying on March 20, 1816, aged eighty-one.
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Works Cited
- En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Peter III of Portugal – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Portugal> [Accessed 16 June 2022].
- Flantzer, Susan, 2022. José I, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/jose-i-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 15 June 2022].
- Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Maria I, Queen of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-i-queen-of-portugal/> [Accessed 16 June 2022].
- Louda, Jiri and Maclagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. London: Little, Brown.
- Pt.wikipedia.org. 2022. Pedro III de Portugal – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_III_de_Portugal> [Accessed 16 June 2022].