Maria de Guadalupe, 6th Duchess of Aveiro

Dona Maria de Guadalupe of Lencastre y Cárdenas Manrique (Azeitao, Portugal 1630 – Madrid, Spain 1715), was a Portuguese noblewoman, notable as an heiress who funded Catholic missions and missionaries in Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.

[1] Born in Azeitão in 1630, she was the daughter of George of Lencastre, 1st Duke of Torres Novas and of Ana Maria de Cárdenas y Manrique de Lara, daughter of the Spanish 3rd Duque of Maqueda (whose mother was a Braganza lady).

There, they were welcomed by King Philip IV of Spain, while in Lisbon, Dom Raimundo of Lencastre, 4th Duke of Aveiro was condemned for treason (in 1663) and the King of Portugal, John IV of Portugal, confiscated the Duchy and granted it to Raimundo and Guadalupe's uncle, Peter of Lencastre, a Braganza supporter, who was recognised as 5th Duke of Aveiro and 5th Marquis of Torres Novas.

When the peace between Portugal and Spain was signed, Maria de Guadalupe of Lencastre requested the cancellation of the decision that granted the Duchy of Aveiro to her uncle, in order to obtain it for herself.

Due to her husband's opposition, she divorced him, returned to her homeland and regained the House of Aveiro and their estates.