Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real

Who was Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real?

Dom Pedro de Menezes Portocarrero, was a 15th-century Portuguese nobleman and military figure. Pedro de Menezes was the 2nd Count of Viana do Alentejo, 1st. Count of Vila Real and the first Portuguese governor of Ceuta.

Pedro de Menezes was the son of the powerful 14th-century nobleman João Afonso Telo de Menezes, 1st Count of Ourém, 1st Count of Viana do Alentejo, and Mayor Portocarrero y Silva, lady of Vila Real. Pedro was the cousin of Leonor Telles de Menezes, the scandalous but powerful consort of King Ferdinand I of Portugal.

During the 1383–1385 Crisis, Pedro's father had supported Beatrice of Portugal against the pretender John, Master of Aviz. Nonetheless, unlike many other nobles, Pedro de Menezes had been allowed to inherit his father's title of Count of Viana do Alentejo and proved himself a faithful loyalist of the usurper king John I He also inherited the Castilian lordships of Ayllón and Aguilar from relatives, but these titles were not recognized in Portugal.

Pedro de Menezes participated and distinguished himself in the 1415 Conquest of Ceuta, and, in the aftermath, was appointed by King John I of Portugal as the first Portuguese governor of Ceuta. Allegedly, he was the only Portuguese noble willing to remain in charge of the Portuguese garrison, which was sure to be attacked by the full force of Marinid Morocco in due time. Pedro de Menezes was left with a garrison of 1600 soldiers. In 1416, Prince Henry the Navigator was placed in charge of supplying provisions to the Ceuta garrison from Portugal.