The Coat of Arms of the Menezes family, Marquesses of Marialva and Counts of Cantanhede.
Count of Cantanhede (in Portuguese Conde de Cantanhede) was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 6 August 1479, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to D. Pedro de Menezes, 5th Lord of Cantanhede.
In the 17th century this family received new honours: a royal decree of King Afonso VI of Portugal, issued on 11 June 1661, created the title of Marquis of Marialva (in Portuguese Marquês de Marialva) and granted it to D.António Luís de Menezes, 3rd Count of Cantanhede.
Once the 6th Marquis of Marialva died without issue, these two titles are today represented by the 7th Duke of Lafões, Afonso Caetano de Barros e Carvalhosa de Bragança (born 1956), descendant of D. Henriqueta Maria Júlia de Lorena e Menezes, eldest sister to the late 6th Marquis of Marialva. The title is nowadays used by D. Diogo de Bragança, uncle of the 7th Duke of Lafões.
List of counts of Cantanhede (1479) and Marquesses of Marialva (1661)
D. Pedro de Menezes (c.1450-1518), 1st Count of Cantanhede;
D. Pedro de Menezes (c.1580-? ), his 4th grandson, 2nd Count of Cantanhede;
D. António Luis de Menezes (1603–1675), his son, 3rd Count of Cantanhede and 1st Marquis of Marialva;
D. Pedro António de Menezes (1658–1711), his son, 4th Count of Cantanhede and 2nd Marquis of Marialva;
D. Joaquina Maria Madalena da Conceição de Menezes (1691–1740), his daughter, 5th Countess of Cantanhede and 3rd Marchioness of Marialva;
D. Pedro José de Alcântara de Menezes Noronha Coutinho (1713–1799), her son, 6th Count of Cantanhede and 4th Marquis of Marialva;
D. Diogo José Vito de Menezes Noronha Coutinho (1739–1803), his son, 7th Count of Cantanhede and 5th Marquis of Marialva;
Grand Inquisitor was the lead official of the Inquisition. The title usually refers to the chief inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, even after the reunification of the inquisitions. Secretaries-general of the Roman Inquisition were often styled as Grand Inquisitor but the role and functions were different.
The highest hereditary title in the Portuguese nobility. By tradition, there are a total of five royal and seven non-royal dukes in Portugal, out of 28 dukedoms that have ever been created. In the majority of cases, the title of duke was attributed to members of the high nobility, usually relatives of the Portuguese royal family, such as the second son of a monarch.
Duke of Lafões is a Portuguese title of nobility created under the decree of February 17, 1718, of King John V of Portugal and granted to his nephew, Dom Pedro Henrique de Bragança, the building force behind Palacio do Grilo and first son of Infante Miguel de Bragança, the latter an illegitimate son of King Peter II of Portugal and Anne Armande Pastre de Verger. Pedro's mother, Luisa Casimira de Sousa Nassau e Ligne was the first to use this title. The title was later passed on to his brother, João Carlos de Bragança e Ligne de Sousa Tavares Mascarenhas da Silva, the most famous Duke of this title.
Count of Linhares was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree of king John III of Portugal dated from May 13, 1532, and granted to Dom António de Noronha, 2nd son of Pedro de Menezes, 1st Marquis of Vila Real.
Hugo José Jorge O'Neill was the head of the O'Neill Clandeboy dynasty, which ruled a kingdom in Gaelic Ireland until the early 17th century, and has been in Portugal since the 18th century.
Marquis of Vila Real was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to Dom Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II of Menezes, 3rd Count of Vila Real.
Count of Vimioso is a Portuguese title of nobility which have its origins in Alphonse, Bishop of Évora, the natural son of Alphonse, 4th Count of Ourém and 1st Marquis of Valença. Therefore, the Counts of Vimioso were closely related to the Braganzas.
Marquis of Valença was a Portuguese title of nobility granted by royal decree of King Afonso V of Portugal, dated from October 11, 1451, to Dom Afonso of Braganza (1400–1460), who already was 4th Count of Ourém. It is the 1st Marquis title in Portugal.
Count of Alcoutim was a Portuguese title of nobility, subsidiary to the one of Marquis of Vila Real, created by a royal decree, dated from November 15, 1496, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to Dom Fernando de Menezes, also known as Ferdinand II of Menezes, 2nd Marquis of Vila Real, 4th Count of Vila Real and 2nd Count of Valença.
Count of Miranda do Corvo was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 21 March 1611, by King Philip II of Portugal, also known as Philip III of Spain, and granted to Dom Henrique de Sousa Tavares.
Count of Valença was a Portuguese title of nobility, created by a royal decree, dated from July 20, 1464, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to Dom Henrique de Menezes, who was already 3rd Count of Viana and 4th Count of Viana.
Count of Vila Verde was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from December 10, 1654, by King John IV of Portugal, and granted to Dom António de Noronha, 12th Lord of Vila Verde.
Manuel of Menezes was the second son of Pedro de Menezes 5th Marquis of Vila Real and of his wife, Beatrice of Lara.
Count of Viana was a Portuguese title of nobility granted on February 8, 1692, by King Peter II of Portugal to D. José de Menezes, the King's master-stableman, who died without issue.
Count of Loulé was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to Henrique de Menezes by royal decree issued on November 12, 1471, by King Afonso V of Portugal.
Diogo do Couto was a Portuguese historian.
The Forty Conspirators, were a Portuguese nationalist group during the Iberian Union. The Conspirators were composed of forty men of the Portuguese nobility, and many clergy and soldiers. Their goal was to depose the House of Habsburg king, Philip III.
D. Jaime Álvares Pereira de Melo, 3rd Duke of Cadaval, 5th Marquis of Ferreira, and 6th Count of Tentúgal, was a Portuguese nobleman and statesman.
Francisco Coutinho (1465-1532) Count of Marialva and Loulé, was a Portuguese nobleman, who served to the Portuguese monarchy, during the reign of John II.
The Count of Valadares is a noble title created by King Pedro II of Portugal, by royal letter on 20 June 1702, in favour of D. Miguel Luís de Menezes.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
