ÁLVARES, JOÃO. - Benedictine monk of the Military Order of Avis, b. at Torres Novas at the beginning of the 15th century, d. after 1470. Secretary of the "holy infante," i.e. Ferdinand, son of King John I, he shared with him a long captivity in Africa (1437-43). Ransomed, he returned to his homeland, carrying 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 morals, and he was entrusted with a reform. A. forbade, among other things, his fellow brethren to leave the monastery, to receive seculars there, to own lands, etc., which earned him their resentment and their opposition, but the hostility he encountered did not diminish his fervor of charity, so much so that on the occasion of a journey of his to Rome he had delivered to them the translation of three letters attributed to St. Augustine, and furthermore the Rule of St. Benedict, the Imitation of Christ, and three other letters, written in his own hand and aimed at encouraging them to do good.
The work for which A. commends himself to the history of letters is the chronicle of the captivity of the infante Ferdinand, which deserves a prominent place in 15th-century Portuguese prose.
Bibliography2 worksThe three letters were published by J. P. Ribeiro, Dissertações chronológicas, I, Lisbon 1810, pp. 352-67; of the Crónica do sancto e virtuo
BIBL.: The three letters were published by J. P. Ribeiro, Dissertações chronológicas, I, Lisbon 1810, pp. 352-67; of the Crónica do sancto e virtuoso infante Don Fernando etc., the best and most recent edition is the one edited by J. Mendes dos Remedios, Crón. do Inf. Santo... segundo um cod. ms. do sec. XV, Coimbra 1911. On the reformist work of A., see especially Benedictino Lusitano, II, Coimbra 1651, pp. 265 ff. and F. de Almeida, Historia da Igreja em Portugal, II, Coimbra 1910, passim.
Ruggieri, Ruggero Maria. “Álvares, joão.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, col. 949. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/alvares-joao.
MLA
Ruggieri, Ruggero Maria. “Álvares, joão.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, col. 949. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/alvares-joao.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec1_alvares_joao,
author = {Ruggieri, Ruggero Maria},
title = {Álvares, joão},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {I},
pages = {949},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1948},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/alvares-joao}
}
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