Paio Peres Correia

Who is Paio Peres Correia?

D. Paio Peres Correia, a notable medieval Portuguese Christian conqueror of the Reconquista, who was born c. 1205, in Monte de Fralães, parish of Barcelos in Portugal.

During the reign of Sancho II of Portugal, and from 1228 he conducted a military campaign against the Moors in the region of Alentejo, conquering Aljustrel, Alvalade, Juromenha, Beja and Mértola. He then went south to the Algarve conquering Alcoutim, Vaqueiros, Ayamonte, Cacela and Tavira.

In 1242, in Mérida he became Grand-Master of the military Order of Santiago; from here he then entered into the service of Ferdinand III of Castile and his son, the future Alfonso X of Castile.

Some years later, during the reign of Afonso III of Portugal, he returned to Algarve where he took part in the capture of Silves in 1249, thus completing the Portuguese conquest of the last part of the Algarve still in Moorish hands.

D. Paio Peres Correia is remembered in the place-names and street names in many cities and towns in Portugal as Lisbon, Setúbal, Silves, and Tavira, and in Spain as Seville, etc.

In Portugal, the parish of Aldeia de Paio Pires, in Seixal, and the city and parish of Samora Correia in Benavente, are named after him.