Portuguese Kings Assassinated: Monarchy Crumbles
King Carlos I and Crown Prince Luis Filipe were riding through Lisbon's Terreiro do Paco in an open carriage on February 1, 1908, when assassins opened fire at close range. The king died instantly. His eldest son Luis Filipe was fatally wounded and died twenty minutes later. His younger son Manuel survived with a bullet wound to the arm and was immediately proclaimed King Manuel II at the age of eighteen. The assassins, Alfredo Luis da Costa and Manuel Buica, were both killed on the spot by police. They belonged to the Carbonaria, a revolutionary republican secret society. The double assassination exposed the terminal weakness of the Portuguese monarchy, which had been propped up by authoritarian prime minister Joao Franco. Manuel II lasted only two years before the October 1910 revolution forced him into exile in England, ending the House of Braganza's 268-year reign.
February 1, 1908
118 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on February 1
King Huneric forced Catholic and Arian bishops into a tense theological debate in Carthage to consolidate Vandal control over North Africa. By attempting to coe…
Edward III was crowned at fourteen. His mother Isabella and her lover Mortimer ran everything. They'd murdered Edward's father by shoving a red-hot poker throug…
King John of Bohemia was blind. He'd lost his sight in battle years earlier but still led armies across Europe. In 1329, he took Medvėgalis, a Lithuanian fortre…
The Teutonic Knights and the Polish-Lithuanian alliance signed the First Peace of Thorn, formally ending the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. By forcing the Knig…
General Koxinga forced the surrender of the Dutch East India Company at Fort Zeelandia, ending 38 years of colonial rule on Taiwan. By securing the island as a …
Charles XII of Sweden refused to leave Ottoman territory for five years after losing at Poltava. The sultan got tired of paying for his 1,000-man entourage and …
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.