Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg

Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (3 April 1831 – 16 December 1909) was the wife of Miguel de Bragança, former occupant of the Portuguese throne but only following his deposition. As a widow, she secured advantageous marriages for their six daughters.

Princess Adelaide
Born(1831-04-03)3 April 1831
Kleinheubach, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Confederation
Died16 December 1909(1909-12-16) (aged 78)
Ryde, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
Burial
Pantheon of the Braganças, Lisbon, Portugal
SpouseMiguel I of Portugal
(m. 1851 - 1866; his death)
Issue
Full name
German: Sophie Amelie Adelheid Louise Johanne Leopoldine
HouseLöwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
FatherConstantine, Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
MotherPrincess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Family
A young Adelaide.

Princess Adelaide Sofia Amelia of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg was born in Kleinheubach, near Miltenberg, Bavaria on 3 April 1831, Easter Sunday. She was a daughter of Constantine, Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1802–1838), and Princess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Adelaide was four and half years old when her mother died and seven when she also lost her father. Adelaide and her brother, Charles, were brought up by their paternal grandparents, Charles Thomas, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1783–1849) and his wife Princess Sophie of Windisch-Graetz. Her maternal grandparents were Karl Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Countess Amalie Henriette of Solms-Baruth.

Princess Adelaide belonged to the Löwenstein-Wertheim family, an originally morganatic branch of the House of Wittelsbach which was eventually elevated to princely status and then mediatised in 1819.

Marriage
Wedding of Princess Adelaide and Miguel de Bragança.

On 24 September 1851, Adelaide married Miguel de Bragança, the former occupant of the Portuguese throne. The bride was 20 years old while the groom was almost 49.

Miguel had at first served as Regent in Portugal for his niece and betrothed Queen Maria II of Portugal but had seized the throne for himself on 23 June 1828. He was an avid conservative and admirer of Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. He overturned the Constitutional Charter written by his brother, Pedro I of Brazil, and tried to rule as an absolute monarch. This resulted in the so-called Liberal Wars (1828–1834), actually a prolonged civil war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists.

Dom Miguel and his wife, Princess Adelaide

The war had ended in 1834 with the deposition of Miguel, who renounced all claims to the throne of Portugal in exchange for an annual pension. (Since he reneged on the terms of his deposition, he never collected the pension.) He was forced into a lifelong exile. He remained the senior male member of the Portuguese line of the House of Braganza, but he was never restored to the throne and it is disputed whether his descendants' dynastic rights were restored. On 15 January 1837, his support of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, the first Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne, resulted in the removal of his own rights to said throne.

Children
NameBirthDeathNotes
Infanta Maria das Neves5 August 185215 February 1941Married Alfonso Carlos de Borbon, Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain
Miguel19 September 185311 October 1927Grandfather of the current throne claimant, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
Infanta Maria Theresa24 August 185512 February 1944Became the third wife of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
Infanta Maria Josepha19 March 185711 March 1943Became the second wife of Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria
Infanta Adelgundes10 November 185815 April 1946Married Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, son of Charles III, Duke of Parma
Infanta Marie Anne13 July 186131 July 1942Married Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Infanta Maria Antónia28 November 186214 May 1959Became the second wife of Robert I, Duke of Parma

Ancestry

Matchmaker and later life
See also: Descendants of Miguel I of Portugal

Her husband, Miguel, died on 14 November 1866 before any of their children had reached adulthood. Adelaide, who was a very ambitious woman, would spend the next several decades attempting to secure prominent marriages for her children.

As a result of her largely successful attempts, her grandchildren would include (among others) Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, Elisabeth Amalia, Princess of Liechtenstein, Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians, Marie Gabrielle, Crown Princess of Bavaria, Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Antoinette, Crown Princess of Bavaria, Xavier, Duke of Parma, Zita, Empress of Austria, Felix of Bourbon-Parma and Infanta Maria Adelaide of Portugal. Many of her descendants have inherited her longevity.

Adelaide as a nun.

In 1895, two years after the marriage of her last daughter, Adelaide, a devout Catholic, retired to the abbey of Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes in north-western France. She professed as a nun there on 12 June 1897. The community later moved to Cowes and then to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, where Adelhaid died on 16 December 1909 at the age of 78. In 1967 both her body and that of her husband were moved to the Braganza mausoleum in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon. During her life, she lived during the reign of 6 Portuguese kings: her future husband Miguel I until 1834; his niece Maria II until 1853 (from 1837 along with his consort Fernando II); his grandnephews Pedro V until 1861 and Luís I until 1889; his great-grandnephew Carlos I until 1908 and his great-great-grandnephew Manuel II from 1908.

Sources
  • "The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy" by C. Arnold McNaughton.
  • "Burke's Royal Families of the World", edited by Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd.
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  • Marek, Miroslav. "A listing of descendants of the Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort family". Genealogy.EU.
  • Her profile in Peerage.com
  • A list of her descendants (Archived 2009-10-24)
Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
Cadet branch of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim
Born: 3 April 1831 Died: 16 December 1909
Titles in pretence
Vacant
Title last held by
Carlota Joaquina of Spain		 — TITULAR —
Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves
Miguelist line
24 September 1851 – 14 November 1866		 Vacant
Title next held by
Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis
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