Dom Luís I (Anglicized:Louis I,; 31 October 1838 – 19 October 1889), known as "the Popular" (Portuguese: o Popular) was King of Portugal from 1861 to 1889.

Luís was a member of the ruling House of Braganza. The second son of Queen Maria II and her consort, King Ferdinand II, and born as the Duke of Porto, he acceded to the throne upon the death of his elder brother King Pedro V.

Infante of Portugal

Prince Luís was born on 31 October 1838, at 11.30pm. Although his status as second son did not suggest that Luís would ascend to the Portuguese throne, his education was meticulous and largely shared with his older brother, the Royal Prince Pedro: he was tutored by the counsellor Carl Andreas Dietz, who had been his father Fernando's preceptor until April 1847, when Dietz was forced to leave Portugal on charges of meddling in national politics associated with his Protestant religious affiliation, and was replaced by the Viscount of Carreira, assisted by Manuel Moreira Coelho.

Pedro and Luís divided their time between the palaces of Mafra, Sintra and Vila Viçosa, as well as sporadic stays at the Palace of Belém.

In 1869, Luís I made it public that he did not want to be monarch of Spain and made a point of making that clear both to the Council of Ministers, chaired by the Duke of Loulé, and to the Portuguese people. Two days after his patriotic letter appeared in the Government's gazette, it was published in the Diário de Notícias, thus serving the Royal House to deny the rumour that there would be an abdication: "I was born Portuguese, Portuguese I want to die," proclaimed Luís on the front page of the newspaper on 28 September 1869. If Luís accepted the Spanish crown, he would have to abdicate in Portugal to Carlos, his son of only 6 years, with Ferdinand II as regent, opening up the possibility of an Iberian Union in the medium term. After Luís refused, the Spanish throne was handed over to his brother-in-law, Amadeu of Savoy.

Government instability

During his reign, and as a result of the creation of the general consumption tax, which was poorly received by public opinion, a riot called Janeirinha broke out (at the end of 1867). There was also a military revolt on 19 May 1870, promoted by Marshal Duke of Saldanha, who wanted the government to resign. The monarch responded to the 19 May revolt on 29 August by dismissing Saldanha's ministry and calling Sá da Bandeira to power.

In September 1871, Fontes Pereira de Melo came to power and organised a regenerative cabinet, which remained in power until 1877. This was followed by the Duke of Ávila, who couldn't hold on for long because he lacked a majority. Thus, after the parliamentary conflict that broke out in 1878, Fontes was called back to form a cabinet. As a result, the progressives accused the king of scandalously patronising the regenerators. This episode encouraged the development of republicanism. In 1879, King Luís called on the progressives to form a government.

During his reign, Delagoa Bay was confirmed as a Portuguese possession in 1875, whilst Belgian activities in the Congo and the 1890 British Ultimatum prevented the Portuguese from colonizing modern-day Zambia and Zimbabwe in order to establish a link between Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique at the peak of the Scramble for Africa. On the same day, the Franco-Prussian War ended.

Personal interests

With great artistic sensitivity, he painted, composed and played the cello and piano. A polyglot, he spoke some European languages correctly, and enjoyed writing vernacular poetry. He made translations of works by William Shakespeare, such as The Merchant of Venice, Richard III and Othello, the Moor of Venice. His best-known work in Portugal was his translation of Hamlet.

Luís was also a man of science, with a passion for oceanography. He invested a large part of his fortune in financing scientific projects and oceanographic research vessels, which travelled the oceans in search of specimens. He successfully practised photography.

Luís married Maria Pia, the daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and Maria Adelaide of Austria, on 6 October 1862. They both had a deep love at first, but Luís's countless mistresses led Maria Pia to depression. Together they had two sons:

  • Dom Carlos, Prince Royal of Portugal (28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), successor as King Carlos I; murdered by the Carbonária.
  • Dom Afonso, Prince Royal of Portugal (31 July 1865 – 21 February 1920), Infante of Portugal, Duke of Porto, Viceroy of India, and after 1908 Prince Royal.

Illness and death

Luís was a lifelong womanizer. He had a series of extra-marital affairs, the more notorious one with actress Rosa Damasceno. Queen Maria Pia was displeased at first, but later tolerated her husband's infidelities.

Sometime in his adult life, Luís contracted syphilis. The infection remained dormant for several years but in 1887 it became persistently manifest, taking its toll. Within two years it had evolved to neurosyphilis, killing him after prolonged and excruciating suffering, on 19 October 1889, at 11:00 a.m.

Honours

He received the following orders:

Ancestry

Notes

References

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