Bragança

Bragança may refer to:

People

Politics and History

Places

Brazil

Portugal

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Bragança District

Bragança District (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɾɐˈɣɐ̃sɐ]; Portuguese: Distrito de Bragança; Mirandese: Çtrito de Bergáncia) is a traditional political division of Portugal, in the northeast corner bordering on Spain, covering 7.4% of the nations continental landmass. The capital of the district, Bragança, is 217 kilometres (135 mi) from Porto, the second largest town in Portugal, 107 kilometres (66 mi) from the Spanish town of Zamora and 169 kilometres (105 mi) from Salamanca, also in Spain. Bragança is administratively divided in twelve municipalities and 299 parishes located in the north-eastern part of Trás-os-Montes.As of the 2001 census, the total resident population was approximately 148,808.

History

During the Roman era, the territory was part of the much larger province of Gallaecia, dependent administratively on Astorga and the gold, iron and silver trade route. Although names similar to Bragança appeared around 666 B.C. (Wamba) or 569 A.D. (Council of Lugo), a territory identifiable as Bragança only appeared after the Celts who baptised one of their main settlements Brigantia, in the second century, which was later Latinized to Bragança. But this settlement was limited.

House of Braganza

The House of Braganza (Portuguese: Casa de Bragança; Portuguese pronunciation: [bɾɐˈɣɐ̃sɐ]), officially the Most Serene House of Braganza (Portuguese: Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), is an important imperial, royal, and noble house of Portuguese origin, a branch of the House of Aviz, and thus a descendant house of the Portuguese House of Burgundy. The House evolved from being powerful dukes of Portuguese nobility, to ruling as the monarchs of Portugal and the Algarves, from 1640 to 1910, and as monarchs of Brazil, from 1815 to 1889.

The House of Braganza was founded in 1442, when Afonso, 8th Count of Barcelos, illegitimate son of King João I of Portugal, of the House of Aviz, was made Duke of Braganza, as Duke Afonso I of Braganza, by his nephew, King Afonso V. The feudal Brigantine dukes quickly amassed a fortune in properties, titles, and power and by the time of Duke Fernando II, the House was the most powerful in all of Portugal and of the greatest houses of Iberia.

The House of Braganza became the reigning house of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves in 1640, when João II, Duke of Braganza, was acclaimed King João IV by the Portuguese nobility and subsequently waged the Portuguese Restoration War. The House of Braganza was only recognized as the legitimate ruling house of Portugal by the House of Habsburg during the reign of King Afonso VI, though effective and official control of the kingdom was seized and established in the 1640s. The Braganzas were deposed from the Portuguese throne in 1910, when the Portuguese Republic was proclaimed.