Joseph I of Portugal

Portuguese Royalty House of Braganza John IV Children include    Teodósio, Prince of Brazil    Joana, Princess of Beira    Infanta Catarina, Queen of England    Afonso, Prince of Brazil (future Afonso VI)    Infante Pedro, Duke of Beja (future Peter II) Afonso VI Peter II Children include    Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira    João, Prince of Brazil (future John V)    Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja    Infante António    Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém    Infanta Francisca    Luísa, Duchess of Cadaval (natural daughter)    José, Archbishop of Braga (natural son) John V Children include    Infanta Bárbara, Queen of Spain    José, Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza (future Joseph I)    Pedro, Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza (future Peter III) Joseph I Children include    Maria Francisca, Princess of Brazil (future Maria I)    Infanta Mariana Francisca    Infanta Doroteia     Benedita, Dowager Princess of Brazil Maria I and Peter III Children include    José, Prince of Brazil    João, Prince Royal and Duke of Braganza (future John VI)    Infanta Mariana Vitória John VI Children include    Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira    Infanta Maria Isabel, Queen of Spain    Infante Pedro, Prince Royal and Duke of Braganza (future Pedro IV of Portugal and I of Brazil)    Infanta Maria Francisca    Infanta Isabel Maria    Infante Miguel, Duke of Braganza (future Miguel I)    Infanta Maria da Assunção    Infanta Ana de Jesus Maria, Marchioness of Loulé Pedro IV (I of Brazil) Children include    Infanta Maria da Glória, Duchess of Porto (future Maria II)    Januária, Princess Imperial of Brazil    Princess Francisca, Princess de Joinville    Prince Pedro (Pedro II of Brazil) Michael I Children include    Infanta Maria das Neves, Duchess of San Jaime    Miguel II, Duke of Braganza    Infanta Teresa, Archduchess of Austria    Infanta Maria José, Duchess in Bavaria    Infanta Adelgundes, Duchess of Guimarães, Countess di Bardi    Infanta Maria Ana, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg    Infanta Maria Antónia, Duchess of Parma Grandchildren include    Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza Great-Grandchildren include    Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza    Infante Miguel, Duke of Viseu    Infante Henrique, Duke of Coimbra Great-Great-Grandchildren include    Afonso, Prince of Beira    Infanta Maria Francisca    Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto Maria II and Ferdinand II Children include    Pedro, Duke of Braganza (future Pedro V)    Infante Luís, Duke of Porto (future Luís I)    Infante João, Duke of Beja    Infanta Maria Ana, Princess of Saxony    Infanta Antónia, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen    Infante Augusto, Duke of Coimbra Grandchildren include    Carlos, Duke of Braganza (future Carlos I) Great-grandchildren include    Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza    Infante Manuel, Duke of Beja (future Manuel II)

Joseph I of Portugal (Portuguese José, pron. IPA /ʒu'zɛ/), the Reformer (Port. o Reformador), 25th (or 26th according to some historians) King of the Kingdom of Portugal and Algarves, was born in Lisbon, on June 6, 1714. He was the third child of King John V of Portugal and his wife Mary Anne Josepha of Austria. Joseph had an older brother, Peter, but he died at the age of two.

At the death of his elder brother, José became Prince of Brazil as the heir-apparent of the king, and 15th Duke of Braganza.

In 1729, Joseph married a Spanish princess, Marianne Victoria of Borbón, daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese, and his elder sister Barbara married the future Ferdinand VI of Spain. Marianne loved music and hunting, but she was also a serious woman, who disliked the King's affairs and had no problems about talking about them to everybody. Joseph and Marianne had only four daughters:

• Maria Francisca (Mary Frances) (1734-1816) - The future Queen Mary I
• Maria Ana Francisca Josefa (Marianne) (1736-1813)
• Maria Francisca Doroteia (Mary Frances Dorothea) (1739-1771)
• Maria Francisca Benedita (Mary Frances Benedicta) (1746-1829) - She would marry her nephew Prince Joseph.

Statue of Joseph in Terreiro do Paço square, Lisbon.

Joseph was devoted to the Church and the opera. He succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1750, when he was 35 years old, and almost immediately placed effective power in the hands of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, better known today as the Marquis of Pombal. Indeed the history of Joseph's reign is really that of Pombal himself. King José also declared his eldest daughter Maria Francisca as the official heiress of the throne, and proclaimed her Princess of Brazil. The king did not believe that any longer a son would be born to him.

The powerful marquis sought to overhaul all aspects of economic, social and colonial policy to make Portugal a more efficient contender with the other great powers of Europe, and thus secure her own power status as a result. A conspiracy of nobles aimed (allegedly) at murdering King Joseph and the marquis gave Pombal the pretext to get rid of his personal enemies, the Távora family, and to expel the Jesuits in September 1759, thus gaining control of public education and a wealth of church lands.

The reign of Joseph was also famous for the great Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755, in which around 100,000 people lost their lives. The earthquake caused Joseph to develop a severe case of claustrophobia and he was never again comfortable living within a walled building. Consequently, he moved the royal court to an extensive complex of tents in the hills of Ajuda. The capital was eventually rebuilt at great cost, and an equestrian statue of King Joseph still dominates Lisbon's main plaza.

With Joseph's death on 24 February 1777 the throne passed to his daughter Mary I and Pombal's iron rule was sharply brought to an end.

Ancestors

Marriages and descendants

Joseph married Marianne Victoria of Borbón, daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. He had four daughters, all named Maria.

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