John V of Portugal

John V Of Portugal

Dom John V (Porgueuse: João V, 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was born in Lisbon and succeeded his father Peter II in December 1706, and was proclaimed on 1 January 1707.

His father had long suffered from lack of heirs, and the relatively new royal house of Braganza was indeed on the verge of going extinct—the king had only one surviving (though sickly) daughter from his first marriage, John's half-sister Isabel Luisa, Princess of Beira. However, after the death of his first wife, the old king remarried, and John's mother was able to produce eight more children, including John himself. When John was born, he became Prince of Brazil as the king's heir apparent, as well as the 11th Duke of Braganza.