GOES, DAMIANO di. – Portuguese historian, born at Alenquer in 1502, died there in 1574. He held diplomatic posts at almost all the European courts and travelled extensively, coming into contact or forming friendships with numerous figures of his time: Erasmo, Sadoleto, Lutero, Melantone.
In 1546 he was appointed by King Giovanni III chief archivist of Torre do Tombo, and devoted himself to historiographical research, composing a Cronica do principe dom João and his masterpiece, Cronica do rei dom Manuel. A refined and objective writer of Erasmian tendencies, he conceived history as the critical study of facts and historical sources. Although he did not embrace their ideas, he maintained relations with the German innovators, and for this reason faced opposition and condemnation from the Inquisition.