| Marquessate of Villena | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creation date | 12 November 1445 |
| Created by | John II |
| Peerage | Peerage of Spain |
| First holder | Juan Pacheco y Téllez-Girón, 1st Marquess of Villena |
| Present holder | Francisco de Borja de Soto y Moreno-Santamaría, 21st Marquess of Villena[1] |
Marquess of Villena (Spanish: Marqués de Villena) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, granted in 1445 by John II to Juan Pacheco, Grand Master of the Order of Santiago and later also 1st Duke of Escalona.[2][3][4]
It was originally founded as the Lordship of Villena in the thirteenth century by Ferdinand III of Castile for his youngest son, Don Manuel. In 1369, the estate was elevated to a Marquisate, the first such designation in Castile, and awarded to Don Alfonso of Aragon.
However, the title was not hereditary and in 1395 it reverted back to the crown of Castile. From that point, Villena had a complicated history of awards and reversions back to the crown until John II granted it as a hereditary title to Juan Pacheco in 1445. It was the first time the Marquisate was held outside of royalty.[5]
The 8th marquess, Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, founded the Royal Spanish Academy.[6]
- ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) - 30 May 1998
- ^ Soler, José María (2005). HISTORIA DE VILLENA: DESDE LA PREHISTORIA HASTA EL SIGLO XVIII [History of Villena: From prehistory to the 18th century] (PDF). Spain: Fundación Municipal José María Soler. pp. 109, 110, 116. ISBN 84-934950-0-X.
- ^ Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España, Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles, Ediciones Hidalguía, Vol. 50 (Madrid, 2018)
- ^ Search of title "Escalona, duque de"
- ^ Marino, Nancy F. (2006). Don Juan Pacheco : wealth and power in late medieval Spain. Tempe, Ariz.: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. pp. 39–41. ISBN 0-86698-356-2. OCLC 64592141.
- ^ Alberola, Miquel (22 June 2017). "El diccionario digital de la RAE alcanzó 800 millones de entradas en 2016" [The digital dictionary of the RAE reached 800 million entries in 2016]. El País. Spain. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2018.