Duke of Terceira

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The Dukedom of the Island of Terceira is a dukedom, de juro e herdade (forever granted) created with honours of relative to the King, by decree of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil, acting as Portugal's Regent, on behalf of António José de Souza Manoel de Menezes Severim de Noronha, 7th Count of Vila Flor, de juro e herdade, and 1st Marquis of Vila Flor.

The 1st Count of Vila-Flor was Sancho Manoel de Vilhena, Marechal of the portuguese Army, hero of the independence war against Spain, victor (with the 1st Marquis of Marialva) of the battles of Linhas de Elvas, Montes Claros and winner of the battle of Ameixial. Designated Viceroy of Brasil, he was also made Governor of the Tower of Belém, etc.

Hero of the Liberal Wars, the 7th count of Vila-Flor was given as the most highest distinct nobiliarchy, and the ascension of dignity of Marechal, in virtue of denotated resistance which promoted the Terceira island against the miguelist forces. He resisted in Azores and particularly in Terceira, lead the conquest of Oporto and entered in Lisbon in front of the liberal forces in the 24th July. He was the winner of the Battle of Asseisseira that put an end to th civil war and signed on behalf of King D. Pedro, with the Miguelist party the Convenção de Évora-Monte. After the war he was three times Prime Minister of Portugal: from April to September 1836, for a few days in April-May 1851, and from March 1859 to his death on 26 April 1860. He was also Governor of the Tower of Belém.

The duke of Terceira were the chief of Manoel de Vilhena family (the chiefs of this family in Spain are the dukes of Arévalo d' El Rey, counts of Via Manoel, marquesses of Puebla de la Rocamora, etc.) The family preceded from the second son of the third Senhor (Lord) de Cheles, Don Juan Manuel de Villena. Don Juan Manuel, knight of the golden flee, Mayordomo-Mor of the Emperor Charles V, was descendant in legitimate male line from the count of Seia and Sintra, Dom Henrique Manuel de Vilhena, Lord of the Palácio da Vila in Sintra (son of Don Juan Manuel, prince of Vilhena and grandson of King Fernando III, the Saint, of Castille and Leão), the conqueror of Seville). The prince of Villena, also duke of Escalona, was a great Spanish writer, co-regent of the Kingdom of Castille, Adelantado-Mor de Murcia, and is buried, as the Count of Seia and Sintra and some Masters of Belmonte and other Manoel de Vilhena family members in Convento de los Predicadores de Peñafiel.

After the death of the first duke of Terceira, the title was restored in favour of the X Countess of Vila Flor, de juro e herdade, Dona Maria Luísa de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, Countess of Alpedrinha, (of the family of de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun), and representant of the title of the Marquess of Vila-Flor, heir of the Masters of Zibreira and Vila Flor (Manoel de Vilhena / Vila Flor), of the Masters of Machial and the office of Executor-Mor da Fazenda(Severim de Noronha), of the Masters of Pancas, of Atalaia da Beira and of Donas(Costas from the Cardinal D. Jorge de Alpedrinha, 1402-1504, Co- Regent of Portugal, negotiotor of Tordesilhas Treaty, Archbishop-Primate of Braga and Archbishop of Lisbon, Bishop of Évora, Oporto, Viseu and Ceuta, Abade de Alcobaça, Cardinal Carmelengo, opened San Giovano di Laterano Sacred Door at the Jubileus of 1500) and of the Masters of Sandomil and Loriga (Machados), Representative of Prince-Grandmaster of the Order of Malta, Dom António Manoel de Vilhena (who created the Forte Manoel and the Teatro Manoel, founded burgo Vilhena in La Valletta, large reformer of the order and winner of naval battles againsts Sultan Abdi-Capitain, etc.), brother of the second Count of Vila-Flor, Writer, Lady of Honor and Devotion of the Order of Malta, advisor of the Prime Minister of Portugal, Professor Doutor Cavaco Silva. By marriage with Jaime Lasso de La Vega Dias de Freitas, Count of Azarujinha, D. Maria Luisa was also Countess of Azarujinha. The marriage took place at the oratory of the Palace Vila Flor under the presidency of the former Archbishop of Metilene, titular Archibishop of Lamego.

Dona Maria Luísa was the daughter of Dom Francisco Maria Martinho de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, IX Count of Vila-Flor, President of the Portuguese Assembly of the Order of Malta and BGC of the Order of Malta, Professor of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Chief-Cabinet of the Ministry of Agriculture and Dona Maria de Lourdes Correia da Silva de Sampaio de Melo e Castro (of the viscounts de Castelo Novo), marriage which took place in the oratory of the Castelo Novo's Palace at Rua Infante D. Henrique, Lisbon, under the presidence of D. Teotónio Vieira de Castro, patriarch of the Indias, archebishop of Goa. King D. Manuel II in exile sent the count of Tarouca as his representant.

Dom Francisco Maria Martinho de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, a son of Dom Tomás Maria Martinho de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, the eight Count of Vila Flor, Chief of "the Govern" of King Dom Manuel II in exile, Senator, Governor of Braga and Madeira, first President of the Instituto Português de Heráldica and wife Maria Josefina de Azeredo Teixeira de Aguilar (of the counts (formerly viscounts) de Samodães), marriage that took place in the Palace Samodães, at Rua do Sol, Oporto, under the presidency of the bishop of Himéria, D. António Barroso, and the bishop of S. Tomé de Meliapor, D. Henrique Reed da Silva.

[edit] Present family

Presently the family inhabits the Palace Vila-Flor in Lisbon, next to the Castle of São Jorge. The Duke of Terceira, XII Count of Vila Flor, IV Count of Alpedrinha, VI Count and Viscount of Azarujinha, etc., D. Lourenço Manoel de Vilhena, is assistant-professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon, lawyer, advisor and acting chef de cabinet to several governmental members. Former member of the Council of Nobility and founding member of the Instituto da Nobreza de Portugal, the regulatory body of nobiliarchic matters, authorized by H.R.H. the Duke of Braganza and recognized by the Republic, he is also representantive of the Brazilian Nobility Association for the European countries. Married in 2006, the heir to the earldoms and to the dukedom is D. Cristóvão António José do Pópulo Manoel de Vilhena, according to tradition Master of Pancas, godson of H.R.H. the Duchess of Braganza and D. Luís de Almeida Portugal (Lavradio), XIII Conde de Avintes.

[edit] List of dukes of Terceira

1. António José de Sousa Manoel de Menezes Severim de Noronha, 1st Duke of Terceira (1792-1860)
2. Dona Maria Luísa de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, 2nd Duchess of Terceira (1927-1998)
3. D. Francisco-Xavier Manoel de Vilhena Dias de Freitas, 3rd Duke of Terceira (b. 1947)
4. D. Lourenço Bandeira Manoel de Vilhena de Freitas, 4th Duke of Terceira (b. December 21, 1973), an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and Lawyer