Why did the Portuguese royal family flee to Brazil?

Brazil’s independence celebrates 200 years this week. And do you know why the Portuguese fled to our lands in 1808?

To understand this, you need to understand a little about the relationship between Portugal and France in the 19th century. After all, it was the continental blockade imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte on Europe that made the Portuguese court move to Brazil in the early 19th century.

Dependent on British trade, Portugal found itself in a vast impasse: supplying France meant losing its main colony at the time, Brazil, because the British navy dominated the seas and could invade it. Not complying with Napoleon’s demands meant having its own territory invaded by French troops.

Wisely, Prince Regent Dom João – who ruled in place of his mother, Dona Maria 1 st, who had gone mad – decided to side with the English and the solution he found to avoid submitting to Napoleon was to transfer the Portuguese Court to Brazil.

Although Portuguese territory was invaded, the Kingdom of Portugal survived on the other side of the Atlantic.

Between November 25 and 27, 1807, some 10,000 to 15,000 people embarked on 14 ships: the royal family, the nobility, and the court’s high civil and military officials. They brought with them all their wealth. When the French soldiers arrived in Lisbon, they found a poor and abandoned kingdom.

The journey of the Portuguese elite was not at all easy, especially due to a storm that dispersed the ships. While part of them ended up in the southeast, the one carrying Dom João docked in Bahia in January 1808. In March, the Prince Regent preferred to move to Rio de Janeiro, then little more than a village.

Suddenly, Rio was obliged to accommodate a multitude of noble authorities. For the owners of power, however, there were no problems. Dom João requisitioned the best residences and simply evicted the residents. From there, now, the Portuguese Empire would be governed.

Despite the upheavals, the consequences of the Portuguese royal family’s arrival in Brazil were positive and culminated in the country’s independence process. To begin with, still, in Bahia, Dom João ended the colony’s trade monopoly, decreeing that the ports would be opened to friendly nations.

The country’s activities became more dynamic with the establishment of the Court in Rio de Janeiro. The need for improvement resulted in measures that brought rapid progress. For example, the law prohibiting industries in our territory was revoked, and improvements to ports and the construction of roads were promoted.

The administration was reorganized by the prince regent, with the creation of three ministries (War and Foreign Affairs; Navy; Treasury and Interior), the founding of the Bank of Brazil, the installation of the Junta Geral do Comércio and the Casa de Suplicação, the latter the Supreme Court of the time.

In 1815, Brazil was elevated to the category of a kingdom, so all Portuguese lands were now called the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. With this, the country ceased to be a colony and gained a new political status.

In the following three years, with the death of Queen Dona Maria 1st (1816), the Prince Regent would be acclaimed and crowned king, as Dom João 6th (1818). From 1821 on, the captaincies were called provinces, and the territorial division of Brazil became closer to the current one. The administration was centralized in the hands of the king, and the governors of the provinces subordinated to him.

With information from UOL

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