The Corte-Real family (also Côrte-Real and Corte Real) is a Portuguese noble family dating back to 14th century, originating in

Tavira Tavira (), officially the City of Tavira (), is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the riv ...

. The family is famous for its involvement in the

Portuguese discoveries Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...

during the

Age of Exploration The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

, in the 16th century. During this time,

João Vaz Corte-Real João Vaz Corte-Real (c. 1420 – 1496) was a Portuguese sailor, claimed by some accounts to have been an explorer of a land called ''Terra Nova do Bacalhau'' (''New Land of the Codfish''), speculated to possibly have been a part of North America. ...

and his sons

Gaspar Corte-Real Gaspar Corte-Real (1450–1501) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Exploration, explorer who, alongside his father João Vaz Corte-Real and brother Miguel Corte-Real, Miguel, participated in various exploratory voyages sponsored by the Portuguese ...

and Miguel Corte-Real notably participated in exploratory voyages to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. For their discoveries in service of the

Portuguese Crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the n ...

, the family was given the islands of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

and São Jorge, in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, and charged with their development and colonization. The family integrated itself well into the

Portuguese nobility Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

in the 17th century through a series of successful marriages and acquisition of several titles, notably

Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo () was a title of Portuguese nobility created by Philip II of Portugal (and III of Spain) on 29 January 1600 for Dom Cristóvão de Moura, 1st Count of Castelo Rodrigo. The Moura family claimed its origin from the re-c ...

Family history

The origins of the Corte-Real family lie in the 14th century, when Vasco Anes da Costa, a Portuguese knight from Tavira, was one of the supporters of the pretensions of John Master of Aviz to the Portuguese throne and after him, his homonym son, who participated on the

conquest of Ceuta The Portuguese conquest of Ceuta took place on 21 August 1415, between Portuguese forces under the command of King John I of Portugal and the Marinid Sultanate, Marinid sultanate of Morocco at the city of Ceuta. The city's defenses fell unde ...

, being one the first warriors to cross the wall of the moor city. Besides being selected as

Alcaide Alcaide is a Portuguese and Spanish name, meaning 'castle commander'. It is borrowed from the Arabic term , which literally means 'commander'. Etymology From the Arabic 'commander' it becomes the Spanish form alcayde or alcaide, origin of the ...

and Silves, he also served as

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

's fronteiro-mor (a kind of governor of the Region). Later, king John I's heir,

Edward I of Portugal Edward ( ; 31 October 1391 – 9 September 1438), also called Edward the Philosopher King (''Duarte o Rei-Filósofo'') or the Eloquent (''o Eloquente''), was the King of Portugal from 1433 until his death. He was born in Viseu, the son of John I o ...

granted him the use of the surname ''Corte-Real'' (Portuguese for ''Royal Court'') for his descendants. From him and his brother, Gil Vaz da Costa, the first members of the Corte-Real family descend.

(c. 1420-1496) was Vasco Anes da Costa Corte-Real oldest son. He, alongside two of his four sons (

Miguel --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disamb ...

and Gaspar), participated in various exploratory voyages sponsored jointly by the Portuguese and Danish Crowns. These voyages are said to have been some of the first to reach

and possibly other parts of northeastern

. For the family's service to the crown, João Vaz was made Captain-

Donatário A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The kings of Portug ...

(proprietor and governor) of the islands of

and São Jorge, in the

. Gaspar and Miguel's young brother, Vasco Anes II Corte-Real, was nominated also, like his homonym grandfather, alcaide-mor of Tavira, in the early 16th century, accumulating the title with the one inherited from his father as capitain-

donatário A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The kings of Portug ...

. This Vasco Anes II Corte-Real had four sons, one of them, Manuel Corte-Real, was heir to the position of capitain-

of Angra, and another one, Bernardo Corte-Real, succeeded him in the position of

de Tavira. Another one of the other Vasco Anes II's sons,

Jerónimo Corte-Real Jerónimo Corte-Real (1533–1588) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese epic poet, who was of noble Portuguese stock. He is sometimes regarded as the Portuguese Virgil. Life Jerónimo was born in the Azores; from the same Corte-Real family as Gasp ...

