Lisbon Choice Woman

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For my woman of choice, I am choosing to write about Maria II of Portugal! She was only seven years old when she was made queen, personally, I couldn’t imagine becoming the queen of an entire country at the age of seven and I’m sure she probably felt a lot of pressure and unwanted attention from it. She also was supposed to marry her uncle who is older, who was supposed to promise to have a liberal government, but when he got here he told everyone that she was no longer queen and that he was king. Luckily, everyone took her side even though it resulted in a civil war. By the time she was fifteen, she was finally queen again.

Queen Maria II made so many contributions to her country! Despite the rough beginning to her rule she gained a lot of support from people and was seen as a great mother to her children and to the country! She made lots of contributions that worked to better the public health standards in order to avoid a cholera epidemic. This was very important because health standards weren’t really a thing and they needed to be improved so that fewer people would die from these epidemics. She also fought for education for everyone in Portugal. She really wanted everyone to have access to an education and I think that shows that she was very intelligent to be able to realize that education would improve her country. 

I think she has been commemorated well. The National Theater in Lisbon was named after Queen Maria II, and it is located in a very popular and central place. I’m interested to know whether there is a reason the theater was named after her, like if she enjoyed going to the theater, or contributed to improving it in any way. I think that having something for the arts named after her shows that she was intelligent and wanted to support people! I also think it is really amazing that she has an entire building named after her, I feel like most of the women I’ve learned about just have a statue of them so its cool that she has an entire Theater.
 

Comments

  1. Laynee JohnsonMay 26, 2024 at 2:26 PM

    Great post, understanding Maria and her reign helps us have insight into Lisbon’s role as a center of political reform. Her efforts to modernize Portugal through educational and social reforms illustrate the city’s transformation during the 19th century. This highlights Lisbon’s development into a more progressive and forward-thinking capital.

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  2. Kaia HathawayJune 2, 2024 at 6:35 AM

    Nice post, Betsy! Part of what may have been difficult is that the things Maria was pushing for might not have been popular during her time. And this goes for many people (especially women, it seems) that do something that changes society. When it comes to education and public health, Maria made a significant contribution. Even if the things she was pushing for weren't always changed during her time, her efforts made a difference. And by learning about Maria, we get a richer history of Lisbon and its contributions. Without learning about her difference, we would lose part of the history that makes Lisbon what it is today, and the contributions Maria (and women more broadly) have made.

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