Miguel de Noronha, 4th Count of Linhares (1585-1647) was a Portuguese noble and military man in the service to King Philip III of Portugal and IV of Spain.

Biography

He became 4th Count of Linhares when his cousin in the third degree, Dom Fernando de Noronha, died childless in 1608. As his father, Afonso de Noronha, he was governor of Tangier between 1624 and 1628, gaining several successes in struggles with the Moors in that region. After that, he became the 44th Governor of Portuguese India and 23rd

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, between 1629 and 1635. His grandfather Afonso de Noronha, had also been Viceroy of India between 1550 and 1554. During his reign in India, Miguel was confronted by serious problems with corruption and external attacks, which led to important losses in

Portuguese Ceylon Portuguese Ceylon (; ; ) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658. Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658. Their arrival was largely accide ...

and

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. on his return in Europe, he became a member of the Council of Portugal in Madrid. Here he defended the position that Portugal should remain a Kingdom, in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

with the Kingdom of Spain. This led to serious confrontations with Olivares, who felt that all dominions of King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 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 for his patronage of the ...

should be Spanish provinces.
At the outbreak of the

Portuguese Restoration War The Restoration War (), historically known as the Acclamation War (''Guerra da Aclamação''), was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a forma ...

in 1640, he remained loyal to King Philip. As a reward for his loyalty, he was appointed General of the galleys of Sicily and Spain, and raised to Marquis de Gijón and Duke of Viseu. As General of the Galleys, he fought in 1646 the Battle of Orbitello against France. After the battle, he was relieved from his command and imprisoned, for not having destroyed the French fleet. He died in Madrid in 1647.

Sources

Portuguese Wikipedia The Portuguese Wikipedia () is the Portuguese-language edition of Wikipedia (written Wikipédia, in Portuguese), the free encyclopedia. It was started on 11 May 2001. Wikipedia is the nineteenth most accessed website in Brazil and the tenth mo ...

CHAM Centro de História de Alem-Mar

Geneall.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linhares, Miguel de Noronha 04 Count of Viceroys of Portuguese India Counts of Linhares 17th-century Portuguese people 1585 births 1647 deaths Spanish sailors Governors of Tangier Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) Portuguese nobility