House of Bourbon-Braganza House of Bourbon-Braganza The House of Bourbon-Braganza (Spanish: Casa de Borbón-Braganza; Portuguese: Casa de Bourbon-Bragança) was an Iberian noble house that had its origins in a royal marriage arranged in 1785 between Infante Gabriel of Spain (1752–1788) and Infanta Mariana Victoria of Portugal (1768–1788). It was a short marriage: they both died three years later, in Madrid, with smallpox. Their surviving son, Infante Pedro Carlos of Spain and Portugal (1786–1812), was brought up in the Portuguese court, first in Lisbon and, after 1807, in Rio de Janeiro. Until 1793, he was the only grandson of Queen Maria I, therefore considered
House of Orléans-Braganza to the marriage. Isabel and Leopoldina were not informed until Gaston and August were mid-Atlantic. Arriving in early September, Gaston described the princesses as "ugly", but thought Isabel less so than her sister. For her part, Isabel in her own words "began to feel a great and tender love" for Gaston.[65] The two couples: Gaston and Isabel; August and Leopoldina; were engaged on 18 September. On 15 October 1864 at Rio de Janeiro, Prince Gaston married Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil and heiress of the Empire. It was from that marriage the royal house of Orléans-Braganza was formed. The couple