Duque de Almodovar del Rio

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Duque de Almodovar del Río. Spanish Title for a Dukedom approved by King Charles III of Spain, (January 20, 1716 – December 14, 1788) on 11th July 1780 awarded to the VII Marqués de Almodóvar del Río, Pedro Francisco Ximénez de Góngora y Luján, (1727 - 1794), from a noble family from Cordoba, Ambassy Officer and/or Ambassador in Russia from 1759 to 1763, Ambassador in Portugal from around 1765 to 1778, Ambassador in London in 1778 but leaving in 1779 because of Disputes with the British on the issues of the American War of Independence. He was granted a Grandee of Spain in 1779 and was promoted to I Duke in July 1780. He was the Director of the Spanish Academy of History from 1792 to 1794, the year of his death. (Others report 1796).

He had been living previously in the Kingdom of Naples, where the later King Carlos III of Spain was King Charles VII of Naples around 1751 when he was met by the Spanish traveler and notorious intelectual Antonio Ponz, (1725 - 1792). In 1780 he published some sort of 10 letters on the State of contemporary literature in France and described as " Década Epistolar sobre el Estado de las letras de Francia" which informed on many French Encyclopedists including some comments on the works of François Marie Arouet Voltaire, (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778).

He published, under the name Eduardo Malo de Luque an Spanih account with extensive comments in 5 volumes "with the Comments of a Catholic Spaniard" to the rather catastrophic accounts of the influence of Spanih Civilization on the Colonization of Foreign Lands of Abbé Guillaume Thomas François Raynal (April 12, 1711 – March 6, 1796)"Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes", (Amsterdam, 4 vols., 1770).

The first two volumes mirror Raynal's design, but he added a voluminous appendix entitled "The English Constitution and the Affairs of the English East India Company," a feature not found in Raynal's original work. In Ximénez de Góngora third volume, he appended, too, a 68 -page essay entitled "The Political and Economic State of France."

Moreover, although the Spaniard fourth and Raynal's third volumes, respectively, examine Scandinavian, Prussian, and Russian colonial ventures, the Spaniard thought fit to add a supplement, namely "Analytical Memoirs Relative to the History and Present State of Russia," drawn primarily from materials and recollections of his diplomatic stint in St. Petersburg.. For whatever reasons, it is stated by academics that the translation and polemics on the Raynal's final seven (???) volumes exhaustively treating Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English colonial activity in the New World, was apparently although a comparatively technical overview of Spanish settlements in Asia, included an extensive treatment of commercial prospects in the Philippines.

A very extensive discussion has been made on the above lines by Gabriel Paquette, from Trinity College, Cambridge, England, published with Copyright in 2007 from the Texas Tech University Pres in the academic history magazine The Eighteenth Century vol 48.1 (2007), pages 61-80 to be consulted by "bona fide" readers in :

or in PDF format in :

We do not know (March 2008) if a manucript with the missing parts is or is not to be found in High Academic Spanish Institutions such as Academia Española de la Historia or Biblioteca Nacional, and/or disappeared during the XIX and XX Century Spanish Civil wars and connected Social Conflicts.


The genealogical list of the first 7 titulars of Marquesado de Almodóvar del Río and of 5 of the titular Dukes including the 7th Marqués who was promoted to Duke by King Carlos III and died in 1794 is as follows:


1. Juan Francisco Ximenez de Gongora y Castillejo, 1º. marqués de Almodovar del Río, and 1º Viscount of Puebla de los Infantes, province of Ciudad Real, on 28th March 1654 by Felipe IV of Spain . Title awarded by King Felipe IV of Spain, on 13th May 1667.He was Knight ("Caballero"), of the Order of Calatrava, President of the "Supremo Consejo de Hacienda", some sort of High Council of the Exchequer and of the "Casa de Contratacion de Sevilla", the Spanish State High Office in Sevilla since the beginnings of the XVI Century dealing wit every administrative, shiping or commercial dealings with all the American colonies.

Both offices where of paramount importance within the Spanish State.

He was the uncle and husband of Luisa Ximénez de Góngora y de Carcamo - Eraso (see 3º, here). who got two daughters but there was finally no direct inheritance issue to this title.

