ÁLVARES, JOÃO. - Benedictine monk of the Military Order of Avis, born at Torres Novas at the beginning of the 15th century, died after 1470. Secretary to the “holy infante,” d. Fernando, son of King Giovanni I, he shared with him a long captivity in Africa (1437–43). Ransomed, he returned to his homeland, bringing with him the relics of the martyr, which he delivered at Santarém to King Alfonso V. Appointed abbot of the monastery of Paço de Sousa, he distinguished himself by the zeal with which he sought to reform its customs, and was entrusted with a reform. Among other things, A. forbade his fellow religious to leave the monastery, to receive laymen there, to possess lands, etc.; this earned him their resentment and opposition, but the hostility he encountered did not diminish his charitable fervour. Thus, on the occasion of a journey to Rome, he sent them a translation of three letters attributed to s. Agostino, as well as the Rule of s. Benedetto, the Imitation of Christ, and three other letters, written in his own hand and intended to encourage them in goodness.
The work for which A. is remembered in literary history is the chronicle of the captivity of the infante d. Fernando, which deserves an eminent place in fifteenth-century Portuguese prose.