The movement for the re-adoption of monarchy in Brazil has taken place as a series of uprisings and political acts, usually in a fragmented way and peripherally to larger causes. It has been important historically and remains a fast-growing active movement to this day. It advocates restoration of the constitutional monarchy under the Brazilian imperial family, a cadet branch of the House of Braganza, which ruled Brazil for 72 years as the kingdom and later Empire of Brazil until the monarchy was abolished in 1889 by a military coup d'état that gave rise to the First Brazilian Republic.
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After the 1889 coup d'état that ended the imperial rule and established a republic in Brazil, the first monarchist nucleus began to form. Under the republican rule, they were a minority and initially even illegal. In 1890, the Brazilian Monarchical Directory was founded by Afonso Celso, the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. Its main objective was to organise the country's monarchists and to report directly with the exiled Brazilian Imperial Family.
The Navy revolt was a rebel movement promoted by units of the Brazilian Navy against the dictatorial government of Floriano Peixoto, supposedly supported by the monarchist opposition to the recent installation of the republic. [1] It was part of the Federalist Revolution, led by the monarchist Gaspar da Silveira Martins, one of the last ministers of the Empire of Brazil, who was disaffected by Deodoro da Fonseca.
The Canudos War was the confrontation between the Brazilian Army and the members of a popular movement of socio-religious background led by Antonio Conselheiro that lasted from 1896 to 1897, in the community of Canudos, Bahia. The great farmers of the region, joining the Church, formed a strong pressure group against the newly installed republic, asking that measures be taken against Antônio Conselheiro and his followers. Rumors were created that Canudos was armed to attack neighbouring towns and leave for the capital to depose the republican government and reinstall the monarchy. [2]
Another little known event was the Revolt of Ribeirãozinho, a conservative movement that occurred in the city of Ribeirãozinho (now Taquaritinga), in São Paulo. Its fundamental objective was the restoration of the monarchy and the coronation of Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza, son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil. Unhappy with the First Brazilian Republic, the São Paulo monarchists had planned an uprising that was supposed to take place on 23 August 1902, and which was to topple then President Campos Sales. In fact, the uprising had only been carried out in Ribeirãozinho and Espírito Santo do Pinhal, a neighbouring town. This attempt to restore the monarchy lasted one day. [3]
Founded in 1928, the Brazilian Imperial Patrianovist Action, or simply Patrianovism, was a monarchist organisation present in several Brazilian states that expressed the nationalist and authoritarian ideas of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Idealised by Arlindo Veiga dos Santos, it aimed to establish a new monarchy in Brazil, based on a conservative political philosophy. The movement was linked to Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, then Head of the Imperial House of Brazil and heir to the throne, as well as Plínio Salgado, leader and founder of the Brazilian Integralist Action.
Monarchist Institution founded in 1890 by the Viscount of Ouro Preto, the last President of the Council of Ministers in Brazil.
Many famous personalities in Brazil have declared themselves convicted monarchists.
Among the most famous names are Machado de Assis, Joaquim Nabuco, Baron of Rio Branco, André Rebouças, Viscount of Taunay, João Camilo de Oliveira Torres, Carlos de Laet and Count of Mota Maia.
Some monarchists, however, were victims of the republican regime. Among them is José da Costa Azevedo, the Baron of Ladario, who was shot by an unknown marksman for resisting an arrest warrant during 15 November, surviving only because a student, Carlos Vieira Ferreira, rescued him.
Another little known case is the murder of Colonel Gentil de Castro during the Canudos War. Owner of the monarchist newspapers Gazeta da Tarde and Gazeta da Liberdade, he was shot by unknown attackers in Rio de Janeiro. [4]
A list of some notable monarchists by date of birth:
Name | Political party | Occupation | Birth | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
José Bonifácio de Andrada | None | Statesman | 1763 | 1838 |
Maria Quitéria | None | Lieutenant | 1792 | 1853 |
José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco | Conservative Party | Politician | 1819 | 1880 |
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquis of Paranaguá | Liberal Party | Politician | 1821 | 1912 |
Deodoro da Fonseca | None | Politician; marshal | 1827 | 1892 |
José de Alencar | Conservative Party | Novelist; politician | 1829 | 1877 |
Antônio Conselheiro | None | Religious leader | 1830 | 1897 |
Antônio Carlos Gomes | None | Composer | 1836 | 1896 |
Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto | Liberal Party | Politician | 1836 | 1912 |
André Rebouças | None | Engineer | 1838 | 1898 |
Machado de Assis | None | Novelist | 1839 | 1908 |
Joaquim Nabuco | None | Diplomat; politician | 1839 | 1910 |
José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco | Conservative Party | Diplomat; politician | 1845 | 1912 |
José do Patrocínio | None | Writer; politician | 1854 | 1905 |
Alberto Santos-Dumont | None | Aeronaut; inventor | 1873 | 1932 |
Arlindo Veiga dos Santos | AIPB | Writer, politician, poet | 1902 | 1978 |
