Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira

Who was Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira?

Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, Prior of Crato, was born to Gonçalo Pereira, 97th Archbishop of Braga and Teresa Peres Vilarinho. At a very young age, he entered the Order of St. John of the Hospitallers. At Rhodes, at the time seat of the Order, he fought the Turks in the galleys of the Hospitallers so proving his worth that the Grand Master made him Prior of the Hospitallers in Portugal. There he founded the Castle of Amieira, the palaces of Bonjardim and the Castle of Flor da Rosa, next to Crato, the seat of the Order in Portugal. He administered the Order with great zeal and won a brilliant victory at Salado. He was one of the eminent figures of the reigns of Kings Afonso IV, Peter I and Ferdinand I. He died at an advanced age ca 1375. He was the father of the Constable of Portugal, Nuno Álvares Pereira.