Claimants of the Duchy of Braganza

The majority of Portuguese monarchists maintain Manuel II of Portugal, the last king of the Country, recognized Duarte Pio's father as his successor. Some historians bolster this argument by citing the Pact of Paris of 1922, with which King Manuel's lieutenant would have abdicated the title of Duke of Bragança in favour of Duarte Nuno. Other monarchists argue against its constitutional validity because the abdication in favour of the miguelist line should have been made after the abrogation, by a King's sovereign act, of article 98 of the Monarchic Constitution, which has never happened. Such a discussion is however academic, as Portugal has for nearly a century been a republic and nobiliary titles, although widely used in society and generally accepted as a form of national patrimony, are legally inexistent. Furthermore, despite the wide support for the present Duke of Bragança and for the monarchist cause, there is no evidence that the country is ready to change its republican regime.

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A rival claimant to the position of head of the House of Braganza is the Italian-born Rosario Poidimani, calling himself Dom Rosario Saxe Coburg Gotha Bragança. Poidimani is purportedly a relative of Maria Pia of Bragança, who claimed in the 1930s to be an illegitimate child of king Carlos I by Maria Amelia Laredo e Murca. Dom Rosario and his supporters attack the claims of Duarte Pio based on the Monarchic Constitution promulgated in 1838 and revoked in 1910 by the Republic, which excluded the collateral line of the ex-infant Dom Miguel and all his descendants, of which Duarte Pio of Bragança is one, from the succession and assert the validity of the documents of Dona Maria Pia Baptism Acts, of which in 1982 the Ecclesiastical Court of Sacra Romana Rota confirmed the validity and with which the king Charles conferred upon his natural daughter Dona Maria Pia Saxe Coburgo Bragança all honours, prerogatives, privileges, obligations and advantages that belong to the Infants of the Bragança House, with the power of succession to the Portuguese Crown, also if ancient portuguese rules for succession excluded children born as a result of adultery as is the case for Maria Pia.

Related Topics:
House of Braganza - Dom Rosario Saxe Coburg Gotha Bragança - Maria Pia of Bragança - Carlos I - 1838 - 1910 - Dom Miguel - Duarte Pio of Bragança - Adultery

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Others assert that if the collateral line of Miguel de Bragança is excluded, the succession reverts to the issue of Infanta Ana de Jesus de Bragança (daughter of John VI of Portugal) who married the first Duke of Loulé. The present heir of this line is Pedro de Moura Barreto, 6th Duke of Loulé.

Related Topics:
Ana de Jesus de Bragança - John VI of Portugal - Duke of Loulé

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