Ferdinand II of Portugal

Dom Ferdinand II (Portuguese: Fernando II) (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and King of Portugal jure uxoris as the husband of Queen Maria II, from the birth of their first son in 1837 to her death in 1853.

In keeping with Portuguese law, only after the birth of his son in 1837 did he acquire the title of king. Ferdinand's reign came to an end with the death of his wife in 1853, but he served as regent for his son and successor, King Pedro V, until 1855.

He retained the style and title of king even after the death of Maria II and her succession by their children Pedro V and then Luís I. His sons were reigning kings, while Ferdinand himself was a king-father during their reigns.

Early life
Born Ferdinand August Franz Anton in Vienna, he was the eldest son of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and his wife Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya, heiress to the House of Koháry. The younger Ferdinand grew up in several places: the family estates in modern-day Slovakia, the imperial court of Austria, and Germany. He was a nephew of King Leopold I of Belgium, and thus a first cousin to Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico, as well as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert. In 1826, his title changed from Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, following the re-arrangement of the Saxon duchies.

King of Portugal
According to Portuguese law, the husband of a queen regnant could only be titled king after the birth of an heir from that marriage; this was the reason Maria II's first husband, Auguste de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, never acquired the title of king. After the birth of their eldest son and heir, the future Pedro V of Portugal, Ferdinand was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II.

Although it was Maria who reigned by right, the royal couple formed an effective team during their joint reign, with Ferdinand reigning by himself during his wife's pregnancies.

Eventually, Maria II died as a result of the birth of their eleventh child, and Ferdinand II's reign ended. However, he would assume the regency of Portugal from 1853 to 1855, during the minority of his son King Pedro V.

Later life
Ferdinand was an intelligent and artistically minded man with modern and liberal ideas. He was adept at etching, pottery and painting aquarelles. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Arts, Lord Protector of the University of Coimbra and Grand-Master of the Rosicrucians. In 1838, he acquired the former Hieronymite monastery of Our Lady of Pena, which had been built by King Manuel I in 1511 on the top of the hill above Sintra and had been left unoccupied since 1834, when the religious orders were suppressed in Portugal. The monastery consisted of the cloister and its outbuildings, the chapel, the sacristy and the bell tower, which today form the northern section of the Pena National Palace (the "Old Palace").

Ferdinand began by making repairs to the former monastery, which, according to the historical sources of that time, was in poor condition. He refurbished the whole of the upper floor, replacing the fourteen cells used by the monks with larger-sized rooms and covering them with the vaulted ceilings that can still be seen today. In 1843, the king decided to enlarge the palace by building a new wing (the New Palace) with even larger rooms (one of them being the Great Hall), ending in a circular tower next to the new kitchens. The building work was directed by the Baron von Eschwege, a wild architectural fantasy in an eclectic style full of symbolism that could be compared with the castle Neuschwanstein of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The palace was built in such a way as to be visible from any point in the park, which consists of a forest and luxuriant gardens with over five hundred different species of trees originating from the four corners of the earth. Ferdinand would spend his last years in this castle with his second wife, receiving the greatest artists of his time.

Death
Since he was sixty, Ferdinand suffered from facial cancer that severely disfigured him and kept him away from public life. On December 12, 1885, due to double vision caused by the tumor, he tripped when going down the stairs to the foyer of the São Carlos Theater, violently hitting his head against a wall and fell into a coma, dying three days after. In his will he left almost all his assets to his second wife, which caused a public comotion.

He rests next to Mary II, his first wife, in the Pantheon of the House of Braganza, in São Vicente de Fora, Lisbon.

Marriages and descendants
In 1836 Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal. Eleven children were born to the royal couple before Maria died of complications due to childbirth in 1853. Ferdinand was destined to outlive eight of his eleven children. In late 1861, an attack of cholera or typhoid fever struck the royal family and Ferdinand suffered the tragedy of witnessing the death of three of his five surviving sons.

Later in his life, Ferdinand married again in Lisbon on 10 June 1869 to actress Elisa Hensler (Neuchâtel, 22 May 1836 – Lisbon, Coração de Jesus, 21 May 1929). Just before the marriage, she was styled Gräfin (Countess) von Edla by Ferdinand's cousin Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The couple had no children.

Honours

 * Portuguese orders and decorations
 * Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders, 9 December 1835 – wedding gift of his bride, Queen Maria II
 * Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword
 * Grand Cross of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
 * Gold Medal of Distinguished Service

• Austrian Empire: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1843
 * Foreign orders and decorations

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 15 July 1835

•  Empire of Brazil:

• * Grand Cross of the Southern Cross

• * Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I

• * Grand Cross of the Rose

• 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 12 April 1841

•    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, December 1835

•  Kingdom of France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion

•  Kingdom of Prussia:

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, 11 January 1845; with Collar, 1862

• * Grand Cross of the Red Eagle

•  Russian Empire:

• * Knight of St. Andrew, September 1850

• * Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, September 1850

• * Knight of the White Eagle, September 1850

• * Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, September 1850

•  Kingdom of Sardinia:

• * Knight of the Annunciation, 16 August 1849

• * Grand Cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1849

•  Kingdom of Saxony:

• * Knight of the Rue Crown, 1840

• * Grand Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry

• 🇪🇸 Spain: Knight of the Golden Fleece, 16 October 1838

• 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Seraphim, with Collar, 15 February 1852

•  Two Sicilies: Grand Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit