Filipa de Vilhena

Filipa de Vilhena (c. 1585 – 1 April 1651), countess and marchioness of Atouguia, was a Portuguese courtier.

She became known for her legendary farewell to her sons when they left to participate in the 1640 revolution in Lisbon, that overthrew the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs in Portugal, thus ending the 60-year period of Iberian Union.

She armed her sons as knights and asked them not to return unless covered in glory.

[4] After the installation of the Bragança dynasty as the ruling family of Portugal, she was made principal lady-in-waiting to the queen.

In 1988 the Portuguese state-owned television channel RTP produced and broadcast a new version of Almeida Garrett's play dedicated to D. Filipa de Vilhena.