Maria II of Portugal

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Maria II
Queen of Portugal
1st reign	2 May 1826 – 11 July 1828
Predecessor	Pedro IV
Successor	Miguel I
Regents	Infanta Isabel Maria (1826–1828) Infante Miguel, Duke of Beja (Feb–Jul 1828)
2nd reign	26 May 1834 – 15 November 1853
Acclamation	20 September 1834
Predecessor	Miguel I
Successor	Pedro V
Co-monarch	Fernando II (1837–1853)
Regent	Pedro IV (May–Sep 1834)
Born	(1819-04-04)4 April 1819 Palace of São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	15 November 1853(1853-11-15) (aged 34) Necessidades Palace, Lisbon, Portugal
Burial	19 November 1853 Pantheon of the House of Braganza
Spouses	Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg ​ ​ (m. 1835; died 1835)​ Ferdinand II of Portugal ​ ​ (m. 1836)​
Issue Detail	Pedro V, King of Portugal Luís I, King of Portugal Infante João, Duke of Beja Maria Ana, Princess George of Saxony Antónia, Princess of Hohenzollern Infante Fernando Infante Augusto, Duke of Coimbra
Names Portuguese: Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga de Habsburgo-Lorena e Bragança
House	Braganza
Father	Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal
Mother	Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853) "the Educator" (Portuguese: "a Educadora") or "the Good Mother" (Portuguese: "a Boa Mãe"), was Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 1853. Her supporters considered her to be the rightful queen also during the period between her two reigns.

Maria was born in Rio de Janeiro during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Dom João VI. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Braganza, who later became Emperor Dom Pedro I and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. In 1826, her father became king of Portugal but quickly abdicated in favour of the seven-year-old Maria. Both Pedro and Maria remained in Brazil, and her aunt Dona Isabel Maria initially served as regent for them in Portugal. Later Emperor Pedro's brother Miguel replaced Isabel Maria as regent and was to marry Maria when she came of age. However, a few months after Miguel's arrival in Portugal in early 1828 he deposed the absent Maria and declared himself king, thus beginning the Liberal Wars over royal succession. Maria remained outside Portugal throughout her first reign, finally arriving in Gibraltar just in time to learn of her deposition. She proceeded to England and then returned to Brazil. In 1831 her father (having abdicated the Brazilian throne) returned to Europe with his daughter and led a military expedition in support of Maria's claim while she pursued her education in France. She finally set foot in Portugal for the first time in 1833 after Lisbon was occupied by forces supporting her. In 1834, Miguel was forced to abdicate and Maria was restored as undisputed queen. She remained a member of the Brazilian imperial family until 1835 when she was excluded from the Brazilian line of succession by law.

Maria's second reign was marked by continued political turmoil. In January 1835, she married Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg, who died two months after their marriage. In April 1836, Maria remarried to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Maria's second husband was proclaimed King Dom Fernando II a year later in accordance with Portuguese law following the birth of their first child, Pedro. Maria faced a series of difficult pregnancies and ultimately died in childbirth in 1853, at the age of 34. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Dom Pedro V.