Maria I (Civ5)/Civilopedia

=== History ===
In a dynasty characterized by tragedy and madness for centuries, Maria I is undoubtedly the best known to the world, and perhaps the best beloved by the Portuguese people. As Queen of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves, she was known as Maria the Pious while ruling in Portugal, or Maria the Mad after fleeing to Brazil in 1807 from Napoleon's invasion. Incapacitated by her growing madness, Maria I died in Rio de Janeiro in 1816.
=== Early life ===
Maria, raised and educated at court with her 3 younger sisters, devoted her greatest attention to religion and theology. Enthralled by the ritual and clarity of faith, Maria spent long hours in prayer and devotions. Accounts by court visitors note that she was graceful although tall, with sharp features but a warm smile. However, as early as her teens, she suffered from bouts of melancholy and nervous agitation, which occasionally confined her to her bed.
As Maria grew to adulthood, she wed Pedro III, the younger brother of her father. Despite their age difference - Maria was 25 and Pedro 42 at the time of their wedding - the marriage was stable and happy. Both were very pious, attending mass several times a day together. Pedro had his palace at Queluz torn down and constructed a new one in the style of Versailles, which Maria admired; the couple took up residence there in 1764 AD. Maria would give birth to seven children over the years, although only three survived to adulthood.
=== Accession ===
In 1776 AD, the king Jose I suffered a stroke, dying in February 1777. Following the earthquake and tidal wave that had devastated Lisbon and Portugal's coast in 1755, and an assassination attempt in 1778, Jose had increasingly left the governing of the nation in the ruthless hands of his secretary of state, the Marquess of Pombal, whose methods of reform were brutal and came at the cost of civil liberties and personal freedoms. Maria's first act upon coming to the throne was to dismiss him from the government, primarily because of his unstinting anti-Jesuit policies.
The next few years saw Portugal gradually embroiled in the affairs of Europe. In the face of the French Revolution, the country forged an alliance with Great Britain. In July 1782, Portugal joined the League of Armed Neutrality in hopes of remaining outside the spreading conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. Maria and her consort spent these years as patrons of the arts, especially interested in promoting religious works and in construction projects.
=== Madness ===
The queen had long suffered from religious mania and melancholia, but her mental state was first acknowledged in early 1786 AD when she had to be carried back to her apartments in a fit of delirium after a religious ceremony. Her state worsened when later that year her husband died after a short illness, followed two years later by her eldest son, and her only surviving daughter Mariana. That same year, the queen's long-time confessor also passed away. The cumulative effect of these events was to topple Maria I into complete madness.
In 1792, the council of ministers concluded that their queen was insane, and requested that her only surviving son, Joao, "assume the direction of public affairs." In 1799, he would take on the mantle of Prince Regent of Portugal as his mother was unfit to rule. Maria I was confined to the palace, occasionally roaming the corridors wailing "Ai Jesus" and calling for her dead husband and children.
=== Escape to Brazil ===
In 1807 AD, the government's refusal to join Napoleon's blockade against Great Britain culminated in a French-Spanish invasion. Unable to resist defeat, Joao, at the urging of the British government, decided to flee with the entire royal family and his ministers to the Portuguese Viceroyalty of Brazil. Although Wellington would liberate Portugal in the Peninsula War, the royal family remained in Brazil for some years afterward.
Maria herself spent most of her remaining life in the Carmo Convent in Rio de Janeiro. During the eight years there, she suffered increasingly from physical ailments, including dysentery and tropical fevers; arthritis and oedema confined her to a wheelchair, and eventually to her bed. When her son or family members came to visit, she would repeatedly scream, "I want to die!" At last, at the age of 81, her tragic life ended.
=== Judgment of History ===
Despite her madness, Maria I is a greatly admired figure in both Portugal and Brazil, due to the changes and events that took place during her reign. In Portugal, she is now regarded as a strong female figure in its long history. Her place in the culture of that land is best displayed in the Queluz National Palace, a baroque masterpiece that she helped conceive. In Brazil, she is thought to be one of the key figures in the eventual independence of that nation. While her personal life may have been lamentable, her historical legacy is not.