Originally a colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese Colonial Empire from 1808 to 1814 during the Peninsula War against Napoleon Bonaparte. When then Portuguese Regent, and later King João VI fled to Brazil after Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, he set up court in Rio de Janeiro. On 1821, João returned to Portugal and left his son Pedro as regent. The Portuguese then began to revoke the autonomies that Brazil had when the court was in Rio, provoking a harsh reactionary action that led to Pedro declaring Brazil's independence with him as Emperor of a new Constitutional Monarchy. This led to the Brazilian Wars of Independence that would bring about two years of conflict between pro-Independence and Portuguese Royalist forces.