Born at Lisbon’s Ajuda Palace on the 28th of September 1863, King Carlos I reigned Portugal for more than eighteen years until he met an untimely end in 1908.
Ascending the throne on the 19th of October 1889, he was assassinated in the heart of the Portuguese capital on the 1st of February 1908, becoming the first Portuguese king to die a violent death since King Sebastian in 1578.
But Carlos’ life was generally a happy one, particularly his childhood which he spent quietly and creatively under the encouraging watch of his doting parents, King Luís I and Queen Maria Pia of Savoy.
In 1886, Carlos married Amélia of Orleans, the daughter of Philippe of Orleáns, (the Count of Paris), who bore him two handsome sons, Luís Filipe and Manuel.
He ascended the Portuguese throne when his father, King Luís I, died in Cascais on the 19th of October 1889. Intelligent, energetic and very athletic, the new 26-year-old monarch came to reign at a time when Portugal’s vast empire was at a low ebb and economic turmoil was beginning to take its toll on the country and its citizens.
Having had a passion for the sea since his infancy, he dedicated the use of his yacht to scientific research along the Cascais coastline and beyond. His fascination for the Atlantic also led him to begin Portugal’s first-ever oceanographic studies and marine biology laboratory, prompting him to adapt boats specifically for that purpose.
But it was the sea that almost took his young life on the 2nd of October 1873 when he was just eleven years old. A large wave swept Carlos and his brother, Afonso, clean off their feet at Mexilhoeiro Beach near Cascais, before he was heroically saved by the local lighthouse-keeper who plunged deep into the water and dragged the prince (and heir to the Portuguese throne) to safety.
The kings of Portugal
Carlos was also an artist of some ability with many of his watercolours, portraits and carbon sketches on display at the Royal Palace of Vila Viçosa in the heart of the Alentejo region, where he chose to spend much of his time.
In 1907, after many years of political and public unrest, he decided to dissolve the Portuguese parliament in an attempt to rule the country through a dictator, João Franco, but retribution was just around the corner.
On the 1st of February 1908, Carlos and the rest of the royal family returned to Lisbon after spending a few days in Vila Viçosa, disembarking at the marble steps of the capital’s large riverside square – Praça do Comércio.
Riding in an open-topped landau, they paraded regally around the square before a young man suddenly stepped forward as they arrived in the north-western corner, right in front of the post office. He shot King Carlos twice through the head whilst Queen Amélia desperately tried to protect her two petrified sons.
Seconds later, as the royal carriage hurried on around the corner in search of safety, a bearded man appeared from nowhere with a carbine and shot and mortally wounded the crown prince, Luís Filipe.
Aged just eighteen, Prince Manuel somehow survived the ordeal with minor injuries and went on to reign Portugal for two years until the 5th of October 1910 revolution brought the Portuguese monarchy abruptly to an end after 771 years.
King Carlos I’s body now rests in the pantheon of the Bragança dynasty located at Lisbon’s São Vicente de Fora Church (indicated on the Google map below) alongside his son, Prince Luís Filipe.
Visitors to his tomb are often taken aback by the somewhat eerie sight of a life-sized stone figure of a lady kneeling and praying fervently at the side of their tombs with her hands dramatically covering her face.
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