Utilisateur:Konstantinos/Brouillon3
Titre
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(1 an, 5 mois et 21 jours)
| Prédécesseur | Marie-Léopoldine d'Autriche |
|---|---|
| Successeur | Thérèse-Christine de Bourbon-Siciles |
| Titulature |
Princesse française Princesse de Leuchtenberg Impératrice du Brésil Duchesse de Bragance |
|---|---|
| Dynastie | Maison de Leuchtenberg |
| Nom de naissance | Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais |
| Naissance |
Milan (Italie) |
| Décès |
(à 60 ans) Lisbonne (Portugal) |
| Sépulture | Monument de l'Ipiranga (São Paulo) |
| Père | Eugène de Beauharnais |
| Mère | Augusta-Amélie de Bavière |
| Conjoint | Pierre Ier du Brésil |
| Enfants | Marie-Amélie du Brésil |
| Religion | Catholicisme |
Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléone de Leuchtenberg (en allemand : Amélie von Leuchtenberg et en portugais : Amélia de Leuchtenberg), princesse de Leuchtenberg puis, par son mariage, impératrice du Brésil et duchesse de Bragance, est née le 31 juillet 1812 à Milan, dans le royaume d'Italie, et est décédée le 26 janvier 1873 à Lisbonne, dans le royaume de Portugal. Membre de la maison de Beauharnais, elle est la deuxième épouse de l'empereur Pierre Ier du Brésil.
Famille[modifier | modifier le code]
La princesse Amélie est la fille du prince Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824), vice-roi d'Italie et duc de Leuchtenberg, et de son épouse la princesse Augusta de Bavière (1788-1851). Par son père, elle est donc la petite-fille de l'impératrice des Français Joséphine (1763-1814) et de son premier époux le vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais (1760-1794). Par sa mère, elle descend du roi Maximilien Ier de Bavière (1756-1825) et de son épouse la princesse Wilhelmine de Hesse-Darmstadt (1765-1796).
Amélie est, par ailleurs, la sœur de la reine Joséphine de Suède (1807-1876) et du prince consort Auguste de Portugal (1810-1835) ainsi que la cousine germaine de l'empereur Napoléon III (1808-1873) et des rois Maximilien II de Bavière (1811-1864) et Othon Ier de Grèce (1815-1867).
Le , la princesse Amélie épouse, à Rio de Janeiro, l'empereur Pierre Ier du Brésil (1798-1834). De cette union naît une fille :
- Marie-Amélie du Brésil (1831-1853), princesse du Brésil, qui meurt avant d'avoir pu épouser son fiancé, le futur empereur Maximilien Ier du Mexique (1832-1867).
Biographie[modifier | modifier le code]
Une jeunesse difficile[modifier | modifier le code]
Née à la fin du Premier Empire, la princesse Amélie passe ses deux premières années en Italie, où son père, le prince Eugène de Beauharnais, a été nommé vice-roi par Napoléon. À la chute de l'empereur, en 1814, la petite fille et sa famille s'exilent cependant à Munich, dans le royaume de leur mère, la princesse Augusta de Bavière[1].
En 1817, le prince Eugène est fait duc de Leuchtenberg par son beau-père, le roi Maximilien Ier de Bavière. Cependant, la famille connaît une situation incertaine, du fait du refus de la plupart des souverains européens de reconnaître la légitimité des Napoléonides et de leurs alliés. La précarité des Leuchtenberg s'aggrave encore après la mort du prince Eugène, en 1824. La princesse Augusta cherche alors à renforcer la position de ses enfants en leur assurant des mariages prestigieux[1],[2].
Un mariage par procuration[modifier | modifier le code]
After the death of his first wife, Austrian archduchess Maria Leopoldina, in December 1826, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil (King Pedro IV of Portugal, usually referred to as Dom Pedro) sent the Marquês de Barbacena to Europe to find him a second wife. His task was not easy; several factors complicated the search. First, Dom Pedro had stipulated four conditions: a good family background, beauty, virtue and culture. Conversely, the emperor of Brazil did not have a particularly good image in Europe: his relationship with the Marchioness of Santos was notorious, and few eligible princesses would leave the courts of Europe to marry a man who had a reputation as unfaithful, assuming also five stepchildren. To make matters worse, the former father-in-law of Dom Pedro, Francis I of Austria, had a low opinion of his son-in-law's political views, and apparently acted to prevent a new marriage to ensure that his grandchildren would inherit the throne of Brazil if they survived infancy[3].
