Last updated The coat of arms of the 1st Count and 2nd Countess of Vila Real.The more complex coat of arms of the 3rd Count and 1st Marquis of Vila Real, showing on background their royal origins, both Portuguese and Castilian, with Menezes on the top.
The Menezes, a high nobility and influential family, quite close to the first dynasty kings in Portugal, were negatively affected when the new Aviz kings came to power, after the 1383–1385 crisis, but Pedro de Menezes supported the new king John of Aviz and was later rewarded.
He was involved in the north African conquests, and became the first governor of Ceuta after the Portuguese conquest (1415).
Later, in the 19th century, King John VI of Portugal, revived the title and granted it by royal decree on July 3, 1823 (second creation), to José Luis de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos (1785–1855), a remarkable military and politician who fought during the Napoleonic invasions and the Liberal wars.
José Luis de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos (1785–1855);
Fernando de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos (1815–1858)
José Luís de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos (1843–1923);
Maria Teresa de Sousa Botelho e Melo (1871–1947), also 3rd Countess of Melo and Countess of Mangualde by marriage to Fernando de Almeida Cardoso de Albuquerque, 2nd count of Mangualde;
"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. III, pages 522/528. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.
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