Therefore, in 1689 the title passed to Luis Fernández de Córdova , 8º señor de los donadíos de la Campana, 2º Viscount of Puebla de los Infantes, the son of Diego Fernández de Córdova, whose grandmother was known as doña Mayor (Ximénez?) de Góngora, sister of the 1º Marqués Juan Francisco.

His will was dated 18th January 1703 in Córdoba.It seems this was so, because he was married to the woman described as Urraca de Góngora, (wil of 14th February 1735 daughter of the 4º Marqués de Almodovar del Rio hereto described below as Luis Suárez de Góngora.

2. Luis José Ximenez de Gongora, 2º. marqués de Almodovar del Río. It could be he inherited the title at the death of his father Juan Francisco but on dying earlier than his mother Luisa, niece and wife of Juan Francisco. Terefore, Luisa, must have got the third title as a widow, surviving both her husband Juan Francisco and her son Luis.

3. Luisa Ximenez de Gongora y de Carcamo , 3ª marquesa de Almodovar del Río, daughter of the 1º Viscount of Puebla de los Infantes, province of Ciudad Real.

4. Antonio Suarez de Gongora y de las Infantas, 4º. marqués de Almodovar del Rio. He must have got it because of closing issue from 1, 2 and 3.His daughter Urraca, mentioned above, married to Luis Fernández de Córdoba seems to have however male issue described however as Francisco Fernández de Córdoba y Ponce de León, honored by King Felipe V of Spain in 1716 as 1º Marqués de Puebla de los Infantes.

This Francisco, married first time in 1712 with Maria Catalina Fernández de Velasco, daughter of the Duques de Frías, got a daughter, Maria Teresa, who became Marquesa de Jódar, (province of Jaen). From his second marriage to Bernarda Fernández de Corova y de la Cueva, daughter of the Counts of Torres - Cabrera, got Joaquín Fernandez de Cordova y Fernandez de Cordova, who was granted the Grandee of Spain on the Marquesado de Puebla de los Infantes in 1772 by King Carlos III of Spain.

This Joaquin married Ana de Hoces Paniagua Venegas having the 3º Marqués of Puebla de los Infantes Joaquin Fernandez de Cordova y Hoces (1754 - 1812), sister of the Count of Hornachuelos , province of Cordoba. This Hoces surname will appear again on the female side of the continuing family after the death in 1794 of the first Duke of Almodovar del Río.

5. Pedro Suarez de Gongora y Gutierrez de los Rios, 5º. marqués de Almodovar del Rio.

6. Ana Suarez de Gongora y Menendez de Avilés, 6ª marquesa de Almodovar del Rio.

7. The 7th Marqués is now a Luján, but it keeps the track of the Gongora from Cordoba through his mother side, disappearing mentions to the Ximenez de Cóngora and Suarez de Góngora through extinction. Pedro Francisco de Luján y Gongora, 1º. duque de Almodovar del Rio, (1727 - 1794). See the history above about how he became the 1º Duke in 1780. Then, when Pedro francisco Lujan dies as Director of the Academia Española de la Historia, we found as (Dowager?) Duchess of Almodovar someone from a very old and powerful family from Valencia becoming extinct also:

Josefa Dominga Catalá de Valeriola, ( - 1814), (dowager?) duchess of Almodóvar del Río, , marquesa de Ontiveros, (marquesa = marchioness), condesa de La Alcudia, (title awarded to an Admiral on 15 May 1663), (condesa = countess), condesa de Canalejas and condesa de Gestalgar, baronesa de Jalón, Estivella, Tous and Sot de Chera, "naming heiress to her soul, and to provide for this soul, and forgiveness on her sins, to all the poor and vassals where she got properties...". See for example for this splendid palace in Valencia:

The actual coat of arms there is however from the Escofet family and it was incorporated at the middle of the XIX Century "when the property changed hands".

The titles of Marqueses and Duques of Almodovar del Rio running through several well known Spanish family names afterwards till now seems to us to be rather doubious nowadays, although they are not difficult to find as "virtual" information, but stating family connections to King Fernando I de Castilla (deceased at Christmas 1065) or medals (Grand Cross) from the "Orden de la Torre y la Espada" with a total of 377 most international "curious" members, including a few moslem sultans and turkish emperors from the XVIII and XIX Century to these days, sounds as footsy.

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