Bicentennial of Independence: the influence of Princess Leopoldina, the first Brazilian empress

The independence of Brazil is a historical fact directly linked to the action of Dom Pedro I. This is what we all learned in school. But behind the Prince Regent’s decision, Princess Leopoldina’s influence was also decisive.

The letters she sent to her husband were the final kick to the rupture between Brazil and Portugal.

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Maria Leopoldina Josefa Carolina de Habsburgo (Leopoldine Caroline Josepha von Habsburg-Lothringen) was an Austrian princess who landed in Brazil in 1817, at the age of 20, to consummate her marriage with Prince Regent Pedro I, of the Portuguese dynasty of Bragança.

A throne arrangement befitting two European royal houses.

The first Brazilian empress did not live long, dying in 1826, and in nine years in court, she became pregnant nine times.

But her role in Brazilian history goes far beyond just being the wife of Dom Pedro I.

She was instrumental in the independence process, which imploded the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.

She convinced José Bonifácio to accept the Minister of the Kingdom and Foreign Affairs nomination.

The Declaration of Independence, written by Bonifácio, was signed by her on September 2, 1822, and sent by messengers on horseback to Dom Pedro, who was in São Paulo then.

Her texts were decisive.

“Brazil will be a great country in your hands; Brazil wants you for its monarch. With your support or without your support, it will make its separation. The apple is ripe, pick it up, or it will rot.” – Wrote Leopoldina in one of the three letters she sent to Dom Pedro.

The cry of Ipiranga was a consequence not only of Portuguese threats to return Brazil to the status of a colony but also of Princess Leopoldina’s efforts.

With information from AgênciaBrasil

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