Filipa de Vilhena (c. 1585 – 1 April 1651), countess and marchioness of Atouguia, was a Portuguese courtier.

Biography

She was the wife of D. Luís de Ataíde, 5th Count of Atouguia, and served as principal

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to queen Luisa de Guzmán. She became known for her legendary farewell to her sons when they left to participate in the 1640 revolution in Lisbon, that overthrew the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs in Portugal, thus ending the 60-year period of Iberian Union. She armed her sons as knights and asked them not to return unless covered in glory. Both sons later fought in the

Portuguese Restoration War The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...

, and the eldest son, Dom Jerónimo de Ataíde, 6th count of Atouguia went on to serve as governor of

colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Durin ...

. She became famous as a symbol of Portuguese patriotism and a subject of a famous play by Almeida Garrett and a painting by

Vieira Portuense Francisco Vieira (13 May 1765 – 2 May 1805), who choose the artistic name of Vieira Portuense, was a Portuguese painter, one of the introducers of Neoclassicism in Portuguese painting. He was, in the neoclassical style, one of the two great Po ...

. After the installation of the Bragança dynasty as the ruling family of Portugal, she was made principal lady-in-waiting to the queen.

On Television

In 1988 the Portuguese state-owned television channel RTP produced and broadcast a new version of Almeida Garrett's play dedicated to D. Filipa de Vilhena.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilhena, Filipa De 1580s births 1651 deaths 17th-century Portuguese people Ataíde family Portuguese ladies-in-waiting Nobility from Lisbon