(1530-1588) served in various places in Asia and Africa across the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

before retiring back to Portugal as a court painter and poet to King

Sebastian I of Portugal Sebastian ( ; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and his wife, Joanna of Aus ...

. His works were contemporary of

Luís Vaz de Camões Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

and said even to rival them, gaining Jerónimo the epithet of the Portuguese

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

. Through Manuel Corte-Real descents, this Corte-Real branch continued administration of the family's

Azorean The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two Autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaro ...

islands, while integrating into the administration of the Algarve. By 1581, the family was headed by Margarida Corte-Real. As the heiress to the Corte-Real family's wealth and titles in both the Azores and the Algarve, Margarida was an especially attractive bride for members of the

. She married Cristóvão de Moura e Távora, 1st

and several times a Viceroy of Portugal, during the

Philippine Dynasty The Philippine dynasty (), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1581 and 1640 under th ...

. As Margarida was richer and had more extensive notability and power, the children of her marriage would carry her name more prominently than her husbands. Margarida's son, Manuel de Moura Corte Real, 2nd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo, amplified the family's position under the Habsburg monarchs of Portugal. Both he and his son, Francisco de Moura Corte Real, 3rd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo, served as

Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands The governor () or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administer the Burgundi ...

and became loyal subjects to the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

. Francisco, who also served as

Viceroy of Sardinia This is a list of viceroys of Sardinia. Aragonese Viceroys From 1418 to 1516 Sardinia was ruled by viceroys from the Crown of Aragon, which merged into the Monarchy of Spain in 1516. * Lluís de Pontons (1418-1419) * Joan de Corbera (1419-1420) ...

, however was the last of the Moura Corte-Real branch of the family before it was exiled from the country due to the

Portuguese Restoration War The Restoration War (), historically known as the Acclamation War (''Guerra da Aclamação''), was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a forma ...

, which saw the Habsburgs deposed in Portugal in lieu of

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

, which expelled supporters of the previous dynasty.

Notable members

(died 1496), Portuguese explorer * Miguel Corte-Real (c. 1448–1502), Portuguese explorer *

(c. 1450–1501), Portuguese explorer and brother of Miguel *

(1533–1588), Portuguese epic poet * Manuel de Moura Corte Real, 2nd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo (1590–1651),

Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands The governor () or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administer the Burgund ...

* Francisco de Moura Corte Real, 3rd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo (1610-1675),

* Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real (1658-1736), Prime-Minister during the reigns of King Pedro II and King João V * Manuel Inácio Martins Pamplona Corte Real, 1st Count of Subserra (1760-1832), general and Minister of the Kingdom during the reign of King João VI * José de Almeida Corte Real (1805-1840), Brazilian revolutionary * José Luciano de Castro Pereira Corte Real (1834-1914), Prime-Minister during the reigns of King Luís I and King Carlos I

Gallery

File:João Vaz Corte-Real.jpg, Engraving of

File:Monumento a Luís de Camões 8513.jpg, Statue in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

File:Gaspar Côrte-Real - Padrão dos Descobrimentos.png, Statue in

File:Manuel de Moura Corte-Real.tiff, Painting of Manuel de Moura Corte Real, 2nd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo File:D. FRANCISCO DE MOURA CORTE REAL.jpg, Painting of Francisco de Moura Corte Real, 3rd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo File:Diogo de Mendonça Corte Real.jpg, Engraving of Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real File:Conde de Subserra.jpg, Engraving of Manuel Inácio Martins Pamplona Corte Real, 1st Count of Subserra File:Luciano de Castro.jpg, Photograph of José Luciano de Castro Pereira Corte Real

References

External links

* {{Authority control Portuguese noble families People from Tavira