Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar

Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar (28 April 1776 – 14 June 1833 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese nobleman, who served first as Captain-General in Brazil, but ultimately as the 9th Captain general of the archipelago of the Azores.

Career

In the reign of Maria I of Portugal, Touvar governed the Captaincy of Espírito Santo, in the Portuguese colony of Brazil between December 1804 and December 1811. The early part of his work in Espírito Santo involved pursuing and attacking natives within his territory, a governmental practice that had in its objective the expansion internal navigation.^[1] In 1803, the indigenous had attacked the Porto de Souza, leaving the garrison of Coutins, totally destroyed.^[1] In 1809, Touvar pursued the natives while founding in the ashes of the former garrison of Coutins the base for the settlement of Linhares, in homage to D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, who was instituted as Count of Linhares.^[1]

Touvar served in the monarch's Council of State, as a colonel in the Portuguese cavalry and Commander in the Order of Aviz, under John VI of Portugal.

Captaincy of the Azores

After 1823, the reformist politics of the Count of Subserra (a Terceirense), powerful minister of John VI of Portugal, reestablished the Captaincy General of the Azores, giving it a new politico-administrative organization for the territory.^[2] Touvar was appointed 9th Captain-general for the Azores on 21 May 1824, and took up residence in the city of Angra on 11 June 1824.

Following the death of John VI of Portugal, his successor Peter IV, relinquished his title to the throne of Portugal in favour of his daughter (Maria II of Portugal), under the regency of his brother Miguel.^[3] But, after several months, Miguel and his absolutist faction staged a coup, and he was acclaimed King.^[3] The Absolutist counter-revolution eventually reached the Azores on 16 May 1828, and Touvar, aligning himself with the absolutists, sent orders to every island in the archipelago to swear fielty to the new monarch.^[3] But, when a boat delivering these orders docked in Velas on 11 June 1828, its military officers discovered that local authorities were hesitant and poorly motivated to acclaim the Infante King in the islands of the Azores.^[3] Following the Liberal Revolution, he was deposed 22 June 1828, owing to his sympathies for the Absolutionists of the island of Terceira.^[3]

Later life

He died in Lisbon on 14 June 1833.

Notes

References

• Leite, José Guilherme Reis (1999), As Primeiras Eleições Cartistas nos Açores em 1826 (PDF) (in Portuguese), Series 2 (III), Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal: Arquipélago História, pp. 325–380, retrieved 22 November 2012