Leonor de Almeida Portugal, Marquise of Alorna

Cemitério dos Prazeres, Lisbon
Pen name	Alcipe
Occupation	Poet, writer, painter
Language	Portuguese
Period	Romanticism
Spouse	Count Carlos Pedro Maria José Augusto of Oyenhausen-Grevenburg
Relatives	João de Almeida Portugal, 2nd Marquis of Alorna (father) Leonor de Lorena e Távora (mother)

Leonor was born into one of the many branches of the House of Távora, Portugal's most illustrious and powerful noble family at the time. This being said, the time of her birth and the subsequent years were a time of great trouble for the House of Távora, as they had been accused of treason against King

. Because of the unfortunate events in her early childhood, Leonor spent nineteen years forcibly imprisoned in a convent, where she spent most of her time reading and writing poetry. Her early success as a poet at the convent started her lifelong career which would lead her to becoming one of Europe's most noteworthy literary figures at the time.

The occupation of Leonor's husband, Count Carlos Pedro of Oyenhausen-Groewenbourg, as a diplomat in the service of Queen Maria I of Portugal, meant that Leonor and her family spent much of their lives traveling the courts of Europe, most notably the Austrian Imperial Court at Vienna. Her travels allowed Leonor to acquaint herself with many of Europe's great minds of the time, thus spreading her literary and artistic influence throughout the continent and expanding Leonor's views and perceptions, both in poetry and in painting.

Early life

D. Leonor de Almeida Portugal was born in

.

While in the convent at Chelas, Leonor lived with her mother and sister. She devoted her time to studying the works of

. As there was not much for a young girl to do at a convent, Leonor spent most of her time composing poems and other lyrical pieces. It is during her childhood at the convent when Leonor began her career as a poet, publishing her first work, the Poems of Chelas. It was also in the convent where she came in contact with famed poets and members of the Portuguese literary scene, covents and monasteries having been a traditional place for refuge by writers and artists in Portugal.

The convent was often a location of retreat to the members of the Arcadia, a literary society, and to distinguished poets like Francisco Manuel do Nascimento, best known by his pen-name, Filinto Elísio. Nascimento, having read the Poems of Chelas, sought out Leonor, to listen her works and discuss poetry with her, and eventually became her tutor in literature, poetry, and

. Nascimento's pen-name was, in fact, given to him by Leonor, while he was her tutor at the convent. It was also during her time at the convent when Leonor started being called Alcipe, as the nuns often gave nicknames to the young girls at the convent, as they also gave Leonor's sister, Maria de Almeida Portugal, the nickname Dafne.

Leonor finally left the convent in 1777, when she was twenty-seven years old, at the orders of the newly acclaimed Queen Maria I, who sought to reverse all the policies and actions of the Marquis of Pombal, whom she despised. Similarly, her father and brother were released from Belém Tower and the two branches of the family reunited. The family's former palaces, the envy of the Portuguese nobility, had been destroyed by order of the Marquis of Pombal, and thus the family moved to the Quinta of Vale de Nabais, outside of Lisbon, which they renamed Quinta of Alorna. Though reduced from their previous standing, the family quickly rose in the Portuguese court and nobility. Leonor rapidly became a personality of the aristocracy, her intelligence and charm having captivated the nobles who expected a girl ruined by a forced convent life.

Marriage

Two years after her release from her imprisoned life at the convent, Leonor already had numerous suitors for her hand in marriage. Her prime suitor was Carlos Pedro Maria José Augusto, Count of Oyenhausen-Grevenburg, a nobleman and military-man from the

, who was invited by the Marquis of Pombal to train the Portuguese army.

Carlos Pedro went into the service of Queen Maria I, where he distinguished himself as a notable military-man and honourable statesman. His position and reputation made him the prime candidate for Leonor's hand and thus the two married on 15 February 1779. Present were Queen Maria I and King

Order of Christ

, Portugal's highest and noblest order.

Vienna

In 1779, Count Carlos Pedro moved the couple to

, on 20 August 1782, and Frederica de Almeida e Oyenhausen, 1 September 1784.

In Vienna, Leonor made the acquaintances with many of Europe's great minds and personalities, from

.

Return to Portugal

Leonor and her family moved back to Portugal in 1785, when Count Carlos Pedro, was appointed as Lieutenant-General of the I Royal Infantry. Leonor became a

, though they were substituted for plans with a more contemporary style.

In 1790, Count Carlos Pedro was appointed Governor-General of the

, to Aires José Maria de Saldanha Albuquerque Coutinho Matos e Noronha, 2nd Count of Ega.

In 1801, Leonor's father, João de Almeida Portugal, 2nd Marquis of Alorna, died. Her brother, Pedro de Almeida Portugal, succeeded her father as Marquis of Alorna. Grief-stricken, Leonor took her family to London, where she stayed in the palace of Domingos de Sousa Coutinho, Count of Funchal, the Portuguese ambassador to the United Kingdom. Upon arrival, Leonor received news that the War of the Oranges had erupted.

