Rodrigo da Câmara
|
Rodrigo da Câmara 3rd Count of Vila Franca |
|
|---|---|
| 7th Captain-Donatário of São Miguel | |
| Monarch | |
| Preceded by | Manuel da Câmara II |
| Succeeded by | Manuel da Câmara III |
| Constituency | São Miguel |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Rui Gonçalves da Câmara 1594 |
| Died | 1662 (aged 67–68) Ponta Delgada |
| Resting place | Ponta Delgada |
| Citizenship | Kingdom of Portugal |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Residence | Ponta Delgada |
| Nickname(s) | O Infeliz (The Unhappy) |
Rodrigo da Câmara (c.1594 – c.1662), member of the Gonçalves da Câmara, was son of Manuel da Câmara II, and succeeded him as the 7th Donatary Captain of the island of São Miguel, and 3rd Count of Vila Franca.
Destined for a military career by his father, the young Rodrigo was sent in 1612 to Ceuta, where he remained in military service for two years. He returned to Portugal and married D. Maria de Faro, daughter of the Count of Vimioso and niece of D. Francisco de Faro, the niece of Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal). He was 25 years old when his father died, the point at which he succeeded the man as the Captain-Donatário of the island of São Miguel.
He frequented the Spanish Corte in Madrid, accompanied the royal family in diverse trips throughout Spain, and lived a comfortable life. Among other servants he had a personal secretary, valets, butlers, squires, pages, squires and footmen, all working for him in his duties.
By royal decree, in 1624, he was obliged to take his retinue to Ponta Delgada and carry-out his role as dontary captain, but following the death of this wife returned to Corte in 1626. He remained on 1 June 1628, to D. Maria Coutinho, daughter of the Count of Vidigueira, the Queen's handmaiden and descendent of Vasco da Gama: at the wedding the couple were assisted by the Kings of Spain and the entire court. The King, therefore, continued to bestow on him and his descendents the title of Count of Vila Franca, an act that formalized these privileges in perpetuity, once the original titles to his father and grandfather were only until the end of their lives.
Remaining in Lisbon in the ancestral home in the estate of São Francisco, in 1629 he and his wife had a daughter, followed in 1630 by a son, which they named Manuel Luís. Following his birth, Rodrigo moved once again to Ponta Delgada, leaving behind his family while he settled into the new accommodations. He coordinated the assistance and reconstruction following the great volcanic eruption in Furnas in September 1630, which caused the death of 195 people. A Plinian eruption, the explosion caused the liberation of gas, pumice and ash that reached as far as Corvo.
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