The Curse of the Braganzas is a myth, referred to in several historical chronicles, concerning the House of Braganza, that ruled the Kingdom of Portugal, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and the Empire of Brazil and, therefore, all the Portuguese Overseas Empire. This "curse" began in the reign of king John IV of Portugal, in the 17th century, when the monarch allegedly kicked a Franciscan friar who was begging for Alms. In reply, the friar cast a curse, saying that never again would a first-born male of his family live long enough to reach the throne. Since then—with three exceptions—all the first-born males of this dynasty died before they reigned. With the end of the Braganzas' reigns, firstly in Brazil and later in Portugal, the curse appears to have ended.
Alleged victims
In Portugal
Theodosius - King John IV first-born child, died 3 years before his father and it was his younger brother, Afonso VI who succeeded in the throne;
John – King Peter II first-born child, lived less than a year and it was his younger brother, John V, who succeeded in the throne;
Peter – King John V first-born child, died when he was two and it was his younger brother, Joseph I who succeeded in the throne. Joseph didn’t have any male issue and it was his daughter, Maria I, who succeeded him;
Joseph – Queen Maria I first-born child, died before his mother and it was his younger brother, John VI who succeeded in the throne;
Francis Anthony – King John VI first-born child, he was 6 when he died and it was his young brother, Pedro IV who succeeded in the throne.
Louis Philip – King Charles I first-born child, murdered together with his father on 1 February 1908 and it was his younger brother Manuel II who succeeded in the throne.
In Brazil
Michael – Emperor Peter I first-born child, died at birth and it was his younger brother, Peter II who succeeded in the Brazilian throne.
Alphonse – Emperor Peter II first-born child, died when he was two and it was his sister, Isabel who succeeded him as the Empire’s heir.
Exceptions
In Portugal
Peter V - first-born child of Queen Maria II, was an exception; he became king in 1853, when he was sixteen. However, he died some years later, in 1861, when he was only twenty four, childless. He was succeeded by his younger brother Louis I;
Charles I - first-born child of King Louis I, was the second exception; he became king in 1889 but was murdered in 1908 together with his older son. He was succeeded by his younger son Manuel II, the last King of Portugal.
In Brazil
Pedro Augusto, Prince of Brazil and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - first-born child of Princess Leopoldina, was also an exception; he was the heir apparent of the Imperial throne until 1875, when Leopoldina’s older sister finally gave birth to an heir. In spite he’s consider an exception, the so-called "cursed prince" became psychological ill and tried suicide, dying single in a sanatorium in Vienna.
All the first-born children that died in Brazil due to the curse, were buried in “Convento de Santo Antônio”, a Franciscan monastery in Rio de Janeiro.
This curse also affected Pedro I of Brazil illegitimate children. It was the case of:
*unknown name, as stillborn with the marchioness of Santos;
*Pedro, his first-born child with Noémi Thierry, died before he reached one year old;
