Dona MARIA I -

Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana de Bragança. Daughter of King José I and Queen Mariana Vitória. Married on 6 June 1760 to Pedro III (5/7/1717-Ajuda, 25/5/1786), her uncle, the fifth son of João V and Maria Anna of Austria, from whom she was widowed in 1786. Maria I succeeded her father on the throne on 24 February 1777. At the invitation of the canon regent Dom Frei Joaquim da Assunção Velho, a famous inventor and supporter of modern physics, she travelled to Mafra a few times to attend scientific demonstrations that he expressly organised for the sovereign (see Gazeta de Lisboa, Sept. 1790; etc.). A letter issued in the same town (2/9/1791) reveals that Dona Maria's vow to build a convent for the Arrábidos at Quinta da Roussada-Mafra (on the site later called Conventinho) was intended to obtain the succession for her son João, who had been married to Carlota of Bourbon since 1785. Eusébio Gomes refers to the fury of Queen Maria I, who threw herself to the ground, screaming and pulling her hair out, when she was told of the transfer of the Court to Brazil, which had been decided at a Council of Ministers held in Mafra and which "was attended by the Minister of England, who came from Lisbon in all haste in a cart pulled by mules" (see Tomás de Mello Breyner). The same memoirist adds that "if it hadn't been for [Francisco] Laranja", the master of the royal galleys, the Queen would not have travelled to Brazil.

Dom PEDRO III
(1717-1786)
D. Pedro Clemente Francisco José António de Bragança. Fifth son of João V and Maria Ana of Austria, uncle of his consort. He was popularly known as Capacidónio. His effigy is framed and crowned in an oil on canvas portrait of Queen Maria I, exhibited at the PNM, painted by José Inácio de Sam Paio.

This marriage led to the births of the following children: D. José, Príncipe da Beira and Duque de Bragança (Paço da Ajuda, 20/8/1761 † in the same palace, 11/9/1788); D. João, Infante de Portugal (born and died 1763); D. João VI, who succeeded to the throne; Maria Clementina (Lisbon, 1774 † same city, 1776); Maria Isabel (Queluz, 23/12/1766 † Lisbon, 1777); Mariana Vitória Josefa (Queluz, 15/12/1768 † Madrid, 2/11/1788).

[see Institutions: Real Colégio de Mafra]