José Maria do Espírito Santo
de Almeida Correia de Sá,
Marquis of Lavradio
José Maria do Espírito Santo de Almeida Correia de Sá (Lisbon, 25 May 1874 - Lisbon, 6 July 1945), who succeeded his great-grandfather as the 6th Marquis of Lavradio, was an aristocrat and intellectual, an officer in the Portuguese Army, who distinguished himself as a memoirist and in the field of military historiography. In 1901 he married Maria da Piedade de Saldanha de Oliveira e Sousa, from the family of the Marquises of Rio Maior. He attended the Military Academy and went on to become an army officer. In 1910, when the Republic was imposed, the Marquis of Lavradio became a reservist and accompanied King Manuel II into exile in England. His memoirs, which include his impressions of his exile in England with King Manuel, are published as Memórias do Sexto Marquês do Lavradio.
The Royal Guard of the Archers (Portuguese: Guarda Real dos Archeiros) was the palace guard of the Portuguese Monarchs from the 16th century until the end of the monarchy in Portugal in 1910. Its members were armed with halberds, the Guard being also known as the Royal Guard of the Halberdiers (Portuguese: Guarda Real dos Alabardeiros). The Royal Guard of the Archers was mainly a ceremonial guard. The security of the Monarchs and the Royal Family was mainly entrusted to regular Army units, some elite regiments being especially chosen of this function, like the Marines Regiment in the 17th and early 18th centuries and the 2nd Lancers Regiment late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before the existence of the Royal Guard of the Halberdiers, King John II of Portugal created a Guard of Riders (Portuguese: Guarda de Ginetes) for his protection, composed of light cavalry troopers. King Manuel I kept this light cavalry guard and established that it should be composed of 200 riders. Apparently, King John III had discontinued the Guard of Riders, being known that he traveled by public places with little or no guard protection. The Royal Guard of the Halberdiers was created by King Sebastian, as a company of foot halberdiers, all Portuguese, appointing as its first captain, Francisco de Sá de Meneses, count of Matosinhos. In 1580, Philip II of Spain became the King of Portugal, establishing the Iberian Union and naming archduke Albert of Austria as Viceroy of Portugal, with residence in Lisbon. The
Royal Guard of the Halberdiers was kept, but archduke Albert created within it a second company made up of German halberdiers. The Guard continued to be kept – with the Portuguese and the German companies – by the following viceroys, being mainly responsible by their protection as the Kings didn't live in Portugal. In the 16th century, similar halberdier guards were created in Portugal by the University of Coimbra and by the Dukes of Braganza. The first – still existing today – was responsible for the police of the University and the city of Coimbra and the second was responsible for the ducal protection. On 1 December 1640, Portuguese Independence was restored and Duke John of Braganza became King of Portugal as John IV. John IV kept the Royal Guard of the Halberdiers, with the Portuguese and German companies, while his former ducal guard of halberdiers was transformed into the company of halberdiers of the Prince's guard. The Royal Guard of the Halberdiers became increasingly just a ceremonial and palace guard. The military protection of the Portuguese Monarchs was given to Army and Marine units. As in Portugal, military units with the specific function of royal guard never existed – except for brief periods in the 19th century – the Kings security was entrusted to regular military units, some elite regiments being preferably chosen for this task. The Guard followed the Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil in 1807. In 1822, Prince Peter of Portugal declared the Independence of Brazil becoming Emperor Peter I of Brazil. Inspired in the Portuguese Guard, Peter I created a similar Imperial Guard of the Archers (Portuguese: Guarda Imperial dos Archeiros). By Decree of 28 August 1833, the three companies of the Royal Guard of the Archers were merged in just one company made up only of Portuguese. The Guard existed until the end of the Monarchy and the establishment of the Portuguese Republic on 5 October 1910.
Marquess of Lavradio is a Portuguese title of nobility created by Letters Patent of King José I of Portugal on 18 October 1753 for D. António de Almeida Soares de Portugal, 1st Count of Lavradio and 4th Count of Avintes. The first Marquess of Lavradio was a prominent statesman and the head of an established noble family. In his own right, he was the 4th Count of Avintes, and 8th Lord of Avintes, also Portuguese titles of nobility. In gratitude for the exceptional services to his country of his uncle D. Tomás de Almeida, 1st Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, on 12 January 1714 King John V of Portugal conferred on him the Seigniory of Lavradio, and the title of Count of Lavradio, in perpetuity, confirmed by Letters Patent of 4 June 1725, as well as adding to his commanderies in the Order of Christ. The first Marquess held key administrative positions under kings João V of Portugal and José I of Portugal, notably as 38th Governor General of Angola, from 1748 to 1753, in recognition of which he was elevated to the marquessate, and, albeit briefly, as 8th Viceroy of Brazil in 1760. In addition to holding the titles of Count of Avintes, Count of Lavradio and Count of Torres Vedras, the Marquesses of Lavradio are Chiefs of the Name and Arms of the Lancastre, Mascarenhas and Alarcão lineages in Portugal, and head of the noble houses of Aveiro, Gouvêa, Portalegre, Santa Cruz,
Montalvão and Turcifal, and thus claimants to the titles of Duque of Aveiro, Duque and Marquess of Torres Novas, Marquess of Gouvêa, Marquess of Montalvão, Count of Portalegre, Count of Santa Cruz, Count of Castelo Novo and Count of Serém. They also represent the curious title of Marquess of Turcifal, a Portuguese title of nobility given to the 3rd Count of Torres Vedras by Felipe IV of Spain in 1652, during the Portuguese War of Independence. The lengthy surname used by the Marquesses of Lavradio underlines their position as Chiefs of various lineages, as well as their legal obligation as administrators of various morgadios, many of which inherited by marriage and subject to the use of the founder's surname. In fact, in addition to the successive honours and positions earned by the House of Lavradio through continuous service of the family to the Crown, its patrimony would extend to all regions of Portugal, except the Algarve, covering a significant part of Portuguese territory by way of marriage alliances. The Marquesses of Lavradio are chiefs of one of the branches of the Almeida family of Portugal, whose noble origins and genealogy are described in detail in all Portuguese nobiliaries, notably "História Genealógica da Casa Real Portuguesa" and "Memórias Históricas e Genealógicas dos Grandes de Portugal", both by D. António Caetano de Sousa, and "Brasões da Sala de Sintra", by Anselmo Braamcamp Freire. Given the family's antiquity, its elevated status and influence on Portugal's history, and the scarcity of reliable documentary proof until the late 14th century, genealogists have traced a number of possible ascendencies for the Almeidas. In his Chronica de Cister, Friar Bernardo de Brito, later copied by many respected genealogists, traces the Almeidas to Pelayo Amado, a 12th-century nobleman, whose grandson, Payo Guterres, took the castle of Almeida from the Moors, gaining the nickname "O Almeidão". Braamcamp Freire, however, suggests Fernão Canelas, owner of the estates of Pinheiro and Canelas near Mangualde in the latter part of the 12th century, as a more probable instigator of this lineage. His son, João Fernandes, founded the village of Almeida, from where he took his surname. Manuel Abranches Soveral picks up on the similarities described by Braamcamp Freire of the Almeida coat of arms to that of the Mello family, whose ascendency is well documented, and suggests a likely alliance by marriage early in the 13th century.
Awards: Insignia, star and sash of the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (Real Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis).
