Juan Manuel Pérez de Guzmán y Silva (7 January 1579 – 1636), was a Spanish noble and 8th Duke of Medina Sidonia.

He was the son of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

 and Ana de Silva y Mendoza, daughter of Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Éboli.

He married in 1598, aged 19, Juana de Sandoval, daughter of the Duke of Lerma

Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma

Don Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma , a favourite of Philip III of Spain, was the first of the validos through whom the later Habsburg monarchs ruled. He was succeeded by Don Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares.-Biography:The family of Sandoval was ancient and powerful...

, a favourite of Philip III of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

. He was promoted to Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1615, aged 36 and 34 years after his father. In the same year he became 8th Duke of Medina Sodonia.

In 1625 he commanded, from Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez de la Frontera is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, situated midway between the sea and the mountains. , the city, the largest in the province, had 208,896 inhabitants; it is the fifth largest in Andalusia...

, the military operations neutralizing the attack on Cadiz

Cádiz Expedition (1625)

The Cádiz Expedition of 1625 was a naval expedition against Spain by English and Dutch forces.The plan was put forward because after the Dissolution of the Parliament of 1625, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral wanted to undertake an expedition that would match the exploits of the heroes of...

 by a Dutch-English Fleet, commanded by Sir Edward Cecil

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon was an English military and naval commander.-Life:The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain...

.

His eldest daughter Luisa de Guzman

Luisa of Medina-Sidonia

Luisa Maria Francisca of Guzman was a Queen consort of Portugal. She was the spouse of King John IV, the first Braganza ruler, as well as the mother of two Kings of Portugal and a Queen of England...

 (1613–1666), became queen-consort of Portugal when her husband John II, 8th Duke of Braganza became John IV

John IV of Portugal

|-|John IV was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal. John was nicknamed John the Restorer...

, the first King of Portugal of the House of Braganza

House of Braganza

The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...

 in 1640. In order to encourage her husband when the Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 nobility offered him the crown of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Luisa is known for her phrase: "better Queen for one day, than Duchess all my life".

His granddaughter Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...

, married King Charles II of England

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

.