JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
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She seems like an amazing woman in one key respect; she gave up her throne for the emancipation of slaves in Brazil on one of the occasions she ruled as Regent while her father Pedro II was out of the country.
From Wikipedia:
Dona Isabel (English: Isabella;[a] 29 July 1846 – 14 November 1921), nicknamed "the Redemptress",[1] was the heiress presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, bearing the title ofPrincess Imperial. She also served as the Empire's regent on three occasions.
Isabel was born in Rio de Janeiro, the eldest daughter of Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina, and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza (Portuguese:Bragança). After the deaths of her two brothers in infancy, she was recognized as her father's heiress presumptive. She married a French prince, Gaston, Count of Eu, in an arranged marriage and they had three sons.
During her father's absences abroad, Isabel acted as regent. In her third and final regency, she actively promoted and ultimately signed a law, named Lei Áurea or the Golden Law (1888), emancipating all slaves in Brazil. Even though the action was broadly popular, there was strong opposition to her succession to the throne. Her gender, strong Catholic faith and marriage to a foreigner were seen as impediments against her, and the emancipation of the slaves generated dislike among powerful planters. In 1889, her family was deposed in a military coup, and she spent the last 30 years of her life in exile in France...
Historian Roderick J. Barman wrote that "in the view of posterity, [Isabel] acted decisively only once on a single issue: the immediate abolition of slavery".[138] It is for this achievement that she is remembered. As explained by Barman, paradoxically this "principal exercise of power by which posterity alone remembers her ... contributed to her exclusion from public life". Isabel herself wrote, on the day after the republican coup d'état that deposed her father, "If abolition is the cause for this, I don't regret it; I consider it worth losing the throne for."[
How often do-gooders promote reforms or restructuring for society in one aspect or another that cost them power and wealth? Though I have no iron-clad stats, I have no doubt that it is very rare.
I have to read more about this incredible woman who sacrificed her ascension to the throne to liberate the slaves of her nation. Such commitment to the betterment of mankind at great personal cost is indeed heartening.
If anyone can recommend any good books/biographies of this woman, I would be very appreciative.
From Wikipedia:
Dona Isabel (English: Isabella;[a] 29 July 1846 – 14 November 1921), nicknamed "the Redemptress",[1] was the heiress presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, bearing the title ofPrincess Imperial. She also served as the Empire's regent on three occasions.
Isabel was born in Rio de Janeiro, the eldest daughter of Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina, and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza (Portuguese:Bragança). After the deaths of her two brothers in infancy, she was recognized as her father's heiress presumptive. She married a French prince, Gaston, Count of Eu, in an arranged marriage and they had three sons.
During her father's absences abroad, Isabel acted as regent. In her third and final regency, she actively promoted and ultimately signed a law, named Lei Áurea or the Golden Law (1888), emancipating all slaves in Brazil. Even though the action was broadly popular, there was strong opposition to her succession to the throne. Her gender, strong Catholic faith and marriage to a foreigner were seen as impediments against her, and the emancipation of the slaves generated dislike among powerful planters. In 1889, her family was deposed in a military coup, and she spent the last 30 years of her life in exile in France...
Historian Roderick J. Barman wrote that "in the view of posterity, [Isabel] acted decisively only once on a single issue: the immediate abolition of slavery".[138] It is for this achievement that she is remembered. As explained by Barman, paradoxically this "principal exercise of power by which posterity alone remembers her ... contributed to her exclusion from public life". Isabel herself wrote, on the day after the republican coup d'état that deposed her father, "If abolition is the cause for this, I don't regret it; I consider it worth losing the throne for."[
How often do-gooders promote reforms or restructuring for society in one aspect or another that cost them power and wealth? Though I have no iron-clad stats, I have no doubt that it is very rare.
I have to read more about this incredible woman who sacrificed her ascension to the throne to liberate the slaves of her nation. Such commitment to the betterment of mankind at great personal cost is indeed heartening.
If anyone can recommend any good books/biographies of this woman, I would be very appreciative.
