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de:Haus Braganza Bragança is the name of a royal house, which ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and the Empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889.
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History
The House of Bragança was a collateral line of the house of Aviz, which ruled Portugal from 1385 until the Habsburg seizure of the Portuguese throne in 1580. An illegitimate son of King João I of Portugal, Afonso was given the duchy of Bragança in 1442, which gave the dynasty its name.
The Braganças became very rich and influential in the 16th century. Portugal was overrun in 1580 by Spanish forces sent by Philip II of Spain. In 1640 João II, Duke of Bragança, led a rebellion against the Spaniards and was proclaimed King of Portugal.
Under João's sons Afonso VI and Pedro II, the Portuguese colonial empire, which was lost during the Spanish occupation, was restored and expanded, bringing new wealth to Portugal.
The zenith of the Bragança dynasty was reached under the long reign of João V (1706-1750), who ruled with grandeur and piety.
The reign of José I, son of João V, was characterized by the major earthquake, which struck Lisbon in 1755. The political genius of his reign was the Marquis of Pombal.
The end of the 18th century was characterized by stability, under the rule of Maria I (1777-1816), who discharged Pombal at her accession. Unfortunately Maria became psychologically unstable, mentioned to have had the same disease affecting George III of the United Kingdom in his later years.
In 1807 the Braganças fled to Brazil, Portugal's largest colony, as the mother country was involved in the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1821, João VI, who succeeded his mother in 1816, returned to Portugal and demoted Brazil to a colony again, sparking revolts in Brazil. His son Pedro I was regent in Brazil, but sided with rebels. He proclaimed himself Emperor of Brazil and ruled until 1831, when he abdicated the Brazilian throne to his young son Pedro II, who ruled until 1889, when the Brazilian monarchy was toppled by angry landed aristocrats disagreeing with the abolition of slavery.
In Portugal Pedro I of Brazil became King as Pedro IV (1826) but he abdicated the throne to his daughter Maria II da Gloria, who was challanged by Pedro's brother Miguel, a reactionary with whom Maria was forced to marry. Pedro had abdicated his Brazilian throne not only for his appalling popularity in Brazil, but also to help his daughter in toppling Miguel, who was defeated and exiledby Pedro in 1834.
The rest of the century liberals and conservatives alternated in government. In 1889 the unpopular Carlos I became king. He was so unpopular because had no capacities to rule. In 1910 lingering political tensions radicalized in a successful republican revolution toppling Manuel II, the last King of Portugal.
List of Bragança sovereigns
Portuguese sovereigns from the house of Bragança
- João IV (1640-1656)
- Afonso VI (1656-1683)
- Pedro II (1683-1706)
- João V (1706-1750)
- José I (1750-1777)
- Maria I (1777-1816)
- João VI (1816-1826)
- Pedro IV (1826)
- Miguel I (1826-1834 (usurper))
- Maria II (1826-1853)
- Pedro V (1853-1861)
- Luis I (1861-1889)
- Carlos I (1889-1908)
- Manuel II (1908-1910)