'Carlota Joaquina Teresa of Spain' (
Portuguese: 'Carlota Joaquina de Bourbon e Bourbon'; in
Castilian (Spanish): 'Carlota Joaquina de Borbón y Borbón') (
25 April or
25 May 1775 -
6 January or
7 January 1830) was a
Queen consort of
Portugal. She was the eldest daughter of King
Carlos IV of Spain (1748-1819) and his wife Maria Louisa of Parma (1751-1819).
She was born in
Aranjuez.
On
8 May 1785 she was officially married (consummated on
9 January 1790 in
Lisbon), the future
João VI, King of Portugal and the Algarves, King of Brazil, the second son of Queen
Maria I of Portugal and the late
King Consort Pedro III of Portugal. In
1788, when his eldest brother the
Prince of Brazil died, João became the first in line to his mother's throne. Soon he received the titles
Prince of Brazil and 17th
Duke of Braganza. Between 1788 and 1816, Charlotte was known as ''
Princess of Brazil''.
The children of João and Carlota Joaquina were:
★
Maria Teresa, princess of Beira (1793-1874), m. Pedro Carlos of Spain and Portugal (they had one child,
Sebastian of Spain). m2.
Infante Carlos of Spain, pretender of Spain, widower of her younger sister
★ Antonio (Francisco Antonio) (1795-1801), 4th prince of Beira
★
Maria Isabel (1797-1818), m.
Ferdinand VII of Spain, her uncle
★
Pedro IV (1798-1834), prince of Beira, then Duke of Braganza and Prince of Brazil himself
★
Maria Francisca (1800-1834), m.
Infante Carlos of Spain, future pretender to the Spanish throne, her uncle
★
Isabel Maria (1801-1876), Regent of Portugal in
1826
★
Miguel I (1802-1866)
★
Maria de Assunção (1805-1834)
★
Ana de Jesus (1806-1857), m.
1827 Joseph Barreto, Duke of Loulé
Carlota Joaquina is said to have been ambitious and violent. Her features were reportedly ugly and she was short in stature, though apparently not clearly a
dwarf.
While in
Brazil, Carlota Joaquina made attempts to obtain the administration of the Spanish dominions in
Latin America. Spain itself was under
Napoleon and its kings, her father and brother, were held by Napoleon in France. She regarded herself as the heiress of her captured family.
When the Portuguese Royal Family returned to Portugal in
1821 after an absence of 14 years, Carlota Joaquina met a country that had changed much since their departure. In
1807, Portugal had lived stably under
absolutism. Napoleonic troops had brought revolutionary ideas. In
1820, a liberal revolution commenced from
Oporto. Constitutional
Cortes had been promulgating, and in
1821 they gave Portugal its first
constitution. In her native Spain, there had been similar developments in
1812. The queen had arch-conservative positions and wanted a reactionary development in Portugal. Her husband did not want to renege his vows to uphold the constitution. Carlota Joaquina made an alliance with her youngest son
Miguel, who shared his mother's conservative views. In
1824, using Miguel's position as army commander, they took power and held the king a virtual prisoner in the palace, where the queen tried to make him to
abdicate in favor of Miguel. However, the king received
British help and regained power, finally compelling his son to leave the country. The queen had also to go briefly into exile.
Shortly before King João's death, he nominated their daughter
Infanta Isabel Maria as
regent, a position usually occupied by the
queen dowager.
Carlota Joaquina died in
Queluz Palace.
Brazilian Films and TV shows about her life
★ ''
Carlota Joaquina - Princesa do Brazil'' (
1994) - Directed by Carla Camurati. Cast: Marco Nanini, Marieta Severo, Vera Holtz, Ney Latorraca and Marcos Palmeira. Tells a summarized tale, mixing history with legend, of the Princess's life, from her childhood until her (mythical) suicide.
★ ''
O Quinto dos Infernos'' (
2003) - Directed by Wolf Maya. Cast: André Mattos, Betty Lago, Eva Wilma, Marcos Pasquim and Humberto Martins. A television miniseries produced by
Globo TV which tells the tale of the Portuguese Royal Family during their stay in Brazil.
Ancestry