A Numismatic History of Portugal's " War of the Two Brothers "
This article describes the fight between two opposing monarchs, each of whom issued bank notes in support of his cause. Fleeing his homeland to the safety of the Portuguese colony of Brazil to escape the Napoleonic War, king Joäo VI placed his eldest son, Pedro, on the throne of Brazil in order to keep the colony in the Braganca family. Here the son ruled as Pedro I, emperor of Brazil. After the Napoleonic War, Joäo VI returned to Portugal, where he died in 1826. In the meantime Brazil declared its independence from Portugal in 1822. The ruling liberals favored Pedro as the successor over his brother Miguel, placing Pedro on the throne of Portugal as Pedro IV.
The conservatives had other plans however, encouraging Miguel to usurp the throne in 1828 where he ruled as Miguel I until 1834. The two factions fought it out on both sides of the Atlantic until Miguel was exiled and Pedro IV restored as the legitimate heir. The "War of the Two Brothers" impacted the currency of both Portugal and Brazil, as discussed in this article.
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