The title Duke of Goa () (
Konkani __NOTOC__
Konkani may refer to:
Language
* Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India.
* Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language
**Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...
: Goemtchô Duque) was the first Portuguese ducal title given outside the royal family, and the first Portuguese noble title to be granted to a territory overseas,
Goa
Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
, India.
History
The title was bestowed upon
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa ( – 16 December 1515), was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman and ''conquistador''. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across ...
, the second
Viceroy of India
The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...
, by the Portuguese King
Manuel I Manuel I may refer to:
*Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned ov ...
in 1515 as a reward for his outstanding performance for 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 ...
. This was the first ducal title granted outside the royal family and the first title that refers to land overseas. The Casa Ducal de Goa was the most important and richest of noble houses of its time in the sixteenth century, shortly behind the ducal houses on the Crown and the House of Braganza.
Having no legitimate children, Afonso de Albuquerque, before leaving for his term as governor in India, provided for the legitimacy of his only natural son Brás de Albuquerque, which was granted by the Crown in 1506. In India, he wrote to ask King Manuel I that all the honors for himself deserved to be granted to his son Brás de Albuquerque, instituting him as his sole heir. Before the death of Afonso de Albuquerque in 1515, the King showered honors and riches on Brás de Albuquerque, granting him the Duchy of Goa and the title of Dom, although determining that Brás would add Afonso to his baptismal name in honor of the former Viceroy.
The title and house would soon become extinct with Afonso's son, Brás de Albuquerque, who would die without male heirs. A law at time, the , meant that property of the crown could only be inherited by the first-born male heir.
Title holders
#
D. Afonso de Albuquerque, ''the Great'', Viceroy of India and 1st Duke of Goa (1450-1515)
# D. Brás Afonso de Albuquerque, 2nd Duke of Goa (1501-1581)
See also
*
Dukedoms of Portugal
The highest hereditary title in the Portuguese nobility. By tradition, there are a total of five royal and seven non-royal dukes in Portugal, out of 28 dukedoms that have ever been created. In the majority of cases, the title of duke was attribut ...
*
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa ( – 16 December 1515), was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman and ''conquistador''. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across ...
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
*"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil". Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989.
Memórias de Africa e do Oriente (In Portuguese)
Portuguese noble families
Braganza
1515 establishments in the Portuguese Empire