Frei João Álvares

Who is Frei João Álvares?

Frei João Álvares was a 15th-century Portuguese friar of a military Order, chronicler and writer.

Álvares served as chamberlain and secretary of the Portuguese royal prince or infante the holy Ferdinand, the youngest of the 'Illustrious Generation' – the children of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster. He accompanied Ferdinand on the ill-fated Portuguese campaign to conquer Tangier from Marinid Morocco in 1437. To preserve his army from destruction, Prince Henry the Navigator, commander of the expedition, signed a treaty that agreed to deliver Ceuta back to Morocco. Henry handed over his brother Ferdinand to the Marinids as a noble hostage to ensure the delivery of Ceuta. As a member of his household, Álvares accompanied Ferdinand into Moroccan captivity.

As it turns out, the Portuguese refused to honor the treaty and deliver Ceuta, with the result that Ferdinand was left in Marinid captivity, first at Asilah, then at Fez, where he eventually died in 1443. However, Álvares was successfully ransomed in 1448, five years after his master's death. He returned to Morocco in 1450 to ransom remaining captives and to collect the relics of Ferdinand, who was now starting to be religiously cultivated as the Holy Prince in Portugal.