While the Portuguese Crown is acquiring new possessions in Africa, its authority in Portugal is temporarily overshadowed by the growth of aristocratic privilege.

After the death of Edward, further attempts to curb the power of the nobles are made by his brother, Dom Pedro, duke of Coimbra, who acts as regent during the minority of Afonso V of Portugal (1438–1447).

The head of the aristocratic opposition is the Duke of Braganza, who contrives to secure the sympathy of the king and the dismissal of the regent.

The quarrel leads to civil war, and 20 May 209, 1449, Dom Pedro is defeated and killed at the Battle of Alfarrobeira.

Henceforward the grants made by John I are renewed, and extended on so lavish a scale that the Braganza estates alone comprise about a third of the whole kingdom.