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When King Fernando of Portugal died, there were several claimants to the throne. One was his daughter, Beatriz. But she was married to a foreigner and her mother was extraordinarily unpopular. Another was Pedro I's son, Joao, duque de Valencia de Campos by Pedro's posthumously recognized wife, Inez de Castro. Then there was Pedro's younger son by Inez, Diniz, duque de Cifuentes. And the son that everyone agreed was a bastard, Joao, Master of Aviz, who later became Joao I.

The duque de Valencia had been tricked by Queen Leonor (wife of Fernando) that he would be able to marry his niece (this is Iberia, folks, it's how they roll) Beatriz, if he (Valencia) were just to get rid of that slight problem called his wife. The duchess was murdered, and Valencia's popularity plummeted, and he found out that Queen Leonor had been lying and that she never intended for him to marry his niece at all. Valencia and his brother were both married to Castilian bastard daughters of Enrique II.

When it came down to is, the Master of Aviz walked off with the crown of Portugal. But what if Valencia's popularity hadn't plummeted (either he doesn't fall for Leonor's talk and have wifey murdered or he somehow redeems himself thereafter). As the "unquestionably" legitimate son if Pedro's marriage to Inez indeed ever took place (apparently there's no contemporary evidence for it beyond Pedro's assertion that it had happened), Valencia would (in theory) be in a better position than a woman (wed to a foreigner) or a bastard (as I said, there were no doubts about the Master of Aviz's lack of legitimacy). The only contender would still be brother, Diniz.

Now, of course, if the duque de Valencia were to just become king of Portugal that would just be plain boring. So, what if it ends up like GoT's Battle of the Bastards? Aviz gets part of the population to support him, and Valencia has the support of the remainder. The civil war comes to a halt somewhere, and the two claimants duke it out. Aviz ends up dead or imprisoned after the battle (awaiting execution a la Ramsey Bolton).
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