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D. João V (English: John V; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as João the Magnificent and the Portuguese Sun King, was a Braganza monarch that ruled as King of Portugal and the Algarves during the first half of the 18th-century. João V raised the prestige of Portugal, which had been in a long decline amongst European courts, to a new and glorious level of prosperity and wealth.

João V's reign saw an enormous influx of gold to the coffers of the King's Treasury, mainly based on the royal fifth from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão. With the combined wealth of the government and the royal household, João V was able to entertain an incredibly lavish court, one of the richest in Europe, which coincided with the enrichment of the Portuguese nobility. João V's wealth also allowed him to firmly rule the country as an absolute monarch, devoting a large portion of policy to keep the growing nobility in check. The Portuguese Sun King tied his enormous appetite for luxury and his lust for political control together by constructing the Royal Palace of Mafra, an imposing palatial complex that demonstrated João's wealth and power to his empire and to the church.

João V was a very pious man and he devoted large parts of his day to prayer and religious study. His devotion to the Catholic Church, and some very large donations to the Vatican, were rewarded by a long awaited recognition as a lawful monarch by Pope Benedict XIV. The Pope also granted João V the styling Most Faithful Majesty, which greatly pleased him. Though he looked at the Church for its acceptance and praise, João V affirmed that his policies came above those of the Church, coming into occasional conflict with the Papacy.

Early Life
João was born at 09:30 on 22 October 1689 at Ribeira Palace, in Lisbon, to King Pedro II and Queen Maria Sofia of Neuburg. He was baptized on November 19, at the Royal Palace Chapel, and given the name João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo. João was not his father's first son, João had had an older brother, of the same name, that had died a year before João's birth. Thus, with João's birth, the court was overjoyed for the new male heir to the kingdom.

Upon João's birth, he was not given the traditional titles of the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne, Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza, but merely the default title of Infante of Portugal. This was a to be a sign of respect for his older brother's death, having happened only months before.

Education
João had a rich upbrining, being surounded by some of the greatest minds of all Europe at the time. It was agreed upon by the court that João's infancy was to be strictly run by women only, a custom of the Portuguese court, and Portuguese nobility as a whole. João's, and later all of Pedro II's son's, governess was D. Maria de Lencastre, the Marquise of Unhão, who was given that position more for her beauty and status than for her efficiency as a child care giver.

João's father's policies had made the Portuguese Court rich, the national economy stable, and the imperial military strong. This allowed a for a rich and interesting childhood of João. Growing up, João was under the tutelage, and heavy influence, of the Jesuit Fathers Francisco da Cruz, João Seco, and Luís Gonzaga. Father Luís Gonzaga was chief for the education of all of King Pedro II's children, teaching them military education, politics, astronomy, nautical stuidies, mathematics, and history. As the prince grew up, he was mentored in political affairs by Luís da Cunha, a prime Portuguese diplomat.

Maturity
When João reached the age of seven, his father determined his eldest sons were sufficiently educated in basic subjects and decided to take control of them directly, though his interest in mentoring them quickly faded. This was formalized when he and his brother, Francisco, Duke of Beja, were admitted into the Order of Christ on 7 April 1696. Later that year, the King finally decided to confer João the titles of the heir apparent, namely Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza. On 1 December 1696, on the anniversary of the Portuguese Restoration War, a grand ceremony was held and João was invested with his titles. The ceremony involved the placing of a large ermine and red velvet mantle on João, alongside various jewels and regalia.

Just over a month before João's 10th birthday in 1699, his mother, Queen Maria Sofia of Neuburg, died at the age of 33. This caused João to retreat from court and become depressed for many months. Catherine of Braganza, João's aunt and the former Queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland, returned to Portugal, to help João revitalize himself and to take over his education. She resided in the palace she had built, Bemposta Palace, and remained João's main tutor and female role model until her death in 1705.

In April 1700, João fell incredibly ill and was on his assumed death bed. Fearing for his death, João asked for his last rites and confessed his sins. João eventually, and suprisingly, recovered fully from his sickness and return to his normal activities. His recovery being dubbed a miracle by the court.

The death of João's sister, Teresa Maria, in February 1704, greatly saddened João and cause him to seclude from court for some months and estrange himself with his father, who favoured João's younger brother, Manuel, Count of Ourém. During this time, much gossip was spread and worries arrised for whether João would ever recuperate. In May of that year, João eventually returned to court and reconcile with the King, saying that his saudades for his sister will not get in the way of him performing his duty for the King.

