Lindoso is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Ponte da Barca, with
an area of 46.48 km² and 373 inhabitants (2021 census). Its population
density is 8 inhabitants/km².
It was a town and county seat until the
beginning of the 19th century. It consists of three places: Cidadelhe,
Parada, and Lindoso.
Lindoso Dam and Reservoir - Born out of cooperation between Portugal
and Spain, the reservoir now floods large parts of Galician and
Portuguese territory. The dam is one of the largest in the country and
the largest producer of electricity.
Lindoso granary field - It is
the largest granary field in Portugal and the symbol of Lindoso.
Generations and generations of farmers took advantage of the vast
granite slab to erect about 50 granite granaries.
Lindoso Castle -
Rising from the Serra Amarela, it was erected in the Middle Ages, with
the function of vigil, defense and border sovereignty landmark. Although
it was not involved in major battles or episodes of military history, it
is considered one of the most important Portuguese military monuments,
due to the technical and architectural innovations that it tested, at
the time, in the country.
Lindoso derives from the Latin 'Limitosum', appearing
for the first time in the inquiries of 1258. However, there is a legend
that says the King of Portugal, D. Dinis "found him so happy and
exquisite, that he soon called him Lindoso", a fact that led him to to
several visits to Lindoso Castle, having rebuilt it in 1278.
In
the 15th century, the Araújo family of Galician origin, from the lands
of San Martin de Loleos, bordering Portugal, became mistress of Lindoso,
so that the descendants of the Araújos became mayors in Lindoso.
The Cyrne/Cirne family, descendant of Manuel Cyrne, Senhor de Refóios
(1470), paternal great-great-grandfather of Martim de Tavora de Noronha
e Sousa Cirne, mayor of Lindoso (* 1653 +1727), also passed through the
landlord of Lindoso. the last also great-grandson of Martim de Távora e
Noronha, Senhor do Morgado de Campo Belo (1640), who in turn was the
great-great-grandson of Pedro Lourenço de Távora, Senhor de Mogadouro
(1430)
He was Lord of Lindoso Francisco de Abreu Pereira (1640),
with ancestry in the Abreu Pereira Cirne Peixoto do Paço de
Lanheses[5]., family with representation in the counts of Almada.
Around 1750, Joaquim Leite de Azevedo Vieira do Vale e Faria
Carvalhais was mayor of Lindoso, his maternal grandfather being Martim
de Tavora de Noronha e Sousa Cirne, also mayor of Lindoso, married
Leocádia Simeana de Bourbon, sister of João Tomás Peixoto da Silva
(1734) children of Madalena Luísa de Bourbon, granddaughter of D.
Antônio de Almeida, count of Avintes (1670) who in turn was the father
of D. Lourenço de Almeida, governor of Pernambuco (1670) . D. Antônio de
Almeida married Madalena de Brito e Bourbon, daughter of D. Luís de Lima
Brito e Nogueira, count of Arcos (1640) and Victoire de Cardaillac,
daughter of Gilbert François de Cardaillac, baron of La Chapelle ( 1570)
and Madeleine de Bourbon, daughter of Henri de Bourbon, viscount of st.
Denis, whose descent comes from Jean I (*1381 +1434) Duke of Bourbon and
Louis IX Saint-Louis King of France.
In 1863, the King of
Portugal, D. Luís created the title of Duke of Lindoso in favor of João
Peixoto da Silva Almeida Macedo Lindoso (* 1826 + 1899), grandson of
Henri de Bourbon. In 1887, he was granted the title of archduke. In
1898, the then king of Portugal, D. Carlos I, granted him another title:
that of Count of Lindoso.
It is likely that these nobles from the
north of Portugal, and also descendants of the Bourbons of France,
adopted the nickname Lindoso at some point in history, as the title of
nobility and lordship of Lindoso belonged to their family. The Lindoso
family were nobles, with a lot of economic power in Italy and Portugal.
The first Lindoso known in the annals of Maranhão history appears in
1824 is the military José Alexandre Lindoso, who was assistant to the
Captain-General Miguel Inácio dos Santos Freire e Bruce, then president
of the province of Maranhão and who composed the governing board of that
province between the years 1821 and 1824.
Except for the massive
emigration to Brazil that occurred in the first half of the 19th
century, it is hypothesized that José Alexandre Lindoso was awarded a
sesmaria under Viana's terms, it is also believed that relatives would
have come to settle in the region, where they became landowners in the
municipalities of São João Batista (Maranhão) and Viana in Baixada
Maranhense. Both hypotheses are probable, since the presence of the
Lindoso in Maranhão is evident, more specifically, in the person of the
farmer José Benedicto Lindoso in the town of Tesosinho, in the
municipality of São João Batista, according to sources from Bellarmino
de Mattos; in.: Almanak do Maranhão, Typographia Bellarmino de Mattos,
1862.
It is also known that the 3rd and 4th generations of people
born in Brazil migrated to São Luís and Maranhão to the Amazon during
the rubber exploitation at the beginning of the last century, from whose
branch José Bernardino Lindoso descends, who was governor of the state
of Amazonas . In addition to Portugal, Italy and Maranhão, there are
also records of people with the Lindoso family name in the Southeast
region, mainly in the city of Rio de Janeiro, as well as in other large
urban centers: Brasília, São Paulo and abroad, in the United States.
United States, Spain, Italy and etc… although it is impossible to
identify which branch they belong to.