Queen Maria ll

    I chose to do my Portugal women of choice blog on Queen Maria ll. When Dr. Hegstrom was telling the class about her all I could think was that I am very glad that I did not have her life. She only lived to be 34, maybe this will happen to me too though, only time will tell. Something I know will not happen to me is becoming the queen of Portugal. She was only 7 years old when her father gave her this title. Along with this title, she was engaged to her uncle. Luckily, she did not have to marry him because he turned out to be a terrible person who wanted to run the country in a terrible way. Maria ends up becoming the Queen after a civil war at only 15 years old. Besides being queen, Maria was a mother. She had 13 children and motherhood is what ended up killing her when she died in childbirth. As someone whose greatest wish in life is to be a mother I find it devastating when a woman dies this way. I really enjoyed getting to learn who Queen Maria ll was. 

    Maria was a mother to her children and her subjects. She cared for her people in the way a mother cares for their children. The great things that she did for her people reflect this ideology. She fought for there to be better public health standards in Portugal. I think this contribution is so important because a country can not be strong if the people are not strong. The people in a country need to be cared for and that is exactly what she was doing. Another great thing she did was push for education to be available for all. This is a super important contribution. The people of a strong country need to be educated. Education is one of the most important things that humans have access to. A queen making sure her people are educated is such an amazing contribution. 

    I think she has been commemorated pretty well! The national theater of Lisbon is named Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II, in her honor. The theater is right in the center of Lisbon. The location of this theater is in the perfect place for someone to be remembered. Tourists and locals walk around it all day, everyday. Hearing the name of this grand theater might inspire people to look up who she is which helps her to be remembered. Furthermore, the theater is a place that people come to when they want to see art. Theaters are culturally enriching and I would be honored if something like this was named after me.

Comments

  1. Sam RichardsonMay 26, 2024 at 8:41 AM

    Love this post, Molly (especially that pic, probably the best picture of me in existence)! I also love that you chose to write about Queen Maria, so did I!! The craziest thing to me while hearing the story of Queen Maria, was how hard her life was, even just before the age of 18. She was constantly moved around, was forced to marry her uncle, then was betrayed by him for the throne, only to win it back in the end. Seriously, it is so crazy how much she went through before she was even my age. It is hard to even compare these hardships to anything in our life!! Overall, Queen Maria II is an icon, and deserves to be recognized by everyone!

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