Nuno Álvares Pereira

Nuno Álvares Pereira ( also known as the Saint Nuno de Santa Maria ) (* June 24, 1360 in Cernache do Bonjardim, Portugal, † November 1, 1431 in Lisbon ) was a famous Portuguese military leader. As the son of the Prior Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira and his wife Iria Gonçalves do Carvalhal he came from an illustrious noble family and embarked on a military career. At age 17, he married, at 23, he was Portuguese military leader. 1423 he joined the Carmelite Order. In 2009, he was canonized by the Catholic Church.

History

After the revolution of 1383, Portugal was a difficult confrontation with the neighboring kingdom of Castile. In Portugal, the last ruler died from the dynasty of Burgundy without a male heir to King Ferdinand I.. About Ferdinand's daughter, who was married to King John I of Castile, Portugal was supposed to fall to the Castilian crown as inheritance. In contrast, the Portuguese population revolted. John of Avis, a non-marital half-brother Ferdinand, sat down at the head of the insurrection. As Castile incident with a large force to Portugal, declared him the Cortes, the Portuguese parliament of nobles, the " Defender of the Fatherland ". Nuno Álvares Pereira was as commander loyal to the Johanns page of Avis. He is described as pious as well as a gifted strategist and tactician. In 1385 it came to the decision, as the Castilian and Portuguese armies at the Battle of Aljubarrota clashed. The Castilians were superior to the Portuguese in numbers and better armed. Nevertheless, it succeeded the Portuguese to win an overwhelming victory, which is particularly attributed to the strategic genius of Nuno Álvares Pereira.

With this victory, the Castilian claims on Portugal were permanently blocked. John of Avis was proclaimed by the Cortes to the king, as John I of Portugal, thus establishing the second Portuguese dynasty, the house of Avis. Nuno Álvares Pereira became a national hero, the grateful king loaded him with honors and material possessions. About the wedding of Nuno's heiress Beatriz with Alfonso of Braganza, the illegitimate son of John I, this property later fell in large part to the Braganza family and formed the basis for the rise of the family the most important noble family in Portugal. Thus, it can be regarded as the founder of the House of Braganza, which ascended to the Portuguese throne in 1640.

Following a vow founded Nuno Álvares Pereira Carmelite Monastery in Lisbon ( Convento do Carmo ), whose ruin is a famous landmark in the Portuguese capital today. Only at the age of 62 years, after the death of his wife, he entered the monastery founded by him, where he performed the lowest service at his own request and himself henceforth Nuno de Santa Maria called.

In the center of his spirituality was a more ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Nuno Álvares Pereira 1431 died in odor of sanctity, took the entire royal court part in his funeral ceremony. He was buried in the monastery founded by him. Soon after his death, a great amount of pilgrims to his grave, where people phoned his intercession in their needs. It written numerous songs that praised the virtues of the " Santo Condestável " (Holy Marshal ).

Because of his great piety Nuno Álvares Pereira was beatified in 1918 by the Catholic Church. On 26 April 2009, Nuno Álvares Pereira by Pope Benedict XVI. canonized. In Portugal, His feast day is celebrated on November 6.

Progeny

His wife Leonor de Alvim bore him a daughter named Beatrice, who married the first Duke of Bragança, Afonso de Portugal.

Aftereffect

In Portugal's national epic, The Lusiads, called Luís de Camões Nuno Álvares Pereira alone 14 times as the Holy Nuno.

The German writer Reinhold Schneider Nuno Álvares Pereira The silver lights ( Cologne - Olten 1956) a literary monument in his novel.

The oldest mission school in what is now East Timor is the Colégio Nuno Álvares Pereira in Soibada.