D. Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Faial and Palmela (8 May 1781–12 October 1850) was one of the most important
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 ...
diplomats and
statesmen in the first half of the 19th century. He also served as the country's first modern
Prime Minister (with the title of "President of the Council of Ministers").
Early life and career
He was born in
Turin, a scion of the Portuguese de Sousa family, Lords of Calhariz.
The 'Holstein' element of his family name came from his paternal grandmother Princess Maria Anna Leopoldine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, daughter of
.
His uncle had been governor of
Portuguese India.
He earned notoriety at an early age by telling
Napoleon to his face at the conference in
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitain ...
in 1808 that the Portuguese would not ‘consent to become Spaniards’ as the French Emperor wanted.
He was Portuguese
plenipotentiary to the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in 1814, where he attempted to press Portugal's claims to
Olivenza, and to the
Congress of Paris
The Congress of Paris is the name for a series of diplomatic meetings held in 1856 in Paris, France, to negotiate peace between the warring powers in the Crimean War that had started almost three years earlier."Paris, Treaty of (1856)". The New E ...
in 1815.
After this he was briefly ambassador to London, but then was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs in
Brazil. After the Portuguese Revolution of 1820 he was commissioned by the revolutionary junta to inform the king,
João VI
, house = Braganza
, father = Peter III of Portugal
, mother = Maria I of Portugal
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal
, death_date =
, death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal ...
, of what had taken place and to request his return to Portugal from Brazil.
In 1823 he was made a Marquis and became foreign minister as well as head of the committee which D. João appointed to devise a new constitutional
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
. The resulting document, to which the King was unable to agree, was so liberal that it drew down on Palmela the hatred of the reactionary forces in the country, especially the Queen and the Infant
Dom Miguel, who in 1824 had him arrested.
After he obtained his liberty he was made a minister of state and returned to London as ambassador.
Liberal Wars
When ''Dom'' Miguel seized the throne of Portugal in 1828 Palmela sided with the opposition in
Oporto and was forced with many others to flee to England. An attempt to return to Oporto in June 1828, called the ''
Belfastada'', failed.
Greville noted in his diary for 16 August 1828:
[Charles C. F. Greville, ''A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV'', volume I (Longmans Green & Co, London, 1874), at page 138]
” Esterhazy told me to-night that Palmella entertains from twenty to thirty of his countrymen at dinner every day, of whom there are several hundred in London, of the best families, totally destitute.”
Miguel condemned him to death ''in absentia'' and seized his estates, but
Dom Pedro Dom Pedro (''Lord Peter'') is the traditional Portuguese appellation of several kings of Portugal:
* Peter I of Portugal
* Peter II of Portugal
* Peter III of Portugal
* Pedro IV of Portugal
* Pedro V of Portugal
and of the two 19th-century Emperors ...
, Emperor of Brazil, appointed Palmela guardian to his daughter, the rightful Queen
Maria II, and he acted as her ambassador at the British court.
In 1830 he set up the young queen’s regency on
Terceira
Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...
in the
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 ...
; it was at this time that he became acquainted with Captain
Charles Napier whom he considered the best person to command the Liberals' navy.
When Dom Pedro took charge of the regency in person in 1832 he named Palmela as his foreign minister, in which capacity he acted against Miguel from London.
In 1833 he sailed with Charles Napier bringing mercenary reinforcements to Oporto, where Pedro was being besieged, and took part in the subsequent expedition to the
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has its ...
of Napier and the
Duke of Terceira.
After Napier’s
naval victory off
Cape St Vincent
Cape St. Vincent ( pt, Cabo de São Vicente, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe.
History
Cape St. Vincent was already sac ...
enabled Pedro to occupy
Lisbon, Palmela retired from his offices.
Constitutional Monarchy
He served as the first Prime Minister of the newly formed constitutional monarchy in Portugal from 24 September 1834 to 4 May 1835.
He served briefly Prime Minister again in February 1842 (for two days, in the so-called ''
Shrovetide Cabinet''), and from March to October 1846 (during the height of the
Revolution of Maria da Fonte
The Revolution of Maria da Fonte, or Revolution of the Minho, is the name given to a popular revolt in the spring of 1846 against the Cartista government of Portugal (presided over by António Bernardo da Costa Cabral, 1st Marquess of Tomar). T ...
).
''Dom'' Pedro was successively made Count of Palmela (by Queen
Maria I
, succession = Queen of Portugal
, image = Maria I, Queen of Portugal - Giuseppe Troni, atribuído (Turim, 1739-Lisboa, 1810) - Google Cultural Institute.jpg
, caption = Portrait attributed to Giuseppe Troni,
, reign ...
, on 11 April 1812),
Marquis of Palmela
The Duke of Palmela (in Portuguese ''Duque de Palmela'') is a Portuguese title granted by royal decree of Queen Maria II of Portugal, dated from October 18, 1850, to ''Dom'' Pedro de Sousa Holstein (1781-1850), a Portuguese politician during the ...
(by King
John VI on 3 July 1823) and
Duke of Faial
Duke of Faial ( pt, Duque do Faial) was a Portuguese title of nobility, named for Faial Island in the Azores, which was granted by royal decree of Queen Maria II of Portugal, dated from 4 April 1833, to Pedro de Sousa Holstein, a 19th century p ...
(by Queen
Maria II on 4 April 1836).
Finally, on 18 October 1850, Queen
Maria II substituted its Dukedom of Faial by the new title of
Duke of Palmela
The Duke of Palmela (in Portuguese ''Duque de Palmela'') is a Portuguese title granted by royal decree of Queen Maria II of Portugal, dated from October 18, 1850, to ''Dom'' Pedro de Sousa Holstein (1781-1850), a Portuguese politician during the ...
.
Marriage and Issue
On 4 June 1810 Pedro de Sousa Holstein married Eugénia Francisca Xavier Teles da Gama (1798–1860). Their issue was:
*Alexandre de Sousa e Holstein (1812–1832), 1st Count of Calhariz;
*Domingos de Sousa Holstein (1818–1864), succeeded his father as 2nd
Duke of Palmela
The Duke of Palmela (in Portuguese ''Duque de Palmela'') is a Portuguese title granted by royal decree of Queen Maria II of Portugal, dated from October 18, 1850, to ''Dom'' Pedro de Sousa Holstein (1781-1850), a Portuguese politician during the ...
;
*Rodrigo de Sousa (1824–1840),
*Francisco de Sousa Holstein (1838–1878), 1st Marquis of Sousa Holstein;
*Tomás de Sousa e Holstein Beck (1839–1887), 1st Marquis of Sesimbra;
*Filipe de Sousa Holstein (1841–1884), 1st Marquis of Monfalim;
See also
*
Devorismo
References
External links
Genealogy of Pedro Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela, in Portuguese
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmela, Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of
Counts of Palmela
Margraves of Palmela
Dukes of Palmela
Dukes of Faial
Portuguese diplomats
1781 births
1850 deaths
Prime Ministers of Portugal
Finance ministers of Portugal
Foreign ministers of Portugal
Ambassadors of Portugal to Denmark
Ambassadors of Portugal to Germany
Ambassadors of Portugal to Italy
Ambassadors of Portugal to Spain
Ambassadors of Portugal to the United Kingdom
Portuguese nobility
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Portuguese people of German descent
H