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 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.

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.

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.

...
Wikipedia