Duarte de Menezes, 3rd Count of Viana
Encyclopedia
Dom
Duarte de Menezes, (Lisbon
, 1414 – near Tétouan
, Morocco
, January 20, 1464) was a 15th C. Portuguese
nobleman and military figure. Duarte de Menezes (sometimes modernized as 'de Meneses') was the 3rd Count of Viana do Alentejo, 2nd Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
, Lord of Caminha and the first Portuguese captain of Alcácer-Ceguer
.
Duarte de Menezes was an illegitimate son of Portuguese nobleman D. Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real
and first governor of Ceuta, and Isabel Domingues, an unmarried woman known as a Pixegueira. Although Pedro de Menezes had numerous daughters, legitimate and otherwise, Duarte was his only son. In March 1424, Pedro managed to secure from King John I of Portugal
a royal letter legitimizing Duarte to enable him to inherit his titles.
, and was given hands-on training in governorship and the military arts. Already at an early age, Duarte distinguished himself in numerous engagements and skirmishes with Moroccan fighters, and was already knight
ed by 15. In 1430, Pedro de Menezes took an extended leave in Portugal, leaving Duarte, at the age of 16, as captain of the Portuguese garrison in Ceuta, with the guidance of his older brother-in-law, Ruy Gomes da Silva, alcaide of Campo Maior. His father returned in 1434, but continued to rely on Duarte as his lieutenant.
In 1436-37, preparations were underway in Portugal for a resumption of the North African campaign with expedition to seize Tanger
. In 1436, Duarte personally led a Portuguese party to attack and raze the Moroccan citadel of Tétouan
, to prevent it from becoming a threat to future Portuguese operations.
The Portuguese expeditionary force under Prince Henry the Navigator finally arrived in Ceuta in August 1437. Henry appointed Duarte de Menezes to command the Ceuta troops in the center of the overland march to Tangier
. Duarte de Menezes helped lead the way, carrying the royal standard in his father's place (Pedro de Menezes, the alferes-mor (standard-bearer) of the realm, was too ill to accompany the march). The siege of Tangier had only started, when Duarte received the news that his father's illness had taken a turn for the worse. Duarte rushed back to Ceuta, just in time to receive his father's blessing before he expired on September 22. For the next few days, Duarte de Menezes remained in Ceuta organizing his father's affairs and forwarding cannon and supplies to the siege of Tangier. He was already back in Tangier when the full force of the Marinid
army fell upon the besieging Portuguese expeditionary force, and turned the tables around. The Marinids starved the Portuguese siege camp at Tangier into submission. To save his army from destruction, Prince Henry the Navigator agreed to a treaty that promised to restore Ceuta to the Marinids. Rather than return to Lisbon, Henry proceeded immediately to Ceuta, ostensibly to instruct Duarte to prepare to evacuate the garrison, but Henry ended up barricading himself in his rooms in a deep depression. In the end, the Portuguese refused to honor the treaty, and decided to hold on to Ceuta, leaving the royal hostage Ferdinand the Saint Prince to die in Moroccan captivity.
, alferes-mor of the kingdom and governor of Ceuta went to Duarte's legitimate sister Brites de Menezes
and her consort Fernando de Noronha
. Duarte de Menezes left Ceuta shortly after, passing the garrison over to Fernando de Noronha, and returned to Portugal by July 1438. King Edward of Portugal quickly regretted his decision, and personally apologized to Duarte for failing to appoint him to Ceuta and tried to make up for it by appointing him alcaide of Beja
and other benefices.
After Edward's death in September, 1438, Duarte de Menezes, re-appointed as alferes-mor, personally carried the royal standard during the acclamation of the young King Afonso V of Portugal
. In the subsequent regency crisis, Duarte de Menezes, like much of the nobility, sided with the queen-regent Eleanor of Aragon against the king's popular uncle, Peter of Coimbra. But he eventually reconciled with the regent Peter, and was confirmed in his titles. Duarte de Menezes reputation and experience prompted Peter to appoint him to sensitive military posts. Duarte led Portuguese incursions in 1441 and 1444, to assist the Crown of Castile
against the rebellious Infantes of Aragon
. At the request of John II of Castile
, Duarte de Menezes was subsequently posted to serve on the frontier of the Emirate of Granada
, but stayed only a few months.
