House of Braganza Braganza has allegedly suffered from the Curse of the Braganzas (Portuguese: "Maldição dos Braganças"). For supposedly mistreating a Franciscan friar, a curse was purportedly placed on King João IV of Portugal, stating that never again would a first-born male of the Braganza Dynasty would live long enough to succeed to the throne. Since the reign of King João IV, all first-born Braganza males, with only three exceptions, have died before they had the opportunity to reign as monarch, either in Portugal or Brazil. Supposed victims of the Curse of the Braganzas: Genealogical tree of the House of Braganza, during its
Princess Pia Maria of Orléans-Braganza Princess Pia Maria of Orléans-Braganza Princess Pia Maria of Orléans-Braganza (; 4 March 191324 October 2000) was a Princess and member of the House of Orléans-Braganza and the Brazilian Imperial Family. With the premature death of her father, Prince Luís of Orléans-Bragzna, in 1920, and the following year, the death of her grandmother, Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, in 1921, Pia Maria's older brother Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza claimed the title Prince Imperial of Brazil in 1920, and the position of head of the Imperial House of Brazil in 1921. At the time of the latter claim, Prince Pedro