Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga, or simply Emperor Dom Pedro II, the Generous, the Liberal, the Father of the Brazilians, the Magnanimous and The second and last Monarch of the Empire of Brazil, born in 1895 and passing away in 1891 with 66 years. One of the most popular "Last Kings", Pedro reign was one of stability, progress and peace up until his exile by the republican forces in 1889 ending his 58 year old reign.
Pedro lived a very troubled childhood. Born as the son of Dom Pedro I, the first emperor of Brazil, he had to part ways with his father at the young age of 5 when Pedro I was called up to Portugal to reconquer it in the name of his eldest daughter who had recently lost the throne. The parting was so abrupt that father & son were unable to say goodbyes, having to write heartfelt letters to each other. They would never see each other again. Pedro I would be successful in quelling the revolution happening in Portugal but the war ravaged his formerly robust health and so he perished at the young age of 35 in 1834.
The separation of his family left a deep scar on the younger Pedro who lived in a joyless childhood. Too young to lead the fledgling country, Pedro II left the government in the hands of regents until he reached adulthood. And so for years he resided almost exclusively in the royal palace with most of his time destined to his tutelage. With only 2 hours of free time and with his sisters as his only friends, he found in the books, which provided an escape from his loveless world, his only source of joy. Compared to his impulsive and hotblooded father, Pedro grew to up to be a smart but timid and reclusive youth.
While he was only assume the throne at the age of 18, crisis in the regency forced the establishment of Pedro's reign 3 years early at the age of 15 in 1841. The early years of his reign were turbulent and uncertain as the young king was unsure and doubtful in his choices which led to a rise in power by a courtier faction made by the people who worked in the palace, including those who taught him. However as he traveled through Brazil and saw all the positive reactions from his subjects everywhere in the country he started to become more and more confident in his choices. By 1846, he removed any sort of real power the Courtier Faction had on the government and became the true monarch of Brazil.
Brazil under his reign was the winner of 3 Military conflicts (Platine War, The Uruguayan War and the Paraguayan War) where Pedro acted actively in the front lines as the First Volunteer of the Country helping with morale and arranging the surrender from enemy forces. Brazil under his reign also had surprising freedom of speech. Pedro allowed any sort of criticism of his government to be published in the newspaper and preferred instead of vetoing those claims, writing his own counterpoints under various pseudonyms. But perhaps more notably his greatest strength as the Emperor was his efforts as a modern day Maecenas.
Pedro II might have grew more confident in his ability to lead but some things never changed from his youth. His constant melancholy was one of them, but perhaps more notably was his love for sciences and the arts. Pedro II loved to read and write. Fluent in 9 different languages, Pedro was a voracious consumer of all sorts of academic subjects: anthropology, history, geography, geology, medicine, law, religious studies, philosophy, painting, sculpture, theater, music, chemistry, physics, astronomy, poetry and technology, among others. His reign saw the creation of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute to promote research and preservation in the historical, geographical, cultural and social sciences. The Imperial Academy of Music and National Opera and the Pedro II School were also founded, the latter serving as a model for schools throughout Brazil. The Imperial Academy of the Fine Arts, established by his father, received further strengthening and support. Using his civil list income, Pedro II provided scholarships for Brazilian students to study at universities, art schools and conservatories of music in Europe. He also financed the creation of the Institute Pasteur, helped underwrite the construction of Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as well as subscribing to similar projects. His efforts were recognized both at home and abroad. In 1875, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences, an honor previously granted to only two other heads of state: Peter the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte. He was correspondent and friends with Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur, Louis Agassiz, John Greenleaf Whittier, Michel Eugène Chevreul, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Arthur de Gobineau, Frédéric Mistral, Alessandro Manzoni, Alexandre Herculano, Camilo Castelo Branco and James Cooley Fletcher. Charles Darwin said of him: "The Emperor does so much for science, that every scientific man is bound to show him the utmost respect". His love for the science and the arts was such that in multiple times Pedro II has confessed that he wished he was a teacher rather than a King.
And that desire perhaps fueled the eventual coup by republican forces of his government. As he grew older Pedro II became more and more distant from his position as a King leaving it in the name of his eldest daughter Isabella. Him and his daughter undertook a last great project. The gradual abolishment of slavery, the great stain in the name of Pedro's Brazil. Pedro and Isabella gradually implemented more and more laws that would free a fraction of the slaves like old slaves and pregnant women and their children eventually culminating in the Lei Aurea that abolished any sort of slavery in the country. This was seen as positive news by the general population, however the elite of the country, who were owners of big coffee and sugar plantations, were alienated by Pedro and Isabella's abolitionism and adopted republicanism as it main credo. These republicans pressured the military to realize a coup d'etat on Pedro and his daughter.
Pedro was loved by the regular citizen of the country who saw him as the king who led Brazil through its Golden Age. He could've easily rallied his subjects into a Civil War by tired of his crown and with heavy republicanism desires himself, he made no effort to challenge the coup, and much like his father did when he was a child he boarded a ship into Europe to never come back to the land where he was emperor. He spent his final years in exile, living a quiet and lonely life living in hotels around Europe. He didn't begrudge his enemies as he made no wish to restore the monarchy, however his mind was always on his far away nation. All he wanted was to peacefully pass away in his homeland. His last moments were thinking on Brazil and its people:
May God grant me these last wishes—peace and prosperity for Brazil"
Originally Posted by Cataquack Warrior
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