Sancho de Tovar e Silva

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Sancho de Tovar e Silva, jure uxoris Lord of the Honour of Molelos (1551 - April 13, 1629) was a Portuguese nobleman and military most notable for having been among the few companions of king Sebastian who survived the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir. He was later governor of Diu on behalf of Philip IV and held the rank of Almirante-mór (Chief Admiral) of the Portuguese navy.

[edit] Family and career

Sancho de Tovar e Silva was born to an old noble house of Castilian origin, dating back to the first centuries of the Iberian Reconquista. He was the son of Pedro de Tovar (1509-1567), Vedor de Fazenda (Minister of Finances) of Portuguese India, and his wife Brites de Oliveira e Silva, daughter of the Lords of Oliveira. His paternal grandfather was Sancho de Tovar, the Castilian-born navigator and explorer who took part in the discovery of Brazil. From 1572 onwards, Tovar e Silva held the position of Copeiro-mór (Master of the Ceremonies) at the royal court in Lisbon, and around that time he became Lord of the Honour of Molelos by marriage with Maria da Veiga e Nápoles, a wealthy heiress descended from a cadet branch of the royal house of Anjou. In 1578, together with most of the courtesan nobility, he accompanied the 24-year-old king in his attempted Moroccan crusade, having been one of the few aristocrats to survive the encounter that opposed the Portuguese army to that of the sultan Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I in the morning of August 4. He was, nevertheless, severely injured: according to 18th century genealogist Felgueiras Gayo, he returned covered in wounds, and contemporary authors record that he lost his right arm or hand in the battle.

Sancho was appointed governor of Diu on behalf of Philip IV in 1622 and later held the honorary position of Almirante-mór (Chief Admiral) of the Portuguese navy.

He died in his Paço (Palace) of Molelos, at the age of 78, supposedly murdered by a disgruntled servant whom he had caught stealing (and subsequently fired) a few days before.

[edit] References

  • Felgueiras Gayo & Carvalhos de Basto, Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal, Braga, 1989.
  • Hermano Saraiva, José. Diário da História de Portugal. (Lisbon, 1998) (compilation of contemporaneous chronicles)
  • Pereira Marques, António Augusto. Os Senhores das Honras de Molelos e o Asilo da Folhadosa. Guarda, 1953.
  • Queirós Veloso, J. M. D. Sebastião, 1554–1578 (Lisbon, 1935).