Count of Alcoutim

Count of Alcoutim (in Portuguese Conde de Alcoutim) was a Portuguese title of nobility, subsidiary to the one of Marquis of Vila Real, created by a royal decree, dated from November 15, 1496, by King John II of Portugal, and granted to Dom Fernando de Menezes, also known as Ferdinand II of Menezes, 2nd Marquis of Vila Real, 4th Count of Vila Real and 2nd Count of Valença.

Ferdinand of Menezes had married Dona Maria Freire de Andrade, Lady of Alcoutim, and through her wife he inherited these estates.

When the 7th Marquis of Vila Real, 6th Count of Alcoutim, 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, the 23 March 1660, the title of Countess of Alcoutim as a Spanish title with, 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

The heiress apparent is Ana Luisa de Medina, Marquise of Navahermosa (b. 1940).

”Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. II, page 220. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.

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