In August 1444, regent Peter of Coimbra appointed Duarte de Menezes to the high office of alferes-mor (standard-bearer) of the realm. Duarte accompanied constable
Peter of Portugal
(regent Peter's son) in another interventionist incursion into Castile in July 1445.
The relationship between Peter and Duarte de Menezes ended abruptly when King Afonso V of Portugal reached majority in 1448 and dismissed the regent Peter. Afonso V immediately dispatched Duarte de Menezes as military governor of Pombal
, a critical fortress on the borderlands of Coimbra
, to keep a check on the dismissed regent's movements. Duarte de Menezes fought for the king against Peter at the Battle of Alfarrobeira
in May 1449. In reward for his loyalty, Duarte de Menezes' royal pensions were expanded, and his crown-granted titles, including alferes-mor, confirmed inheritable in his family.
launched a new operation against Morocco, the first since the disaster at Tangier in 1437. The Marinid
sultan Abd al-Haqq II, then laying siege to Tlemcen
, heard the news of the massive Portuguese expeditionary force and presuming it was another attempt at Tangier
, sent the bulk of his forces to that city. Instead, the Portuguese fleet swooped down on Ksar es-Seghir
(Port
: Alcácer-Ceguer), seizing the city in two day assault on October 23–24, 1458. Afonso V appointed Duarte de Menezes as the first captain and governor of Alcácer-Ceguer.
Duarte de Menezes first order of business was to prepare the defenses of the citadel for the inevitable reaction by the Marinids. The Moroccan army, led by Abd al-Haqq II, laid siege to the Alcácer-Ceguer in November 1458. A Portuguese relief fleet was prevented from reaching the city, leaving Duarte de Menezes and the little garrison to hold out on their own against the Marinid siege for nearly two months. Duarte de Menezes is said to have engaged in singular heroics, leading several bold sallies to break up Marinid assaults. After 53 days, having taken enough damage from the sallies and the onset of disease, the Moroccan army lifted the siege on January 2, 1459.
Six months later, the Marinid army returned and resumed the siege on July 2, 1459. Once again, Duarte de Menezes rallied the defenses of Alcácer-Ceguer and held out. Oddly, Duarte sent for his family from Portugal, who somehow managed to penetrate the siege lines and reach the city. The success of this venture helped lift the morale of the garrison. At length, on August 24, 1459, Abd al-Haqq II called off the siege.
In April 1460, having engaged in a few more skirmishes around the area, Duarte de Menezes felt the situation secure enough to return to Lisbon, leaving the garrison in the hands of his newphew, Afonso Teles. He was received with great pomp by Afonso V of Portugal, who promptly granted Duarte de Menezes the title of Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
(title had been vacant since the death of its first holder back in 1384) and Lord of Caminha. He also swapped the alcaideship of Beja for benefices in Redinha.
Duarte de Menezes returned to Alcácer-Ceguer in 1461. That very year, he is known to have led three raiding sorties to the outskirt of Tangier
. In August, 1462, Duarte de Menezes crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, to help the Castilians seize Gibraltar
from the Emirate of Granada
.
The king's council assembled, Afonso V insisted on the scheme to attack Tangier. He would send the captain of the fleet, Luíz Mendes de Vasconcelos, with a seaborne contingent to scale a relatively low stretch of wall on the seaward side of the citadel of Tangier, while he would himself lead an infantry column overland and blockade the city on the landward wide. Once again, Duarte de Menezes objected to the plan, once again he was overruled. The assault came to naught - bad weather and Tangier artillery kept the naval squad away, and the king, thinking the guns signalled success of the sea landing, attacked impetuously, before realizing his error. The king is said to have chided his companions for persuading him to ignore the counsel of Duarte de Menezes.
King Afonso V returned to Ceuta
, dispatching his brother, the Infante Ferdinand, with some troops to Duarte in Alcácer-Ceguer in December, while contemplating his next move. But without awaiting the king's instructions, and against the strenuous objections of Duarte de Menezes, in January 1464, the Infante Ferdinand decided to assault Tangier by himself. It failed. He tried again a week later, and it failed again, with great casualties.
By this time, Afonso V had decided upon abandoning the enterprise, but was determined not to return to Portugal without some glorious feat of arms. In late January 1464, Afonso V decided to personally lead a raid inland. Once again, Duarte de Menezes, who happened to be visiting Ceuta, advised the king against it, but the king insisted and set out on a raid south. Duarte de Menezes, and several other nobles, reluctantly accompanied him. In the Benacofu hills south of Tétouan
, King Afonso V's party was lured and ambushed by a Moroccan party. The monarch seemingly doomed, Duarte de Menezes threw himself forward to fight off the attack. Duarte de Menezes held his position long enough to allow the king to slip away, but was himself eventually cut down. The rattled Afonso V scrambled back to Ceuta and thereupon back to Portugal.
