After the excommunication of his brother Sancho II and the subsequent civil war, Alfonso III He occupied the throne of Portugal in 1248. Once the kingdom was pacified, the new monarch focused his forces on the conquest of the southern territories occupied by the Muslims. Once these were defeated, disputes began with the Castile of Alfonso X over the southern border of both kingdoms, which would be established on the Guadiana River with the signing of the Treaty of Badajoz in 1267. In addition, in 1255 he moved the court from Coimbra to Lisbon, the city that, thanks to maritime trade, had become the largest and most prosperous in Portugal. Some legalists still consider Coimbra the official capital and Lisbon the unofficial capital, since the transfer was made in practice but there is no document, from the time or later, that endorses it. Leaving aside this legal detail, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) was the capital of Portugal for 13 years.
We go back to the 19th century, specifically to October 27, 1807 when the Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed between Manuel Godoy, a favorite of the King of Spain, Carlos IV, and Napoleon I Bonaparte. According to this treaty, French troops would be allowed to cross Spanish territory for the joint military invasion of Portugal, an ally of England. With Spanish troops penetrating from the north and south, the French approaching the capital and an English squadron anchored in the port of Lisbon with orders to escort the royal family to Brazil or, if it surrendered to the French, attack and conquer the city, on November 29, 1807, two days before the French entered Lisbon, the Portuguese royal family, headed by the Prince Regent, the future John VI, and another fifteen thousand people from the court of Braganza set out for Brazil escorted by the British.
Arrival of the court in Brazil
As soon as he set foot on Brazilian soil, on January 22, 1808, the Prince Regent signed, by British "recommendation", a Royal Decree that allowed free trade in the ports of Brazil to "friendly nations" -in practice to England- . On March 7, the Portuguese court and their respective personal belongings (furniture, jewelry, archives, works of art, books...) arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where the bodies and institutions that would govern Portugal and its colonial empire for an indefinite time were established. Although the population received them with joy and pride -for the first time in history a colony became the capital of a kingdom-, the arrival of the court caused chaos in that small population of no more than 60,000 inhabitants. Although the enclave was a paradisiacal place, it was not prepared to supply and accommodate so many distinguished visitors, so the royal officials toured the city to choose the most appropriate homes, which would be occupied by the members of the court, putting the inscription PR (Prince Regent) - the locals sarcastically interpreted it as "Ponha-se na Rua", To the fucking street -. Overcoming the housing problems with the initial expropriations and subsequent urban development, the opening of the ports solved the supply problems, which increased their dependence on the British by turning them into suppliers of food, manufactures... Not only did goods arrive at the ports, Many immigrants also arrived, especially English, making Rio de Janeiro the most cosmopolitan city in the entire continent. Rio de Janeiro frantically believed to fit its new status as the capital of an overseas empire.
John VI of Portugal
With the defeat of Napoleon, the European powers met in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna to reorganize the political map of the old continent. Despite the fact that there was no longer any reason to continue there, either for convenience or because it was convenient for England, the Prince Regent decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro and not return to Portugal. In addition, to silence the most fanatical monarchists who criticized the fact that the capital of the empire was in a colony, he raised the status of Brazil, making it a kingdom on the same level as Portugal, and created the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve. . After the death of his mother Maria I in March 1816, the Prince, who had held the regency since the queen was declared mentally incompetent, assumed the throne becoming John VI King of Portugal and Brazil .
But one thing is the royal will and another that of your subjects. The distance from the court emboldened many liberals who provoked riots in several Portuguese cities, even convening General Constituent Cortes to form a government behind the king's back. Likewise, in Brazil things were not calm either, the first voices calling for the independence of the kingdom of Brazil were beginning to be heard. So, John VI had no choice but to return to Portugal on April 25, 1821, after having remained in Rio de Janeiro for 13 years, leaving his son Pedro as regent in his name. In the early 1820s, most of the privileges that had been granted to Brazil were removed, making it a de facto colony again. Big mistake, because in addition to outraging Brazilians, he gave arguments to the nationalists who advocated independence. And to add insult to injury, they found a timely ally in the regent Pedro, who did not hesitate to lead the independence fighters. On September 7, 1822, he drew his sword and shouted…
Independence or death! (Cry of Ipiranga).
He was proclaimed emperor on October 12 and crowned as Pedro I of Brazil on December 1. And here there are two versions:the one that tells that Pedro acted on his own account and risk, and the one that attributes this coronation to the recommendation of his father who, seeing the difficulties that the Portuguese monarchy was going through and the potential of Brazil that sooner or later soon he would become independent, he advised him to anticipate and take the reins before others did. It was one or the other, what is clear is that, without meaning to, John VI contributed to the independence of Brazil by creating its own institutions for self-government, establishing free trade in the ports that generated unprecedented economic growth that attracted many Europeans. , providing the territory with previously unimaginable services and infrastructures and turning Rio de Janeiro into the cultural capital of the American continent.