Pre-Publication. D. João VI and his unfortunate family – D. Pedro's conspiracy and the painful departure from Brazil

He had resisted fleeing to Brazil until the last moment, but once settled there, D. João VI felt at home in the tropics. If it were up to him, he would never return to Portugal. However, his son D. Pedro had other plans: he wanted to see “the old man gone”, so that he could remain as regent and, who knows, perhaps one day become emperor.

On the morning of 26 February 1821, D. João VI was awakened in the Palace of São Cristóvão by the news that a crowd, gathered in Largo do Rossio (in the city centre, just a stone's throw from the Royal Palace), was demanding his presence. The King hurriedly met with Villanova Portugal, the head of the Government, but did nothing.

The one who goes to meet the demonstrators, on horseback, is D. Pedro. An excellent horseman, the prince always travels this way. Upon arriving at the square, he is acclaimed by the mutinous crowd, and they make surprising demands of him: the presence of the King there, the acceptance of the Constitution and the revocation of the decree that requires D. Pedro to go to Portugal.

The prince mounts again and returns to the Palace of São Cristóvão, located about seven kilometers away, to inform his father. The latter panics. He calls Palmella (who after the revolution in Portugal had come to Brazil, where she arrived on December 23) and asks her directly:

— How should I treat the rebels?

Palmella, with her relentless logic, answers him:

— Unfortunately, sir, there is no need to deliberate; you must do whatever they ask of you.

D. João VI communicates his decision to his son: he will accept everything, including a Constitution. D. Pedro now acts as a messenger pigeon: he carries things back and forth. He returns to meet the demonstrators and tells them of the King's decision. But they are not satisfied. They want the monarch to be present in person. D. Pedro runs to get him. He finds him terrified, resists going, but resigns himself. He gets into a carriage, while D. Pedro jumps back onto the back of the horse. On the way to the City Hall, images of terror come to the monarch's mind. He sees Louis XVI walking to the gallows in France and his head rolling on the boards. And when he arrives at Rossio, he almost dies of fright when, amid the roar of the crowd, he sees people surround his carriage, unharness the horses, grab him and carry him on their shoulders to who knows where. But he soon calms down: he realizes that they mean him no harm. They take him to the Royal Palace. And here, as he appears on the balcony, he sighs with relief: the crowd applauds him.

He then does what Palmella tells him: he accepts everything he is told. He ratifies the meeting of the Cortes and promises to swear an oath and sign a Constitution that will strip him of much of his power, saying so that there is no doubt: “A Constitution exactly as it is drawn up in Portugal by the Cortes”. And he guarantees that he will go to Portugal to do so, with D. Pedro assuming the regency here. D. João is terrified. And he says all this in such a stammering way, in such a low voice, that his son, standing beside him, has to repeat his words. But that test had been overcome and that was what he wanted more than anything now.

Two days later, on 28 February, the press reported that the government had decided to return the royal family to Lisbon, despite the monarch's wishes. And on 7 March, the unofficial Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro confirmed the King's departure and the handover of the government of Brazil to his son. With his back against the wall, D. João was unable to resist.

The conspiracy of D. Pedro

This moment is decisive, and without understanding it we will understand nothing. Most historians present the events of February 26 as an uprising of troops supported by the population in favor of the constitutional revolution in Lisbon.

Now, that doesn't make any sense. What would the military in Rio and its population care about what was happening in Lisbon? Nothing. The issue was something else.

As we have seen, one of the demands of the rebels was the revocation of the decree that sent D. Pedro to Portugal. They did not want the royal prince to leave. And then they demanded that the king swear an oath to the Constitution. Combining the two conditions, the conclusion is clear: the mutineers wanted D. Pedro to stay in Brazil and D. João to return to Portugal (with the Constitution already duly sworn in).

It doesn't seem difficult to understand that this farce was set up by D. Pedro.

His entire behavior that morning, his comings and goings between the City Hall and São Cristóvão, acting as an intermediary between the rebels and his father, all point to one thing: it was D. Pedro himself who inspired or even organized that uprising. His idea was to push D. João out of Brazil and leave him as regent — with the idea, or not, of becoming emperor tomorrow.

