page_title: United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
section_title: Aftermath: resolution of the dynastic entanglement
hierarchical_section_title: United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves / History / Dissolution of the United Kingdom / Aftermath: resolution of the dynastic entanglement
caption_attribution_description: S.M.I. o Senhor D. Pedro restituindo sua Augusta Filha a Senhora D. Maria Segunda e a Carta Constitucional aos Portugueses, 1832 (Peter I with his daughter D. Maria II and the Portuguese Constitution of 1826 - lithography).
context_page_description: The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil with the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of the Algarves, constituting a single state consisting of three kingdoms.
  The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed in 1815, following the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil during the Napoleonic invasions of Portugal, and it continued to exist for about one year after the return of the Court to Europe, being de facto dissolved in 1822, when Brazil proclaimed its independence. The dissolution of the United Kingdom was accepted by Portugal and formalized de jure in 1825, when Portugal recognized the independent Empire of Brazil.
  During its period of existence the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves did not correspond to the whole of the Portuguese Empire: rather, the united kingdom was the transatlantic metropolis that controlled the Portuguese colonial empire, with its overseas possessions in Africa and Asia.
context_section_description: With the death of the Portuguese King John VI on 10 March 1826, his heir apparent, Brazilian Emperor Pedro I, inherited the Portuguese Crown, and reigned briefly as King Pedro IV. On 20 March 1826 the proclamation of the Brazilian Emperor's accession to the Portuguese Throne was made public by the Portuguese Council of Regency (that had been instituted by King John VI during his final illness, and that was led by the Infanta Isabel Maria, daughter of John VI and Pedro I & IV's sister). With this union of Crowns, the monarchies of Portugal and Brazil were once again briefly united, but there was no thought of a reunification of the two separate States. Accordingly, this brief union of Crowns in the person of Pedro I and IV remained always a personal union only, and not a real union or a rebirth of the United Kingdom.
  News of the death of King John VI and of the proclamation of the Brazilian Emperor as King of Portugal reached the Brazilian province of Bahia on 18 April, and official news to that effect reached the Emperor of Brazil and new King of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro on 24 April 1826, shortly after the final settlement of the Brazilian independence question (the decree publishing the text of the Treaty on the Recognition of Independence and ordering its execution as part of the Law of Brazil had just been made public on 10 April 1826). The existence even of the personal union only was seen by Brazilian politicians as dangerous, since it could come to affect the effectiveness of the newly formed country's sovereignty.
  Accordingly, steps were taken to put an end to the personal union: Pedro I & IV agreed to abdicate the Portuguese Throne in favour of his eldest daughter, but he also wanted to ensure that her rights would be respected, and he further wanted to restore constitutional monarchy to Portugal. In order to put an end to the Portuguese absolute monarchy, the King-Emperor commissioned the drafting of a new Constitution for Portugal, that was widely based on the Brazilian Constitution. This document was finalized in less than a week.
  After issuing a new Constitution for Portugal on 29 April 1826, and as already announced in that Constitution, King-Emperor Pedro abdicated the Portuguese Crown in favour of his daughter, Princess Maria da Glória, on 2 May 1826. Princess Maria da Glória thus became Queen Maria II of Portugal. The document by which the Brazilian Emperor abdicated the Portuguese Crown was signed days before the first meeting of the Parliament established by the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, that assembled for the first time on 6 May 1826. Before his abdication, on 26 April, King Pedro confirmed the Regency of Portugal that had been established by his father during his final illness, and that was led by the Infanta Isabel Maria, his sister. As the new Queen Maria II was still a minor, Portugal would need to be led by Regents during her minority. On 30 April, King Pedro IV set the date for the first legislative elections under the new Portuguese Constitution and appointed Peers of the Realm.
  On 12 May 1826, British envoy Charles Stuart left Rio de Janeiro for Portugal carrying with him the acts signed by the Brazilian Emperor as King of Portugal, including the new Portuguese Constitution and his deed of abdication of the Portuguese Crown. On that same date Carlos Matias Pereira left Rio de Janeiro for Lisbon in another ship carrying a second copy of the same documents. Charles Stuart arrived in Lisbon on 2 July 1826 and presented the acts signed by King Pedro IV to the Government of Portugal, including his original deed of abdication of the Portuguese Throne. On 12 July 1826 the Portuguese Government published the new Constitution decreed by Pedro IV; the Portuguese Regency swore on 31 July 1826 an oath to uphold the Constitution, marking its entry into force, and, on 1 August 1826 Queen Maria II was publicly proclaimed as Queen of Portugal, with the Infanta Isabel Maria as Regent. On 4 October the exiled infante Miguel (that had been exiled since attempting to depose his father, and that would later
caption: The King-Emperor with his daughter Queen Maria II (right) and his wife Amélie on the frontispiece of the 1826 Portuguese Constitution
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