In 1679 Maria de Guadalupe de Lencastre was confirmed as 6th Duchess of Aveiro, a duchy in Portugal, but only on condition that she return to Portugal from her house in Madrid. She had married the Castilian magnate, Manuel Ponce de León, 6th Duke of Arcos, in 1665, who opposed her return to Portugal; so she began proceedings to legally separate from him to claim her families estate and wealth back in Portugal. While the Spanish courts delayed the divorce proceedings, King Carlos II of Spain tried to lure her to stay in his Court by creating and conferring on her the Duchy of ‘Aveyro’, a Spanish title she took with her back to Portugal. When she moved back to Portugal, she made a settlement with her husband: the elder son, Joaquín, would receive the dukedom of Arcos, while the younger, Gabriel, would assume the name ‘Lencastre’ and would be her primary heir, acquiring title to both the Duchy of Aveiro (Portuguese title and estate) and the Duchy of Aveyro (a separate Spanish title). The 6th Duchess lived for another 30 years or so; contemporary sources say she was known as one of the most virtuous and knowledgeable women in Europe, with ability in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, plus nearly all living European languages, and knowledge of both sacred and profane history. She was a significant funder of Portuguese missions to Asia and Africa.

Maria de Guadalupe’s son Gabriel stayed in Spain while his mother re-established the family in Portugal. He served in the Spanish army, and was named Duke of Baños in 1699 to try to retain his loyalty (and is referred to as the 2nd Duke of Aveyro, though his mother was living). Eventually Gabriel did move to Portugal, where he was acknowledged as 7th Duke of Aveiro and Alcaide-mor of Setúbal. He died in 1745, once again throwing the family succession into disarray. Joaquín Ponce de León’s son, Antonio claimed the succession, but this was easily thrown out of the Portuguese courts. Another dismissed claimant was the Duke of Abrantes and Linares.

As noted above, there was a county of Abrantes created for the Almeida family in the 1470s. This family became extinct in 1650, and the title disappeared for a time. Perhaps in anticipation of this extinction (?), King Philip IV in 1642, after the start of the Portuguese revolt, created a new title, a dukedom of Abrantes, and gave it to Alfonso de Láncaster. Afonso (in Portuguese) was the second son of the 3rd Duke and Duchess of Aveiro. As seen above, he assumed the family’s second title of Grand Commander of the Order of Santiago, and was given the title Marquês de Porto-Seguro (in Brazil) by King Philip in honour of his marriage in 1627 to a Spanish heiress. By 1639 he was Alcaide-mor of Abrantes (ie, captain of the fortress), which was then erected into a duchy as a reward for his loyalty to the Habsburgs. Needless to say, this dukedom was never recognized in the Kingdom of Portugal. After his wife died in 1650, he became a priest, and when he died in 1654, the new title passed to his son Agustín (Agostinho in Portuguese).

The Carvajal family were old nobles from the region of Extremadura (on the borders with Portugal, so there are also representatives there with the spelling Carvalhal). The 4th Duke of Abrantes was outshone in politics by his brother José who served as a Minister of State (and head of the Junta of Commerce and Finance) in the reign of King Ferdinand VI of Spain (1740s-50s); while their youngest brother Isidoro was a prominent member of the conservative wing of the Church, succeeding their great-uncle as Bishop of Cuenca in 1760. The Carvajal y Láncaster family continued to hold the two dukedoms of Abrantes and Linares in direct male descent until the early 20th century, when they passed by marriage into the family Zuleta de Reales, which continues to the present. They are both considered dukedoms within the Spanish peerage and nothing to do with Portugal. The dukes of Abrantes acquired a palace in Madrid (originally built in the 1650s) in 1842, on the Calle Mayor (quite close to the Cathedral and the Royal Palace), but sold it to the Italian government in 1888—it served as the Italian Embassy until 1939, and today is the Institute of Italian Culture. From the end of the 19th century, their seat was the Palace of Abrantes in the southern city of Jerez.

The Spanish dukedom of Aveyro was revived in 1917 by King Alfonso XIII for Luis María de Carvajal y Melgarejo, Marqués de Puerto Seguro (a Spanish rendering of the Lencastre family’s ancient title of Porto-Seguro), one of his gentlemen of the chamber and a commander of the Spanish cavalry. Luis Maria de Carvajal died in 1937, who was succeeded by his son and grandson as dukes of Aveyro, bearers of the name Lancaster in Madrid, and finally by Marta Carvajal his great-granddaughter as the 6th Duchess of Aveyro. Marta Carvajal’s younger brother inherited the families ancient title, Marqués de Puerto Seguro, in 2024.


Special Thanks To the Official Historian of the Ducado de Aveyro, Royal Historian Jonathan Spangler.
From the writings of Royal Historian Jonathan Spangler.