Napoleonic Wars

Though the War of the Oranges ended in the same year it started, 1801, Leonor stayed in England until 1809. The reason for her return was her brother's appointment as Commander of the

.

When Leonor's brother was dismissed from his position as Commander of the Portuguese Legion, in 1810, Leonor returned to England. She stayed there until 1813, when her brother, Pedro de Almeida Portugal, 3rd Marquis of Alorna, died without any living descendants and Leonor became the rightful heir to the title. In order to acquire the title and all properties associated with it, Leonor applied for a license to return to Portugal and a recognition of title from the Prince Regent João, Prince of Brazil. In between returning to Portugal and obtaining recognition for her titles, Leonor and her children stayed at the Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira, the home of her daughter, Leonor Benedita de Almeida e Oyenhausen, and son-in-law, João José Luís de Mascarenhas Barreto, 6th Marquis of Fronteira. Upon recognition of her titles, Leonor became Marquise of Alorna, though not Countess of Assumar, as it was a subsidiary title for her heir, and the owner of the two quintas associated with the Marquis of Alorna and an annual allowance of 12,000 cruzados, as payment for the services of her brother and father.

Later life

After the Napoleonic Wars, Leonor lived a very isolated life in her estate at the Quinta of Alorna. Though foreign wars no longer plagued Portugal, the Liberal Wars and Brazilian War of Independence would make Portugal unstable, and thus Leonor preferred to seclude herself from war, which had taken so many of her family members. In 1822, Leonor's only son, João Carlos Ulrico de Almeida e Oyenhausen, Count of Oyenhausen-Groewenbourg, died while serving as the Lieutenant-Colonel of the IV Royal Cavalry. Count João Carlos's death meant that the heir to both Leonor and the deceased Count Carlos Pedro's titles became Leonor Benedita de Almeida e Oyenhausen, and thus she became the Countess of Oyenhausen-Groewenbourg and Countess of Assumar.

Leonor only reintroduced herself to Portuguese society in 1826, when she participated as High-Chamberlady to

. She also participated in King Pedro IV's funeral, later that year.

In 1833, Leonor was made a Dame of the

. Leonor died at the palace on 11 October 1839.

Works

• Poemas de Chelas; Lisbon, 1772.
• Elegia à Morte de S. A. R. o Principe do Brazil O sr. D. José; Lisbon, 1788.
• De Buonaparte e dos Bourbons; e da Necessidade de nos Unirmos aos nossos Legitimos Principes, para a Felicidade da França e da Europa; London, 1814.[2]
• Obras poeticas; Lisbon, 1844.^[3]
• Estudo Biographico- Critico, a Respeito da Litteratura Portugueza; Madrid, 1869.^[3]

Genealogy

Ancestry

Issue

Name	Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
By Carlos Pedro Maria José Augusto, Count of Oyenhausen-Grevenburg (3 January 1739 – 3 March 1793; married on 15 February 1779)
Leonor Benedita de Almeida e Oyenhausen		30 November 1780 – 18 October 1850	5th Count of Torre , and 7th Count of Coculim, in 1799.
Juliana Maria Luisa Carolina de Almeida e Oyenhausen		20 August 1782 – 2 November 1864	Married Aires José Maria de Saldanha Albuquerque Coutinho Matos e Noronha, 2nd Count of Ega, in 1800, and later married Count Grigory Alexandrovich Stroganoff, a high-ranking member of Russian nobility. The Countess was famous for her affair with Napoleonic General Jean-Andoche Junot, which granted her power and prestige.
Maria Francisca Josefina de Almeida e Oyenhausen		1 September 1784 – 2 October 1847	Never married.
Henriqueta Maria de Almeida e Oyenhausen		3 January 1789 – 20 March 1860	Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Maria II of Portugal . Never married.
Luísa Isabel de Almeida e Oyenhausen		1791 – 1817	Married Heliodoro Jacinto Carneiro de Araújo Alvelos, 1st Viscount of Condeixa.
João Carlos Ulrico de Almeida e Oyenhausen		31 October 1799 – 14 August 1822	9th Count of Assumar, in Portuguese nobility, as heir to his mother, and Count of Oyenhausen-Groewenbourg, in Austrian nobility, as the successor of his father. Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Royal Cavalry. Commander of the Order of Christ . Never married.

References

Bibliography

• Lopo de Carvalho, Maria João (2012). Marquesa de Alorna: do Cativeiro de Chelas á Corte de Viena (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Oficina do Livro.

• Horta, Maria Teresa (1999). As Luzes de Leonor (in Portuguese). Lisbon: D. Quixote.