[November 15] Maria II, queen of Portugal

Surnamed: "The Educator" (A Educadora) and "The Good Mother" (A Boa Mãe)
Parents: Pedro IV, king of Portugal, and Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Born: 4 April 1819
House: Capet-Burgundy-Aviz-Bragança
Spouse(s): (1) Auguste, 2nd duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Augusta of Bavaria, then (2) Fernando II, son of Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha and Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág
Predecessor: Pedro IV

Reign: 1826 – 1828, 1834 – 1853
Brief: Maria II has the unique distinction of being the only European monarch in modern history to be born outside of Europe, being born in Brasil in 1819. Her father, Pedro, was the eldest son of King João VI and was Emperor of Brasil since 1822. A younger son, Miguel, had been exiled after prompting revolutions against his father during the Napoleonic Wars. Maria, his eldest granddaughter, was nominated as his heir until "the legitimate heir" returned to Portugal. Unfortunately, João did not note which son was his legitimate heir. Pedro sought a compromise: marry his daughter to his brother. This would solve any succession crisis. Miguel agreed, but when he finally arrived in Portugal, he proclaimed himself king and deposed his niece. Pedro replied violently in 1831, abdicating the Brasilian throne to his son, Pedro II, and invading Portugal with forces loyal to Maria. Miguel was finally forced to abdicate in 1834, leading a long life of exile abroad. Maria II was now in firm control over Brasil. After a short marriage to a grandson of Empress Josephine (Napoleon's wife), Maria married a prince of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, who received the title "king consort" a year later. She successfully suppressed an insurrection in 1846, and completely avoided the crises of 1848. She focused on expanding education and public health in Portugal. Maria II died in 1853 due to complications from childbirth, leaving the country to her teenaged son, Pedro V.

Date of Death: 15 November 1853
Successor: Pedro V

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Penda, king of Mercia (655)
• Constantine VIII, emperor of Constantinople (1028)
• Leopold III, margrave of Austria (1136)
• Jungjong, king of Korea (1544)
• Tsangyang Gyatso, dalai lama of Tibet (1706)

[August 4] Sebastião, king of Portugal

Parents: João Manuel, crown prince of Portugal, and Joanna of Austria

Date of Birth: 20 January 1554
House: Capet-Burgundy-Aviz-Beja
Predecessor: João III
Reign: 1557 – 1578
Summary: Born into the golden age of Portuguese exploration, it is no wonder that Sebastião had his sights on more things than his progeny. He was born in 1554 and given the highly-unusual name of Sebastião due to being born on the feast day of Saint Sebastian. He was born posthumously to his father, who had been the crown prince. It was not unexpected, then, when three years later, Sebastião became the king of Portugal. His mother left soon after he became king to rule as regent of Castile for her father, Emperor Charles V of Spain. She continued in that role for her brother, Philip II of Spain, when he was away on other business. Joanna never saw her son, Sebastião, again. His regency was handled by his grandmother, Catherine of Austria, and a great-uncle, Cardinal Henrique of Évora. During his minority, Portugal continued to conquer new lands in Angola, Mozambique, Malacca, and in Macau. Catherine was directly in charge of her grandson and raised him as best she could, but he grew up to be impulsive and rebellious. His upbringing was heavily influenced by the Jesuits. His tutor and teachers were all Jesuit priests, and Sebastião became a devout Catholic. He was constantly followed by two members of the Theatine Order whose job was to ensure the chastity of the king. Throughout his teen years, Sebastião almost married the daughter of King Henri II of France, Margaret of Valois, but his indecisiveness lost him the day and the girl married Henry of Navarre instead. Other marriage proposals were all rebuffed and Sebastião never ended up marrying, an event that precipitated the succession crisis of 1580 two years after his death.

Sebastião slowly took direct control over his government beginning in 1568 when he began a scholarship program for impoverished noble children hoping to study medicine at the University of Coimbra. In 1569, he also ordered that all official laws and legal documents in the kingdom be combined and centralized in a collection known as the Leis Extravagantes. When an outbreak of plague occurred that same year, Sebastião requested doctors be sent from Saville and he created two hospitals to treat those afflicted. Sebastião was intensely interested in the well-being of his native allies in Brazil and India, and in 1570 ordered that all natives be released as slaves and treated as normal people. Sebastião was a standardizer, and in 1573 established a system of measurement for solid and liquid goods. This standardization helped in distributing goods to the poor and valuing items for sale. His final legal act was establishing court laws to regulate the time lapse between accusation and trial, and the roles lawyers play in the process. In 1576, the deposed Moroccan sultan, Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi, fled to Portugal and requested help in reclaiming the throne from his uncle, who was backed by the Ottoman Empire. Sebastião attempted to rally support with his cousin in Spain but was declined. Regardless, he ventured to Morocco in front of an army of 17,000 troops including most of Portugal's nobility. At the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, the joint Portuguese-Moroccan army was obliterated by the army of ABu Abdallah's uncle, Abd Al-Malik, who commanded 50,000 men. The Portuguese king was last seen riding into the enemy lines. His body was never found, though Philip II of Spain later received remains that were supposedly Sebastião's. His uncle, Cardinal Henrique, succeeded him to the Portuguese throne. A hope—or rather myth—that Sebastião survived persisted into the 1610s, with four people claiming to be the deceased king. A movement, known as Sebastianism, persisted even longer and is but one apocalyptic tradition of a king that will return at the End of Days.

