It was created on 26 April 1648 by King John IV of Portugal for his distant cousin, Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira de Melo (1638–1725), who was already 4th Marquis of Ferreira and 5th Count of Tentúgal.

When Jaime Álvares Pereira de Melo, 10th Duke of Cadaval died in 2001, he left four daughters: two from his first (civil) marriage (with Antoinette Louise Schweisguth, ex-wife of René Durrieu, 4th Baron Durrieu), and two others from his second (religious) marriage (with Claudine Marguerite Marianne Tritz).

However, he also granted to her eldest half-sister, Rosalinda Álvares Pereira de Melo, the new title of Duchess of Cadaval-Hermès, because she is married to Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, the House of Hermès's heir.

Dona Rosalinda also obtained both titles of Marquise of Ferreira and Countess of Tentúgal, historically allocated to the heir of the Duke of Cadaval.

There is some controversy about the Cadaval-Hermès title, as effectively it constitutes a new creation since the inauguration of the republican regime in Portugal.