BRAGANA HOUSE OF

English Braganza ruling dynasty of Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and of the empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889. The first duke of Bragana was Afonso (d. 1461), an illegitimate son of the Portuguese king John I. When Portugal gained its independence from Spain in 1640, Joo II, 8th duke of Bragana, ascended the Portuguese throne as John IV. Thereafter the title duke of Bragana was borne by the heir presumptive to the throne. The new dynasty lasted until the death of Maria II in 1853. Her two sons (Peter V and Louis), grandson (Charles), and great grandson (Manuel II), all of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Kohry (their father's dynastic house), ruled until the end of the monarchy in 1910. Meanwhile, after Brazil declared its independence from Portugal in 1822, two successive members of the House of Bragana ruled Brazil as emperors until the formation of the Brazilian republic in 1889.