In fact, the history of this family is all about hypocrisy and betrayal. Always saying that they adore and love each other, they continually backstab each other. The queen never stopped conspiring against her husband, D. Pedro conspired against his father, D. Miguel did the same, the two brothers went to war and even the daughters argued with each other.

*

D. Pedro wants to get rid of the old man, and behind the scenes he pulls all the strings to that end. However, not everyone is happy with the idea. The presence of the Court in Rio has given the city a new shine and its status as the seat of the empire has given it a new importance.

Thus, two months after the movement of February 26th, on April 21st, an event of the opposite nature took place: a crowd wanted to block the police station where the King was to leave for Portugal. D. Pedro was furious. If his father backed down and decided not to leave, everything would get complicated again. He would probably have to go. He then personally took command of the repression, which would be violent: thirty people were killed and many injured.

The proof was there. While the demonstration demanding that D. Pedro remain in Brazil had taken place peacefully and had his support, the demonstration in favor of his father remaining had resulted in injuries and deaths. Everything was crystal clear. An analyst would draw the obvious conclusion: “Once again, the protests favored D. Pedro, removing the conditions for a hypothetical wave of support for the king’s continued presence in Brazil.”

What was left to say was that none of this happened by chance. Behind the events stood the figure of the royal prince — orchestrating the movement that wanted the King to leave and repressing those who defended his permanence.

The farewell of D. João VI from Brazil, which had given so much impetus to the colony, thus ended in a bloodbath.

Behind the curtain

If publicly things had happened as we have just seen, knowledge of what went on behind the scenes confirms the same reading.

When news of the revolution in Portugal reaches Brazil, D. João is terrified—not of what might happen to the kingdom, but of what will be demanded of him. He feels comfortable in Brazil and does not even want to think about returning to Europe. A return trip and another change of Court are unthinkable. If it were up to him, he would never return. Especially because, in stark contrast to the tranquility that the King now enjoys in Rio, the unknowns of a return to his homeland arise: the aforementioned dangers of the transatlantic journey, the revolutionary atmosphere that he will encounter in Lisbon, the humiliations that he will have to endure and even the physical risks that await him. On his return to Portugal, nothing can go well.

And a large part of the immigrant nobility shares the same feeling. After a discouraging start, as we know, they have already acclimatized — and Brazil is now also a promising land for them. The seat of a renewed empire. Reinvigorated with the sap of the new world. The plan is to seize the opportunity and build a strong monarchy, centered on America and not on the little piece of Europe, where everything is petty. Twelve years have passed, some who came with the regent are already old and do not want the inconvenience of a new move, others have set up their businesses here, others have started families or rebuilt them and have already had children here.

In view of this, D. João thought over and over the idea. He spoke to those close to him. He decided to send his eldest son, D. Pedro, who had just turned twenty-two, in his place, but he did not immediately inform him of his decision. “I have not yet spoken to my son, I want you to tell me if you are of the same opinion,” the monarch said to Thomaz Antonio Villanova Portugal, the head of the Government. And he added, showing his complete mental laziness: “Tell me what I should say to him and, if there is a reply, what I should say to him.”

But D. Pedro did not welcome the idea. His entire life had been set up in Brazil. His wife was in the final weeks of her pregnancy. And the siren songs that were whispered in his ear fueled his ambition: if his father left and he became regent, he could one day become emperor. D. João, however, insisted. In the decree of 18 February, which we already know, he was clear: “I have decided to give the greatest proof of the constant concern that drives me for the good of my vassals, by ordering that my much-loved and highly valued son, D. Pedro, […] go to Portugal equipped with the necessary authority and instructions […] in order to restore general tranquility to that kingdom.”

Now, faced with this, D. Pedro had only one way to evade the decision: to organize a movement demanding his permanence in the colony. That is what he did. Eight days after the decree was issued, on February 26, the demonstration we know about took place.

Palmella, in a letter to the Count of Funchal, praised D. Pedro's resourcefulness that morning and his apparent loyalty to his father (by cutting short the intentions of the troops, who wanted to acclaim him as emperor), but added: "However, there are many people who suppose that he was instructed in advance of what was being planned and it is certain that he allows himself to be surrounded and advised by bad people."

