D. João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, 5th Count of Galveias (23 January 1756 – 18 January 1814) was a Portuguese nobleman, diplomat, and politician. He held a number of important diplomatic posts, before becoming an influential politician.

Diplomatic career

He joined the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

, filling the posts of Minister of Portugal in

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(1782–1788),

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(1788–1790), and

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(1792–1801). When in the

Court of St James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

, in the troubled times of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and later the Napoleonic Consulate, Melo e Castro had the thorny mission of keeping neutral as Portugal wavered between France and the United Kingdom.

Political career

In 1801, Melo e Castro was named Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and War by John, Prince Regent, with the demanding task of reorganising the Portuguese Army, badly ravaged following the

War of the Oranges The War of the Oranges ( pt, Guerra das Laranjas; french: Guerre des Oranges; es, Guerra de las Naranjas) was a brief conflict in 1801 in which Spanish forces, instigated by the government of France, and ultimately supported by the French mil ...

, due to the imminent threat of the European conflict. When Portugal and France re-established diplomatic relations following the signing of the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

and the brief interval of peace in Europe,

Jean Lannes Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (10 April 1769 – 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napoleon's ...

was sent as the French ambassador to Portugal: he soon clashed with Melo e Castro (who he described as "a man of the English") and demanded his dismissal (a demand that was soon after endorsed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

). Melo e Castro was stripped of his office in August 1803. After the transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil, from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Melo e Castro was briefly Acting Secretary of State of the Navy and the Overseas. From 1812 to 1814, he tried to limit the growing British influence over Portugal as Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and War.

Titles

For his services to the Crown, he was granted the title of ''Viscount of Lourinhã'' in 1797 (a title that had originally belonged to a childless uncle, Manuel Bernardo de Melo e Castro) and, later, on 17 December 1808, he succeeded his great-grandfather, André de Melo e Castro as ''Count of Galveias''. João de Almeida de Melo e Castro married Isabel José de Meneses, 5th daughter of the Counts of Cavaleiros, and they had no issue; he was succeeded in the House of Galveias following his death by his younger brother Francisco de Almeida de Melo e Castro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galveias, Joao de Almeida de Melo e Castro, 5th Count of 1756 births 1814 deaths 18th-century Portuguese people 19th-century Portuguese politicians Portuguese diplomats Portuguese nobility Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of Aviz