| Dukedom of Medina Sidonia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creation date | 1380 |
| Created by | Henry II |
| Peerage | Peerage of Spain |
| First holder | Enrique de Castilla y Sousa, 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia |
| Present holder | Leoncio Alonso González de Gregorio y Álvarez de Toledo, 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia[1] |
Duke of Medina Sidonia (Spanish: Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John I of Castile in 1380.[2] They were once the most prominent magnate family of the Andalusian region, the best-known of whom, Don Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, commanded the Spanish Armada at the end of the 16th century. The defeat at the hands of weather and the English in 1588 brought disgrace to this family. The House of Medina Sidonia traces its descent from Alonso Pérez de Guzmán.
- ^ [1] BOE
- ^ DE MEDINA, Pedro (b. 1503), Crónica de los Duques de Medina Sidonia por el Maestro Pedro de Medina. Manuscrito de 1561 en el Archivo de la Casa Ducal de Medinasidonia, leg. 1316. Colección de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de España no. XXXIX, 1932. Page 206.