This letter says it all: D. Pedro was “informed in advance of what was being planned”, that is, he was aware of everything that was being plotted, and he is surrounded by “bad people”. And who are these bad people? They are people who want Brazil’s independence, and therefore want to see the King leave here, want to see his son assume the regency and, later, declare independence.

Another letter, this one from the Count of Subserra, dispels any doubts that might remain: «Educated Brazilians have assured me that [the Count of] Arcos [the Minister of the Kingdom, former Viceroy of Brazil] said to His Highness [D. Pedro] : 'Let's throw the old man out and I will do with the Brazilians what I want, because only I know how to take them' » .

And Baron de Neuville, later French ambassador in Lisbon, who was close to D. João VI, would state in his memoirs: «I was aware […] of situations that prove that D. Pedro's objective was not to save Brazil, but to remove his father and reign there alone» .

Everything was moving in the same direction: D. Pedro wanted to see “the old man gone”, he refused to go to Portugal, the military garrison in Rio supported him, and Carlota Joaquina was putting pressure on him to return to Lisbon.

And in Portugal, the same thing was desired. The news that D. João VI had sworn in Brazil to accept the future Constitution arrived in Lisbon on 28 April, two months later, but it aroused suspicion. It was a vague oath, since the King did not know what he was going to sign… “D. João VI did not know what he had sworn; who could guarantee that upon his return to the metropolis he would come to an agreement with […] the Cortes?” And so they wanted the King back in Portugal to give a verbal guarantee that he would accept the Constitution that the Cortes would approve. And, later, he would be there to swear it.

The stars were aligned. D. João VI's return to his homeland had become inevitable. There was no way to escape. He would end up saying: "Well, if my son doesn't want to go, then I will go."

As Junot had stated, D. João was incapable of making decisions and could only do so under strong pressure. Once again this was true.

The painful farewell to Rio (April 1821)

Since the regent's departure for Brazil and his installation in Rio de Janeiro, tensions between Portugal and that colony had been increasing. This was natural, for all the reasons. And in the revolution of August 1820, all this accumulated discomfort came to the surface.

At the beginning of 1821, Manuel Fernandes Thomaz, vice-president of the Constituent Courts and one of its most influential deputies, stated in his thunderous style: D. João VI will have to choose between “the land of monkeys, blacks and snakes, or the country of white people, of civilized peoples, and lovers of their sovereign” . And he reinforced the idea, concluding: “Let us now turn our eyes from that wild and uncultivated country to this land of people, to Portugal!”

D. João VI, as we have seen, had initially chosen to remain “in the land of the monkeys”, but circumstances had forced him to do otherwise. And on 24 April, the last act of his presence in Rio de Janeiro would take place. He would make a point of taking with him the mortal remains of his mother, D. Maria I, who died in 1816, and of his beloved nephew and son-in-law Pedro Carlos de Bourbon, who had married the Infanta, his daughter Maria Theresa, and who died prematurely in 1812.

The transfer of the two coffins aboard the frigate that will take them to Lisbon will take place discreetly at night, so as not to give rise to further demonstrations. And by the light of the torches a funeral procession will form, giving the monarch's farewell a heavy and somber atmosphere.

*

Showing his disagreement, D. João VI will take his presence in Brazil to the limit. While D. Carlota Joaquina will embark on the 25th, the King will only do so in the early hours of the 26th, furtively. Before leaving, he named his eldest son D. Pedro de Alcântara prince regent in his name and told him: "Pedro, if Brazil separates, it will be for you, who will respect me, rather than for one of those adventurers."

The king and the queen carry opposing feelings in their heads. He misses the twelve years, three months and three days they spent there. He had lived the happiest days of his political life in Brazil, and he left in tears. She, on the other hand, felt enormous relief. She was often heard saying that she would go blind when she returned to Portugal, having spent so much time “in the dark, only seeing black people” . Like Fernandes Thomaz, Brazil was also a “country of monkeys and black people” for her. Her contempt for these lands was such that, when she embarked for Portugal, she took off her sandals, hit a cannon on the ship with them and said: “I have removed the last grain of dust from Brazil from my feet. I don’t even want the land of damned Brazil as a souvenir on my shoes” .

