Births on October 26

Miguel I of Portugal (d. 1866)

Dom Miguel I (European Portuguese: [miˈɣɛl]; English: Michael I; 26 October 1802 – 14 November 1866), nicknamed "the Absolutist" (Portuguese: o Absolutista), "the Traditionalist" (o Tradicionalista) and "the Usurper" (o Usurpador), was the King of Portugal between 1828 and 1834, the seventh child and third son of King John VI and his queen, Carlota Joaquina of Spain.

Following his exile as a result of his actions in support of absolutism in the April Revolt (Abrilada), Miguel returned to Portugal as regent and fiancé of his niece Queen Maria II. As regent, he claimed the Portuguese throne in his own right, since according to the so-called Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom his older brother Peter IV and therefore the latter's daughter had lost their rights from the moment that Pedro had made war on Portugal and become the sovereign of a foreign state (Brazilian Empire). This led to a difficult political situation, during which many people were killed, imprisoned, persecuted or sent into exile, and which culminated in the Portuguese Liberal Wars between authoritarian absolutists and progressive constitutionalists. In the end Miguel was forced from the throne and lived the last 32 years of his life in exile.

In order to counter the Republican opposition from the Portuguese Freemasons, the dynastic order known as Order of Saint Michael of the Wing was revived in 1848, with statutes issued by King Miguel I of Portugal.