**ÁLVARES, João.** – A Benedictine monk of the Military Order of Avis, born in Torres Novas at the beginning of the 15th century, died after 1470. Secretary to the “holy prince,” Infante D. Fernando, son of King João I, he shared with him a long captivity in Africa (1437–43). Ransomed, he returned to Portugal, bringing with him the relics of the martyr, which he delivered in Santarém to King Afonso V. Appointed abbot of the monastery of Paço de Sousa, he distinguished himself by his zeal in reforming its morals and was entrusted with a reform. Among other measures, he forbade his fellow monks to leave the monastery, to receive seculars, or to possess lands, actions that earned him their resentment and opposition. Yet the hostility he encountered did not diminish his fervor of charity; indeed, during a journey to Rome he sent them translations of three letters attributed to St. Augustine, as well as the *Rule of St. Benedict*, *The Incarnation of Christ*, and three further letters written in his own hand to encourage them in virtue.
The work for which Álvares is remembered in the history of literature is the chronicle of the captivity of the “Infante D. Fernando,” which deserves an eminent place in 15th-century Portuguese prose.
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