The squadron of twelve ships left Rio for Lisbon at 6:30 a.m. on April 26, 1821, led by the ship D. João VI. Curiously, its first major voyage had been to bring Princess D. Leopoldina, wife of his son D. Pedro, from Europe to Rio de Janeiro — an event that D. João had welcomed warmly. And she would repay him in kind. Unlike D. Pedro, who was happy to see his father gone, his wife would bitterly regret the monarch's departure. She would later write with obvious emotion: "It all seems like a dream to me. The reality is that I must remain in Brazil, and I find myself separated from my wonderful father-in-law, which, for many reasons, is extremely difficult and painful for me."

Leopoldina must have been one of the very few people who considered D. João a “wonderful” being. But this statement gave a good idea of ​​the sadness that had taken hold of the empress and the loneliness she felt in Brazil, which only her father-in-law helped to alleviate.

The King embarked with his wife, Carlota Joaquina, his son Miguel, four daughters — Maria Theresa, Izabel Maria, Maria d'Assumpção and Ana de Jesus —, his grandson Sebastião — born in Brazil, son of Maria Theresa and Pedro Carlos, who had since passed away —, Princess Maria Francisca Benedita, the King's aunt, and three to four thousand courtiers. The rest, who had come with the regent in 1807, remained there, alive or dead, except for the few who had already returned to Portugal.

The feelings of many Portuguese who accompanied the King on his return were the same as those of Queen Carlota Joaquina: they had hated Brazil upon arrival, and this aversion remained. The majority, however, had changed their minds and so decided to stay there.

[…]

Many Portuguese who did not return to Lisbon with the King, opting to stay in Brazil, had made their choice long ago, calling their relatives, parents and siblings, or getting married and starting new families, deciding to put down roots there and not return to their hometown. For them, there was no doubt: “Portugal was the past, the old, the old ideas, the colonial system and decadence. Brazil was the new, the future, wealth, prosperity, transformation.”

This was also how D. João VI saw the issue — and that is why returning to Europe was a tragedy for him, a step back, a setback in his path.

The King on board “was deeply overcome, overcome with shocks and sadness, […], thrown on his bergère , moved, the poor man hardly spoke, or prayed, his bovine and bitter eyes, melancholically fixed on the fleeting line of the horizon, beyond which the enchanted paradise of America, Brazil, was fading or disappearing, in a dreamlike gauze. What would become of his poor life when he arrived in Portugal?”, asked the historian Luiz Edmundo.

D. João VI did not return empty-handed, however.

Just as he had brought from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro the precious items he had managed to gather, and then sent others to be sent, on his return to the metropolis he did the same: he took some of the jewels from the Royal Treasury brought in 1807, the gold bars and diamonds deposited by private individuals in the vaults of the Bank of Brazil and more than sixty million cruzados in coins.

The son, even if he could, would not have opposed that embezzlement: what D. Pedro wanted was to see his father behind him, whatever the cost.

The return to the homeland

Fear of the sea leads the King to want to make a stopover. They would sail along the coast to Salvador, the capital of Bahia, stop there and only then set sail for the high seas. The King has every excuse to delay the voyage. However, they dissuade him from this intention. They convince him that the best thing to do would be to head to the Azores now, make a stopover there, and send an envoy to Lisbon to observe the atmosphere in the capital and bring back news. And so it is. They arrive within sight of the Azores on 23 June, two months after their departure, but the weather conditions frustrate their plans: the wind pushes the ships in another direction and they have to continue their journey.

[…]

Two days before the expected arrival of D. João VI, the news reached Lisbon, carried by ships from Brazil — and the capital was on tenterhooks. At 5:00 a.m. on July 3, the royal squadron was sighted off the Portuguese coast. And at 11:00 a.m., it anchored in Junqueira, with the ships lined up in front of the Cordoaria building. The journey had taken sixty-eight days.