I am glad this topic about Iberian royalty & nobility has been started. I have a personal interest in this. My family is of Spanish ancestry. My maiden name is Feria, from my father's side. On my mother's side they are Quinoñes. Neither of these are very common Spanish surnames and I have always heard that they belonged to the Spanish nobility in the Middle Ages. Any further information by the royalty experts on this board would be appreciated! Here is what I know so far.
With regards to Feria, my research has shown that this surname can be traced back to at least the time of King Fernando I of Spain, who lived in the 11th century. One of this king's generals carried the Feria surname, and this is the earliest thusfar that I know of a reference to the Feria family. After the feudal period, the Feria family branched out from Spain to different regions of the world, including to Cuba, which is where my own family is from. The first Feria arrived in Cuba on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus with the rank of "alferez de corbeta." An "alferez" is the one in charge of the battle banner and the leader of the charge against enemy troops; a "corbeta" is a "corvette" in English - this is a ship smaller than a frigate but comparable to one in all other aspects. His name was Don Sebastian de Feria y Ortuño and he was related to the House of Aragon as second cousin of Fernando (Ferdinand), King of Spain. He established himself in Cuba in the village of Puerto Principe, which is now the city of Camaguey, where he married the daughter of the well-off Don Servando Bobadilla y Gomez. The marriage produced three children, a girl of which nothing is known (it is presumed that she died in childhood) and two boys - Fernando de Feria y Bobadilla and his brother Enrique. The main family lineage is that of Fernando's, who established himself in commerce and formed an extensive family that spread to the oriental (Eastern) part of Cuba, where current Ferias have our roots. The "de" prefix was lost in time, transforming the surname from "de Feria" to simply "Feria."
With regards to the Quiñones surname, I have read and been told that it has belonged to illustrious families in Spain for centuries. All I know is from research with regards to the origin of my own branch of the family located in the eastern part of Cuba, known in Spanish as "Oriente." Please note that the research is incomplete and more remains to be found, as this only covers the early history of the surname in Cuba and covers the colonial period only (1492 - 1600's (?)). Don Servando Quiñones, third generation descendant of the Spanish nobility, was the first to go to Cuba a few years after 1492 in an expedition looking for spice trade routes and precious stones. After that voyage he returned to Spain and five years later returned to Cuba, going through the eastern and central part of the island, but he first settled in the village of San Cristobal of Havana and in subsequent business trips around the island he met his wife, Maria de Figueredo y Altunaga, in the eastern part of Cuba, where he established his main business ventures in the industries of sugar and agriculture. They had two children, Eufrasio Quiñones de Figueredo and Leonor Quiñones de Figueredo, the latter of which died of smallpox before reaching adulthood. The main Quiñones line in the eastern part of Cuba thus descended from Eufrasio. During the entire colonial era those with the surname of Quiñones carried the noble title of viscount. I have also read that there are medieval castles in Spain (area of Leon and Asturias) that belonged to the Quinones family.