The remains of Duarte de Menezes were never recovered from the Benacofu hills. A single finger (or a single tooth), alleged to have belonged to Duarte de Menezes, eventually turned up. Upon that sparse relic, his wife Isabel de Castro
commissioned the erection of a mangificently-carved effighy tomb for Duarte de Menezes, embedded in an arcosolium
at a Franciscan cloister in Santarém, Portugal
. In 1928, the tomb as a whole was moved from the cloister to the nearby museum-church of São João de Alporão in Santarém
.
Shortly after his return to Portugal in 1464, King Afonso V instructed the royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara to drop his other tasks and write down the life and feats of Duarte de Menezes (Zurara had already written a hagiography of his father, Pedro de Menezes). For research, Zurara spent a full year in Alcácer-Ceguer, interviewing his companions and soldiers, visiting the sites of Duarte's battles, and, surprisingly enough for the time, also interviewing his Moroccan enemies. Zurara's Chronica do Conde D. Duarte de Menezes, the longest and best-researched of Zurara's chronicles, was finished around 1468 (although no complete manuscript copy has yet been found - it is estimated around a third of it has been lost; Zurara's chronicle - riddled with gaps - was first published in 1793). In 1627, Agostinho Manuel de Vasconcellos probably drew upon Zurara's account to compose his own Vida de Don Duarte de Meneses.
While a bachelor, Duarte de Menezes also had an illegitimate son from the unmarried D. Beatriz Dias:
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:...
Duarte de Menezes, (Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, 1414 – near Tétouan
Tétouan
Tetouan is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E. of Tangier...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, January 20, 1464) was a 15th C. Portuguese
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
nobleman and military figure. Duarte de Menezes (sometimes modernized as 'de Meneses') was the 3rd Count of Viana do Alentejo, 2nd Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
Count of Viana was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to Álvaro Pires de Castro, brother of Inês de Castro, granted by King Ferdinand I of Portugal on June 1, 1371. D. Álvaro was already 1st. Count of Arraiolos and 1st...
, Lord of Caminha and the first Portuguese captain of Alcácer-Ceguer
Ksar es-Seghir
Ksar es-Seghir or Ksar Sghir or al-Qasr al-Seghir , is a small town on the Mediterranean coast in the Jebala region of northwest Morocco, between Tangier and Ceuta, on the right bank of the river of the same name. Administratively, it belongs to the prefecture of Fahs-Anjra and the region of...
.
Family
Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real
Dom Pedro de Menezes Portocarrero, was a 15th C. Portuguese nobleman and military figure. Pedro de Menezes was the 2nd Count of Viana do Alentejo, 1st. Count of Vila Real and the first Portuguese governor of Ceuta.Pedro de Menezes was the son of the powerful 14th C...
and first governor of Ceuta, and Isabel Domingues, an unmarried woman known as a Pixegueira. Although Pedro de Menezes had numerous daughters, legitimate and otherwise, Duarte was his only son. In March 1424, Pedro managed to secure from King John I of Portugal
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...
a royal letter legitimizing Duarte to enable him to inherit his titles.
Ceuta
Duarte de Menezes stayed with his father during his tenure as governor in CeutaCeuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
, and was given hands-on training in governorship and the military arts. Already at an early age, Duarte distinguished himself in numerous engagements and skirmishes with Moroccan fighters, and was already knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed by 15. In 1430, Pedro de Menezes took an extended leave in Portugal, leaving Duarte, at the age of 16, as captain of the Portuguese garrison in Ceuta, with the guidance of his older brother-in-law, Ruy Gomes da Silva, alcaide of Campo Maior. His father returned in 1434, but continued to rely on Duarte as his lieutenant.
In 1436-37, preparations were underway in Portugal for a resumption of the North African campaign with expedition to seize Tanger
Battle of Tangier (1437)
The 1437 Battle of Tangier, sometimes referred to as the Siege of Tangiers, refers to the attempt by a Portuguese expeditionary force to seize the Moroccan citadel of Tangier, and their subsequent defeat by the armies of the Marinid sultanate of Morocco....
