LORDS OF LEMAVIA (1434 - present)
As the possessions of the House expanded, a new branch settled in Galicia, Northwestern Spain, by the end of the 15th century. To this day, the Palace of Lamela is owned by the family.
The House of Lemavia married to other principal Noble Houses of Spain, among them the Houses of Lemos, Ulloa and Layosa.
Doña Dolores de Roa Vaamonde y de Gayoso Taboada[1], wife of the XII Lord of Lemavia, came from the House of Martul. This House is related to the House of Lopez de Lemos, since Don Alfonso V de Lemos y Balboa married Doña Elvira López de Marzoa (born 1395). The House of Lemos also carries Royal blood: Don Fernán Ruiz de Castro (born 1255) was married to Doña Violante Sánchez de Castilla, daughter of King Sancho IV of Castile and León (1257 - 1295). Don Esteban Fernández de Castro (born 1215), father of Don Fernán, was married to Doña Aldonza Rodríguez de León (1255), granddaughter of King Alfonso IX of León (1171 - 1230) and niece of King Fernando III of Castile. The House of Lopez de Lemos descends from the House of the Counts of Lemos through Don Alvar Pérez de Castro[2], Lord of Castroverde (Lugo), who married Doña María Ponce de León in 1360[3]. Don Alonso VI de Lemos y Balboa[4] suffocated the Irmandiño revolts (1467 - 1469), which threatened the aristocratic rule of Galicia. Don Alonso VI's wife was the granddaughter of the Viceroy of Galicia (es: Adelantado Mayor), Don García Rodríguez de Valcárcel y Balboa[5].
Marshal Pedro Pardo de Cela was a strong ally of Don Alonso VI de Lemos y Balboa during the Irmandiño Wars (left).
Don Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, VII Count of Lemos (1560-1622) (right).
Also through the House of Martul, the House of Lemavia is related to the House of Ulloa, which descends from Don Fernan Pérez de Traba (born 1040)[6], Count of Traba. Don Juan Ares Noguerol (born 1470), Lord of Martul, married Doña Isabel González de Taboada (born 1475)[7], daughter of Don Lope de Taboada "the Elder" (1450) and Doña Constanza de Lemos y Ulloa (born 1450). Doña Constanza was the daughter of Don Diego Alonso de Lemos (born 1430) and Doña Mayor de Ulloa (born 1425).
Another ancestor, Don Juan Manuel de Somoza Losada y Quiroga[8] was Comander of the Order of Knights of Santiago and Captain General of the Viceroyalty of Perú (1690s). His parents, Don Álvaro de Taboada and Doña María López-Vizcaino, were the Lords of Layosa and Rivas Pequeñas. He married Doña Micaela Estrada y Pizarro, from the influential family of Perú's Conquistador. The Royal Chancery of Valladolid (es: Real Chancilleria de Valladolid) keeps records of Nobility for Don Lucas de Somoza Losada y Quiroga[9] which shows that their ancestors were Mayors of Lugo and members of the Royal Household. From this House came the mother of the IX Lord of Lemavia, Doña María Antonia Díaz de Armesto, and from this House also derived the Counts of Pallares.
In green (light and dark), the vast part of the World under the military control of Captain General Don Juan Manuel de Somoza Losada y Quiroga
Lic. Don Pedro López de Prado Lamela[10][11], Abbot of San Cristóbal in the 17th century, wrote several theological works, and was a strong supporter of the doctrine "Error qui non contradicitur, aprobatur; et Veritas quae non defeditur, oprimitur" (from latin: "the Error that we don't contradict, we approve; the Truth that we don't defend, we suppress").
A new Royal Primogeniture was granted on January 2nd 1700, being its first holder Don Domingo López de Prado Lamela, VI Lord of Lemavia[12][13].
Don Manuel Joseph Martín López de Prado Rodríguez Díaz de Armesto y Varela, X Lord of Lemavia[14][15], was murdered by the French on April 20th 1809, along with other 1,100 civilians[16][17], as part of the campaign of terror organized by Marshal Michel Ney's 6th Corps in retaliation for the Battle of Lemos. In his subsequent proclamation, Marshal Ney boasted of ''killing 1500 Spaniards and making no prisioners''[18]. The French Republic continues to glorify the mass-murders carried out by Napoleonic armies all over Europe, symbolized by Paris' Arc de Triomphe. Academics have estimated the number of civilians murdered in 3 million, in a time when Europe had one third of the population it would reach during the Second World War[19].
