Isabel Maria de Alcântara Brasileira

Isabella Maria de Alcântara Brasileira was born in May 1824 in Rio de Janeiro as the illegitimate daughter of Brazilian Emperor Pedro I and his mistress, Domitila de Castro, the later Marchioness of Santos. Her exact birth date is uncertain; sources give both 3 and 23 May. She was baptized on 31 May 1824 at the Church of São Francisco Xavier in Engenho Velho. Her godparents were her maternal grandparents, Colonel João de Castro Canto e Melo and Escolástica Bonifácia de Toledo Ribas. On 20 May 1826, Pedro I officially acknowledged Isabella Maria as his daughter. She was the only one of his illegitimate children to receive this recognition. A few days later, she was granted the title Duchess of Goiás and permitted to be addressed as “Her Highness, the Duchess of Goiás.” She was the first person to hold this title in the Brazilian Empire. The imperial decree did not give her a place in the line of succession, but she was treated at court as a princess and regarded as the patroness of the province of Goiás. The granting of the title was celebrated with great festivities. Isabella Maria initially lived with her mother at Caminho Novo Palace, which Pedro I had built for Domitila near his residence at São Cristóvão. On 6 June 1826, Isabella Maria was presented to the emperor’s wife, Empress Maria Leopoldina of Austria. From then on, she visited the imperial palace daily and received instruction there alongside her legitimate half-sisters. After Maria Leopoldina’s death at the end of 1826, Isabella Maria moved to São Cristóvão Palace in August 1827. Pedro I ended his relationship with Domitila in 1829. Shortly afterward, he married Amélia of Leuchtenberg, who did not want Isabella Maria to remain permanently at São Cristóvão. Before the new empress arrived in Brazil, the girl therefore moved to Praia Grande Palace in Niterói, her father’s official summer residence. Pedro I wanted his daughter to receive a European education. On 25 November 1829, five-year-old Isabella Maria traveled to France. The voyage was troubled by storms, an outbreak of illness aboard ship, and health problems affecting the child. Because she complained of chest pains, the captain changed course and landed at Plymouth on 8 February 1830. From there, Isabella Maria traveled to London and then to Paris. She was enrolled at the École du Sacré-Cœur, a boarding school attended mainly by daughters of the French Catholic nobility. The emperor regularly received medical reports and news about her development. The nuns described Isabella Maria as very obedient and capable in almost all subjects; she struggled chiefly with piano lessons. They also noted that she tended to experience mood swings when pressured to study. On 7 April 1831, Pedro I abdicated as emperor of Brazil and went to Europe with Amélia and his eldest legitimate daughter, Maria II, Queen of Portugal. The former emperor, now the Duke of Braganza, acquired a house where Isabella Maria spent weekends with his family. Amélia now accepted her stepdaughter as part of the family. When Pedro departed for Portugal in 1832 to reclaim the Portuguese throne for Maria II, he entrusted Isabella Maria to the care of his wife and mother-in-law. Pedro died on 24 September 1834. In his will, he left Isabella Maria one third of his estate and asked Amélia to bring her to Brazil after she completed her education so that she could provide support and protection there. Because Isabella Maria had been separated from her biological mother at an early age, she did not remember Domitila. Instead, she believed that Amélia and Amélia’s mother were her own mother and grandmother. In 1839, she continued her education in Munich at the Royal Institute for Young Women under the direction of the Marquis of Resende. After Pedro’s death, Amélia began looking for a suitable husband for her stepdaughter. Isabella Maria was supported in this by her half-brother, Emperor Pedro II, by Queen Maria II, and by her stepmother, who personally arranged her wedding dress. On 17 April 1843, Isabella Maria married Ernst Joseph Johann Fischler von Treuberg, the second Count of Treuberg and Baron of Holzen, at the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich. The groom was thirteen years older than the duchess, descended on his mother’s side from the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and owned extensive landed property. After the marriage, Isabella Maria was known as Isabella Fischler and held the titles Countess of Treuberg and Baroness of Holzen. The couple had four children: Marie Amélie, Ferdinand, Auguste Maria, and Franz Xaver. Ferdinand later became the third Count of Treuberg and Baron of Holzen. Both sons married and had descendants, while Auguste Maria married Baron Maximilian Tanzl von Tratzberg. Ernst Fischler von Treuberg died on 14 May 1867. For many years, Isabella Maria knew only that she was Pedro I’s daughter. She had apparently been told that her mother was dead. Around 1848, the husband of her half-sister Maria Isabella de Alcântara, Countess of Iguaçu, first attempted to contact her. He wrote to Holzen Castle, announced his marriage, and mentioned that he intended to visit Europe. Count Treuberg knew about Isabella Maria’s origins, however, and concealed the letter from his wife so that she would not learn that her mother was still alive or that she had further relatives in Brazil. Only after her husband’s death did Isabella Maria receive another letter. Through the correspondence that followed, she finally learned the truth about her family. Isabella Maria died on 13 November 1898 in Murnau am Staffelsee in the Kingdom of Bavaria. She held the title Duchess of Goiás until her marriage; afterward, she was Countess of Treuberg, Countess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Baroness of Holzen.