The Duchy of Braganza (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: Ducado de Bragança) has been the fief of an important

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family: the House of Braganza, and is one of the most important

Dukedoms of Portugal The highest hereditary title in the Portuguese monarchy. By tradition, there are a total of five royal and seven non-royal dukes in Portugal, out of 28 dukedoms that have ever been created. In the majority of cases, the title of duke was attribute ...

. Created in 1442 by King

Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Afri ...

for his uncle Afonso, Count of Barcelos (natural son of John I of Portugal), it is one of the oldest

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

doms in Portugal. After the accession of the House of Braganza to the Portuguese throne in 1640, following the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

, the heir to the throne of Portugal was styled as the

Duke of Braganza The title Duke of Braganza ( pt, Duque de Bragança) in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Starting in 1640, when the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal, the male heir of the P ...

(see that article for further developments of the dukedom) together with

Prince of Brazil Prince of Brazil ( pt, Príncipe do Brasil) was the title held by the heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Portugal, from 1645 to 1815. Tied with the title of Prince of Brazil was the title Duke of Braganza and the various subsidiary titles of the ...

, and later

Prince Royal of Portugal Prince Royal (Portuguese: ''Príncipe Real'') was the title held by the heir apparent or the heir presumptive to the throne of the Kingdom of Portugal, from 1825 to 1910. The eldest son of the Prince Royal held the title of Prince of Beira. H ...

. After the foundation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910, the tradition of the heir to the throne being titled Duke of Braganza was revived by some pretenders to signify their claims to the throne.

History

The Duchy of Braganza, a

Dukedom Dukedom may refer to: * The title and office of a duke * Duchy, the territory ruled by a duke * Dukedom, Kentucky and Tennessee Dukedom is an unincorporated community in both Graves County, Kentucky and Weakley County, Tennessee, straddling th ...

, was created in 1442 by king

for his uncle Afonso, Count of Barcelos (natural son of John I of Portugal). Along with the duchies of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

and

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabi ...

created by John I for his sons Peter and Henry after their capture of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

from the Moors in 1415, it is one of the first duchies of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. By 1640, Portugal was on the verge of rebellion and a new Portuguese king had to be found. The choice fell upon the eighth duke, John II of Braganza, who had a claim both through his grandmother, Infanta Catherine, and through his great-great-grandfather, the 4th duke, nephew of King Manuel. The duke was a modest man without particular ambitions to the crown. Legend says that his wife, Leonor of Guzman, daughter of the duke of Medina-Sidónia, urged him to accept the offer saying, ''I'd rather be Queen for one day than duchess for a lifetime''. He accepted the leadership of the rebellion, which was successful, and was acclaimed John IV of Portugal on December 1, 1640. After the accession of the Braganzas to the throne, the duchy was linked to the Crown and the Duke of Braganza became the traditional title of the heir to the Crown, together with or alternate to

Prince of Beira Prince of Beira ( pt, Príncipe da Beira, feminine: ''Princesa da Beira'') is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the heir apparent to the throne of Portugal. The title's original use that it be granted on the eldest daughter o ...

, much as

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

is in the United Kingdom. The fief itself became merged in the crown.

External links

Dukes of Braganza genealogy in a Portuguese genealogical site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchy Of Braganza Dukes of Braganza Portuguese monarchy Kingdom of Portugal de:Haus Braganza es:Dinastía de Braganza fr:Dynastie de Bragance pl:Bragança (dynastia) pt:Dinastia de Bragança

History

See also

External links