title: Juan Francisco Pimentel, 7th Duke of Benavente
text: # Juan Francisco Pimentel, 7th Duke of Benavente
  
  Juan Francisco Pimentel, 7th Duke of Benavente also known as Juan Francisco Alonso Pimentel y Ponce de León (1614 – 1652) was a seventeenth-century Spanish noble, a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1648, number 421, 10th Count and 7th Duke of Benavente, 10th Count of Mayorga, 8th Count of Comarca de Luna.
  
  ## Family
  
  His title was a Ducal title going back to January 1473 conferred by king Henry IV of Castile. He was the eldest son of 6 children of Antonio Alonso Pimentel, 6th Duke of Benavente, deceased 1633 and María Ponce de León, (1572–1618), daughter of Rodrigo Ponce de León, 3rd Duke of Arcos and the niece of the Rodrigo Ponce de León, 4th Duke of Arcos.
  
  His first marriage in 1614 was to his cousin, Mencia de Zúñiga y Requesens, daughter of Luis Fajardo y Requesens, 4th Marquis de los Vélez.
  
  They had 5 children and the oldest son Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Herrera Zúñiga, 8th Duke of Benavente (married in 1637, died in 1677 with issue) became his successor. His name was modified to Pimentel de Herrera or Pimentel Herrera because the 5th Duke, Juan Alonso, died in 1621 and his eldest brother, the 4th Duke, Luis Alonso, no issue, died in 1576. They described themselves with the "Pimentel Herrera" or "Pimentel de Herrera" name, to stress their connection with a branch of the powerful and wide Enriquez family.
  
  His second marriage was in 1648, to Antonia de Mendoza y Orense, daughter of Antonio Gómez Manrique de Mendoza, 5th Count of Castrogeriz.
  
  