Date of Death: 4 August 1578
Successor: Henrique

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Henri I, king of France (1060)
• Wenceslaus III, king of Bohemia (1306) 

[July 31] João V, king of Portugal

Surnamed: "The Magnanimous"

Full Name: João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo

Parents: Pedro II, king of Portugal, and Maria Sofia of the Palatine-Neuburg

Date of Birth: 22 October 1689
Royal House: Capet-Burgundy-Avis-Bragança
Spouse: Maria Anna, daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleonore Magdalena of the Palatine-Neuburg
Predecessor: Pedro II
Reign: 1706 – 1750
Summary: A son of the relatively new ruling dynasty in Portugal, João was destined to succeed his father from birth, being the first male born to his father and the long-awaited heir. His father was already elderly when he was born but surprisingly lived another seventeen years, finally dying in 1706. João succeeded his father at that time.

João became involved in politics immediately, sending his general, the Marquês das Minas, into Castile and capturing Madrid briefly for the Grand Alliance. He married a first cousin in 1708 and strengthened his alliance with the Habsburgs who were still slightly miffed about Portugal declaring independence from Spain seventy years earlier. João continued his war with Spain and France for the War of the Spanish Succession until 1713 and 1715 respectively. Gold and diamonds found in Brasil strengthened the Portuguese economy and made João one of the wealthiest monarchs in Europe. The increased funds allowed the king to rule without parliamentary oversight and João never called the Cortes once during his forty-four year reign, ruling as an absolute monarch. Mimicking the court of Louis XVI in France, João centralized his government at the Royal Palace of Mafra and summoned all his high lords to live there, taming the upper nobility. João purchased great works of art from throughout Europe with his vast treasure troves. He expanded the royal library and added original musical manuscripts. Virtually all of these treasures were destroyed by an earthquake and ensuing tsunami and fire in 1755. It was a loss that the art world never truly recovered from. After the Spanish war, João kept Portugal out of European conflicts during his reign, preferring instead to expand the local economy, patronize the arts, and ensure Portugal's continued independence. He spent a large portion of his wealth on ensuring that the church support his family's position. It was only in 1748, though, that Pope Benedict XIV finally recognized the Bragança dynasty as the legitimate rulers of Portugal, bestowing upon them the title "Most Faithful King." But by that time, João had already removed himself from politics, having suffered a minor stroke in 1742 which left him partially paralyzed. The government and centralization began to fall apart in his last years as they were directly dependent on a strong absolute monarch, which João was failing to be. The aging king died in 1750 and his son, José, succeeded him to the throne.

Date of Death: 31 July 1750
Successor: José

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Na'od, emperor of Ethiopia (1508)
• Kien Phuc, emperor of Vietnam (1884)
• Baudouin I, king of Belgium (1993)
• Friedrich Franz, pretender to Mecklenburg-Schwerin (2001)

[January 31] Henrique, king of Portugal

Surname: The Chaste (o Casto)

Parents: Manuel I, king of Portugal, and Maria of Aragón

Date of Birth: 31 January 1512

Royal House: Burgundy-Aviz

Reign: 1578 – 1580

Predecessor: Sebastião

Summary: As with many younger sons of royalty, Henrique was raised in the Catholic Church. He took orders at a young age to promote Portuguese influence with the church. Over a short period of time, he was elevated to first Archbishop of Braga, then of Évora where he also held the position of Grand Inquisitor. In 1545 he was elevated to the rank of Cardinal. With his new powers and influence, he brought Jesuits to Portugal and, more importantly, to the rest of the Portuguese Empire in East Asia and Brasil. He retained his religious post for the majority of his life, though he served as regent for his grand-nephew Sebastian until 1572. In 1578, Sebastian was killed at the Battle of Alcazarquivir against Morocco and Henrique became the king, the last legitimate male descendant of João I of Aviz.

Henrique had no choice but to renounce his cleric rights and take on the role of Portuguese monarch. He was 66 years old at the time of his ascension, and a life in the clergy meant that he had not married in his younger years. Henrique sought a renunciation of his vows with the pope in order to find a bride and desperately hope for a child. But the pope, Gregory VIII, was an ally of the Habsburgs who were the next legitimate claimants to the throne, refused the request and Henrique was bound to a heirless throne. He refused to appoint an heir or regency council, and died only two years later, leaving his country in peril. In November of 1580, King Philip II of Spain invaded Portugal and claimed the crown under the condition that the overseas territories of the two states would not be combined. Another claimant, the illegitimate prior of Crato, António, fought an unsuccessful war to win the throne but ended up ruling only the Azores for a few months until Philip forced him into exile. He never reclaimed the throne and sold Portugal's crown jewels to pay for his exile for the next fifteen years.

Date of Death: 31 January 1580

Successor: Anthony or Philip I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Suko, pretender to Japan (1398)
• Xuande, emperor of China (1435)
• Henry, king of Portugal (1580)
• Charles III, pretender to England and Scotland (1788)
• Khedrup Gyatso, Dalai Lama (1856)