Fernando de Noronha , 2nd Count of Vila Real Dom Fernando de Noronha ( Burgos , c . 1380 — Ceuta , June 2 or 3 , 1445 ) was a 15th - century Castilian - Portuguese nobleman . He was the 2nd Count of Vila Real , a title which he acquired and shared by his marriage to Brites de Menezes , 2nd Countess of Vila Real and the third Portuguese governor of Ceuta from 1437 . Fernando de Noronha united two prominent bastard lines of the crowns of Castile and Portugal . He was the second son from the marriage of Alfonso Enríquez de Castilla , count of Gijón y Noreña ( a bastard son of King Henry II of Castile ) and Isabel of Portugal , Lady of Viseu ( an illegitimate daughter of King Ferdinand I of Portugal ) . After the death of Alfonso of Gijón y Noreña in 1398 , Isabel fled to the court of her uncle , King John I of Portugal . Her children were raised in the Portuguese court , where they were known by their appellation " Noronha " ( Portuguese translation of Noreña ) . Fernando ' s elder brother , Pedro de Noronha , would become an Archbishop of Lisbon . On October 18 , 1430 , Fernando de Noronha married Brites de Menezes , the daughter of the prominent Portuguese nobleman Pedro de Menezes , 1st Count of Vila Real and first Portuguese governor of Ceuta . Brites competed with her half - brother Duarte de Menezes for her father ' s titles for herself and her consort . Fernando de Noronha secured the office of counciller and in the household of the royal prince and heir Infante Edward . By a royal letter issued September 1434 by the now - enthroned King Edward of Portugal , Fernando and Brites succeeded in securing the inheritance of her father ' s title of Count of Vila Real , leaving Duarte with the old family title of Count of Viana do Alentejo . Despite Duarte ' s notable military record as his father ' s lieutenant in Ceuta , Brites managed once again to pip out Duarte and secure the appointment ( October , 1437 ) of her husband Fernando de Noronha as the next Portuguese governor of Ceuta , succeeding the late Pedro de Menezes . Fernando de Noronha was appointed to Ceuta only days before a Portuguese expeditionary force , led by Henry the Navigator , was defeated by the army of Marinid Morocco ( see Battle of Tangier ( 1437 ) ) . To save his army from destruction , Henry agreed to a treaty , signed on October 17 , 1437 , by which Portugal committed itself to deliver Ceuta back to the Marinids , in return for which the Portuguese prince Ferdinand the Saint Prince would remain as a hostage in Moroccan captivity until its fulfillment . As a result , upon his arrival in Ceuta , Noronha was surprised to hear that a treaty had been signed to evacuate the garrison he had just been appointed to command . Moreover , Prince Henry had sailed directly from Tangier to Ceuta and barricaded himself in his lodgings , sunk in a deep depression and refusing to talk with anyone . Noronha was not sure how to proceed . By several accounts , Fernando de Noronha was determined not to lose this lucrative perch ( his predecessor had made a substantial personal fortune from ransoms and pirate kickbacks . ) Noronha probably had a role in stiffening Henry ' s resolve to write to King Edward from Ceuta , recommending the Portuguese renege on the treaty he had himself signed . But Henry ' s older brother , Peter of Coimbra , was set on fulfilling the treaty and securing Ferdinand release . In 1440 , after Edward died and Peter became regent of the realm , ambassadors were dispatched to Asilah to negotiate the logistics of the swap of Ceuta for the captive Ferdinand . The Marinids ' preliminary condition was that Fernando de Noronha be relieved from the office of governor of Ceuta - his reputation was such that the Marinid officials were certain Noronha would contrive to prevent the swap . Peter agreed , and in April 1440 ( or 1441 ) , he dispatched D . Fernando de Castro at the head of a Portuguese flotilla , with instructions and credentials to take the city from Noronha , and begin the evacuation of the garrison . As it happens , before his arrival , Castro ' s flotilla was intercepted by Genoese pirates and Castro killed - an incident in which some suspected Noronha might have had a hand ( Ceuta had long served as a corsair ' s nest ) . Nonetheless , Peter of Coimbra hurriedly instructed Fernando ' s son , Álvaro de Castro , to take over his father ' s credentials and fulfill the mission . As it happens , the logistics of the swap turned out to be more complicated than anticipated . Abu Zakariya Yahya al - Wattasi , the vizier of the Marinid palace of Fez , promised to deliver Ferdinand only after Ceuta was evacuated and in his hands , but Castro ( under the watchful eye and counsel of Noronha ) rejected the proposal , demanding possession of Ferdinand first . Negotiations dragged on fruitlessly for the next few months , and eventually broke down . The swap was never undertaken , Ceuta remained in Portuguese hands and Ferdinand perished in Moroccan captivity in June , 1443 . Fernando de Noronha died in Ceuta in June , 1445 . Fernando de Noronha and Brites de Menezes had two sons : Editorial Enciclopédia , 2ª Edição , Lisboa , 1989 , vol . 3 - pg . 523 .