José Osvaldo de Meira Penna | None | Diplomat; writer | 1917 | 2017 |
Ariano Suassuna | None | Playwright; writer | 1927 | 2014 |
Prince Luiz Gastão of Orléans-Braganza | None | Activist | 1938 | 2022 |
Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza | None | Activist | born 1941 | |
Olavo de Carvalho | None | Philosopher; Activist | 1947 | 2022 |
Ayrton Senna | None | Racing driver | 1960 | 1994 |
Prince Luiz Philippe of Orléans-Braganza | Liberal Party (PL) | Politician; businessman | born 1969 | |
Carla Zambelli | Liberal Party (PL) | Politician | born 1980 |
This section needs to be updated.(March 2022) |
According to the Los Angeles Times , the level of support for a return of monarchy has remained fairly steady with 10.3% in the 1993 referendum and 10.7% in a 2017 survey by pollster Paraná Pesquisas. [5]
Luiz Philippe of Orléans-Braganza, nephew of the current Head of the Vasourian pretenders to the Imperial House of Brazil, is known in the Brazilian academical environment.[ citation needed ] He is an active member of liberal movements in the country. [6] On 28 February, he announced his pre-candidacy to federal deputy for the state of São Paulo by the New Party. [7]
Politically, the movement is still small. In 2016, journalist Paulo Eduardo Martins, known for his monarchist positions, was elected federal deputy. [8] The movement now hopes to raise public awareness of the issue and discuss the possibility of a new plebiscite similar to the one of 1993. In early 2017, a legislative idea was launched on the website of the Federal Senate to hold a referendum on the restoration of the monarchy in Brazil. Needing 20,000 votes in favour, it reached the mark of 32,000 votes and was converted into a legislative suggestion, already sent to the Commission of Human Rights of the Brazilian Federal Senate for debate, awaiting a rapporteur. On 10 August 2017, a state deputy from Minas Gerais sent a motion of support to the legislative suggestion to the President of the Senate through the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais, although this motion was not subject to a vote by the full membership of the assembly. [9] On 14 November 2017, the state of Rondônia did the same by sending a motion to support the referendum proposal for the restoration of the monarchy to the federal senate through its legislative assembly. [10]
In 2015, some Brazilian monarchists started appearing with Brazil's imperial flag in military parades and similar events during Independence Day, an act known as the National "Bandeiraço" of Independence (bandeiraço may be translated as "great flag demonstration"). In 2016, the act was carried out nationally, in 16 cities. In 2017, 34 cities participated. [11]
The most recognised pretender to the Brazilian throne is Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza. He is the head of the called Vassouras branch of the Imperial Family, since it was divided after the resignation of his great-uncle Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará in 1908. The descendants of Prince Pedro de Alcântara did not accept his resignation and maintained an active claim to the throne until the death of his elder son, Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza in 2007, whose claim passed to his son, Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza, head of the Petrópolis branch. [12]
There is no official research on public opinion regarding which form of government is preferred in Brazil. However, the emergence and growth of monarchist activity and organisations throughout the country is visible, especially in anti-government protests. [13] Currently, according to an online poll conducted on the Brazilian Senate's website, 93% of the participants expressed support for a referendum on the restoration of the monarchy as a constitutional monarchy. This legislative suggestion has been terminally rejected by the legislative committee responsible for appraising it. [14]
Date | Polling organisation | Question | Yes | No | No answer | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 June 2018 | "O Tempo" (Newspaper from Minas Gerais) | "Do you support the restoration of the monarchy in Brazil?" | 78% | 22% | — | |
23 June 2017 | Paraná Research Institute | "Would you be for or against the return of the Monarchy in Brazil, or rather, going back to having a King/Queen or an Emperor/Empress?" | 10.7% | 84.5% | 4.7% | |
22 June 2017 | "Senado Federal" (Official Brazilian senate website) | "Do you support the legislative suggestion to restore constitutional monarchy?" | 92.8% | 7.2% | — | |
21 April 2013 | "Portal Terra" (Newspaper) | "From the same ticket used in 1993, you can vote for this virtual plebiscite. Which system of government do you choose?" | 82% | 18% | — | |
21 April 1993 | "Federal Government of Brazil" (Federal Law n° 8.624) | "Constitutional Referendum about the Government regime and system" | 10.2% | 66% | 23.7% |
The Most Serene House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine dynasty, is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas.
DomDuarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza was the claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne, as both the Miguelist successor of his father, Miguel Januário, Duke of Braganza, and later as the head of the only Brigantine house, after the death of the last ruling Braganza, King Manuel II of Portugal. In 1952, when the Portuguese Laws of Banishment were repealed, the Duke moved his family to Portugal, thus returning the Miguelist Braganzas to their homeland and becoming the first of the former Portuguese royal dynasty to live in Portugal since the abolition of the monarchy in 1910.
