Fernando II, Duke of Braganza various titles of his father, the most important and noteworthy being the title of Duke of Braganza. At this time, the House of Braganza was the most powerful noble house in the Kingdom of Portugal (with its seat at Vila Viçosa) and one of the most powerful ones in all of the Iberian Kingdoms. During that period, the Dukes of Braganza resided at Vila Viçosa Castle. When King John II of Portugal succeeded his father, King Afonso V, he sought to bring down the power of the Portuguese nobility, which had greatly flourished under his father's reign. The King heavily
House of Braganza children by his first wife, Leonor of Pérez de Guzman, and the later eight children by his second wife, Joana of Mendoça, all saw successful lives under the restored House of Braganza. Jaime I's first daughter, Isabel of Braganza, married Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães, and had three children, while his first son and successor, Teodósio I, was a successful prince of the Portuguese Renaissance. Five of Jaime I's children, Jaime, Maria, Fulgêncio, Teotónio, and Vicência, all entered into religious orders. The Duke's second daughter, Joana of Braganza, married Bernardino de Cardenas, 3rd Marquis of Elche, and his third daughter,