The title duke of Terceira, de juro e herdade (meaning "forever granted") was created by decree of King Pedro IV of Portugal, on 8 November 1832. 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, was the first holder of the title.

Family name and origins

The Duke of Terceira was the head of the Manoel de Vilhena family. Heads of the Portuguese branch of that family have been ennobled since the marriage of Constance Manoel with King Pedro I of Portugal. Her brother, Henrique Manoel, was brought into her entourage, and he was made Count of Seia, in Portugal, by his brother-in-law, the king.

This family is also represented in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, where the family head is the Duke of Arévalo d'El Rey, Count of Via Manoel, Marquis of Puebla de la Rocamora, etc.

The family dates back to Juan Manuel de Villena

Villena

Villena is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the province of Alicante. It is the capital of the comarca...

, the second son of the 3rd Lord of Cheles, knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 of the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

 and Mayordomo-Mor of the Emperor Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

, who descended from the Infante Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, the grandson of King Fernando III of Castile.

The first duke

The 1st Duke of Terceira (1792-1860) descended from Sancho Manoel de Vilhena

Sancho Manoel de Vilhena

Sancho Manoel de Vilhena, 1st Count of Vila Flor , was a remarkable Portuguese aristocrat and military leader, of royal background....

, the 1st Count of Vila-Flor and Marshal of the Portuguese Army during the Portuguese Restoration War

Portuguese Restoration War

Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...

 against Spain, winner (together with the 1st Marquis of Marialva

Marquis of Marialva

Count of Cantanhede was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from August 6, 1479, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to D. Pedro de Menezes, 5th Lord of Cantanhede....

) of the battles of Linhas de Elvas, Montes Claros and the Ameixial

Battle of Ameixial

The Battle of Ameixial, was fought on June 8, 1663, near the village of Santa Vitória do Ameixial, some 10 km north-west of Estremoz, between Spanish and Portuguese as part of the Portuguese Restoration War....

. He was also appointed Viceroy of Brazil.

Hero of the Liberal Wars

Liberal Wars

The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...

, the 7th Count of Vila-Flor received the highest aristocratic title

Title

A title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...

, duke, as well as the profound honor of being named Marshal of the army, honors he received because of the resistance he led on Terceira

Terceira Island

Referred to as the “Ilha Lilás” , Terceira is an island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 56,000 inhabitants in an area of approximately 396.75 km²...

 against the Miguelist forces. After conquering Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

, he led the liberal forces into Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, on 24 July 1833. He won the Battle of Asseiceira, which put an end to the civil war, and he signed the peace treaty (Convenção de Évora-Monte) on behalf of King Pedro IV of Portugal.

After the war he was three times, briefly, Prime Minister of Portugal

Prime Minister of Portugal

Prime Minister is the current title of the chief of the Portuguese Government. As chief executive, the Prime Minister coordinates the action of ministers, representing the Government from the other organs of state, accountable to Parliament and keeps the President informed...

:

• from April to September, 1836;
• for a few days in April and May, 1851; and
• from March 1859 until his death, on 26 April 1860.

The succession

The title of Duke of Terceira was inherited, de juro e herdade, by the 10th Countess of Vila Flor, Maria Luísa de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, Countess of Alpedrinha, Head of the Portuguese branch of the Manoel de Vilhena family, since the title of Duke of Terceira was given to the Count of Vila Flor, in memory of the many services paid to the Crown and the Portuguese Kingdom. She was the daughter of Francisco Maria Martinho de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, the 9th Count of Vila-Flor, and granddaughter of Tomás Maria Martinho de Almeida Manoel de Vilhena, the 8th Count of Vila Flor, head of King Manuel II's

Manuel II of Portugal

Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...

 government in exile, Senator, and Governor of Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

 and Madeira Island.

List of the dukes of Terceira

1. D. António de Noronha (1792-1860)
2. D. Maria Luísa da Conceição de Almeida Manuel de Vilhena (1926-1998)
3. D. Lourenço da Bandeira Manuel de Vilhena de Freitas (1973- )

Present day

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 D. Iuris in Law, 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.

External links

• Genealoy of the Dukes of Terceira, in Portuguese