Marquis of

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...

(in Portuguese ''Marquês de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese

title of nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King

John II of Portugal John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establishi ...

, and granted to ''Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II of Menezes, 3rd

Count of Vila Real Count of Vila Real (in Portuguese ''Conde de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, in 1424, by King John I of Portugal, and granted to ''Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter I of Menezes, 1st Count o ...

. The House of Vila Real was the most powerful

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

House in Portugal, during the 16th and 17th centuries, after the

Dukes of Braganza The title Duke of Braganza ( pt, Duque de Bragança) in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Starting in 1640, when the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal, the male heir of the Po ...

and the

Dukes of Aveiro Duke of Aveiro ( pt, Duque de Aveiro) was a Portuguese title of nobility, granted in 1535 by King John III of Portugal to his 4th cousin, John of Lencastre, son of Infante George of Lencastre, a natural son of King John II of Portugal. Joh ...

. To reward their support during the

1580 Portuguese succession crisis The Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 ( pt, Crise de sucessão de 1580) came about as a result of the deaths of young King Sebastian I of Portugal in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and his successor and great-uncle Henry I in 1580. As ...

, the Spanish Habsburgs granted this House new titles ( Duke of Vila Real and

Duke of Caminha Duke of Caminha (Portuguese: ''Duque de Caminha'') was a title created by royal decree, dated 14 December 1620, by King Philip III of Portugal (also known as Philip IV of Spain) for ''Dom'' Miguel Luís de Menezes, 6th Marquis of Vila Real and ...

). However, all this wealth was confiscated and Miguel Luís II, 2nd Duke of Caminha, was executed for high treason, by King

John IV of Portugal John IV ( pt, João, ; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer ( pt, João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from H ...

instructions, for supporting the right of the Spanish Habsburg Kings to the Portuguese throne after the revolution of 1640.

List of the Marquesses of Vila Real

# Pedro de Menezes, 1st Marquis of Vila Real (1425–1499), also known as Peter II of Menezes, 3rd

and 7th

Count of Ourém Count of Ourém (in Portuguese ''Conde de Ourém'') is a Portuguese title granted in 1370 by King Fernando I of Portugal, to ''Dom'' João Afonso Telo, uncle of Queen Leonor Teles. Later he also became the fourth Count of Barcelos. The title ...

; # Fernando de Menezes, 2nd Marquis of Vila Real (1463- ? ), also known as Ferdinand II of Menezes, 4th

; #

Pedro de Menezes, 3rd Marquis of Vila Real Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

(1486- ? ), also known as Peter III of Meneses, 5th

; # Miguel de Menezes, 4th Marquis of Vila Real (1520- ? ), also known as Michael I of Menezes, 6th

; # Manuel de Meneses, 5th Marquis of Vila Real (1530- ? ), also known as Manuel of Menezes, 1st Duke of Vila Real and 7th

; # Miguel Luís, 6th Marquis of Vila Real (1565–1637), also known as Michael II of Menezes, 1st

and 8th

; #

Luis de Noronha e Meneses, 7th Marquis of Vila Real 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 archai ...

(1570–1641), also known as Louis of Menezes, 9th

Genealogical summary

The House of Vila Real had their origins in '' Dom'' Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter I of Menezes, 1st

, 2nd Count of Viana (do Alentejo) and 1st

Governor of Ceuta The following is a list of governors and other local administrators of the city of Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in North Africa. The list encompass the period from 1415 until 1995. List Portuguese Captains-general *1415–1424: Pedro de Meneses ...

after the Portuguese conquest, in 1415. However the Counts, later Marquesses, have royal ancestry (both Portuguese and Spanish), once they descended from King Ferdinand I of Portugal and from King

Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter th ...

The Marquises of Villa Real (Spanish Title)

When the 7th Marquis of Vila Real, along with his son the Duke of Caminha, was executed in Portugal for high treason in 1641, his daughter, Beatrice of Menezes, married to the Spanish Count of Medellin, remained in Spain. To reward her fidelity towards the Spanish Habsburgs, King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

gave her, 23 March 1660, the title of Marquise of Villa Real (Spanish spelling) as a Spanish title, included today among the titles of the

House of Medinaceli Duke of Medinaceli () is an hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee. The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, created the title and awarded it on 31 October 1479 to Lui ...

. Beatrice of Menezes never returned to her homeland and this title was never recognized in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Marquises of Villa Real (1660-)

* Beatriz de Meneses, 1st Marquise of Villa Real (1614–1668) * Pedro Damián Portocarrero, 9th Count of Medellín and 2nd Marquis of Villa Real (1640–1704), eldest son of the 1st Marquise. * Luisa Feliciana Portocarrero, 10th Countess of Medellín and 3rd Marquise of Villa Real (1641–1705), elder surviving daughter of the 1st Marquise. * Guillén Ramón de Moncada, 6th Marquis of Aitona and 4th Marquis of Villa Real (1671–1727), eldest son of the 3rd Marquis. * María Teresa de Moncada, 7th Marquise of Aitona and 5th Marquise of Villa Real (1707–1756), eldest daughter of the 4th Marquis. * Pedro de Alcántara Fernández de Córdoba, 12th Duke of Medinaceli and 6th Marquis of Villa Real (1730–1789), eldest son of the 5th Marquise. * Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 13th Duke of Medinaceli and 7th Marquis of Villa Real (1749–1806), eldest son of the 6th Marquis. * Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 14th Duke of Medinaceli and 8th Marquis of Villa Real (1780–1840), eldest son of the 7th Marquis. * Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 15th Duke of Medinaceli and 9th Marquis of Villa Real (1813–1873), elder son of the 8th Marquis. * Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 16th Duke of Medinaceli and 10th Marquis of Villa Real (1851–1879), elder son of the 9th Marquis. * Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 17th Duke of Medinaceli and 11th Marquis of Villa Real (1880–1956), elder son of the 10th Marquis. * Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli and 12th Marquise of Villa Real (1917–2013), eldest daughter of the 11th Marquis. *

Princess Victoria of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 20th Duchess of Medinaceli Princess Victoria Elisabeth of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 20th Duchess of Medinaceli, GE (born 17 March 1997) is a Spanish-German noblewoman. Holding 43 officially recognised titles in the Spanish nobility, she is the most titled aristocrat in the w ...

, Current Countess of Vila Real (b.1997)http://www.fundacionmedinaceli.org/casaducal/fichaestado.aspx?id=49

Other Titles

, in 1424 by a royal decree of King John I of Portugal; * Count of Valença, in 1464 by a royal decree of King

Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Afri ...

; * Count of Alcoutim, in 1496 by a royal decree of King

; * Duke of Vila Real, in 1585 by a royal decree of King Philip I of Portugal ( Philip II of Spain); *

, in 1620 by a royal decree of King Philip III of Portugal (

References

{{Reflist

External links

Genealogy of the Marquis of Vila Real

Bibliography

”Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. III, pages 523/528. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.

1489 establishments in Europe 15th-century establishments in Portugal Marquisates