Peter III of Portugal

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (January 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,249 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Portuguese Wikipedia article at [[:pt:Pedro III de Portugal]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|pt|Pedro III de Portugal}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Peter III
Portrait by Vieira Lusitano, c. 1760-70.
King of Portugal
Reign	24 February 1777 – 25 May 1786
Predecessor	Joseph
Successor	Maria I
Co-monarch	Maria I
Born	(1717-07-05)5 July 1717 Lisbon, Portugal
Died	25 May 1786(1786-05-25) (aged 68) Queluz, Portugal
Burial	Pantheon of the Braganzas
Spouse	Maria I of Portugal (m. 1760)
Issue see details...	Joseph, Prince of Brazil John VI Infanta Mariana Victoria
House	Braganza
Father	John V of Portugal
Mother	Maria Anna of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Peter III (Portuguese: Pedro III)^[1] (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu tɨɾ.ˈsej.ɾu]) (5 July 1717 – 25 May 1786), nicknamed the Builder, became King of Portugal jure uxoris by the accession of his wife and niece Queen Maria I in 1777, and co-reigned alongside her until his death.^[2]

Early life[]

Infante Peter while Lord of the Infantado, 1745.

Pedro was born at 12:00 noon on 5 July 1717 in the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.^[3] He was baptized on 29 August and was given the name Pedro Clemente Francisco José António.^[4] His parents were King João V and his wife Maria Ana of Austria.^[3] Pedro was a younger brother of José I of Portugal. Their maternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, sister of Queen Maria Sofia of Portugal.

Reign[]

Pedro married his niece Maria, Princess of Brazil, in 1760, at which time she was the heiress presumptive to the throne then held by his brother José I. According to custom, Pedro thus became king of Portugal in right of his wife. They had six children, of whom the eldest surviving son succeeded Maria as João VI on her death in 1816.

Pedro made no attempt to participate in government affairs, spending his time hunting or in religious exercises.

He also defended the high nobility of Portugal, and sponsored the petitions of those accused in Távora affair, whose rehabilitation was subject of new lawsuits, in which the heirs demanded the restitution of their confiscated properties.

Peter III was moderately friendly toward the Jesuits, who had been banished from Portugal and its overseas empire in 1759, largely at the behest of the Marquis of Pombal. Peter III had taken some of his early education from the Jesuits, explaining this. His affection had little effect; Pope Clement XIV ordered the Jesuits suppressed across Europe in 1773.

Marriage and issue[]

The couple married on 6 June 1760. At the time of their marriage, Maria was 25 and Pedro was 42. Despite the age gap, the couple had a happy marriage. Peter automatically became co-monarch (as Pedro III of Portugal) when Maria ascended the throne, as a child had already been born from their marriage. The couple had six children and a stillborn baby.

Royal styles of King Pedro III of Portugal
Reference style	His Most Faithful Majesty
Spoken style	Your Most Faithful Majesty
Alternative style	Sire

Effigy of Maria I and Peter III, 1785

Ancestors[]

Notes[]

References[]

• Sousa, António Caetano de. História genealógica da Casa Real portuguesa (in Portuguese). VIII. Lisbon: Silviana.