[1][2] The name originated from the Arabic word masjana, which means prison.

Dom Dinis restored his castle in 1288 and donated the town to the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword.

Messejana received a foral or town charter from D. Manuel I on 1 July 1512.

He was succeeded by his grandson Dom Lourenço da Silva, who built the convent for Franciscan friars and the Church of Misericórdia between 1566 and 1570.

Dom Lourenço da Silva died with five brothers in northern Morocco in 1578, in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, described as Portugal's greatest military disaster.