Biography
Miguel was born in Kleinheubach Castle near Miltenberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, during the exile in Germany of his father, former King Miguel I of Portugal. His mother was Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. He was a grandson of the famous Portuguese Queen Carlota Joaquina as well as John VI of Portugal.
By the Portuguese law of banishment of 1834 and the constitution of 1838 Miguel was forbidden to enter Portugal. Therefore, he was educated in Germany and Austria. He was a member of the staff of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and took part in the occupation of Bosnia. It is said that the emperor Franz Joseph liked Miguel immensely and granted him the privilege of extraterritoriality that allowed him to remain Portuguese, despite the rejection of Portugal. His second son, Prince Francisco José of Braganza, was named after the Austrian Emperor, who was his godfather.
Miguel held the rank of a colonel in the 7th Austrian Regiment of Hussars. During World War I, he held the rank of Lieutenant General (Feldmarschalleutnant) in the Austrian army. He resigned in 1917 when Portugal entered the conflict on the opposite side, and spent the rest of the war as a civilian in the Order of Malta. After the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Miguel and his family were thrown into relative poverty.
On 31 July 1920, after quarrels with his eldest son (who contracted a controversial marriage to an American heiress), Miguel renounced his claims as king of Portugal in favour of his third son, Duarte Nuno, who was 13 years old at the time.
Miguel died in Seebenstein, on October 11, 1927. He is buried at Kloster Maria Himmelfahrt in Bronnbach.
Read more about this topic: Miguel, Duke Of Braganza
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