Marshal Michel Ney (left) murdered, in a single day, 1500 civilians from the villages of Lemos, Don Manuel among them.
The French Republic continues to glorify the criminal figure of Napoleon and his mass-murder-boasting Marshals.
A scene of the fight against Napoleon, for the liberation of Galicia (right).
In the 19th century, the family supported the claim of Infante Don Carlos and his descendants to the Throne of Spain, against Queen Isabel II, in what became known as the Carlist Wars. As the latter gained control of the country after three wars, the House of Lemavia lost the favor of the Kings. Up to that time, the family was considered one of the main landlords of the Kingdom of Galicia.
The family's support for the right cause of Infante Don Carlos, during the 3 Carlist wars (1833 - 1876),
ended the royal favor.
[1] Archivo Diocesano de Lugo, III Libro de Bautismos de San Pedro de Martul (1821-1852), pág 39-40.
[2] http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A1n_Ruiz_de_Castro
[3] Crespo del Pozo, P. José (1997): Blasones y Linajes de Galicia, Ediciones Boreal, Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, España), pp. 307 (Apellido Castro). ISBN 84-86410-28-2
[4] Vázquez, Germán (1990): Historia de Monforte y su Tierra de Lemos, Ed. Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Monforte de Lemos, pág. 788. ISBN84-241-9865-4
[5] González López, Emilio (1973): El Águila Caida: Galicia en los reinados de Felipe IV y Carlos II. Ed. Galaxia, pág 300-302.\
[6] Torres Sevilla Quiñones de León, Margarita (1998): Linajes Nobiliarios de León y Castilla, Ed. Junta de Castilla y León. ISBN: 84-7846-781-5.
[7] Legajo de Beneficios de San Esteban de Ribas de Miño, Archiprestazgo de Saviñao, folios 30-31. Archivo Eclesiástico de Lugo.
[8] Crespo del Pozo, P. José (1997): Blasones y Linajes de Galicia, Ed.Boreal, Santiago de Compostela, Voz: Somoza, pág. 90.
[9] Real Provisión de Hidalguía otorgada por la Real Chancillería de Valladolid el 29 de agosto de 1781 a Don Lucas Somoza Losada Quiroga y Saavedra, vecino y Alcalde Mayor de Lugo.
[10] Bautizado en San Cristobal de Martín el 20/04/1660, II Libro de Bautismos, Matrimonios y Defunciones de San Cristobal de Martín (1654-1714), pág. 4, Archivo de la Diócesis de Lugo.
[11] Fallecido el 27/04/1733, I Libro de Difuntos de San Cristobal de Martín (1715-1829), pág. 17, Archivo Diocesano de Lugo.
[12] Testamento de Don Domingo López de Prado de Lamela por ante Don Antonio López Somoza, escribano de número de la Villa de Monforte de Lemos, Casa de Lemavia.
[13] Mejora de Tercio y Quinto de los Bienes del Lic. Don Pedro López de Prado que realizó el 28/04/1723 por ante Don Gerónimo Rodríguez Colmenero, escribano de su Majestad en la ciudad de Monforte de Lemos, Sección de Protocolos Notariales, año 1723 del notario Gerónimo Rodríguez Colmenero, folio 44 y siguientes. Archivo Histórico Provincial de Lugo.
[14] Bautizado el 12/XI/1764 en San Cristobal de Martín, III Libro de Bautismos (1714-1771), pág 160, Diócesis de Lugo.
[15] Fallecido el 20/04/1809, I Libro de Difuntos de San Cristobal de Martín(1715-1829), pág. 153. Archivo Diocesano de Lugo.
[16] García del Barrio, Coronel Manuel (1891): Sucesos Militares de Galicia en 1809, Ed. Andrés Martínez (La Coruña), pp. 90-91.
[17] De Frutos García, Pedro (1992): "Leyendas Gallegas II", p. 82.
[18] Public Record Office. ADM 1 / 2160, Captains In-Letters (M 1809). Letter from Captain George McKinley to WW Pole, on May 6th 1809 from HMS Lively stationed in Vigo, received on May 22nd.
[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars_casualties