Succession
In early December 1706, Pedro II had moved himself to the Royal Quinta at Alcântara, as he was growing ill and needed space from the court. On the fifth of that month, the King caught a high fever and the court doctors met to fully examine him. They determined his health was greatly deteriorating. The next day Pedro II called all his children to his bedside and told them of his coming demise. He appointed João as Prince Regent of the Kingdom and asked that all his children follow João's wishes. Though he appointed João the Prince Regent, Pedro II still favoured his youngest son, Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém, and the king gave Manuel a special gift which no other child received.

Acclamation
On 9 December 1706, at 13:30, King Pedro II of Portugal passed away in his sleep. Following Pedro II's death, Ribeira Palace was redecorated to express the mourning of the king. On the palace's façade towards the Terreiro do Paço, large black banners were hung from the windows for this purpose. A month after Pedro II's death, it was declared appropriate for the king to finally be acclaimed King. Preperations for João's acclamation had already been started and once allowed, the royal palace was, once again, redecorated to celebrate João's acclamation, replacing the black banners with red ones and fruit wreaths being hung throughout all of the palace.

On the day of João's acclamation, 1 January 1707, his new throne was placed on the balcony of the Ribeira Palace's Tower of the King. High above Terreiro do Paço hung specially made tapestries illustrating the allegories of Justice and Prudence, to remind the public that these were the traits their king would have. Once João sat down on his throne, wreaths made of gold were layed around the throne and balcony. Wearing his Cross of the Order of Christ, and with the Portuguese Crown Jewels beside him, João was acclamed His Majesty, by the Grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarves, before and beyond the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, our Lord, João, the fifth of that name in the table of the Kings of Portugal.

João was now king of an empire that stretched four continents. He was also the head of state of a kingdom that was at war with Spain and France. His first regnal act was to renew Portugal's membership in the League of Augsburg and continue in the war alongside the United Kingdom and the Habsburgs. Portugal quickly supplied more troops to aid her allies in the war. This new level of Portuguese involvement allowed João's general, António Luís de Sousa, Marquis of Minas, to capture Madrid on 28 June 1706. While Portugal put vast resources into the war, contrary to João's predessors, who avoided conflicts in Europe, activity in the war soon lost the interest of the king, having more pressing, and regal, affairs to attend to.

Marriage
During his life, Pedro II had worked a long time on securing João a marriage to an Austrian archduchess, which guaranteed Portugal's alliance with the Habsburgs. João continued these negotiations and finally succeded a deal. On 27 June 1707, Fernão Teles da Silva, Count of Vilar Maior, signed a marriage contract with Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, which officialized the marriage between João and Emperor Joseph's sister, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. The contract also set the Archduchess's dowry at 100,000 crowns, a vast sum for the day.

The armada that Portugal sent to escort Maria Anna, from the Lower Countries to Lisbon, arrived in the Tagus river estuary on 26 October 1708. The flagship, in which Maria Anna travelled, berthed at the docks of Ribeira Palace's private garden, where João, and an a party of the kingdom's richest and most powerful nobles, met the new queen for the first time. The marriage celebrations, that lasted until December 27, were so sumptuous, and costly, that the Count of Povolide said that the King, "celebrated with all the gradeur that he could imagine".

By late 1710, João and Maria Anna had not produced an heir to the throne. It had been two years that the couple had been married and the court was starting to question the future of the House of Braganza. In early 1711, João met with Franciscan Cardenal Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High Inquisitor of the Portuguese Inquisition, who told the King that if João promised God to build a Franciscan convent in Mafra, God would deliver to João a long desired heir, and so João promised that if Maria Anna became pregnant before the end of 1711, he would build a Franciscan convent in Mafra. João's wish would come true later that year, when Maria Anna fulfilled her duty as Queen and wife and gave birth to Infanta Maria Barbara of Braganza on 4 December 1711.

João and Maria Anna had a successful marriage, but lived largely separate lives. Maria Anna devoted herself to preserving structure at court and her religious interests, while João concerned himself with whatever pleased him at the moment. João kept many mistresses throughout his royal career, including D. Filipa de Noronha, Paula de Odivelas, Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro, Madalena Máxima de Miranda, Inácia Rosa de Távora, and Luísa Clara de Portugal.

Offspring
Maria Barbara's birth was followed by the birth of Prince Pedro, Prince of Brazil, on 19 October 1712, which temporarily gave João a male heir. Prince Pedro's death, on 29 October 1714, greatly saddened João, but he took solace in the fact that his son, Infante José Francisco of Braganza, had been born on June 6 earlier that same year. Following Infante José's birth, João and Maria Anna would have three more children, Infante Carlos João of Braganza, on 2 May 1716, Infante Pedro Clemente of Braganza, on 5 July 1717, and Infante Alexandre Francisco of Braganza, on 24 September 1723. Of the last three infantes, only two would survive to adulthood, Infante Carlos João and Infante Pedro Clemente, and of whom only one would continue the Braganza line, Infante Pedro Clemente.

