Bragança

Bragança, or BRAGANÇA, a city of Portugal, capital of the province Traz-os-Montes, on the Fervença, 26 miles NW. of Miranda. It has an upper and lower town, the former being surrounded with walls; has a citadel, a college, a hospital, is the see of a bishop; and has manufactures of silk and velvet. This city gives its name to the House of Bragança, the present ruling dynasty in Portugal, John, 8th Duke of Bragança, having ascended the throne as John IV. in 1640, when the Portuguese liberated themselves from the Spanish yoke. His daughter, Catherine of Bragança, was the queen of our Charles II. See PORTUGAL. Pop. 5495.