Sancho Manuel de Vilhena

D. Sancho Manuel de Vilhena, 1st Count of Vila Flor (1610 – 3 February 1677), was a Portuguese nobleman and military leader, of royal background.

He participated in several battles in Central Europe and fought the Dutch in Brazil between 1638 and 1640.

During the Portuguese Restoration War, he was appointed general, and participated in the defence of Beira.

António Manuel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John and ruler of Malta, was his fifth son.

He was memorialized in a prominent azulejo of the Room of the Battles (Sala das Batalhas) in the Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira, created in 1671–72 and depicting the Battle of Ameixial.

Equestrian portrait of the Count of Vila Flor with the Battle of Ameixial in the background, in Aplausos Académicos e Relação do Felice Sucesso da Célebre Vitória do Ameixial , 1673