. In 1436, Duarte personally led a Portuguese party to attack and raze the Moroccan citadel of Tétouan
Tétouan
Tetouan is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E. of Tangier...
, to prevent it from becoming a threat to future Portuguese operations.
The Portuguese expeditionary force under Prince Henry the Navigator finally arrived in Ceuta in August 1437. Henry appointed Duarte de Menezes to command the Ceuta troops in the center of the overland march to Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. Duarte de Menezes helped lead the way, carrying the royal standard in his father's place (Pedro de Menezes, the alferes-mor (standard-bearer) of the realm, was too ill to accompany the march). The siege of Tangier had only started, when Duarte received the news that his father's illness had taken a turn for the worse. Duarte rushed back to Ceuta, just in time to receive his father's blessing before he expired on September 22. For the next few days, Duarte de Menezes remained in Ceuta organizing his father's affairs and forwarding cannon and supplies to the siege of Tangier. He was already back in Tangier when the full force of the Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...
army fell upon the besieging Portuguese expeditionary force, and turned the tables around. The Marinids starved the Portuguese siege camp at Tangier into submission. To save his army from destruction, Prince Henry the Navigator agreed to a treaty that promised to restore Ceuta to the Marinids. Rather than return to Lisbon, Henry proceeded immediately to Ceuta, ostensibly to instruct Duarte to prepare to evacuate the garrison, but Henry ended up barricading himself in his rooms in a deep depression. In the end, the Portuguese refused to honor the treaty, and decided to hold on to Ceuta, leaving the royal hostage Ferdinand the Saint Prince to die in Moroccan captivity.
Portugal
Back in Portugal, despite his father's efforts and his own illustrious military record, Duarte de Menezes was only able to inherit his family title of Count of Viana do Alentejo. The crown-granted titles of Count of Vila RealCount of Vila Real
Count of Vila Real was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, in 1424, by King John I of Portugal, and granted to Dom Pedro de Menezes, also known as Peter I of Menezes, 1st Count of Viana .The Menezes, a high nobility family quite close to the first Dynasty Kings in Portugal,...
, alferes-mor of the kingdom and governor of Ceuta went to Duarte's legitimate sister Brites de Menezes
Brites de Menezes, 2nd Countess of Vila Real
Dona Brites de Menezes was a Portuguese noblewoman. She was the 2nd Countess of Vila Real from 1437, a title she shared with her consort, Fernando de Noronha....
and her consort Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, 2nd Count of Vila Real
Dom Fernando de Noronha was a 15th C. Castilian-Portuguese nobleman. He was the 2nd Count of Vila Real, a title which he acquired and shared by his marriage to Brites de Menezes, 2nd Countess of Vila Real and the third Portuguese governor of Ceuta from 1437.Fernando de Noronha united two...
. Duarte de Menezes left Ceuta shortly after, passing the garrison over to Fernando de Noronha, and returned to Portugal by July 1438. King Edward of Portugal quickly regretted his decision, and personally apologized to Duarte for failing to appoint him to Ceuta and tried to make up for it by appointing him alcaide of Beja
Beja (Portugal)
Beja is a city in the Beja Municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The municipality has a total area of 1,147.1 km² and a total population of 34,970 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 21,658....
and other benefices.
After Edward's death in September, 1438, Duarte de Menezes, re-appointed as alferes-mor, personally carried the royal standard during the acclamation of the young 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:...
. In the subsequent regency crisis, Duarte de Menezes, like much of the nobility, sided with the queen-regent Eleanor of Aragon against the king's popular uncle, Peter of Coimbra. But he eventually reconciled with the regent Peter, and was confirmed in his titles. Duarte de Menezes reputation and experience prompted Peter to appoint him to sensitive military posts. Duarte led Portuguese incursions in 1441 and 1444, to assist the Crown of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
against the rebellious Infantes of Aragon
Infantes of Aragon
The Infantes of Aragon is an appellation commonly used by Spanish historians to refer to a group of 15th C. infantes of the House of Trastámara, specifically the sons of King Ferdinand I of Aragon and his wife Leonor Urraca, Countess of Albuquerque:* Infante Alfonso - became Alfonso V of Aragon...
. At the request of John II of Castile
John II of Castile
John II was King of Castile from 1406 to 1454.He was the son of Henry III of Castile and his wife Catherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster by Constance of Castile, daughter of King Peter of Castile.-Regency:He succeeded his father on 25 December 1406, at the age of...
