Originally discovered by Portugal's Pedro Cabral in 1500 and first colonized in 1533, Brazil was a royal colony of Portugal for nearly 300 years. In 1808, the King of Portugal, Dom João VI, fled the advancing armies of France under Napoleon Bonaparte and established Rio de Janeiro as the temporary capital of the entire Portuguese Empire until 1821, when he returned to Europe and attempted to return Brazil to colonial status. The Brazilians resisted, however, and his son, Pedro de Alcântara, was subsequently crowned Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil in 1822. Three years later, the Portuguese armies in South America surrendered and officially recognized Brazil as independent. Pedro I's sudden abdication of the throne in 1831 left a six year-old son, Pedro II, as the new emperor, and since he was