MARIA II DA GLÓRIA (1819-1853, Queen of Portugal 1826-1828 and 1834-1853)

Fine letter in Portuguese with translation, signed 'The Queen', to Luigi Ciacchi, (1788-1865, Cardinal from 1838), lithographed with signature and addressee's name added by hand, beginning with her titles "Dona Maria, By the Grace of God, Queen of Portugal and of the Algarves, of the Nearer and Further Sea, in Africa Lady of Guinea, and of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India etc.", thanking him for his wishes "on the joyful occasion of the Birth of Christ Our Lord", assuring him that she will not forget and will seek "repeated occasions to show how much I wish to be of use to you", ending "May Our Lord keep your Person in His Holy care", 1 side folio, address and embossed wafer seal on conjugate leaf of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry with the Royal Arms, Necessidades Palace, Lisbon, 31st January

Dona Maria was born when the Royal family were in Brazil and spent her early years there. She was proclaimed Queen in 1826 but on her arrival at Gibraltar in 1828 found that her uncle had been proclaimed King as Miguel I, and much of her reign was marked by civil war. She married Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Prince Albert's cousin.
Ciacchi was a Northerner with liberal sympathies. As Governor of Rome and Director General of Police (1834-1838) he extended the Easter amnesty to political prisoners with sentences of less than six months. Governor of the Legation of Ferrara (29th March 1847), he wrote cautious letters to G. Lamberti, Mazzini's publicist, but retired before the Austrian advance (6th July 1848) leaving Ferrara in lay hands.

Item Date:  1851

Stock No:  14426      £275

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