List of heirs to the Portuguese throne

This is a list of the individuals who were, at any given time, considered the next in line to inherit the throne of Portugal, should the incumbent monarch die. Those who actually succeeded (at any future time) are shown in bold. Stillborn children and infants that died on the same day they were born are not included.

For much of Portugal's early history, there was no definite succession law, and potential heirs at any given time, especially when the reigning king had no son, may be partly a matter of conjecture.

The traditional Portuguese dynastic division of the monarchs is shown as breaks in the table below.

House of Burgundy (1139–1383)

Although King Fernando I had intended his daughter Beatriz to succeed (with her mother Queen Leonor as regent), she was an unpopular choice due to fears that her husband King John I of Castile would control the kingdom. After the 1383–1385 Crisis, Fernando's illegitimate half-brother João, Grand Master of the Order of Aviz became king.

House of Aviz (1385–1580)

After Cardinal-King Henrique's death, the throne was claimed by several individuals, including António, Prior of Crato, an illegitimate grandson of King Manuel I, and Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza, a legitimate granddaughter of King Manuel I.^[2] Eventually King Philip II of Spain, undoubtedly the most powerful claimant, succeeded in becoming king of Portugal.

António, Prior of Crato's pretension

House of Habsburg (1580–1640)

Note: All Princes of Portugal and infantes from the House of Habsburg were also Princes of Asturias and infantes of Spain respectively.

House of Braganza (1640–1910)

Pretenders since 1910

All the titles used by the Absolutist «Miguelist» pretenders (branch of the family banned in 1834) are not official, but rather the styles they attribute to themselves. Also the Paris Pact's validity and even its existence is disputed as there is no written evidence of it.

References

1. ↑ All of Afonso III's siblings, uncles and aunts were already dead at the time and had not left surviving descendants, except Afonso III's aunt Berengária, Queen of Denmark's children, but it is unknown if her three sons, all of them Kings of Denmark, could inherit the Portuguese throne.
2. ↑ Catherine claimed the inheritance of her late brother, although the senior familial inheritance technically passed to her nephew Ranuccio Farnese, son of her late elder sister Maria. Ranuccio's father Alessandro Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma supported Philip of Spain, another claimant, so his young son's claim was not put forward.
3. ↑ Although Duarte Nuno's father Miguel had seven legitimate daughters, it is uncertain what rights to succession they retained after their father abdicated his claims in Duarte Nuno's favour.

See also

• Prince of Beira
• Prince of Brazil
• Prince Royal of Portugal