House of Braganza him the nickname the "Grandfather of Europe" ("see Descendants of Miguel I of Portugal"). On 7 September 1822, Dom Pedro of Braganza, Prince Royal of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, member of the House of Braganza, heir apparent to the Portuguese throne and Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, declared the country's independence from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and was acclaimed Emperor of Brazil. On 12 October, the prince was acclaimed Pedro I, first Emperor of the newly created Empire of Brazil, a constitutional monarchy. In 1825, signing the treaty of Rio de Janeiro of
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