João de Lencastre
1st Duque de Aveiro
(1501–71)

Biographical

1st Duque de Aveiro 1535–71†
1st Marques de Torres Novas 1547
Ambassador to Castile

Having been presented at court by his father at the age of twelve, João entered the service of Prince João, later King João III. When the Infante Fernando sought to marry Guiomar Coutinho, João opposed the union, claiming that he had been secretly married to her for a long time. The matter was extensively debated and examined by canon lawyers and theologians. João was subsequently imprisoned in the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon for nine years, until the sovereign appointed theologians and canon lawyers once again to examine and resolve the dispute. As the countess remained opposed to the marquess, the case was decided against him in 1529, and the marriage of the Infante Fernando took place in 1530. João subsequently withdrew to Setúbal but later returned to court. He accompanied the Infante Luís to Barcelona when the latter left Portugal to take part in the expedition to Tunis. In 1537, he was sent to Madrid to convey his condolences to Emperor Charles V on the death of his wife, Empress Isabel. He subsequently intended to marry a daughter of the Duke of Braganza but abandoned this plan owing to the opposition of João III. In 1547, however, the monarch proposed that he marry his cousin, Juliana de Lara. In 1552, he was entrusted with the honour of receiving Joanna of Austria, daughter of Charles V, at the Portuguese frontier. She had come to marry Prince João, heir to the Portuguese throne. João commissioned the construction of the convent of Arrábida, which gave its name to the religious province founded by Frei Martinho de Santa Maria. He also founded a convent belonging to this province at Liteiros, near Torres Novas, and contributed substantial sums towards the completion of the convent of São Domingos in Coimbra.

Place of death: Coimbra
Place of marriage: Almeirim
Place of burial: Convent of São Domingos, Coimbra

Son of Jorge de Lencastre and Brites de Villena, he was married in 1571 to Juliana de Lara (Meneses), with issue
• Jorge (see)
• Pedro (see)

João also had illegitimate issue:
• João, †Castile; a Dominican friar