Mary I of Portugal

Mary I Frances or Maria I Francisca (pron. IPA //), (Portuguese full name: Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana), the Piteous (Port. a Piedosa) - (Lisbon December 17 1734 – Rio de Janeiro March 20 1816) was the daughter of King Joseph I of Portugal, the eldest of four daughters. Her mother Marianne Victoria of Borbón was daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese.

At the day of her birth, her grandfather, king John V of Portugal, created her the Princess of Beira.

When her father, Joseph I, succeeded to the throne in 1750, Maria was declared his heiress and the next monarch. She was given the crown-princely title Princess of Brazil, but not the duchy of Bragança.

She married her father's younger brother, Peter III, on June 6, 1760. In 1777, she became the first Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Portugal and Algarves, and the 26th (or 27th according to some historians) Portuguese monarch.

Her first act as queen was to dismiss the unpopular prime minister, the Marquis of Pombal, following the brutal treatment given to the Távoras in the Tavora affair. Noteworthy events of this period were Portugal's membership of the League of Armed Neutrality (July 1782) and the 1781 cession of Delagoa Bay from Austria to Portugal. In 1801 the Spanish dictator Manuel de Godoy invaded Portugal with backing from Napoleon, but was forced to abandon the campaign in the same year. However the Treaty of Badajoz on June 6 1801 forced Portugal to cede Olivenza and part of Guyana to Spain. Queen Mary suffered from religious mania and melancholia. It made her incapable of handling state affairs after 1799 and so her son Prince John became regent. The refusal of his government to join the Continental Blockade of Britain culminated in the 1807 Franco-Spanish invasion led by Marshal Junot. The Braganza dynasty fled to Brazil on November 13, 1807, and Junot was appointed governor of the kingdom pending Napoleon's decision on its ultimate fate. On August 1, 1808, the British General Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) landed a British army in Lisbon and thus commenced the Peninsular War. Wellesley's initial victory over Junot at Vimeiro (August 21 1808) was wiped out by his superiors in the Convention of Cintra (August 30 1808). Nevertheless, Wellesley (now Lord Wellington) returned to Portugal on April 22, 1809 to recommence the campaign. Portuguese forces under British command distinguished themselves in the defence of the lines of Torres Vedras (1809-1810) and in the subsequent invasion of Spain and France. In 1815, the regency government elevated Brazil as kingdom, and Maria I was proclaimed the Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. When Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815, Maria and her family were still in Brazil. The aged Queen died at Rio de Janeiro in 1816 and the Prince Regent succeeded her as King John VI of Portugal and Brazil.

Maria's marriages and descendants

Maria married her uncle, Prince Peter of Portugal, who when she was crowned Queen regnant automatically became King consort Peter III of Portugal, because a child had already been born from the marriage.

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
By Peter III of Portugal (July 5 1717-May 25 1786; married on June 6 1760)
Prince Joseph	August 20 1761	September 11 1788	Titled Prince of Beira. Married his aunt Maria Francisca Benedita, Infanta of Portugal, but had no issue.
Prince John Francis	September 16 1763	October 10 1763
Prince John Maria	May 13 1769	March 26 1826	With the title of Prince of Brazil, and who succeeded her as the 27th (or 28th according to some historians) King of Portugal.
Princess Maria Clementina	June 9 1774	June 27 1776
Princess Maria Isabel	December 23 1766	January 14 1777
Princess Mariana	December 15 1768	November 2 1788	Married Gabriel, prince of Spain, son of Charles III.

See also: List of Portuguese monarchs

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Maria's marriages and descendants