Duchess of Medina Sidonia

Dukedom of Medina Sidonia
Creation date	1380
Created by	Henry II
Peerage	Peerage of Spain
First holder	Enrique de Castilla y Sousa, 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia
Present holder	Leoncio Alonso González de Gregorio y Álvarez de Toledo, 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia[1]

Duke of Medina Sidonia (Spanish: Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John I of Castile in 1380.^[2] They were once the most prominent magnate family of the Andalusian region, the best-known of whom, Don Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, commanded the Spanish Armada at the end of the 16th century. The defeat at the hands of weather and the English in 1588 brought disgrace to this family. The House of Medina Sidonia traces its descent from Alonso Pérez de Guzmán.

Counts of Niebla, 1369–1445

Dukes of Medina Sidonia, 1445–present

See also

• Almadraba – the concession on almadrabas (tuna traps along the Mediterranean coast) was one of the sources of the fortune of the Medina Sidonias
• House of Olivares
• House of Guzmán
• House of Medina Sidonia

References

External links

• Libro d'Oro della Nobilita Mediterranea (in Italian)
• Grandes de Espana (in Spanish)
• House of Medina Sidonia Foundation (in Spanish)
• List of Arabic and Spanish names for Iberian cities and places
• A Silent Minority: Deaf Education in Spain, 1550–1835
• Library of Congress: Index to the Enciclopedia Heráldica Hispano-Americana of Alberto and Arturo García Carraffa