Whose embalmed heart is received with honors in Brazil and why the controversy?

Before he died, Pedro I of Brazil – or Pedro IV of Portugal depending on which part of the Atlantic you are in – ordered that his heart be preserved and delivered to the city of Porto in recognition of his loyalty to the monarch.

The glass case containing the organ has been guarded with extreme zeal for more than 186 years in the church of Our Lady of Lapa in Porto. On the rare occasion that it is opened, five keys guarded by the Mayor must be used. One to remove the plaque from the monument at the foot of the altar, two more to open the grill behind it, another to open the urn, and the fifth to reach the silver vase that keeps the remains inside a wooden box.

Inside the silver gilt glass with Latin inscription is the glass container with the heart, an almost sacred relic for the city of Porto, which accepted in an unprecedented way the request from Brazil to exhibit the organ as the centerpiece of the festivities for the bicentennial of its independence, on September 7. Lisbon had accepted the request, but left the final decision in the hands of the city.

Who was Pedro and why has his body traveled again and again across the Atlantic as a macabre exhibition piece every time Brazil celebrates great anniversaries of its separation from its former metropolis?

The first emperor of Brazil

Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal was born on October 12, 1798. The proximity of Napoleon’s troops caused his father, Juan VI, and the royal family to leave Lisbon when Pedro was 9 years old. The arrival of the court in Brazil, then a Portuguese colony, was quite an event. It was the first time that a king of the Old World set foot in America.

The prince of the powerful house of Braganza grew up in Rio de Janeiro, quickly adopting the customs of his new country, with which he felt so attuned that he soon earned the nickname of Pedro the “Brazilian”, he explained to the voice of america Mateus Fiorentini, researcher and professor of History, graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Pedro was an excellent horseman and was known for participating in chariot races and frequenting bars, without the epileptic attacks that accompanied him throughout his life putting a stop to his fondness for strong emotions. He was also considered an exceptional composer. His is the music of the Brazilian Independence Anthem.

During his adolescence and youth, Pedro began to identify himself more with liberal ideas and to move away from the absolutist current of his father, who kept him away from power as much as possible. When Juan VI is pressured by the Cortes to return to Portugal after the Liberal Revolution of Porto in 1820, he leaves Pedro as prince regent of Brazil.

The South American country had already officially ceased to be a colony in 1815 to have the status of a kingdom. When the Cortes threatened to return Brazil to his old status and strip him of his self-government, on September 7, 1822, Pedro proclaimed a break with Portugal and was later crowned Emperor of Brazil.

Unlike Mexico, where the monarchy lasted only two years, the Brazilian empire lasted until 1889.

With his popularity dwindling, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son Pedro II and traveled back to Portugal to defend his daughter Maria’s right to the throne. He was crowned as Pedro IV, the Soldier King. Although he was considered a healthy man despite his epilepsy, he died shortly after winning the war against his brother Miguel. Peter was only 35 years old.

The controversial “morbid culture” around Pedro I

This is not the first time that Pedro I has crossed the Atlantic after his death. In 1972, in the midst of the dictatorship, the body of the first Brazilian emperor was transferred from the Braganza pantheon in Lisbon to the great monument to independence located in Sao Paulo, in the same place where he proclaimed “independence or death”.

His return to Brazil coincided with the 150th anniversary of the break with Portugal and he was politicized in favor of the then military regime.

“This is a classic move, using relics and remains on important dates. This type of practice refers us to a vision of history that seeks to rescue a dead past,” said Fiorentini, who recalled that Bolsonaro, “who is now seeking to politicize the figure of Pedro I again,” openly admires the dictatorship.

President Jair Bolsonaro’s initial plan was to show the heart in a traveling exhibition around the country. The fragility of the heart, preserved for more than 187 years in formalin, changed the plans of Bolsonaro, who is seeking re-election in the presidential elections in October against former President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva.

Every movement of the ballot box will be watched by the Porto Police Chief, who traveled with the heart on the Brazilian Air Force plane. Upon his arrival, the organ was received with head of state honors by high government officials and then under cannon salutes by Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace.

Despite the pomp, the arrival of the heart has raised controversy in Brazil. Prestigious academics such as Lilia Schwarcz, author of acclaimed works on Pedro I and Brazilian history, describe it as “foolery to receive the heart as if it were a dignitary.” Schwarcz denounced the practice of a “morbid culture” around Brazilian heroes.

“Bolsonaro wants to manipulate history and national symbols for his project,” insisted Professor Fiorentini, who also rejects the idea of ​​Pedro I as the only figure of independence and emphasizes that it was due to the development of a broad movement that had been developing at the popular level.

According to the historian, putting the heart of Pedro I at the center of the Bicentennial celebrations is ignoring the influence of the popular movement that “reached political maturity to understand why it should be independent.”

“Instead we are understanding it as that we are a people protected by a nobleman, a soldier on horseback, son of a royal family, who saves us. As if we Brazilians needed someone to save us,” he said.

The heart of the Brazilian emperor will be exhibited in the Foreign Ministry building in Brasilia until September 5 and after the celebrations on September 7, it will return to Porto a day later.

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