The Braganzas

For two hundred and seventy years, the House of Braganza provided the kings and queens of Portugal. During a period of momentous change, from 1640 to 1910, this influential family helped to establish Portuguese independence from their powerful Spanish neighbors and saved the monarchy and government from total destruction by the marauding armies of Napoleon. The Braganzas also ruled the vast empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889, successfully creating a unified nation and preventing the country from