João's children received rigorous training, while growing up. It was João's plan to have an intelligent son for King, a strategically married daughter, and well versed statesmen sons; João would only achieve part of his plan. From her birth, Infanta Maria Barbara's marriage had been closely planned and monitored by João. When Mariana Victoria of Spain's engagement to Louis XV of France was nullified, João proposed Infanta Maria Barbara as a possible bride for Louis XV, but in the end she was turned down. João still managed to gain something from the dissolution of Louis XV and Mariana Victoria's engagement, a wife for his son, Prince José, and through that a husband for Infanta Maria Barbara, Mariana Victoria's older brother, Prince Fernando, Prince of Asturias. Negotiations between Portugal and Spain opened in 1725, and four years later João's eldest children would have matches. The princesses Maria Barbara and Mariana Victoria were exchanged at a ceremony held on the Caia River, on 19 January 1729. Prince José married Mariana Victoria on 19 January 1729, in Elvas, and Infanta Maria Barbara married Prince Fernando on 20 January 1929, in Badajoz.

For João's three other sons, none would marry in João's lifetime. Infante Alexandre Francisco died at the age of five, and Infante Carlos João died at the age of twenty without any marriage proposals nor children. Only Infante Pedro Clemente would live long enough to marry, but João would not live long enough to see it. Infante Pedro Clemente married the daughter of King José I, his niece, Princess Maria Francisca, Princess of Brazil, on 6 June 1760. When Princess Maria became Queen of Portugal, as Queen Maria I, Prince Pedro became King Pedro III, following Portuguese royal law that if the consort of a queen regnant produced children with the queen regnant, he would become King of Portugal jure uxoris.

From João's various extramarital affairs, João fathered four children, António of Braganza, by Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro, Gaspar of Braganza, Archbishop of Braga, by Madalena Máxima de Miranda, José of Braganza, High Inquisitor of Portugal, by Paula de Odivelas, and Maria Rita of Braganza, by Luísa Clara de Portugal. Out of his four illegitimate children, the three males were all recognized as João's sons and where collectively known as the Children of Palhavã, after the Palace of Palhavã, belonging to the Marquis of Louriçal, where they lived at João's expense. Maria Rita was never officially recognized as his daughter, but he informally arranged for her life at the Convent of Santos and managed her expenses. The husband of Maria Rita's mother, Jorge de Meneses, attempted to stop João V's actions for Maria Rita, but the King had him exiled to Spain and then England.

Regnal politics
When John became king, he chose to reign as an absolute monarch, notably never convening the Portuguese Cortes, the ancient parliament of the three estates in Portugal, and actively ignoring meetings of the Council of State. However, John did not act by himself when making decisions, frequently consulting a close circle of well-informed advisers and holding weekly intimate audiences with all three estates, which he preferred to larger institutions, such as parliament and the Council of State, which he viewed as incompetent and bloated. The Count of Povolide remarked on John's governance style, stating that "he established a predominance of personal consultation over institutional consultation."

His Majesty's Government
The highest position in the King's government was that of Secretary of State of Portugal, the equivalent of a modern-day prime minister. This position was always filled by John's favourite, the most notable being Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, whom John consulted with on every matter, to such a degree that it often appeared that he was John's only minister. When John became King, he inherited a powerful and large Council of State, made up of numerous bishops, nobles, and bureaucrats, which was charged with being the utmost consultory body to the king, as it was during John's father's reign. However, John's dislike of institutions and consultative bodies led him to formally cease convening the council, leading prominent politician and diplomat, Luís da Cunha, to refer to the king as a despot and his government as absolutist.

Though the Council of State was never convened, several of its members, important secretaries of the kingdom, were nonetheless close advisers to the king. Alongside Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Cardinal João da Mota e Silva and High-Inquisitor Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde were close advisers to the king, the former eventually substituting Mendonça Corte-Real as Secretary of State, when he died in 1736. Though disbanded most institutions, he notably maintained the Junta of the Three Estates, a governing junta created by John's grandfather, King John IV, which managed the finances and maintenance of military installations, troop raising, and taxation related to defense. Having engaged in multiple conflicts throughout his reign, both in Europe and his empire, John understood the necessity of the junta and carefully picked its members, only selecting those deemed the most knowledgeable and competent. Similarly, John maintained the Council of the Treasury, which managed the finances of Portugal and its empire, including tax collection and budget accounting for the majority of Portugal's organizations (notably excusing the military), as well as the Casa da Índia, the Royal Mint, and the custom houses across Portuguese territory.

