Miguel I of Portugal

Dom Miguel I (26 October 1802 – 14 November 1866), known by several nicknames, was the King of Portugal between 1828 and 1834. He was the son of King John VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina.

Following his exile as a result of his actions in support of absolutism in the April Revolt (Abrilada) of 1824, Miguel returned to Portugal in 1828 as regent and fiancé of his niece who was Queen Maria II. As regent, he claimed the Portuguese throne in his own right, since according to the so-called Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom his older brother Pedro IV and therefore the latter's daughter had lost their rights from the moment that Pedro had made war on Portugal and become the sovereign of a foreign state (Brazilian Empire). This led to a difficult political situation, during which many people were killed, imprisoned, persecuted or sent into exile, and which culminated in the Portuguese Liberal Wars between authoritarian absolutists and progressive constitutionalists. In the end, Miguel was forced out from the throne and lived the last 32 years of his life in exile.

Miguel Maria do Patrocinio de Bragança e Bourbon, the third (second surviving) son of King John VI and Carlota Joaquina, was born in the Queluz Royal Palace, Lisbon, and was raised by his father Duke of Beja. Some sources have suggested that Miguel I could be the biological son from an adulterous affair between his mother, Queen Carlota, and one of her alleged lovers, possibly D. Pedro José Joaquim Vito de Meneses Coutinho, Marquis of Marialva. Apparently sources close to King John VI confirmed as much by asserting that he had not had sexual relations with his wife for two and a half years prior to Miguel's birth (a period when his parents carried out a conjugal war, during which they were involved in permanent conspiracies, and only encountered each other in rare official circumstances).

But despite the gossip, Miguel was always considered to be a son of the king, by the king, by his mother, by the rest of the family, by the court, and by the church. The "illegitimate child" theories may have had their origins in the writings of pro-liberal propagandists or royalists who wanted to denigrate the queen and undermine the claims of Miguel and of his descendants to the Portuguese throne.

What is clear is that Miguel was the queen's favourite child. After the death of her firstborn, it was Miguel who received most of her attention, rather than Pedro, who was closer to his father.

In 1807, at the age of 5, Miguel accompanied the Portuguese Royal Family on their transfer to Brazil in order to escape from the first Napoleonic invasion of Portugal; he returned in 1821 with John VI and his mother, while his brother Peter remained behind as regent of Brazil.

Miguel was a mischievous child, sometimes seen in the miniature uniform of a general. At sixteen he was seen galloping around Mata-Cavalos, knocking off the hats of passers-by with his riding crop. He spent most of his time with a rowdy band of half-caste or Indian farm-hands. In general, Miguel was spoiled by the queen and her royal household, and clearly influenced by the base tendencies of others. The Duke of Palmela described him as:

Miguel was an avowed conservative and admirer of Prince Metternich, who had referred to the liberal revolutions in the 1820s as unrealistic and without any historical roots: