The Viscount of Paço de Nespereira is a Portuguese title bestowed by King Luís I of Portugal in 1886 to a member of the Lobo Machado family, Gaspar de Sousa Lobo Machado, 9th Lord of Santão, even though the lordship of Paço de Nespereira was traditionally of held in the hands of the Amaral-Cardoso-de-Menezes clan.
History
The lordship of Paço de Nespereira can be traced to the Middle Ages, to the Amaral-Cardoso-de-Menezes family. In 1538, King John III provided Pedro Cardoso do Amaral the hereditary title, to the contador-mor of the Kingdom, an agnate descendant of the royal family of the Kingdom of Leon. The hereditary seat of the Viscounts of Paço de Nespereira is the medieval Paço de Nespereira, an estate and gardens in the civil parish of Nespereira, municipality of Guimarães. It was only in the second half of the 16th century, the Paço de Nespereira began bearing the family shield over the main doorway. In 1886, the title of viscount of Paço de Nespereira was granted to Gaspar Lobo de Sousa Machado e Couros, married to heir to the Majorat, D. Maria Amélia do Carmo de Menezes, daughter of the first Viscount of Pindela and D. Maria Amélia Barreto do Amaral. During the 19th century, the clan was the "first family" of Guimarães nobility, both because of its wealth and connections to the nobility of the region. In the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Fortunato do Amaral-Cardoso-de-Menezes fought on the side of King Miguel, during the Liberal Wars. This option eventually induced him to marry his only daughter and heiress, Maria do Carmo, to the son of another leading noble of the region, the Viscount of Pindela. At the same time, the Lordship of Santão, in the municipality of Felgueiras, was one of the biggest estates in the region in the 14th century. Belonging, initially, to the Sousa clan by marriage, it became part of the Lobo Machado properties, and by extent the family of the 1st Viscount of Paço de Nespereira. In addition, the Viscounts of Paço de Nespereira's residence in Braga is the Palace of Biscainhos, a monumental manor in the center of the city, in addition to the Palace of Lobo Machado in Guimarães and the estate of Proposto outside of Guimarães. The Lobo Machado Palace, as well as the Santão estate were inherited by the younger son of the first viscount who inherited the title of Lord of Santão.
Gaspar Lobo Machado, 1st Viscount of Paço de Nespereira, Lord of Santão, who as the leader of the Guimarães' nobility was created Viscount in 1886 by the KingLuís I. He married Lady Maria Amélia Pinheiro de Mello and heiress to the House of Paço de Nespereira. In order to preserve the position of the Lord of Paço de Nespereira's family, as there was no heir, the King created Viscount the husband of the granddaughter of the last Lord of Paço de Nespereira, Fortunato. He had three sons that included: Rodrigo Lobo Machado, Pedro Lobo Machado, and;
