Vasco Gil Moniz

Vasco Gil Moniz (d. Lisbon, 1497) was a "Vedor" (Reeve) of Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, son of King João I of Portugal. He was the second born son of Gil Aires Moniz and wife Maria Pires.

He married firstly Catarina Fernandes, daughter of Fernão Rodrigues, a Knight, and wife, to whom King Afonso V of Portugal made the grace of restoring the estate that had been taken from her husband for having turned to Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra at the Battle of Alfarrobeira in the year of 1449, without issue. Later he married secondly before 1459 to Eleonore de Lusignan (d. Lisbon, ca 1475, and buried there), in Portuguese called "Leonor", as a progenitor, originary of the Kingdom of Cyprus and of the lineage of the Kings of that Kingdom for being a daughter of Phoebus de Lusignan (in Portuguese called "Febo" or "Febos", as a progenitor), Titular Marshal of Armenia and Titular Lord of Sidon, married firstly in 1450/1455 or 1451/1452 to Soffredo Crispo (d. 1458), Lord of Nisyros, of the Dukes of Naxos, without issue, and who was said to have come from Aragon as a Dame of Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgell, wife of Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, but most likely met her husband when he went to Cyprus in the company of Infante Dom João de Portugal who was getting married to Charlotte de Lusignan, Queen of Cyprus. He went back to Portugal with his wife either when his master Charlotte's first husband was murdered or, after deciding to stay after that event, when his master's widow was deposed and at the same time his father in law Phoebus left Cyprus, returning to his country instead of going to Rome with him.

For this reason their issue bore both the Arms of the "Moniz" and "de Lusignan" families joint. They were both buried in his Chapel of Our Lady of Piety at the Carmo Convent in Lisbon in a tomb with the mentioned Arms, and had one only son:
* Febo (or Febos) Moniz de Lusignan or Febo (or Febos) Moniz, who was a "Reposteiro-Mór" (major footman at the royal household encharged with drawing and undrawing the curtains and hangings) of King Manuel I of Portugal (doubtly because at the time of his cousin Pedro or Pêro Moniz da Silva, however would have entered at his death) and a Hidalgo of his Royal Household and "Alcaide-Mór" of Arraiolos, married to Catarina or Maria da Cunha, daughter of Gonçalo Correia, Lord of the Honour de Farelães, and wife Margarida de Prado (descendant of the natural son of Infanta Branca, Viscountess of Huelgas), who was promised by the King Manuel I of Portugal 6,000 crowns for the marriage with Febo (or Febos) Moniz and, while he didn't pay them, 60,000 réis of annuity, the which at her death were confirmed by the same King to Jerónimo Moniz, her son, at Almeirim on April 7, 1519, and had issue, three sons by marriage and one bastard son:
** Jerónimo Moniz, who was also a "Reposteiro-Mór" of the same King and married Violante da Silva, daughter of João de Saldanha, "Vedor" (Reeve) of Queens Maria of Aragon and Eleanor of Habsburg, wives of King Manuel I of Portugal, and later of the Empress Isabella of Portugal, and wife Dona Joana de Lima of the Viscounts of Vila Nova de Cerveira, and had issue:
*** João Moniz, unmarried and without issue
*** Febo Moniz, "Semilher do Corpo" of King Sebastian of Portugal and his Major Chamberlain, married to his relative Dona Isabel de Lima, daughter of Dom Pedro de Castelo-Branco (a distant relative of Luís Vaz de Camões) and wife Margarida de Lima, and had issue
*** António Moniz, who withdrewed as a Priest of the Company of Jesus
*** Leonor, a Nun
** António Gil Moniz or António Moniz or António Gil, died young, some say unmarried and without issue, in fact a Knight of the Royal Household and married to Isabel Fogaça, and had only one son, the progenitor of the Moniz of Alcochete:
*** Manuel Moniz, married to Isabel Maria Vaz, and had issue:
**** António Moniz (b. and d. Alcochete), married at Alcochete to Maria Lourenço de Medeiros (b. and d. Alcochete), daughter of André Lourenço Madeira or André Lourenço, Hidalgo of the Royal Household, and wife Leonor Fernandes, and had issue:
***** Manuel Moniz Pereira or Manuel Moniz (b. and d. Alcochete, a Hidalgo of the Royal Household, married firstly at Alcochete to Maria Correia, daughter of Gil Pato de Meira or Gil Pato, Hidalgo of the Royal Household and Hidalgo of Coat of Arms for "de Meira", and wife (married in Alhos Vedros, Moita) Joana Correia, and sister of the 1st Lord of the Majorat dos Patos, in Alcochete, and secondly at Alcochete to Catarina Pereira (b. and d. Alcochete), daughter of Manuel Pereira (b. and d. Alcochete), Boy of the Chamber of the Royal Household of Sebastian of Portugal, Knight of the Order of Aviz and Hereditary Registrar of the Town Hall and Almotaçaria (court presided by the Almotacé or price-fixer) and Notes of Alcochete, and first wife, married at Alcochete, Helena Borges (b. and d. Alcochete), and had issue from both marriages in the families de Quintanilha e Mendonça, Pereira de Faria Cota Falcão, Pereira Coutinho formerly "Marquesses de Soydos and Viscounts de San Antonio Grandees of Spain 1st Class" and Cota Falcão Aranha de Sousa e Meneses
**** Francisca Moniz, married to Luís de Orta Galvão, a Hidalgo of the Royal Household, and had issue:
***** Beatriz Moniz, married to Henrique da Gama, son of António Pais and wife Leonor Gomes da Gama, and had issue:
****** Francisca Moniz da Gama, married in Alcochete on January 3, 1635 to Cristóvão da Cunha de Novais, and had issue:
******* Henrique da Cunha de Novais, married to his relative? Madalena do Amaral, daughter of Manuel de Novais de Bulhão and wife (married on July 14, 1601) Luísa do Amaral Borges, and had issue in the family de Quintanilha e Mendonça
******* Francisco da Cunha de Novais, baptized at Alcochete, on September 6, 1618 and married to his relative? Catarina Pereira Moniz, apparently without issue
***** Catarina de Orta Galvão, married as his second wife to Manuel Pereira, widow of Helena Borges with issue, and had issue:
****** Luís de Orta Galvão, unmarried and without issue
****** Afonso Pereira Galvão, married to Marquesa Tomás de Viana, born in Alhos Vedros, Moita (later married there secondly to Simão Rodrigues), Moita, daughter of Jerónimo Tomás (born and died in 1610 there) and wife Isabel de Viana, and had issue in the families Pereira Coutinho "Marquesses de Soydos and Viscounts de San Antonio Grandees of Spain 1st Class", Cota Falcão Aranha de Sousa e Meneses, and at least one minor family using "de Sousa"
** Gil Aires Moniz, died young, unmarried and without issue
** (bastard) Jerónimo Moniz, who was a Clergyman

References

* Manuel João da Costa Felgueiras Gaio, "Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal", Tomo Vigésimo Primeiro, Título de Monizes, § 17, § 18 e § 19
* Various Authors, "Armorial Lusitano", p. 370-2, Lisbon, 1961
* Dom Augusto Romano Sanches de Baena e Farinha de Almeida Portugal Sousa e Silva, 1.º Visconde de Sanches de Baena, "Archivo Heraldico-Genealógico", Volume II, p. CXV, Lisbon, 1872
* Cristóvão Alão de Morais, "Pedatura Lusitana", Volume I (reformulated edition), p. 668-70