Dom Duarte de Menezes (before 1488 – after 1539), was a 16th-century Portuguese nobleman and colonial officer,

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

from 1508 to 1521 and 1536 to 1539, and

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a s ...

from 1522 to 1524.

Background

D. Duarte de Menezes was the eldest son of the powerful noble D.

João de Meneses João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings ...

, 1st Count of Tarouca and

Prior of Crato The Prior of Crato (''Prior do Crato''), was the traditional title given to the head of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Hospitaller) in Portugal. It is a reference to the domains of the order around Crato, Portugal. The Port ...

, and his wife D. Joana de Vilhena. He was named after his renowned grandfather, Duarte de Menezes, 3rd Count of Viana, captain of Alcácer-Ceguer.

Tangier

In 1508, Duarte de Menezes succeeded his father as Portuguese captain of

, a function he had already been effectively performing in his father's name since 1507. He carved out a formidable reputation as a military leader in numerous engagements around Tangier.

India

In 1521, D. Duarte de Menezes was named by King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portuga ...

as the next

, succeeding Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. Duarte de Menezes left Lisbon in April, 1521, with an armada of 11 carracks destined for India. He was accompanied by his brother D.

Luís de Menezes Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, who captained one of the ships. On the outgoing leg, Menezes's armada was joined by a squadron of four ships, commanded by

Martim Afonso de Mello Martim is a Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Port ...

, destined for China. Menezes's armada arrived in Goa at the end of August, 1521. He assumed office in early 1522, upon the departure of his predecessor. D. Duarte de Menezes tenure as governor was considered disastrous. Accused of corruption, he was arrested by his successor,

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, in 1524, and sent back to Portugal. He was imprisoned for nearly seven years in the castle of

Torres Vedras Torres Vedras () is a municipality in the Portuguese district of Lisbon, approximately north of the capital Lisbon in the Oeste region, in the Centro of Portugal. The population was 83,075, in an area of . History In 1148, Afonso I took ...

, before being finally released by the intercession of powerful friendsSubrahmanyam, p. 346 including D.

António de Ataíde Dom António de Ataíde (c. 1500 - 1563), 1st count of Castanheira, was a childhood friend and favorite of King John III of Portugal (D. João III). As an advisor to the King, he played a key role in Portugal's policies towards its colony of Br ...

, Count of Castanheira.

Tangier again

The rehabilitation of Duarte de Menezes was sufficiently complete that in October 1536, he managed to be appointed to his old post as

. He held that post until January, 1539, when he handed over the government to his son, D.

. Duarte de Menezes lived out the remainder of his days in Portugal.

References

The Rise of Portuguese Power in India (1497–1550), p. 199
*''História de Tânger durante la dominacion portuguesa'', by D. Fernando de Menezes, conde de la Ericeira, etc. traduccion del R. P. Buanaventura Diaz, O.F.M., Misionero del Vicariato apostólico de Marruecos. Lisboa Occidental. Imprenta Ferreiriana. 1732. * Ignacio da Costa Quintella (1839) ''Annaes da Marinha Portugueza'', Vol. 1, Lisbon: Academia Real das Sciencias. *''The career and legend of Vasco da Gama'', Sanjay Subrahmahnyam, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

External links

genealogy of D. Duarte de Menezes
at geneall.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Menezes, Duarte De Maritime history of Portugal Viceroys of Portuguese India History of Kerala Portuguese colonial governors and administrators Portuguese nobility 15th-century births 16th-century deaths Governors of Tangier