João Manuel, Bishop of Guarda

Who was João Manuel, Bishop of Guarda?

João Manuel de Vilhena was a religious Carmelite, Bishop of Ceuta and Bishop of Guarda.

He was a bastard son of Edward of Portugal and Joana Manuel de Vilhena, great-granddaughter of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena. He joined the Carmelites, in 1441 to become provincial of the Order in Portugal. He was made titular Bishop of Tiberias at the same time by Pope Eugene IV. He was also the ambassador to Hungary.

In 1443, he was appointed Bishop of Ceuta and primate of Africa. In 1450, he became chaplain to King Afonso V of Portugal, his half-brother. Finally, in 1459, he was appointed Bishop of Guarda, a town in which he never actually lived.

From a relationship he had with a Justa Rodrigues, he had two sons, who served Alfonso V and John II of Portugal during their reigns: João Manuel, mayor of Santarém, and Nuno Manuel, Lord of Salvaterra de Magos.

He is buried at the Carmo Church located at the Carmo Convent, a medieval convent later ruined in the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake.