Pereira, Nun'Álvares

Pereira, Nun'Álvares no͞onˌälˈvərĭsh pərāˈrä [key], 1360–1431, Portuguese hero, called the Great Constable. He was the friend, counselor, and general of John I of Portugal. As a leader of the popular revolt against Castilian domination, he helped John to gain the throne and was the hero of the decisive Portuguese victory (1385) at Aljubarrota. In 1415 he took part in the conquest of Ceuta in N Africa. An astute statesman and able strategist, Nun'Álvares was also noted for his religious devotion and for his personal virtue. He ended his years as a monk in a Carmelite monastery that he founded in Lisbon and was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1918; his feast is Nov. 6. His daughter Beatriz married Alfonso, an illegitimate son of John I; from this union came the house of Braganza.

See biography by E. Battaglia (tr. 1962).

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