Handwritten letter from Dom Pedro II (1840)

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In 1840, at the age of 14, Dom Pedro II informs his cousin Fernando II that the Assembly has declared him of age, which allows him to govern the empire.

Handwritten letter from Dom Pedro II to Fernando II, Prince King of the Two Sicilies. In Portuguese. A large folded sheet, two pages of writing. 9.8 cm x 18.9 cm (closed), 23 cm x 37.5 cm (open for reading). Rio de Janeiro, August 11, 1840. Yellowed paper, good condition. Single piece.

Letter

Very high and very mighty Prince, My good brother
and Cousin. The General Legislative Assembly of Brazil, in consultation with
the good of the state, I resolve to declare myself of majority, in order to
who ruled the Empire; and having taken the prescribed oath
by the Constitution, I began to understand in the regimen and administration
of the same empire. Making this report to Your Majesty,
I am flattered that you will receive it with that keen interest which I
It is characteristic of the close ties of friendship that unite us.
For my part, I aspire to nothing as much as to promote
more and more the relations of harmony and good intelligence, which
happily subsist between both countries. very high and
Most Powerful Prince, My Good Brother and Cousin, Our Lord
Let the Person of Your Majesty be in His Holy Guard. writing
at the Palace of Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 1840.

Your Majesty
Good Brother and Cousin
Pedro

Aureliano De Souza de Oliveira Cautinho

Envelope

The Very High and Very Powerful Prince King of the Two Sicilies, My Good Brother and Cousin

In 1831, with the abdication of the throne by his father, D. Pedro II began to be prepared to assume the empire, which occurred in 1840 with the so-called Majority Coup, which made the 14-year-old Prince the new emperor of Brazil. As the Regency Period (1831 - 1840) was marked by great political instability, great expectations arose in the figure of the emperor, as a symbol of the nation's unity. On July 23, 1840, a crowd of thousands of people - the people, nobles, military - gathered to witness the swearing in of his office in the Senate chamber, which provoked a feeling of euphoria, liberation and renewal for the citizens. Brazilians.

Fernando II of the Two Sicilies (1810 - 1859) was Dom Pedro II's first cousin, due to the fact that Fernando II's mother, Princess Maria Carolina of Austria, was the sister of Dom Pedro II's mother, Princess Maria Leopoldina (both were daughters of Francis I, Emperor of Austria). The treatment of "brother" in the letter must be fraternal. Ferdinand II reigned for a long time with wisdom and moderation, but gradually became an absolutist, isolated monarch from 1847 onwards, after a series of internal revolts that he forcefully suppressed. In 1843, Pedro II was married by proxy in Italy to Teresa Cristina, princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and sister of Fernando II.

The best-known figure in the history of Brazil among Brazilians, Dom Pedro II is naturally very coveted by collectors, especially when the objects or documents have an interesting content, date or detail.

Such is the case of this letter, written by Dom Pedro II as a teenager, less than a month after receiving power from the Assembly to govern the country, after nine years of regency. Interesting fact too, the recipient, Fernando II king of the Two Sicilies, is the brother of the future wife of Dom Pedro II, and Empress of Brazil, Dona Teresa Cristina. The perfect state of conservation of the paper, the ink and the wonderful stamp adds even more value to this exceptional document.