Born approximately 1200, in Portugal, the son of Soeiro Raimundes de Riba de Vizela and Urraca Viegas Barroso, belonging to noble Lusitanian families.
[1] According to a prestigious Portuguese genealogist, Mem Soares de Melo was a descendant of two Visigoth kings.
[2] He was married to Teresa Afonso Gato, daughter of Affonso Pires o Gato and Urraca Fernandes de Lumiares,[3] a distant descendant of Mendo Alão, and his wife an Armenian princess.
[4] Mem Soares de Melo was the owner of two Castles located in Gouveia.
He held various honorary positions in his court, including as alferes-mor,[6] counselor and lieutenant of Gouveia.