After refusals by eight princesses turned the ambassador into an object of scorn in the courts of Europe, Barbacena, in agreement with the Emperor, lowered his requirements, seeking for Dom Pedro a wife merely "good and virtuous." Amélie now became a good possibility, but their encounter was brought about not by Barbacena, but by Domingos Borges de Barros, Viscount of Pedra Branca, minister in Paris, to whom she had been pointed out.[4] She came from a particularly distinguished and ancient line on her mother's side, the Wittelsbachs, but her father, linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, was not generally recognized as a Royal because of the hatred still arrayed against the onetime French Emperor in much of Europe. However, that was her sole "defect". The princess was tall, very beautiful, well proportioned, with a delicate face. She had blues eyes[2] and a brownish-golden hair[5] Antônio Teles da Silva Caminha e Meneses, Marquês of Resende, sent to verify the beauty of the young lady, wrote to the Emperor covering her with praise and saying that she had "a physical air that like that the painter Correggio gave us in his paintings of the Queen of Sheba".[3] She was also cultured and sensitive. A contemporary piece in The Times of London affirms that she was one of the best educated and best prepared princesses in the German world.[6]
The marriage was promptly arranged. A marriage contract was signed in England , and ratified June 30 in Munich by Amélie's mother and tutor, the Duchess of Leuchtenberg. On 30 July of that year, in Brazil, a treaty of marriage between Dom Pedro and Amélie of Leuchtenberg was confirmed. Upon confirming the marriage, Dom Pedro definitively broke his links to the Marchioness of Santos and, as evidence of his good intentions, instituted the Order of the Rose, with the motto "Amor e Fidelidade" ("Love and Fidelity"). A proxy marriage ceremony on 2 August in the chapel of the Palais Leuchtenberg in Munich was a simple affair with few in attendance,[3] as Amélie insisted on donating to a Munich orphanage the appreciable amount Dom Pedro had sent for a ceremony with full pomp.[7] Dom Pedro was represented by the Marquês de Barbacena. Amélie was barely seventeen years old; Dom Pedro was thirty[3].
Amélie's mother foresaw the difficulties her daughter might face, and prepared her well. Besides a good dowry and trousseau, she gave her a great deal of advice, recommending that she be demonstrative of her feelings and overcome any timidity so as not to discourage her husband, that she be loving toward her stepchildren, and above all that she remain faithful, as empress, to the interests of the Brazilians. Scientist Carl Friedrich von Martius was sent with her on her journey to teach her about Brazil, and the Ana Romana de Aragão Calmon, Countess of Itapagipe, to familiarize her with her husband's personality and the customs of the Brazilian court, and to teach her Portuguese[3].
Impératrice du Brésil[modifier | modifier le code]
Amélie sailed to the New World from Ostende, Belgium on the frigate Imperatriz, arriving in Rio de Janeiro , after a crossing that went more rapidly than planned. Traditions says that upon hearing that the ship was approaching, Dom Pedro embarked on a tugboat to meet it on the far side of the bar, and that he collapsed with emotion upon seeing his wife on deck.[3] Among those accompanying her on board were Barbacena and the 10-year-old Maria II of Portugal in whose favor her father had renounced his rights to the Portuguese throne back in 1826. Barbacena, on that same trip, had received the mission to bring Maria to the care of her grandfather, Austrian emperor Francis I, but in the middle of the journey learned that the throne of the latter had been usurped by Miguel, brother of Dom Pedro, and decided instead to take her to England, which he considered a safer place. After concluding the imperial marriage contract, they embarked again for Brazil together with Amélie's entourage, including Amélie's brother, Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg.[4] Shortly after the newlyweds' first encounter, Dom Pedro's children by his first marriage were brought out to their new stepmother's ship for the couple and children to lunch together.[7]
_-_Am%C3%A9lia_de_Beauharnais,_1829-31.jpg)
The following day at noon, under a heavy rain, Amélie disembarked and was received with a solemn procession. She then went with Dom Pedro to the Imperial Chapel to receive the nuptial blessings. All were dazzled by her beauty, highlighted by a long white gown and a robe embroidered in silver, in the French fashion. After the ceremony came a public celebration with fireworks, and a grand state banquet for the court[7].
