Marquis of Vila Real
Marquis of Vila Real (in Portuguese "Marquês de Vila Real") was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 1 March 1489, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to "Dom" Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter II of Menezes, 3rd Count of Vila Real. The House of Vila Real was the most powerful aristocratic House in Portugal, during the 16th and 17th centuries, after the Dukes of Braganza and the Dukes of Aveiro. To reward their support during the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis, the Spanish Habsburgs granted this House  new titles (Duke of Vila Real and Duke of Caminha). However, all this wealth was confiscated and Miguel Luís II, 2nd Duke of Caminha, was executed for high treason, by King John IV of Portugal instructions, for supporting the right of the Spanish Habsburg Kings to the Portuguese throne after the revolution of 1640. Genealogical summary. The House of Vila Real had their origins in "Dom" Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter I of Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real, 2nd Count of Viana (do Alentejo) and 1st Governor of Ceuta after the Portuguese conquest, in 1415. However the  Counts, later Marquesses, have royal ancestry (both Portuguese and Spanish), once they descended from King Ferdinand I of Portugal and from King Henry II of Castile. The Marquises of Villa Real (Spanish Title). When the 7th Marquis of Vila Real, along with his son the Duke of Caminha, was executed in Portugal for high treason in 1641, his daughter, Beatrice of Menezes, married to the Spanish Count of Medellin, remained in Spain. To reward her fidelity towards the Spanish Habsburgs, King Philip IV of Spain gave her, 23 March 1660, the title of Marquise of Villa Real (Spanish spelling) as  a Spanish title, included today among the titles of the House of Medinaceli. Beatrice of Menezes never returned to her homeland and this title was never recognized in Portugal. Bibliography. ”Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. III, pages 523/528. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.