a Portuguese nobleman and general. Melo was born in Estremoz, Portugal. He was marquis of the Portuguese Tor de Laguna, count of Assumar, and, from 1641 to 1644, interim governor of the Southern Netherlands. When Francisco de Melo came to the Southern Netherlands, he already had an impressive political career. From 1632 to 1636 he had been Spanish ambassador to the Republic of Genoa. In 1638 he was appointed viceroy of Sicily, and two years later he was ambassador in Vienna.