In January 1830 the new empress was formally presented in court, with a dance at which all of the ladies dressed in pink, the empress's favorite color. The following day, the couple began their honeymoon, speinding six weeks at the ranch of Father Correa, in Serra da Estrela, future locale of the city of Petrópolis[4].
On their return they encountered a court troubled by problems caused by the emperor's intimate confidante Chalaça (Francisco Gomes da Silva). Barbacena took the opportunity to rid himself of his old foe, recommending that he leave for Europe, in which he counted on the support of the new empress, anxious to break one more link to her husband's adventurous past. She had already shown a strong attitude in refusing from the outset to receive at court Isabel Maria de Alcântara Brasileira, Duchess of Goiás, Dom Pedro's daughter by the Marchioness of Santos, and demanding that Isabel Maria be sent to school in Switzerland[4].
Upon settling into the imperial palace, the Paço de São Cristóvão, and perceiving what she considered an inadequate standard of protocol, Amélie established French as the court language and adopted a ceremonial modeled after European courts. She sought to update the cuisine and fashion, redecorated the palace, acquired new tableware and silverware, and attempted to refine the manners of the court. She achieved at least a partial success in this last, and the elegance of the Empress, always impeccably dressed, became internationally famous[8].
Their marriage was a happy one, unlike Dom Pedro's first, and she reportedly had a good relationship with her legitimate stepchildren as well. Her beauty, good sense, and kindness promptly won the affections of both her husband and his children by his first marriage. She made sure that the latter had a good family environment and received a good education. Shortly after the marriage, a French traveler reported "it appears that the empress continues to exercise her influence over the children of Dom Pedro. The happy results are already apparent, she has already made considerable renovations to the palace, and order has commenced to reign; the princesses' education is supervised and directed personally by the empress", with the same care going to the heir to the throne, little Pedro de Alcântara (later Pedro II of Brazil); the proof of this last being that he soon began to call her "mamãe" ("mommy").[7] Amélie always expressed her affection for Pedro II, and maintained a correspondence with him until the end of her life, trying to instruct and support him. Nearly six decades of their correspondence survive. Dom Pedro II reciprocated her kindness, soliciting her help in arranging marriages for his own daughters and visiting her in Lisbon in 1871[9],[10].
Her presence was also important in restoring her husband's popularity and giving him courage during a difficult period for the new empire, but the popular enthusiasm generated by the marriage was short-lived.[3] José Bonifácio advised her on what her husband would need to do to reconcile with the people of Brazil, but nothing worked.[6] The precarious economic situation and political turbulence precipitated the inevitable crisis and on , Dom Pedro abdicated the throne in favor of his young son[3].
Retour en Europe[modifier | modifier le code]
After Dom Pedro I abdicated the crown, Amélie accompanied her husband back to Europe. They now held the titles of Duke and Duchess of Bragança. She was three months pregnant and suffered badly from nausea on the sea voyage.[3] After resupplying the ship at Faial Island in the Azores, they arrived at Cherbourg, in France, . They were received with the honors appropriate to reigning monarchs, greeted with a 21-gun cannon salute and by a detachment of 5,000 soldiers of the National Guard. The prefecture of the city offered them a palace as accommodation, but a mere ten days after their arrival Dom Pedro left for London, leaving behind Amélie, who was reunited with Maria da Glória the 23rd of the same month[11].