Domestic Management
Engaged in conflict with Spain and France, in the War of the Spanish Succession, John used his military responsibilities to the Grand Alliance to reform the Portuguese military, notably extinguishing the last remnants of tercios and restructuring all troops into regiments.

European Relations
When John ascended to the throne, he found himself already entangled with the War of the Spanish Succession, as King Pedro II had signed the Methuen Treaty in 1703, aligned Portugal to the Grand Alliance against the House of Bourbon and allowed Grand Alliance forces to launch their invasion of Spain from Portugal. Only months after ascending to the throne, John had his forces overwhelmingly defeated in at the Battle of Almansa, jeopardizing Portuguese forces in Spain and security in the war. Portuguese forces continued to fight alongside the Grand Alliance until agreeing to an armistice with Spain and France on 8 November 1712. The war finally came to an end in 1713, with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, whereby Portugal regained position of territories conquered by the Bourbon coalition, as well as territorial gains in South America.

With the War of the Spanish Succession ended, John could reestablish relations with the courts of Europe. His first grand act of diplomacy was the dispatch of Luís Manuel da Câmara, 3rd Count of Ribeira Grande, as his embassy to the court of Louis XIV of France, in early August 1715. The grandson of François, Prince of Soubise and cousin of Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné, Câmara was personally chosen by John as his minister to France, wishing to reopen amicable relations with the French court. No expense was spared on the count's triumphal entry into Paris, costing 100 Louis d'or, and receiving such great applause from the people of Paris, that Alexandre de Gusmão, the count's secretary, stated that "the Count of Ribeira Grande has eternalized the grandness of our generous king". Though King Louis would die only weeks after the Portuguese embassy's arrival to France, the richness and extravagance of its entry to Paris would be noted in the French court and across Europe, gaining John and his kingdom a new level of prestige.

Responding to a request by Pope Clement XI to John to aid in the fight against the Turks, in 1716, the King sent an armada of Portuguese ships to aid Venice and Austria in their fights against the Turks, led by his brother, Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, and Lopo Furtado de Mendonça, Count of Rio Grande. In the same year, John ordered a formal, triumphal entry for his ambassador in Rome, Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, Marquis of Fontes. Seeking to mimic the response received at the French court, 5,000 cruzados were spent on a luxurious entry for the Portuguese envoy. The ceremonial procession included a convoy of 300 carriages surrounding the pièce de résistance of the procession, the Oceans Coach, an sumptuously ornate carriage made in Lisbon to demonstrate the wealth of the Portuguese empire to Rome. Impressing the Papal court, Pope Clement XI raised the dignity of the Archdiocese of Lisbon to the Patriarchate of Lisbon, making the Portuguese capital the only diocese with this title in Europe, besides Venice. John's good fortune with the Papacy and Italy would continue to raise the next year, in 1717, when the aid of a Portuguese squadron of ships helped win the Battle of Matapan, in the ongoing Ottoman-Venetian War.

Mafra
John is often remembered as one of the greatest patrons of the arts in Portuguese history, having commissioned numerous construction projects and artistic studies. The king's most famous and impotent work was the Palace-Convent of Mafra. In early 1711, already three years married to Maria Anna of Austria and without an heir, John grew worried for the future of the House of Braganza. He met with D. Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High-Inquisitor of Portugal, who assured the king that if he promised to build a convent for Franciscans in Mafra, in the Lisbon countryside, Maria Anna would bear him a child by the end of 1711, to which John agreed. Construction started in 1717, with plans for a modest church convent for one hundred friars. However, in the following years, with a gratuitous flow of gold from the American colonies of Brazil and Maranhão, the plans were altered to become a magnum opus of John's reign, accommodating three hundred friars and adjusted to become a hybrid convent-palace, including a royal library, a basilica, and a vast set of apartments for the royal family. Noting the vast size and scope of the project, Charles de Merveilleux, a French nobleman visiting Portugal in 1726, remarked that "King John has decided to build a second Escorial".

With the new plans for a palatial complex, the project at Mafra, entrusted to royal architect, João Frederico Ludovice, became much more than a fulfillment of a religious promise, but rather a demonstration of monarchical power and wealth. By 1729, 15,470 workers, from throughout Portugal and its colonies, were contributing to the construction of the palace, alongside a total of 6,124 infantrymen and cavalrymen, making a total of 21,594 persons involved in the building process and site that year. While the majority of the palace was completed by 1730, D. John was so consumed in completing the project that he decreed that it was mandatory for all inhabitants of the villages of Mafra and Ericeira were required to be working at the palace, requiring a excused permission under only special circumstances to not participate. In regard to the exuberant cost of the palatial complex, Merveilleux remarked that "three quarters of the royal treasury and nearly all of the gold brought on the fleets from Brazil where here, at Mafra, turned into stone."

