The Viscounty and County of Avranches was a medieval viscounty and county in the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a r ...

in France centered on the town of

Avranches Avranches (; ) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History Middle Ages By the end of the Roman period, th ...

and located in the area of the

Avranchin Avranchin is an area in Normandy, France corresponding to the territory of the Abrincatui, a tribe of Celts from whom the city of Avranches, the main town of the Avranchin, takes its name. In 867, by the Treaty of Compiègne, Charles the Bald g ...

, disputed between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

during parts of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. A choice landholding, granted to a noble in return for service and favor.

Viscounts of the House of Avranches

* Richard le Goz (sometime bef. 1046–1082 or aft.) *

Hugh d'Avranches Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

(1082 or aft.–1101), also 1st

Earl of Chester The Earldom of Chester () was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, ...

Richard d'Avranches Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094 – 25 November 1120) was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont. Early life Born in 1094, Richard was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chest ...

(1101–1120), also 2nd Earl of Chester

Viscounts of the House of Bessin

Ranulf le Meschin Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070–1129) was a Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the Earl of Ches ...

(1120–1129), also 3rd Earl of Chester *

Ranulf de Gernon Ranulf was a masculine given name in Old French and Old Occitan, and is a masculine given name in the English language. ''Ranulf'' was introduced into England by the Norman conquest or alternatively is said to have been introduced to Scotland and ...

(1129–1153), also 4th Earl of Chester * Hugh of Cyfeiliog (1153–1181), also 5th Earl of Chester * Ranulf de Blondeville (1181–1204), also 6th Earl of Chester; Avranches was lost to

in 1204

Counts of the House of Almada

*1445–1449

Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches ( – 20 May 1449) was a Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese knight and nobleman, with a long and illustrious career abroad in Kingdom of England, England. He was invested by the English king, Henry VI ...

, KG (created by

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and English claims to the French throne, disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V of England, Henry V, he succeeded ...

); Avranches was lost to France soon after in 1450 *1476–1496 Fernando de Almada, 2nd Count of Avranches (created by

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

), 5th

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

Lagares d' El-Rei Lagares is former civil parish in the municipality of Penafiel, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Lagares e Figueira. Lagares is a village with an area of 10.92 km². It is located in the west of the country in the ea ...

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...

'' The following are the holders of the title by right, by virtue of inheritance under the

salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

, even if some of them did not make use of it: **1496–15??

Antão de Almada, 3rd Count of Avranches Antão or Antao is a Portuguese given name that's equivalent to Anthony or Antonio in use in Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique and a surname. Notable people with this name include the following: Given name * Antao D'S ...

, 6th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei **15??–15??

Fernando de Almada, 4th Count of Avranches Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, 7th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 2nd Lord of

Pombalinho Pombalinho () is a village and a civil parish in the municipality of Golegã, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 448, in an area of 7.70 km2. History Located on the right bank of the Tagus River, 22 kilometers northeast of the city of San ...

''jure uxoris'' **15??–15??

Antão Soares de Almada, 5th Count of Avranches Antão or Antao is a Portuguese given name that's equivalent to Anthony or Antonio in use in Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique and a surname. Notable people with this name include the following: Given name * Antao D'S ...

, 8th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 3rd Lord of Pombalinho **15??–16??

Lourenço Soares de Almada, 6th Count of Avranches Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of Amapá. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil. History Gold mining in Lourenç ...

, 9th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 4th Lord of Pombalinho **15??–1644

Antão de Almada, 7th Count of Avranches D. Antão Vaz de Almada (c. 1573 – 17 December 1644) is a Portuguese national hero due to his involvement in the Restoration of Independence in 1640, as one of the Forty Conspirators. During the ''coup d'état'', he was responsible for the ...

, 10th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 5th Lord of Pombalinho **1644–1660

Luís de Almada, 8th Count of Avranches 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 archaic ...

, 11th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 6th Lord of Pombalinho **1660–1669

Antão de Almada e Meneses, 9th Count of Avranches Antão or Antao is a Portuguese given name that's equivalent to Anthony or Antonio in use in Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique and a surname. Notable people with this name include the following: Given name * Antao D'S ...

, did not succeed his father in Portugal **1669–1729 Lourenço de Almada, 10th Count of Avranches, 12th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 7th Lord of Pombalinho; his son succeeded him in Portugal ''vita patris'' **1729–17??

Lourenço de Almada, 11th Count of Avranches Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of Amapá. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil. History Gold mining in Louren� ...

, 14th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 9th Lord of Pombalinho **17??–1797

Antão de Almada, 12th Count of Avranches D. Antão de Almada, 12th Count of Avranches, 9th Lord of Pombalinho and 14th Majorat of Lagares d'El-Rei (19 April 1718 – 26 January 1797) was the Grand Master of Ceremonies for the Royal House and, owing to his positions, made administrato ...

, 15th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei ''jure uxoris'', 10th Lord of Pombalinho ''jure uxoris'' **1797–1815

Lourenço José Boaventura de Almada, 13th Count of Avranches Lourenço José Boaventura de Almada (1758–1815), 13th Count of Avranches and 1st Count of Almada (created by Queen Maria I of Portugal), by regal charter on 29 April 1793 (and confirmed by letter on 4 May 1793) to him and his descendants. ...

, 1st Count of Almada, 16th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 11th Lord of Pombalinho **1815–1834 Antão José Maria de Almada, 14th Count of Avranches, 2nd Count of Almada, 17th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 12th Lord of Pombalinho **1834–1874

Lourenço José Maria de Almada de Abreu Pereira Cyrne Peixoto, 15th Count of Avranches Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of Amapá. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil. History Gold mining in Louren� ...

, 3rd Count of Almada, 18th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 13th Lord of Pombalinho **1874–1909

José Maria de Almada, 16th Count of Avranches José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, 19th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 14th Lord of Pombalinho **1909–1916 Miguel Vaz de Almada, 17th Count of Avranches, 20th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 15th Lord of Pombalinho **1916–1919

Luís Vaz de Almada, 18th Count of Avranches 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 archaic ...

, 21st Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 16th Lord of Pombalinho **1919–1978

Lourenço Vaz de Almada, 19th Count of Avranches Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of Amapá. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil. History Gold mining in Louren� ...

, 4th Count of Almada, 22nd Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei,The actual

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

by the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

s during the

PREC PREC may refer to: * Puerto Rico Energy Commission, a government agency in Puerto Rico * P''rocesso Revolucionário Em Curso'', a tumultuous period in 1975 during the Portuguese transition to democracy {{Disambiguation ...

in 1975. 17th Lord of Pombalinho **1978–1998

Luís Francisco de Almada, 20th Count of Avranches 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 archaic ...

, 5th Count of Almada, 23rd Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 18th Lord of Pombalinho **1998–present

Lourenço José de Almada, 21st Count of Avranches Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of Amapá. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil. History Gold mining in Lourenç ...

, 6th Count of Almada, 24th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 19th Lord of Pombalinho ***Heir presumptive:

Luís Manuel de Almada 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 archaic ...

, future 22nd Count of Avranches, future 7th Count of Almada, 25th Lord of Lagares d' El-Rei, 20th Lord of Pombalinho

Notes

{{reflist

Sources

* Various, "Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil", Lisbon, Portugal, 1960, Volume Segundo, pp. 356–357 * Various, "Armorial Lusitano", Lisbon, Portugal, 1961, pp. 26–27 and pp. 42–43 * Visconde de Figanière, "Alguns Documentos Acerca do Conde de Avranches", in Panorama, 3rd Series, Vol. V, Nr. 9

Noble titles created in 1445 Duchy of Normandy