, Duarte de Menezes was subsequently posted to serve on the frontier of the Emirate of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
, but stayed only a few months.
In August 1444, regent Peter of Coimbra appointed Duarte de Menezes to the high office of alferes-mor (standard-bearer) of the realm. Duarte accompanied constable
Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
Peter of Portugal
Peter V of Aragon
Peter V of Aragon , Infante of Portugal, Constable of Portugal and Grand Master of the Order of Aviz.He was son of Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgel, and grandson of John I of Portugal.During the War Against John II, between 1463 and 1466 Peter was King of...
(regent Peter's son) in another interventionist incursion into Castile in July 1445.
The relationship between Peter and Duarte de Menezes ended abruptly when King Afonso V of Portugal reached majority in 1448 and dismissed the regent Peter. Afonso V immediately dispatched Duarte de Menezes as military governor of Pombal
Pombal, Portugal
Pombal is a town in Pombal Municipality, Portugal. The population of the city is about 16.000 inhabitants....
, a critical fortress on the borderlands 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...
, to keep a check on the dismissed regent's movements. Duarte de Menezes fought for the king against Peter at the Battle of Alfarrobeira
Battle of Alfarrobeira
The Battle of Alfarrobeira took place on 20 May 1449. It was a confrontation between the forces commanded by King Afonso V of Portugal and his uncle Afonso, Duke of Braganza, against the army of the rebellious Pedro, Duke of Coimbra. The place was Alverca do Ribatejo, near Lisbon, at the margins...
in May 1449. In reward for his loyalty, Duarte de Menezes' royal pensions were expanded, and his crown-granted titles, including alferes-mor, confirmed inheritable in his family.
Alcácer-Ceguer
In October 1458, King Afonso V of PortugalAfonso 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:...
launched a new operation against Morocco, the first since the disaster at Tangier in 1437. The Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...
sultan Abd al-Haqq II, then laying siege to Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
, heard the news of the massive Portuguese expeditionary force and presuming it was another attempt at Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, sent the bulk of his forces to that city. Instead, the Portuguese fleet swooped down on Ksar es-Seghir
Ksar es-Seghir
Ksar es-Seghir or Ksar Sghir or al-Qasr al-Seghir , is a small town on the Mediterranean coast in the Jebala region of northwest Morocco, between Tangier and Ceuta, on the right bank of the river of the same name. Administratively, it belongs to the prefecture of Fahs-Anjra and the region of...
(Port
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
: Alcácer-Ceguer), seizing the city in two day assault on October 23–24, 1458. Afonso V appointed Duarte de Menezes as the first captain and governor of Alcácer-Ceguer.
Duarte de Menezes first order of business was to prepare the defenses of the citadel for the inevitable reaction by the Marinids. The Moroccan army, led by Abd al-Haqq II, laid siege to the Alcácer-Ceguer in November 1458. A Portuguese relief fleet was prevented from reaching the city, leaving Duarte de Menezes and the little garrison to hold out on their own against the Marinid siege for nearly two months. Duarte de Menezes is said to have engaged in singular heroics, leading several bold sallies to break up Marinid assaults. After 53 days, having taken enough damage from the sallies and the onset of disease, the Moroccan army lifted the siege on January 2, 1459.
Six months later, the Marinid army returned and resumed the siege on July 2, 1459. Once again, Duarte de Menezes rallied the defenses of Alcácer-Ceguer and held out. Oddly, Duarte sent for his family from Portugal, who somehow managed to penetrate the siege lines and reach the city. The success of this venture helped lift the morale of the garrison. At length, on August 24, 1459, Abd al-Haqq II called off the siege.
In April 1460, having engaged in a few more skirmishes around the area, Duarte de Menezes felt the situation secure enough to return to Lisbon, leaving the garrison in the hands of his newphew, Afonso Teles. He was received with great pomp by Afonso V of Portugal, who promptly granted Duarte de Menezes the title of Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)
Count of Viana was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to Álvaro Pires de Castro, brother of Inês de Castro, granted by King Ferdinand I of Portugal on June 1, 1371. D. Álvaro was already 1st. Count of Arraiolos and 1st...
(title had been vacant since the death of its first holder back in 1384) and Lord of Caminha. He also swapped the alcaideship of Beja for benefices in Redinha.
