Maria I of Portugal
Maria I of Portugal
Credit: Attributed to Giuseppe Troni

Dona Maria I was Queen of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Known as Maria the Pious (in Portugal), or Maria the Mad (in Brazil), she was the first undisputed Queen regnant of Portugal and the first monarch of Brazil. With Napoleon's European conquests, her court, then under the direction of Prince Dom João, the Prince Regent, moved to Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. Later on, Brazil would be elevated from the rank of a colony to that of a kingdom, with the consequential formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.