D. Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Faial and Palmela (8 May 1781–12 October 1850) was one of the most important Portuguese diplomats and statesmen in the first half of the 19th century. He also served as the country's first modern

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

(with the title of "President of the Council of Ministers").

Early life and career

He was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, 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

Frederick William I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck Frederick William I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck ( German: ''Friedrich Wilhelm I. Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck''; 2 May 1682 – 26 June 1719) was a son of Duke August and his wife, Hedwig Louise of Schaumburg- ...

. His uncle had been governor of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a s ...

. He earned notoriety at an early age by telling

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

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-Aquitaine r ...

in 1808 that the Portuguese would not ‘consent to become Spaniards’ as the French Emperor wanted. He was Portuguese

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

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 ...

in 1814, where he attempted to press Portugal's claims to Olivenza, and to the Congress of Paris in 1815. After this he was briefly ambassador to London, but then was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. After the Portuguese Revolution of 1820 he was commissioned by the revolutionary junta to inform the king, João VI, 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 re ...

. 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 Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

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 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 it ...

of Napier and the Duke of Terceira. After Napier’s naval victory off Cape St Vincent enabled Pedro to occupy

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, 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). ''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

; *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;

References

External links