Duarte de Menezes returned to Alcácer-Ceguer in 1461. That very year, he is known to have led three raiding sorties to the outskirt of Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. In August, 1462, Duarte de Menezes crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, to help the Castilians seize Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
from the Emirate of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
Tangier
In 1463, Afonso V of Portugal decided to lead another expedition to Africa, this time to seize Tangier. Duarte de Menezes advised against the plan, urging greater reliance on the element of surprise. But the old veteran's advice was set aside, in large part on account of the jealous intrigues of his cousin, Pedro de Menezes, 3rd Count of Vila Real (then governor of Ceuta) who persuaded the king that Duarte merely sought to prevent anyone but himself from achieving glories in Africa. The expedition set out in November, 1463, and met a disastrous storm, which sunk several ships and scattered the remainder. Duarte de Menezes, from his perch in Alcácer-Ceguer, caught sight of the king's sail and set out with some vessels to escort the remainder of the fleet safely to CeutaCeuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
.
The king's council assembled, Afonso V insisted on the scheme to attack Tangier. He would send the captain of the fleet, Luíz Mendes de Vasconcelos, with a seaborne contingent to scale a relatively low stretch of wall on the seaward side of the citadel of Tangier, while he would himself lead an infantry column overland and blockade the city on the landward wide. Once again, Duarte de Menezes objected to the plan, once again he was overruled. The assault came to naught - bad weather and Tangier artillery kept the naval squad away, and the king, thinking the guns signalled success of the sea landing, attacked impetuously, before realizing his error. The king is said to have chided his companions for persuading him to ignore the counsel of Duarte de Menezes.
King Afonso V returned to Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
, dispatching his brother, the Infante Ferdinand, with some troops to Duarte in Alcácer-Ceguer in December, while contemplating his next move. But without awaiting the king's instructions, and against the strenuous objections of Duarte de Menezes, in January 1464, the Infante Ferdinand decided to assault Tangier by himself. It failed. He tried again a week later, and it failed again, with great casualties.
By this time, Afonso V had decided upon abandoning the enterprise, but was determined not to return to Portugal without some glorious feat of arms. In late January 1464, Afonso V decided to personally lead a raid inland. Once again, Duarte de Menezes, who happened to be visiting Ceuta, advised the king against it, but the king insisted and set out on a raid south. Duarte de Menezes, and several other nobles, reluctantly accompanied him. In the Benacofu hills south of Tétouan
Tétouan
Tetouan is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E. of Tangier...
, King Afonso V's party was lured and ambushed by a Moroccan party. The monarch seemingly doomed, Duarte de Menezes threw himself forward to fight off the attack. Duarte de Menezes held his position long enough to allow the king to slip away, but was himself eventually cut down. The rattled Afonso V scrambled back to Ceuta and thereupon back to Portugal.
The remains of Duarte de Menezes were never recovered from the Benacofu hills. A single finger (or a single tooth), alleged to have belonged to Duarte de Menezes, eventually turned up. Upon that sparse relic, his wife Isabel de Castro
Isabel de Castro
Isabel de Castro was a Portuguese film actress.Castro's career began with the movie Ladrão, Precisa-se! in 1946 and her last movie, A Casa Esquecida, in 2004.-References:*...
commissioned the erection of a mangificently-carved effighy tomb for Duarte de Menezes, embedded in an arcosolium
Arcosolium
An arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin arcus, "arch", and solium, "sill" ....
at a Franciscan cloister in Santarém, Portugal
Santarém, Portugal
Santarém is a city in the Santarém Municipality in Portugal. The city itself has a population of 28,760 and the entire municipality has 64,124 inhabitants.It is the capital of Santarém District....
. In 1928, the tomb as a whole was moved from the cloister to the nearby museum-church of São João de Alporão in Santarém
Santarém, Portugal
Santarém is a city in the Santarém Municipality in Portugal. The city itself has a population of 28,760 and the entire municipality has 64,124 inhabitants.It is the capital of Santarém District....
.
Shortly after his return to Portugal in 1464, King Afonso V instructed the royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara to drop his other tasks and write down the life and feats of Duarte de Menezes (Zurara had already written a hagiography of his father, Pedro de Menezes). For research, Zurara spent a full year in Alcácer-Ceguer, interviewing his companions and soldiers, visiting the sites of Duarte's battles, and, surprisingly enough for the time, also interviewing his Moroccan enemies. Zurara's Chronica do Conde D. Duarte de Menezes, the longest and best-researched of Zurara's chronicles, was finished around 1468 (although no complete manuscript copy has yet been found - it is estimated around a third of it has been lost; Zurara's chronicle - riddled with gaps - was first published in 1793). In 1627, Agostinho Manuel de Vasconcellos probably drew upon Zurara's account to compose his own Vida de Don Duarte de Meneses.
