Marquess of Villena () is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, granted in 1445 by John II to Juan Pacheco, Grand Master of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

and later also 1st Duke of Escalona. It was originally founded as the Lordship of Villena in the thirteenth century by

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III (; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. Through his ...

for his youngest son, Don Manuel. In 1369, the estate was elevated to a Marquisate, the first such designation in Castile, and awarded to Don Alfonso of Aragon.
However, the title was not hereditary and in 1395 it reverted back to the crown of Castile. From that point, Villena had a complicated history of awards and reversions back to the crown until John II granted it as a hereditary title to Juan Pacheco in 1445. It was the first time the Marquisate was held outside of royalty. The 8th marquess, Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, founded the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanophon ...

Marquesses of Villena (1st Creation)

# Alfonso of Aragon (1366-1412) # Pedro of Aragon (1384–1385)

Marquesses of Villena (2nd Creation)

# Juan Pacheco, 1st Marquess of Villena (1445–1474) # Diego Lopez de Pacheco, 2nd Marquess of Villena (1468–1529) # Diego López Pacheco, 3rd Marquess of Villena (1529–1556) # Francisco Pacheco, 4th Marquess of Villena (1556–1574) # Juan Fernández Pacheco, 5th Marquess of Villena (1574–1615) # Felipe Fernández Pacheco, 6th Marquess of Villena (1615–1633) # Diego López Pacheco, 7th Marquess of Villena (1633–1653) # Juan Manuel López de Pacheco, 8th Marquess of Villena (1653–1725) # Mercurio López Pacheco, 9th Marquess of Villena (1725–1738) # Andrés Fernández Pacheco, 10th Marquess of Villena (1738–1746) # Juan López Pacheco, 10th Marquess of Villena (1746–1751) # Felipe Lopez-Pacheco de La Cueva, 12th Marquess of Villena (1751–1798) # Diego López Pacheco y Téllez-Girón, 13th Marquess of Villena (1798–1811) # Bernardino Fernández de Velasco, 14th Marquess of Villena (1811–1851) # Francisco de Borja de Martorell y Téllez-Girón, 15th Marquess of Villena (1851–1897) # Luis Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Córdoba, 16th Marquess of Villena (1897–1909) # Mariano Tellez-Giron y Fernandez de Cordoba, 17th Marquess of Villena (1909–1931) # Francisco de Borja Martorell y Téllez-Girón, 18th Marquess of Villena (1931–1936), executed in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

# María de La Soledad de Martorell y Castillejo, 19th Marchioness of Villena (1960–1990) # Francisco de Borja de Soto y Martorell, 20th Marquess of Villea (1990–1997) # Francisco de Borja de Soto y Moreno-Santamaría, 21st Marquess of Villena (1998-)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villena, Marquess of Marquesses of Spain Lists of Spanish nobility Noble titles created in 1445

Marquesses of Villena (1st Creation)

Marquesses of Villena (2nd Creation)

See also

References