Mafra stood as a monument to regal power, even though it would only become a pleasure palace and never a seat of authority. John commissioned numerous operas, comedies, and serenades to be celebrated at the palace with great pomp and the palace's enormous property become the favoured hunting grounds of the royal family for centuries to come. The King also started to annually celebrate his birthday at Mafra, starting in 1732. Within the palace, John housed one of the largest and most sumptuous libraries in Europe, with over 36,000 volumes from the 14th to the 19th century. Works at Mafra would continue until 1755, when the Great Lisbon Earthquake demanded as many workers as possible to rebuild the city.

The arts
Having founded numerous academic institutions in the fields of the arts, history, and literature, John is credited with having laid the basis for the institutional study and production of the arts in Portugal.

Cultural
In October 1708 he married his maternal first cousin Archduchess & Princess Imperial Maria Anna of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia (1683–1754), daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife, Eleonore Magdalena of the Palatinate-Neuburg, thus strengthening the alliance with Austria. The series of unsuccessful campaigns that ensued, ultimately terminated in a favourable peace with France in 1713 and with Spain in 1715.

His long reign was characterized by a strengthening of the king's power due to the incomes the crown earned by exploring the newly found gold and diamond mines in Brazil. A fifth of each ton extracted from these mines was crown property, the rest being divided among claim owners, contractors and public administrators. This sudden wealth enabled the king to rule without summoning the Cortes, thus becoming an absolute monarch. Due to his centralistic ruling, he had to endure the political opposition of several noble families and influential clergymen. In what most probably was an effort to tame the upper nobility, João V built his own Versailles, the grand Royal Palace of Mafra.

João V was the greatest patron of the arts in the Europe of his time. The Portuguese Empire was then extremely rich – Portugal collected more gold from the newly found Brazilian mines over a few decades than Spain took from the remaining of Central and South America over 400 years; there were also the very productive diamond and precious gemstone mines that kept the royal coffers full. With this endless supply of money he bought some of the greatest art collections that were available at the time – at a point, in one single occasion, over 80 paintings by great Italian masters were taken in to the royal palace in Lisbon. The music library, already the greatest in the world, was enlarged as was the royal library and other libraries in the country. The King insisted that his ambassadors keep him informed about the state of the arts in foreign countries and would buy only the best from the most reputable artists of the time. Unfortunately most of the great collections amassed by João V and the Portuguese aristocracy, along with the vast majority of the city of Lisbon were suddenly destroyed by the great earthquake of 1755 followed by a tsunami and fire.

João V used much of the crown's treasure to develop Portugal's economy (creating new manufactures all over the country), to patronise the arts and intellectuals (Royal academies were founded), and to advance his country's prestige among its European neighbors after the Crisis of Succession (1580) and short-lived union with Spain (1580-1640). His foreign policy followed two simple and unaltered rules: political neutrality in European conflicts and constant negotiations with the Vatican in order to be recognised as a lawful monarch. To this end, he spent heavily on bribes to church officials and embassies to the pope.

His negotiations with the Vatican gained the recognition of Portugal as a lawful sovereign country by Pope Benedict XIV in 1748 and the title "Most Faithful King" bestowed upon him and his successors by a bull. Six years before receiving this title, John suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralysed and unable to intervene in political affairs. His last years of life were dedicated to religious activities. His early economic measures, which were unpopular among the upper nobility, became ineffective, and public affairs were so dependent on John's rule that they became almost inoperative. João V died on July 31, 1750 in Lisbon, and was succeeded by his son Prince Joseph.

Titles and Styles

 * 22 October 1689 – 1 December 1696 His Highness, the Most Serene Infante João of Portugal
 * 1 December 1696 – 9 December 1706 His Royal Highness, the Prince of Brazil, Duke of Braganza, etc.
 * 9 December 1706 – 31 July 1750 His Most Faithful Majesty, the King of Portugal and the Algarves

The official styling of João as King of Portugal: By the Grace of God, João V, King of Portugal and the Algarves before and beyond the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, etc.

Honours
As monarch of Portugal, João was Grand Master of the following Portuguese Orders:
 * Order of Christ
 * Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz
 * Order of Saint James of the Sword
 * Order of the Tower and Sword

Ancestry
The ancestry of King João V: