House of Braganza and repudiated the liberal constitution granted by D. João VI, trying to establish an absolute monarchy. In 1828, Maria II was forced into exile by her uncle, the new King Miguel I. Her father D. Pedro IV of Portugal returned from Brazil, launched a successful military campaign, from the Azores, against Miguel I. He finally defeated and exiled Miguel I in 1834. Though exiled, Miguel would not give up his claim to the throne and would establish the Miguelist branch of the House of Braganza. The strategic marriages of his children to the various royal houses of Europe would earn
Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza "Dom" Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (Duarte Pio João Miguel Gabriel Rafael; born 15 May 1945) is a claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne, as the head of the House of Braganza. The Miguelist Braganzas, to whom Duarte Pio belongs as great-grandson of King Miguel I, is a cadet branch of the House of Braganza. With the extinction of male-line dynasts descended from Queen Maria II in 1932, King Miguel's descendants became the only male-line Braganzas left and the closest male-line heirs to the Portuguese throne (the Brazilian branch having gone extinct in 1921). Duarte