Pedro III of Portugal

Dom Peter III (, ; 5 July 1717 – 25 May 1786), nicknamed the Builder, was King of Portugal from 24 February 1777 to his death in 1786 as the co-ruler of his wife and niece, Queen Dona Maria I. Early life Peter was born at 12:00 noon on 5 July 1717 in the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal. He was baptized on 29 August and was given the name Peter Clemente Francisco José António. His parents were King John V of Portugal and his wife Maria Ana of Austria. Peter was a younger brother of Joseph I of Portugal. Their maternal grandparents were Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, sister of Queen Maria Sofia of Portugal. Reign Peter married his niece Maria, Princess of Brazil, in 1760, at which time she was the heiress presumptive to the throne then held by his brother Joseph I. According to custom, Peter thus became king of Portugal in right of his wife, after the delivery of his first born child. They had six children, of whom the eldest surviving son succeeded Maria as John VI of Portugal on her death in 1816.