Afonso I, Duke of Braganza Afonso I, Duke of Braganza Dom Afonso I of Braganza (; 10 August 1377 – 15 December 1461) was the first Duke of Braganza and the eighth Count of Barcelos. He would start a dynasty, the House of Braganza, that would end up being the most powerful and wealthy in all of Portugal. His descendants would go on to become high-ranking nobles, imperial officials, and even the Kings of Portugal and the Emperors of Brazil. Historians believe he was born in Veiros, Estremoz, Alentejo, as a natural son of Portuguese King John I and Inês Peres. He married the heiress
House of Orléans-Braganza title he had and his dynastic rights as heir of his mother passed to his brother, Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, who became Prince Imperial of Brazil. However, years later, after Pedro's death in 1940, his eldest son did not accept his father's resignation and again claimed the Brazilian throne in conflict with Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, son and heir of Prince Luís, dead in 1920. Thus began a dispute for the crown of Brazil. The descendants of Prince Pedro became known as the "Petrópolis Branch", and the descendants of Prince Luís as "Vassouras Branch". After the resignation of Pedro