 Wedding painting done by Pedro Américo | |
| Date | 15 October 1864 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro |
| Location | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Participants | |
The marriage of Princess Isabel of Braganza and Gaston, Count of Eu was a dynastic union between the heirs of the imperial houses of Brazil and France, held on October 15, 1864, at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.
Isabel was the eldest daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Empress Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies. As heir presumptive to the Brazilian throne, she had the title of Princess Imperial of Brazil and was first in the line of succession to her father. Gaston was the eldest son of Louis, Duke of Némours and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary, and the grandson of King Louis-Philippe I of France.
The marriage between Isabel and Gastão was the result of a political alliance between Pedro II and Louis Philippe I, who sought to strengthen ties between the two monarchies and contain the expansionist ambitions of the United States of America and Great Britain in Latin America. Furthermore, the marriage also aimed to guarantee dynastic continuity in Brazil, since Isabel was the only surviving daughter of Pedro II and his wife was considered infertile after several miscarriages.
Negotiations for marriage began in 1863, when Pedro II sent a letter to the Duke of Némours, proposing the union between his children. The Duke accepted the proposal and sent a favorable response to the Brazilian emperor. Then, preparations for the ceremony began, which involved diplomatic, religious and financial issues. [1]
The ceremony was held in two stages: the first was the proxy marriage, which took place on August 28, 1864, at the Royal Chapel of Dreux, France. On this occasion, Gastão was represented by his younger brother, Prince Augusto de Orléans. The second was the in-person wedding, which took place on October 15, 1864, at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. On that occasion, Isabel and Gastão met for the first time and exchanged their marriage vows in front of Archbishop Dom Manuel Joaquim da Silveira.
The wedding was a major social event in Brazil, which was attended by civil and military authorities, members of the nobility and the diplomatic corps, as well as a large popular crowd that followed the wedding procession through the city streets. The couple received many gifts and tributes, such as jewelry, medals, paintings, poems and music. One of the most famous was the "Wedding March", composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva especially for the occasion.
Isabel and Gastão had three children: Pedro de Alcântara, Luís Maria and Antônio Gastão. These children were the last members of the Brazilian imperial family to be born in Brazil, before the proclamation of the Republic in 1889.
Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours was the second son of King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily.
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.
Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza was the consort of the Orléanist pretender to the French throne, Henri, Count of Paris, and the daughter of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, pretender to the throne of the Empire of Brazil.
The 4th House of Orléans, sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. The house was founded by Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV, the "Sun King".
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.
DonaIsabel, nicknamed "the Redemptress", was the Princess Imperial of the Empire of Brazil and the Empire's regent on three occasions. Born in Rio de Janeiro as the eldest daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Empress Teresa Cristina, she was a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza. After the deaths of her two brothers in infancy, she was recognized as her father's heiress presumptive. She married a French prince, Gaston, Count of Eu, in an arranged marriage and they had three sons.
Prince Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu was a French prince and military commander who fought in the Spanish-Moroccan War and the Paraguayan War. He was the first son of Louis, Duke of Nemours and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was married to Princess Isabel, daughter of Pedro II of Brazil and heiress to the Brazilian throne.
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 Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, known in Brazil as Dom Luís Augusto, was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry and an Admiral in the Imperial Brazilian Navy.
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.
Princess Leopoldina of Brazil was the daughter of Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina. She shared the first name of her grandmother, Empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil.
The Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is an old Carmelite church which served as cathedral (Sé) of Rio de Janeiro from around 1808 until 1976. During the 19th century, it was also used successively as Royal and Imperial Chapel by the Portuguese Royal Family and the Brazilian Imperial Family, respectively. It is located in the Praça XV square, in downtown Rio. It is one of the most important historical buildings in the city.
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 Imperial Order of the Rose was a Brazilian order of chivalry, instituted by Emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 17 October 1829 to commemorate his marriage to Amélie of Leuchtenberg.
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.
DonaMaria Francisca was the daughter of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, head of the Petrópolis line of the House of Orléans-Braganza. She married Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, pretender to the Portuguese throne, with whom she had three sons, the eldest of whom, Duarte Pio, is the current pretender.
The Palace of the Grand Pará is a royal palace located in the city of Petrópolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a secondary palace of the Brazilian Imperial Family, serving to allocate the servants and guests of the Palace of Petropólis. It is currently the only palace still belonging to the Brazilian Imperial Family, being the only royal palace in the Americas occupied by a royal family.
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 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.