Amélie soon established residence in Paris, with Maria da Glória and with Dom Pedro's illegitimate daughter Isabel Maria, Duchess of Goiás, whom Amélie ended up adopting as her own daughter.[12] On Amélie gave birth to Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil (Maria Amélia de Bragança), who would prove to be her only child.[3] Her father expressed his happiness in a letter to young Dom Pedro II: "Divine Providence has seen fit to diminish the sadness my paternal heart feels for the separation from V.M.I. (Vossa Majestade Imperial, "Your Imperial Majesty") giving to me a daughter and, to V.M.I., another sister and subject"[13].
Meanwhile, Dom Pedro I, as Duke of Bragança, began a bloody battle against his brother Dom Miguel I (Michael of Portugal) for the Portuguese crown, in the name of his daughter Maria da Glória.[3] Upon receiving the news of the Duke's victory in Lisbon, Amélie left with her daughter and stepdaughter for Portugal, arriving in the capital .[14] With Miguel defeated and exiled from Portugal, Dom Pedro and his family established themselves first at Ramalhão Palace and later at Queluz National Palace[15].
Veuvage et dernières années[modifier | modifier le code]
The venturesome life of Dom Pedro had undermined his health; he contracted tuberculosis, and died .[15] Amélie respected the provisions of his will. He had wished that Maria Isabel II de Alcântara Brasileira, his illegitimate daughter by the Marchioness of Santos, be given a good European education like her sister, the Duchess of Goiás. However, the Marchioness declined to send the girl. Dom Pedro also stipulated legacies for his other illegitimate children, reducing the inheritance of Amélie and her own daughter; the provision showed that Dom Pedro loved all his children, legitimate or not[16].
Amélie never remarried; she moved to the Palácio das Janelas Verdes ("Palace of Green Windows," also known as the Palácio de Alvor-Pombal, now, as of 2012, Portugal's National Museum of Ancient Art) and dedicated herself to charitable works and to her daughter's education. Maria Amélia showed herself to be very intelligent and to be a talented musician.[3] Occasionally, Amélie visited Bavaria with her daughter. Despite being established in Portugal, they were not considered part of the Portuguese royal family. Amélie solicited recognition for herself and her daughter as members of the Brazilian imperial family, thereby entitled to a pension, but Dom Pedro II was still a minor and the Brazilian Regency feared possible influence by the empress-widow Amélie in state business, as well as the possibility of her adherence to political factions that might harm the government. They refused to recognize her daughter Maria Amélie as a Brazilian princess and forbade her to set foot in the country. This situation changed when Dom Pedro II reached majority. His relations with them were good, and on Amélie and Maria Amélia were recognized as members of the Brazilian imperial family[17].
Princess Maria Amélia became engaged to Archduke Maximilian of Austria (later Maximilian of Mexico at the beginning of 1852, but shortly afterward began to show symptoms of tuberculosis. Because of the disease, she and her mother moved to Funchal, on Madeira Island, in search of healthier airs, arriving . Nonetheless, the princess died there of tuberculosis at the age of 22 on .[3][18] Her death profoundly affected her mother, who visited Maria Amélia's tomb every year on the anniversary of her death, and financed the construction of a still-extant hospital in Funchal named "Princesa Dona Maria Amélia", and left her properties in Bavaria to Archduke Maximilian, "whom [she] would have been happy to have as a son-in-law, if God had saved her beloved daughter Maria Amelia."[19]
After her daughter's death, Amélie settled again in Lisbon, where she died at the age of 60. Under the terms of her will, her sister, Queen Josephine of Sweden, was her primary heir (receiving, among other things, the Braganza tiara),[20] but many documents pertaining to Dom Pedro were willed to Brazil, where they reside in the Historic Archive of the Imperial Museum of Brazil in Petrópolis.[3] Her remains were transported in 1982 to the crypt of the Monument to the Independence of Brazil in São Paulo[21].
