Duchy of Braganza Duchy of Braganza The Duchy of Braganza (Portuguese: Ducado de Bragança) has been the fief of an important Portuguese noble family: the House of Braganza, and is one of the most important Dukedoms of Portugal. Created in 1442 by King Afonso V of Portugal for his uncle Afonso, Count of Barcelos (natural son of John I of Portugal), it is one of the oldest fiefdoms in Portugal. After the accession of the House of Braganza to the Portuguese throne in 1640, following the House of Habsburg, the heir to the throne of Portugal was styled as the Duke of Braganza
Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza Nuno married Princess Maria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza, daughter of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará. Their marriage reconciled two branches of the House of Braganza, in two different ways, reuniting the Portuguese and Brazilian Brigantine houses and specifically reuniting the Miguelist and Liberal Braganzas, which had been estranged since 1828, when the War of Two Brothers was waged between King-Emperor Pedro IV & I, founder of the Liberal Braganzas, and King Miguel I, founder of the Miguelist Braganzas. The couple had three sons, the eldest of whom is Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the current pretender to the defunct Portuguese