"The Absolute King" (mar 1, 1828 – dec 1, 1834)

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On 1 March some citizens of Lisbon gathered at the palace to acclaim Miguel "Absolute King", infuriating many of the liberal politicians and residents.
On 13 March 1828 Miguel dissolved the Cortes without calling new elections. Some municipal councils, many nobles and clergy, and several important citizens requested that the regent revoke the Constitutional Charter and reign as king.
Blood was first spilled by the liberals, when delegates from the University of Coimbra (who travelled to Lisbon to present their compliments to Miguel) were murdered on 18 March by hot-headed Coimbran students.
On 25 April the senate (of the university), issued a proclamation in which they requested that Miguel assume the throne, which only fueled the divisions between liberals and absolutists.
Miguel's reign was immediately marked by cruel, almost tyrannical, governance.
On 7 July Miguel was acclaimed as absolute ruler, and on 11 July the Three Estate Cortes closed.
Shortly afterwards the military garrison in Oporto revolted, formed a provisional governmental junta, and marched on Coimbra to defend the liberal cause.
Miguel was able to raise his own troops, create a battalion of volunteers and blockade Oporto. In Lagos a similar revolt was attempted, but immediately quashed.
The liberal army was ultimately forced to escape to deplorable conditions in Galicia, where they awaited their next move.
While Spain, the Holy See, and the United States recognised Miguel as king, in England and France there was little public support for the regime.
The recklessness that the Miguelist government showed in harassing English and French foreign nationals provoked them to protest. Eventually Admiral Albin Roussin was ordered by Louis Philippe I, to take action; he sailed up the Tagus, captured eight Portuguese ships and forcibly imposed a treaty (14 July 1831).
In 1831 the liberals had taken over all the islands of the Azores.
However, Miguelist reprisals on liberals continued; most sentences were carried out within 24 hours. The 4th Infantry, in Lisbon, registered 29 executions on 22 and 23 August 1831 alone.
Finally, in December 1834, the Portuguese Cortes banished Miguel and all his descendants from Portugal upon pain of immediate death.

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