The War of Canudos was a conflict between the First Brazilian Republic and the residents of Canudos in the northeastern state of Bahia. It was waged in the aftermath of the abolition of slavery in Brazil (1888) and the overthrow of the monarchy (1889). The conflict arose from a millenarian cult led by Antônio Conselheiro, who began attracting attention around 1874 by preaching spiritual salvation to the poor population of the sertão, a region which suffered from severe droughts. Conselheiro and his followers came into attrition with the local authorities after founding the village of Canudos. The situation soon escalated, with Bahia's government requesting assistance from the federal government, who sent military expeditions against the settlement.
The Imperial House of Brazil is a Brazilian dynasty of Portuguese origin that ruled the Brazilian Empire from 1822 to 1889, from the time when the then Prince Royal Dom Pedro of Braganza declared Brazil's independence, until Dom Pedro II was deposed during the military coup that led to the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889.
The Head of the Brazilian Imperial House is a title used by the leader of the Brazilian imperial family, currently the House of Orléans-Braganza, a descendant branch of the House of Braganza. The title of the head of the imperial house is "Emperor de jure". The current head of the imperial house is Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza, who took over as head of the imperial house on July 15, 2022, after the death of his brother, Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza.
Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza is the head of the Vassouras branch of the Imperial House of Brazil and pretender to the title of Emperor of Brazil since 2022.
Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was the Head of the Petrópolis branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a claimant to the defunct Brazilian throne in opposition to the Vassouras branch claim led by his cousins Princes Pedro Henrique and Luiz.
Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, nicknamed The Expected Prince was the eldest son of Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and head of the Vassouras branch of the Imperial House of Brazil from 1921 until his death in 1981.
DomPedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza, Prince of Grão Pará was the first-born son of Dona Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu, and as such, was born second-in-line to the imperial throne of Brazil, during the reign of his grandfather, Emperor Dom Pedro II, until the empire's abolition. He went into exile in Europe with his mother when his grandfather was deposed in 1889, and grew up largely in France, at a family apartment in Boulogne-sur-Seine, and at his father's castle, the Château d'Eu in Normandy.
Pedro Luiz of Orléans-Bragança was the eldest son of Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Christine de Ligne, being the grandson of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria.
The House of Orléans-Braganza is by legitimacy, the imperial house of Brazil formed in 1864, with the marriage of the heir to the Brazilian throne, Isabel of Braganza with Prince Gaston, Count of Eu. The House of Orléans-Braganza never reigned, as Brazil's pure Braganza monarch, Emperor Pedro II being deposed in a military coup d'état, under the pressure of the civilian republicans, in 1889. However, with the death of Isabel in 1921, as the last Brazilian pure Braganza, her descendants inherited the dynastic rights of the Brigantine dynasty over the defunct Brazilian throne.
The Prince of Grão-Pará was the title bestowed on the eldest son of the Prince Imperial of Brazil. The title holder was the second in the line of succession to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, after the Prince Imperial. The title was established by article 105 of the 1824 Brazilian Constitution, which read:
Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, nicknamed "the Perfect Prince", was the second son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, and patriarch of the Vassouras branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. His grandfather, Pedro II of Brazil, was the last emperor of Brazil.
Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, nicknamed "Empress-mother", was a German princess of the House of Wittelsbach, granddaughter of King Louis III of Bavaria and wife of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the pretender of the Vassouras branch as Head of the Imperial House of Brazil.
A constitutional referendum was held in Brazil on 21 April 1993 to determine the form of government of the country. After the re-democratization of Brazil, an article in the new Constitution determined the holding of a referendum for voters to decide if the country should remain a republic or become a monarchy again, and if the system of government should be presidential or parliamentary. Voting for "monarchy" and "presidentialism" in tandem would annul one's vote.
The Proclamation of the Republic, Coup of 1889, or Coup of the Republic was a military coup d'état that established the First Brazilian Republic on November 15, 1889. It took over the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and ended the reign of Emperor Pedro II.
The Pantheon of the House of Braganza, also known as the Pantheon of the Braganzas, is the final resting place for many of the members of the House of Braganza, located in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in the Alfama district of Lisbon, Portugal. The pantheon's burials have included Portuguese monarchs, Brazilian monarchs, a Romanian monarch, queen consorts of Portugal, and notable Infantes of Portugal, among others.
Prince of Brazil was an imperial title of the Empire of Brazil bestowed upon the members of the Brazilian imperial family who were not the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne, by the 1824 Brazilian Constitution. After the overthrow of the Brazilian monarchy in 1889, the title was officially abolished by the First Brazilian Republic's 1891 constitution. Nevertheless, the title continues to be used as title of pretense by members of the House of Orléans-Braganza, the cadet branch and successor of the deposed Imperial House.
Prince Luiz Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was the eldest son of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, and head of the Vassouras branch of the Imperial House of Brazil and pretender to the title of Emperor of Brazil from 1981 until his death in 2022.
Prince of Orléans-Bragança is a noble title informally attributed to all direct and legitimate agnatic descendants of Louis Philippe Gaston de Orléans, count d'Eu and Imperial Prince Consort of Brazil, as consort of the last Imperial Princess of Brazil, Isabel of Braganza.