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.
Count (Male), or Countess (Female), is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. The etymologically related English term, "county" denoted the land owned by a count. Equivalents of the rank of count exist or have existed in the nobility structures of some non-European countries, such as hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era.
Afonso V, called the African, was King of Portugal. His sobriquet refers to his conquests in Northern Africa.
Don, abbreviated as D., is an honorific prefix primarily used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines.
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.
Afonso VI, known as "the Victorious", was the second King of Portugal of the House of Braganza from 1656 until his death. He was initially under the regency of his mother, Luisa of Medina-Sidonia, until 1662, when he removed her to a convent and took power with the help of his favourite, the Count of Castelo Melhor.
The Castle of Marialva is a Portuguese castle in Mêda, Guarda. It has been listed as a National monument since 1978.
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.
Duke of Lafões was 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, son of the Infante Miguel de Bragança, an illegitimate son of King Peter II of Portugal and Anne Armande Pastre de Verger, though 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.
List of the 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;
Meneses, sometimes Menezes in Portuguese, was originally a toponymic surname which originated in Montes Torozos, a region in Tierra de Campos, northeast of Valladolid and southeast of Palencia. The ancestor of the Meneses lineage was Tello Pérez de Meneses. The family wealth and power grew remarkably in the 13th and 14th centuries, through several marriages with the Castilian and Portuguese royal families.
The highest hereditary title in the Portuguese monarchy. 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.
António Luís de Meneses, 1st Marquis of Marialva and 3rd Count of Cantanhede was a member of the Forty Conspirators and a Portuguese general who fought in the Portuguese Restoration War, that ended the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain.
DomMichael of Braganza was a Portuguese infante, illegitimate son of King Pedro II of Portugal and of the French lady Anne Armande Pastre de Verger. He was born in Lisbon on 15 October 1699 and died drowned in the Tagus River on 13 January 1724.
Count of Linhares was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree of king John III of Portugal dated from May 13th, 1532, and granted to Dom António de Noronha, 2nd son of Pedro de Menezes, 1st Marquis of Vila Real.
Hugo José Jorge O'Neill, 4th Viscount of Santa Mónica was the head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, whose family 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 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 of Viana.
Count of Miranda do Corvo was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from March 21, 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.
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.
Count of Feira was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, in 1481, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to D. Rui Pereira, the son of Fernão Pereira, Lord of Santa Maria da Feira.
The Forty Conspirators were a Portuguese nationalist group during the Iberian Union. The Conspirators were composed of forty men of the Portuguese nobility, and a large number of 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.
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