Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 of Abrantes

Abrantes

Abrantes is a municipality in Portugal, with a population of 41,560 inhabitants, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River.-History:...

(in Portuguese Conde de Abrantes) was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from June 13, 1476, by King Afonso V of Portugal

Afonso V of Portugal

Afonso V KG , called the African , was the twelfth King of Portugal and the Algarves. His sobriquet refers to his conquests in Northern Africa.-Early life:...

, and granted to his 4th cousin, Lopo de Almeida.

Dom

Don (honorific)

Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...

 Lopo was close related to the Portuguese royal House, once his great-grandfather was Infante João, Duke of Valencia de Campos

Infante João, Duke of Valencia de Campos

Infante Dom John of Portugal was the son of Portuguese King Peter I and a Castilian noblewoman named Inês de Castro that had arrived in Portugal as a maid of Infanta Constance of Castile, recently married to Pedro I .-Background:Considering John an Infante of Portugal is a debatable subject...

 (son of King Peter I of Portugal

Peter I of Portugal

Peter I , called the Just , was the eighth King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, princess Beatrice of Castile....

 and of Inês de Castro

Inês de Castro

Inês Peres de Castro was a Galician noblewoman born of a Portuguese mother...

).

This title was extincted when the 4th Count, Miguel de Almeida, a hero of the Portuguese uprasing of December 1, 1640, died without issue in 1650.

Genealogical Summary

Pedro I

Peter I of Portugal

Peter I , called the Just , was the eighth King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, princess Beatrice of Castile....

(1320-1367)
King of Portugal
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Fernando I  Infante João

Infante João, Duke of Valencia de Campos

Infante Dom John of Portugal was the son of Portuguese King Peter I and a Castilian noblewoman named Inês de Castro that had arrived in Portugal as a maid of Infanta Constance of Castile, recently married to Pedro I .-Background:Considering John an Infante of Portugal is a debatable subject...

  João I

John I of Portugal

John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...

(1345-1383) (1349-1397) (1357-1433)
King of Portugal Duke of Valencia de Campos King of Portugal
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Beatrice

Beatrice of Portugal

Beatrice was the only surviving child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Telles de Menezes. She married King John I of Castile. In the absence of a male heir, she claimed the throne of Portugal, supported by her husband. This led to the 1383–1385 Crisis, in which the Portuguese...

  Pedro da Guerra Duarte I
(1372-1408) (c.1380- ? ) (1391-1438)
Queen de jure | King of Portugal
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Brites Anes |
(c.1380-1431) |
m.Diogo Fernandes de Almeida |
Mayor of Abrantes

Abrantes

Abrantes is a municipality in Portugal, with a population of 41,560 inhabitants, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River.-History:...

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Lopo de Almeida Portuguese Royal House
(1416-1486)
1st Count of Abrantes

List of the Counts of Abrantes (1476)

• Lopo de Almeida (1416-1486), 1st Count of Abrantes
• João de Almeida (1445-1512), 2nd Count of Abrantes (son of the previous)
• Lopo de Almeida (1470- ? ), 3rd Count of Abrantes (son of the previous)
• Miguel de Almeida (1575-1650), 4th Count of Abrantes (2nd cousin of the previous)

Family Name

The family name

Family name

A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...

 associated with the Counts of Abrantes was Almeida

Almeida

Almeida is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 518 km2 and a total population of 7,784 inhabitants. Located in Riba-Côa river valley, Almeida is an historic town in Beira Interior....

.

The Almeida clan was closely associated with King John II of Portugal

John II of Portugal

John II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...

 played a pivotal role in the 1490s succession crisis, strongly backing John II's preferred candidate, Jorge de Lencastre against the eventual winner, Manuel, Duke of Beja

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

.

According to Subrahmanyam (1997: 49), Lopo de Almeida, the first Count of Abrantes, had at least six notable sons:

• 1. D. João de Almeida - 2nd Count of Abrantes
• 2. D. Diogo Fernandes de Almeida - tutor of Jorge de Lencastre and, from 1492, Prior of Crato
  Prior of Crato
  The Prior of Crato , was the traditional title given to the head of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in Portugal...
  
   ((Portuguese branch of St. John Hospitaller
  Knights Hospitaller
  The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
  
  ).
• 3. D. Jorge de Almeida, Bishop of Coimbra
  Coimbra
  Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
  
   from mid-1490s.
• 4. D. Pedro da Silva - used his mother's surname, sent on king's 1494 mission to Pope Alexander VI
  Pope Alexander VI
  Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
  
  .
• 5. D. Fernando de Almeida - sent with Pedro on the papal mission.
• 6. D. Francisco de Almeida
  Francisco de Almeida
  Dom Francisco de Almeida , also known as "the Great Dom Francisco" , was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492...
  
   - commander of 1505 expedition to India
  7th Portuguese India Armada (Almeida, 1505)
  The Seventh India Armada was assembled in 1505 on the order of King Manuel I of Portugal and placed under the command of D. Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of the Indies...
  
  , first Vice-roy of Portuguese India
  Portuguese India
  The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
  
  .

The Almeida clan remained the principal political opponents of Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

throughout his reign.

External links

• Genealogy of the Count of Abrantes (in Portuguese)