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| Fernando II Ferdinand II |
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| King Dom Fernando II around age 29, 1845 | |
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| Reign | 16 September 1837 – 15 November 1853 |
| Predecessor | Maria II |
| Successor | Pedro V |
| Spouse | i) Maria II of Portugal ii) Elisa Hensler (morganatic) |
| Issue | |
| Pedro V of Portugal Luís I of Portugal Infante João, Duke of Beja Infanta Maria Ana Infanta Antónia, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Infante Fernando Infante Augusto, Duke of Coimbra |
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| House | House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Father | Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Mother | Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág |
| Born | 29 October 1816 Vienna |
| Died | 15 December 1885 (aged 69) Lisbon |
| Burial | Royal Pantheon of the Braganza Dynasty |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Dom Fernando II (English: Ferdinand II) (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885), was King of Portugal as husband of Queen Dona Maria II of Portugal from the birth of their son in 1837 to her death in 1853.
In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in 1837 did he acquire the title of King. His reign came to end with the death of his wife in 1853, but he was regent for his son Dom Pedro V to 1855. He was born a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
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Early life[edit]
Born Ferdinand August Franz Anton, he was the son of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Prince Ferdinand grew up in several places: the family's lands in modern-day Slovakia, the imperial court of Austria, and Germany. He was a nephew of King Leopold I of Belgium and a first cousin to his children Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico, as well as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert.
King of Portugal[edit]
According to Portuguese law, the husband of a queen regnant could only be titled king after the birth of a child from that marriage (that was the reason the Queen's first husband, Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, never earned title of king). After the birth of the future Dom Pedro V of Portugal, Ferdinand was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II.
Although it was Maria II to whom the ruling power belonged, the royal couple formed a good team and together resolved many problems in Maria II's reign. The king played a very important part in Portuguese political history, reigning by himself during his wife's pregnancies.
Eventually, Maria II died as a result of the birth of their eleventh child. Fernando II's reign ended, but assumed the regency of Portugal in the years 1853–1855 during the minority of his son King Pedro V.
Later life[edit]
In 1869 he rejected an offer to assume the throne of Spain.
Late in his life Fernando II married the opera singer Elisa Hensler, Countess of Edla.
Fernando II was an intelligent and artistically-minded man with modern and liberal ideas. He was adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Arts, lord-protector of the university of Coimbra and Grand-Master of the Rosicrucians.
In 1838 he built near Sintra the Pena National Palace, a wild architectural fantasy in an eclectic style full of symbolism that could be compared with the castle Neuschwanstein of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He spent his last years in this castle with his second wife, receiving the greatest artists of his time.
Marriages and descendants[edit]
Fernando II married Maria II, Queen-regnant of Portugal, daughter of King Dom Pedro IV (and also Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil). Later in his life, after the death of Maria, he married in Lisbon on 10 June 1869 actress Elisa Hensler[1] (Neuchâtel, 22 May 1836 – Lisbon, Coração de Jesus, 21 May 1929), created Gräfin von Edla, without issue.[2]
He outlived eight of his eleven children.
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| By Maria II of Portugal (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853; married on 9 April 1836) | |||
| Pedro V | 16 September 1837 | 11 November 1861 | Who succeeded his mother as Peter V, the King of Portugal. |
| Luís I | 31 October 1838 | 19 October 1889 | Who succeeded his brother Peter as the King of Portugal. |
| Infanta Maria | 4 October 1840 | 4 October 1840 | |
| Infante João | 16 March 1842 | 27 December 1861 | Duke of Beja. Died of cholera in 1861. |
| Infanta Maria Ana | 21 August 1843 | 5 February 1884 | Married King George of Saxony and was mother of King Frederick August III of Saxony, and grandmother of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria. |
| Infanta Antónia | 17 February 1845 | 27 December 1913 | Married Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Singmaringen and was the mother of King Ferdinand I of Romania. |
| Infante Fernando | 23 July 1846 | 6 November 1861 | Died of cholera in 1861. |
| Infante Augusto | 4 November 1847 | 26 September 1889 | Duke of Coimbra. |
| Infante Leopoldo | 7 May 1849 | 7 May 1849 | |
| Infanta Maria da Glória | 3 February 1851 | 3 February 1851 | |
| Infante Eugénio | 15 November 1853 | 15 November 1853 | |
Notes[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ferdinand II of Portugal |
- ^ Sister of Anton Hensler, children of Jean Conrad Hensler (Röschitz, c. 1797 – Vienna, 14 April 1872) and wife Josephe Hechelbacher (Wallerstein, c. 1805 – aft. 1872), paternal grandchildren of Michael Hensler and wife Katharina Prauneis and maternal grandchildren of Karl Hechelnbacher and wife Theresia Schretzmayer.
- ^ She had a daughter by an unknown father named Alice Hensler (Paris, 25 December 1855 – Lisbon, Benfica, 18 June 1941), who married in Lisbon, Alcântara, on 30 September 1883 Portuguese Navy Officer Azorian Manuel de Azevedo Gomes (Pico, São Roque do Pico, Santo Amaro, 19 October 1848 – Cascais, São Domingos de Rana, Casa das Pedras, 14 July 1907), by whom she had issue.
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Maria II |
King of Portugal and the Algarves 16 September 1837 – 15 November 1853 with Maria II |
Succeeded by Pedro V |
| Portuguese royalty | ||
| Preceded by Auguste de Beauharnais |
Royal consort of Portugal 9 April 1836 – 16 September 1837 |
Succeeded by Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen |
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