Descendants
Duarte de Menezes married twice.- first marriage (May, 1439) to Isabel de Melo, the daughter of Martim Afonso de Melo, alcaide-mor of ÉvoraÉvoraÉvora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
, and widow of João Rodrigues Coutinho, produced one daughter:
- Maria de Meneses, who married D. João de Castro, 2nd Count of Monsanto.
- second marriage (July 1442) to Isabel de CastroIsabel de CastroIsabel de Castro was a Portuguese film actress.Castro's career began with the movie Ladrão, Precisa-se! in 1946 and her last movie, A Casa Esquecida, in 2004.-References:*...
, daughter of D. Fernando de CastroFernando de CastroDom Fernando de Castro was a 15th C. Portuguese nobleman, diplomat and military figure. Fernando de Castro was the 1st Lord of Paúl de Boquilobo...
, governor of the household of Prince Henry the Navigator, produced the following issue:
- Henrique de Meneses, 4th Count of Viana (do Alentejo)Count of Viana (do Alentejo)Count of Viana was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to D. João Afonso Telo de Menezes, direct cousin to Queen Leonor Telles de Menezes, by King Ferdinand I of Portugal royal decree, dated from March 13, 1373....
, 3rd Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima)Count of Viana was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to Álvaro Pires de Castro, brother of Inês de Castro, granted by King Ferdinand I of Portugal on June 1, 1371. D. Álvaro was already 1st. Count of Arraiolos and 1st...
, 1st Count of LouléCount of LouléCount of Loulé was a Portuguese title of nobility granted to Henrique de Menezes by royal decree issued on November 12, 1471, by King Afonso V of Portugal....
and first Portuguese captain of ArzilaAsilahAsilah or Arzila is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 31 km from Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact... - Garcia de Menezes, Bishop of Évora
- Fernando de Menezes, 'o Narizes', stem of the Marquises of Valada
- João de Menezes, 1st Count of Tarouca, mordomo-mor of kings John IIJohn II of PortugalJohn II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...
and Manuel IManuel I of PortugalManuel 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...
and father of India governor Duarte de MenezesDuarte de MenezesDom Duarte de Menezes , was a 16th C. Portuguese nobleman and colonial officer, governor of Tangier from 1508 to 1521 and 1536 to 1539 and governor of Portuguese India from 1522 to 1524.- Background :...
. - Isabel de Menezes, a nun in Aveiro
While a bachelor, Duarte de Menezes also had an illegitimate son from the unmarried D. Beatriz Dias:
- D. Pedro Galo - legitimized by royal letter, December 1462.
Sources
- "Nobreza de Portugal e Brasil" - Vol. III, pág. 478-480, publicado por Representações Zairol Lda., Lisboa, 1989
- Agostinho Manuel de Vasconcellos,Vida de Don Duarte de Meneses, Tercero Conde de Viana y sucessos notables de Portugal en su tiempo, published 1627, Lisbon: Pedro Craesbeeck. online
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara (c.1468) "Chronica do Conde D. Duarte de Menezes", first published 1793 in J.F. Correia da Serra, editor, Collecção de livros ineditos de historia portugueza. Lisbon: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Vol. 3.
- J.A. Marquez de Prado (1859) Historia de la Plaza de Ceuta, describiendo los sitios que ha sufrido en distintas épocas por las huestes del imperio de Marruecos p.91
- "Duarte de Menezes", in H. Banquero Moreno (1980)A Batalha de Alfarrobeira: antecedentes e significado histórico, Coimbra University, vol.2 p.874
- Ignacio da Costa Quintella (1839) Annaes da Marinha Portugueza, Vol. 1, Lisbon: Academia Real das Sciencias.
- Heinrich Schaefer (1893) Historia de Portugal: desde a fundação da monarchia até a Revolução de 1820. Porto: Escriptorio, vol. 2, p.350ff.
External links
- Tomb of Duarte de Menezes at São João de Alporão (Museu Municipal de Santarém).
- Carreiradaindia.net
- Informação genealógica sobre Duarte de Meneses