Dom 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 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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

Early life and career

He was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 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. His uncle had been governor of

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

. He earned notoriety at an early age by telling

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

to his face at the conference in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

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 a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

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, Napol ...

in 1814, where he attempted to press Portugal's claims to

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, and to the Treaty 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, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. After the

Liberal Revolution of 1820 The Liberal Revolution of 1820 () was a Portuguese political revolution that erupted in 1820. It began with a military insurrection in the city of Porto, in northern Portugal, that quickly and peacefully spread to the rest of the country. The Rev ...

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 ...

. 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

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

and was forced with many others to flee to England. An attempt to return to Porto 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, 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

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in the

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; 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 Porto, where Pedro was being besieged, and took part in the subsequent expedition to the

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

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, 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 ''Dom (title), Dona'' Maria I (Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana; 17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) also known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 ...

, on 11 April 1812), Marquis of Palmela (by King John VI on 3 July 1823) and Duke of Faial (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.

Marriage and issue

On 4 June 1810 Pedro de Sousa Holstein married Eugénia Francisca Xavier Teles da Gama (1798–1848). Their issue was: * Alexandre de Sousa Holstein (1812–1832), 1st Count of Calhariz; * Eugénia de Sousa Holstein (1813–1884), Marquise of Minas by marriage; * Isabel de Sousa Holstein (1816–1819); * Domingos de Sousa Holstein (1818–1864), succeeded his father as 2nd Duke of Palmela; * Manuel de Sousa Holstein (1819–1837); * Maria Ana de Sousa Holstein (1821–1844); * Maria José de Sousa Holstein (1822–1834); * Teresa de Sousa Holstein (1823–1885), Countess of Alcáçovas by marriage; * Rodrigo de Sousa Holstein (1824–1840), Marquis of Palmela; * Catarina de Sousa Holstein (1826–1885), Countess of Galveias by marriage; * Ana Rosa de Sousa Holstein (1828–1864); * Pedro de Sousa Holstein (1830–1830); * (1838–1878), 1st Marquis of Sousa Holstein; * (1839–1887), 1st Marquis of Sesimbra; * (1841–1884), 1st Marquis of Monfalim;

References

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