''
Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
'' Ferdinand II (
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
: ''Fernando II'') (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885) was a German prince of the
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry is the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, founded after the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Among its desc ...
, and
King of Portugal
This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Through the n ...
''
jure uxoris
''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...
'' as the husband of
Queen Maria II, from the birth of their first son in 1837 to her death in 1853.
In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in 1837 did he acquire the title of king. Ferdinand's reign came to an end with the death of his wife in 1853, but he served as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
for his son and successor,
King Pedro V, until 1855.
He retained the style and title of king even after the death of Maria II and her succession by their children Pedro V and then
Luís I. His sons were kings regnants, while Ferdinand himself was a
king-father during their reigns.
Early life
Born Ferdinand August Franz Anton in Vienna, he was the eldest son of
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1785 – 27 August 1851) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Despite ...
and his wife
Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
, heiress to the
House of Koháry
The House of Koháry ( hu, Koháry-ház) was the name of an ancient and wealthy Hungarian noble family with seats at Csábrág and Szitnya (now Čabraď and Sitno Castle) and the palace of Szentantal (now Svätý Anton, Slovakia).
History
Orig ...
. The younger Ferdinand grew up in several places: the family estates in modern-day
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, the imperial court of Austria, and Germany. He was a nephew of King
Leopold I of Belgium
* nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik
* en, Leopold George Christian Frederick
, image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856
, reign = 21 July 1831 –
, predecessor = Erasme Loui ...
, and thus a first cousin to
Leopold II of Belgium
* german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor
, house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, father = Leopold I of Belgium
, mother = Louise of Orléans
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Brussels, Belgium
, death_date = ...
and
Empress Carlota of Mexico
Charlotte of Belgium (''Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine''; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a Princess of Belgium and member of the House of ...
, as well as Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and her husband
Prince Albert. In 1826, his title changed from Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, following the re-arrangement of the Saxon duchies.
King of Portugal
![Dom Fernando II of Portugal by Sendim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Dom_Fernando_II_of_Portugal_by_Sendim.jpg)
According to Portuguese law, the husband of a queen regnant could only be titled king after the birth of an heir from that marriage; this was the reason Maria II's first husband,
Auguste de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, never acquired the title of king. After the birth of their eldest son and heir, the future
Pedro V of Portugal
, house = Braganza
, house-type = House
, father = Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
, mother = Queen Maria II of Portugal
, birth_date =
, birth_place =
, death_date =
, death_place = Necessida ...
, Ferdinand was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II.
Although it was Maria who reigned by right, the royal couple formed an effective team during their joint reign, with Ferdinand reigning by himself during his wife's pregnancies.
Eventually, Maria II died as a result of the birth of their eleventh child, and Ferdinand II's reign ended. However, he would assume the regency of Portugal from 1853 to 1855, during the minority of his son King Pedro V.
Later life
![Retrato de D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Retrato_de_D._Fernando_de_Saxe-Coburgo_e_Gotha%2C_Joseph-Fourtun%C3%A9_Layraud%2C_1877_-_Pal%C3%A1cio_Nacional_da_Pena.png)
Ferdinand was an intelligent and artistically minded man with modern and liberal ideas. He was adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Arts, Lord Protector of the University of
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
and Grand-Master of the
Rosicrucians
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...
.
![Fernando de Saxe-Coburgo e Gotha](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Fernando_de_Saxe-Coburgo_e_Gotha.png)
In 1838, he acquired the former Hieronymite monastery of Our Lady of Pena, which had been built by King Manuel I in 1511 on the top of the hill above
Sintra
Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated ...
and had been left unoccupied since 1834, when the religious orders were suppressed in Portugal. The monastery consisted of the cloister and its outbuildings, the chapel, the sacristy and the bell tower, which today form the northern section of the
Pena National Palace
The Pena Palace ( pt, Palácio da Pena) is a Romanticism, Romanticist castle in São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality of Sintra Municipality, Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera. The castle stands on th ...
(the "Old Palace").
Ferdinand began by making repairs to the former monastery, which, according to the historical sources of that time, was in poor condition. He refurbished the whole of the upper floor, replacing the fourteen cells used by the monks with larger-sized rooms and covering them with the vaulted ceilings that can still be seen today. In 1843, the king decided to enlarge the palace by building a new wing (the New Palace) with even larger rooms (one of them being the Great Hall), ending in a circular tower next to the new kitchens. The building work was directed by the Baron von Eschwege, a wild architectural fantasy in an
eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
style full of symbolism that could be compared with the castle
Neuschwanstein
Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The p ...
of King
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...
. The palace was built in such a way as to be visible from any point in the park, which consists of a forest and luxuriant gardens with over five hundred different species of trees originating from the four corners of the earth. Ferdinand would spend his last years in this castle with his second wife, receiving the greatest artists of his time.
Marriages and descendants
![D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/D._Fernando_II_-_F.A.Gomes%2C_c._1880.png)
In 1836 Ferdinand married Queen
Maria II of Portugal
, image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg
, caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835
, succession = Queen of Portugal
, reign =
, predecessor = Pedro IV
, successor = Miguel I
, reg-type = Regents
, regent ...
. Eleven children were born to the royal couple before Maria died of complications due to childbirth in 1853. Ferdinand was destined to outlive eight of his eleven children. In late 1861, an attack of cholera or typhoid fever struck the royal family and Ferdinand suffered the tragedy of witnessing the death of three of his five surviving sons.
Later in his life, Ferdinand married again in Lisbon on 10 June 1869 to actress
Elisa Hensler (
Neuchâtel
, neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier
, twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...
, 22 May 1836 – Lisbon, Coração de Jesus, 21 May 1929). Just before the marriage, she was styled ''Gräfin'' (Countess) von Edla by Ferdinand's cousin
Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Ernest II (german: Ernst August Karl Johann Leopold Alexander Eduard, link=no; 21 June 181822 August 1893) was Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to his death in 1893. He was born in Coburg to Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld ...
. The couple had no children.
[By an unknown father she had a daughter named Alice Hensler (Paris, 25 December 1855 – Lisbon, Benfica, 18 June 1941), who married in Lisbon, Alcântara, on 30 September 1883 a ]Portuguese Navy
The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...
officer from Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
, Manuel de Azevedo Gomes (1848 –1907), by whom she had issue.
Ancestry
Honours
;Portuguese orders and decorations
[''Staatshandbuch für die Herzogthümer Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha'' (1865). "Genealogie des Herzogliche Hauses"]
p. 10
Gotha: Thienemann.
* Grand Cross of the
Sash of the Three Orders
The Sash of the Three Orders ( pt, Banda das Três Ordens, or ''Banda da Grã-Cruz das Três Ordens'') is a decoration that combines the insignia of the Grand Crosses of the Military Orders of Christ, Aviz and St. James of the Sword. It is the ...
, ''9 December 1835'' – wedding gift of his bride, Queen Maria II
*
Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword
*
Grand Cross of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
* Gold
Medal of Distinguished Service
The Medal of Distinguished Service ( he, עיטור המופת) is an Israeli military decorations, Israeli military decoration. The Medal of Distinguished Service is the third most important medal given by the IDF Chief of General Staff (Israel), ...
;Foreign orders and decorations
Notes
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferdinand 02 Of Portugal
1816 births
1885 deaths
Nobility from Vienna
19th-century Portuguese monarchs
Portuguese Roman Catholics
Jure uxoris kings
Regents of Portugal
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
3
3
3
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Burials at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
Kings consort
Remarried royal consorts