Dans la culture populaire[modifier | modifier le code]
Amélie of Leuchtenberg is the protagonist of a novel by Ivanir Calado, Imperatriz no Fim do Mundo: Memórias Dúbias de Amélia de Leuchtenberg ("Empress at the End of the World: Dubious Memoirs of Amélie of Leuchtenberg," 1997), and has been played on film and television by:
- Maria Cláudia, in the film "Independência ou Morte" ("Independence or Death," 1972)
- Cida Marques, in the miniseries "Entre o Amor e a Espada" ("Between Love and the Sword," 2001)
- Cláudia Abreu, in the miniseries "O Quinto dos Infernos" ("The Fifth Hell," 2002)
Titres[modifier | modifier le code]
- 1812-1817 : Son Altesse Impériale Amélie, princesse française
- 1817-1829 : Son Altesse Sérénissime la princesse Amélie de Leuchtenberg
- 1829-1831 : Sa Majesté Impériale l'impératrice du Brésil
- 1831-1873 : Sa Majesté Impériale la duchesse de Bragance
Généalogie[modifier | modifier le code]
Bibliographie[modifier | modifier le code]
Autobiographie fictive[modifier | modifier le code]
- (pt) Ivanir Calado, Imperatriz no Fim do Mundo : Memórias Dúbias de Amélia de Leuchtenberg, Ediouro,
Biographies de l'impératrice[modifier | modifier le code]
- (fr) Hébé C. Boa Viagem et alii, « Amélie de Leuchtenberg », dans Elles sont venues de loin : Ces Femmes sources d'inspiration pour le Brésil, Yvelinédition, (ISBN 2846683417)
- (pt) Lígia Lemos Torres, Imperatriz Dona Amélia, São Paulo, Elvino Pocai,
Sur l'impératrice et sa famille[modifier | modifier le code]
- (en) Roderick J. Barman, Citizen Emperor : Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891, Stanford, Stanford University Press,
Articles connexes[modifier | modifier le code]
Liens externes[modifier | modifier le code]
Références[modifier | modifier le code]
- Barman 2002, p. 25-27
- Torres 1947, p. 34
- Witte, Claudia Thomé. "O casamento com D. Pedro I e toda a trajetória no Brasil da princesa bávara Amélia de Leuchtenberg". In: Revista de História online, . In Portuguese. Accessed .
- Lustosa, Isabel. D. Pedro I. Companhia das Letras, 2006, pp. 284–286. In Portuguese.
- Torres 1947, p. 53
- Pinheiro Neto, João. Pedro e Domitila: Amor em tempo de paixão. Mauad Editora Ltda, 2002, pp. 243–244. In Portuguese.
- Erreur de référence : Balise
<ref>incorrecte : aucun texte n’a été fourni pour les références nomméesBarman - Del Priore, Mary. "Amor e fidelidade num casamento imperial: Dom Pedro I e Dona Amélia. In: Gazeta Imperial, August 2011, year XVI, number 189, pp. 8–9. In Portuguese.
- Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II: ser ou não ser. Companhia das Letras, 2007, pp. 16–17. In Portuguese.
- Schwarcz, Lília Moritz. As barbas do imperador. Companhia das Letras, 1998, pp. 52; 380. In Portuguese.
- Lustosa, p. 305
- Sousa, Octávio Tarquínio de. A vida de D. Pedro I. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1972. vol. 3, pp. 273–274. In Portuguese
- Almeida, Sylvia Lacerda Martins de. Uma filha de D. Pedro I: Dona Maria Amélia. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 1973, p. 42. In Portuguese.
- Sousa, p. 275
- Almeida, p. 54
- Lewin, Linda. Surprise Heirs: Illegitimacy, inheritance rights, and public power in the formation of Imperial Brazil, 1822–1889. Stanford University Press, 2003, pp. 155–156.
- Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Ascensão (1825–1870). Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977. vol. 1, pp. 42–43; 279. In Portuguese.
- Almeida, pp. 57; 73; 85; 111
- Almeida, pp. 90; 152–157
- « Tiara Thursday: The Braganza Tiara », (consulté le Date invalide (2012-31-07))
- Tirapeli, Percival e Silva, Manoel Nunes da. São Paulo artes e etnias. UNESP, 2007, p. 124