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'''Fernão Teles de Meneses''' (1431 — [[Alcácer do Sal]], 1 April 1477), also known as '''Fernão Teles''' and '''Fernão da Silva''', was a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] ''[[fidalgo]]'' and soldier.
==Early career==
Together with his elder brother, João da Silva, and their father, Aires Gomes da Silva, Teles fought at the [[Battle of Alfarrobeira]] (1449) for [[Peter, Duke of Coimbra]]. Following the defeat and death of the Duke, and loyal to the exiled [[Peter, Constable of Portugal]],  Teles and his brother, left for [[Spain]] (where Teles is documented as '''Fernando Telles de Meneses''',<ref>Moreri, Luis. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7hYWnbbMiYgC&dq=Fern%C3%A3o+T%C3%A9llez+de+Meneses&pg=RA1-PA354 ''El gran diccionario histórico o Miscellanea curiosa de la Historia Sagrada y profana...'', p. 354. Tournes (Frères de), MDCCLIII.] Google Books. Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref> or '''Fernando Téllez de Meneses'''.<ref>Díaz y Pérez, Nicolás. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bfBWAAAAMAAJ&dq=Fern%C3%A3o+T%C3%A9llez+de+Meneses&pg=PA296 ''Extremadura: Badajoz y Cáceres'', p. 297. Cortezo, 1887.] Google Books. Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref>).
Teles was pardoned by [[Afonso V of Portugal]] in April 1451.
Teles is documented in [[Ceuta]], then a Portuguese possession, in 1452 and again in 1454, this time in the company of his brother João da Silva.<ref>{{harvnb|Moreno|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sTIjwTM5atcC&dq=fern%C3%A3o+teles+1474&pg=PA1048 1047.] Retrieved 18 March 2022.}}</ref>
Although it is not known when he was appointed by [[Queen Consort]] [[Isabel of Coimbra|Isabel]] to be warden of [[Castle of the Moors|the castle at Sintra]], this post was ratified on her death in 1455. A few years later, in 1461, Teles renounced the wardenship in favour of his elder brother, João da Silva.<ref>{{harvnb|Moreno|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sTIjwTM5atcC&pg=PA1049 1049-50.]}} Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref>
==Spain==
In [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], Teles was tasked in May 1464 with the mission of recruiting three hundred knights for [[Peter, Constable of Portugal]], disputed [[King of Aragon]]. The following July, in the midst of the dismay caused by the loss of [[Lleida]],<ref name=Moreno1050/> he informed Peter that he would arrive in [[Tortosa]], at the head of an army of five hundred Portuguese and Castilian troops.
Fernão Teles commanded his troops in several combats in the mountainous areas of [[Barcelona]] and [[Girona]]. Confrontation soon arose between Teles and the [[Generalitat de Catalunya]], jealous of the prerogatives he held, in which he was defended by Peter. One of the reasons for the conflicts were the goods confiscated from the [[Muntanyans]].<ref name=Moreno1051/><ref name=Moreno1050>{{harvnb|Moreno|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sTIjwTM5atcC&pg=PA1050 1050-1.]}} Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref>
The confrontation reached its peak during the autumn of 1465, when he was appointed [[captain general]] of the Pyrenean region, a jurisdiction comprising [[Camprodon]], [[Sant Joan de les Abadesses]], [[Ripoll]], and the castles of La Guardia, La Roca and Blanca.<ref name=Moreno1051/>
The situation worsened on 8 March 1466 when the king, against the will of the [[Generalitat de Catalunya]], appointed Teles captain general of the Catalan province of [[Empordà]] and gave him the Bishopric of Girona, replacing his brother João da Silva, who had travelled to [[England]] on a diplomatic mission. His position became so untenable that the following June the deputies, taking advantage of the king's illness, devised a plan to imprison him. The plan never came to fruition, as the king, who died at the end of that month, had determined in his will that Teles remain in command of the Empordà, leading the Generalitat to write to Teles shortly afterwards in very generous terms.<ref name=Moreno1051>{{harvnb|Moreno|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sTIjwTM5atcC&pg=PA1051 1051.]}} Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref> However, by February 1469, Teles was back in Portugal.<ref name=Moreno1051/>
In 1471, he was appointed a member of King Afonso V's Council<ref name=Moreno1051/> and in January 1474, the king appointed Teles governor of the house of [[Joanna, Princess of Portugal]], and granted him the annual tenure of thirty thousand [[Portuguese real]]es as well as the ownership of any island he discovered.<ref name=Moreno1052/>
Teles fought alongside King Afonso V at the [[Battle of Toro]] (March 1476) against the [[Catholic Monarchs]].<ref name=Moreno1052>{{harvnb|Moreno|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sTIjwTM5atcC&pg=PA1052 1052.]}} Retrieved 18 March 2022.</ref>
==Death==
Teles died after being struck on the head by a stone while trying to resolve a street fight in [[Alcácer do Sal]] on 1 April 1477.<ref name=Moreno1052/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Moreno |first=Humberto Baquero |title=A Batalha de Alfarrobeira. Antecedentes e Significado Histórico |trans-title=The Battle of Alfarrobeira. Background and Historical Significance |volume=II |publisher=Biblioteca Geral da Universidade, Coimbra |date=1980 |oclc=8590873}}
[[Category:15th-century Portuguese nobility]]