Marquis of Fronteira
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Count of Torre (in Portuguese Conde da Torre) was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from July 26, 1638, by King Philip II of Portugal, and granted to Dom Fernando de Mascarenhas, Lord of Rosmaninhal.
The new title of Marquis of Fronteira (in Portuguese Marquês de Fronteira) was granted by a royal decree of King Afonso VI of Portugal, issued on January 7, 1670, to his son Dom João de Mascarenhas, 2nd Count of Torre, to reward his participation in the Portuguese Restoration War.
Later, in the 18th century, the House of Fronteira inherited new honours and estates becoming one of the most powerful families in Portugal:
- Count of Coculim – inherited by the House of Fronteira, when a younger branch of the Mascarenhas family became extinct (1792);
- House of Alorna (Marquis of Alorna and Count of Assumar) – inherited by the House of Fronteira when João José Luis Mascarenhas Barreto, 6th Marquis of Fronteira, married Leonor Benedita Maria de Oyenhausen de Almeida, 5th Marchioness of Alorna (1799).
The current Marquis also represents the House of Távora, already extinct.