Background
Pedro was born at 12:00 noon on 5 July 1717 in the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.
Pedro was born at 12:00 noon on 5 July 1717 in the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.
He was baptized on 29 August and was given the name Pedro Clemente Francisco José António. Pedro was a younger brother of José I of Portugal. Their maternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, sister of Queen Maria Sofia of Portugal.
They had six children, of whom the eldest surviving son succeeded Maria as João VI on her death in 1816.
Pedro made no attempt to participate in government affairs, spending his time hunting or in religious exercises. Peter III was moderately friendly toward the Jesuits, who had been banished from Portugal and its overseas empire in 1759, largely at the behest of the Marquis of Pombal.
Peter III had taken some of his early education from the Jesuits, explaining this. His affection had little effect.
Pope Clement XIV ordered the Jesuits suppressed across Europe in 1773.
He also defended the high nobility of Portugal, and sponsored the petitions of those accused in Távora affair, whose rehabilitation was subject of new lawsuits, in which the heirs demanded the restitution of their confiscated properties.
