| Name | Saint Nuno of Saint Mary |
|---|---|
| Birth date | June 24, 1360 |
| Death date | November 1, 1431 |
| Feast day | November 6 |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Imagesize | 220px |
| Birth place | Cernache do Bonjardim, Portugal |
| Death place | Convent of the Carmelites, Portugal |
| Beatified date | January 23, 1918 |
| Beatified place | Vatican City |
| Beatified by | Pope Benedict XV |
| Canonized date | April 26, 2009 |
| Canonized place | Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City |
| Canonized by | Pope Benedict XVI |
Later on, when king Fernando I of Portugal died in 1383, with no heir besides Beatrice married to king John I of Castile, the Portuguese independence was again very fragile. Nuno was one of the first nobles to support the claim of king Fernando's brother John, Master of Aviz to the throne. True that John was a natural son of Peter I of Portugal, but, like many others, it was a better option than the loss of independence. After his first victory over the Castilians, in the Battle of Atoleiros (April 1384), João of Aviz named Nuno Álvares Pereira Protector and 2nd Constable of Portugal (Condestável do Reino), in practice supreme commander of Portugal’s armies and 3rd Count of Ourém. He was only 23 years old. In April 1385, João of Aviz was recognized and accepted as king by the kingdom assembly (the Cortes) as John I. This strong Portuguese position for independence triggered an invasion of the country by Juan I of Castile, willing to defend his wife's rights to the throne. Nuno Álvares Pereira engaged in a pursuit against the cities loyal to the Castilians, namely in the North of the country. In August, he was the mastermind of the Portuguese victory in the Battle of Aljubarrota, after which the threat of annexation was over. After the 1383-1385 Crisis, Álvares Pereira received from John I the titles of 2nd Count of Arraiolos and 7th Count of Barcelos, which along with the previous one were the only three Countdoms existing at the time and which had been taken from Noblemen who took part for Castile. He was also made the 38th Mordomo-Mór (Major Majordomo) of the Realm.
Not wanting to give the enemy room to manoeuvre, John I and his supreme general took the offensive and raided several Castilian towns, defeating once again a much larger Castilian army at the Battle of Valverde. He continued to watch out for Juan I of Castile, until his death in 1390. The final peace and the recognition from Castile came only later on October 30, 1411, with the signature of the Treaty of Ayllón.
Nuno Álvares Pereira sired only one daughter by his marriage to Leonor de Alvim, Beatriz Pereira de Alvim, who was to become the wife of Afonso, Count of Barcelos (natural son of John I of Portugal) and first Duke of Braganza. Therefore, Nuno Álvares Pereira was, through the female line, the ancestor of the House of Braganza which became the Portuguese Royal House in the 17th century, ruling the Kingdom of Portugal (1640-1910), the Kingdom of Brazil (1815-1822) and the Empire of Brazil (1822-1889).
During the last year of his life, King John I went to visit and embrace him for the last time. He wept, for he considered Nuno Álvares Pereira his closest friend, the one who had put him on the throne and saved his country's independence.
Nuno Álvares Pereira's tomb was lost in the famous 1755 Lisbon earthquake. His epitaph read:
He had been on the point of being canonized by decree in 1940 by Pope Pius XII. According to a recent statement by the Postulator General of the Carmelite Order, his canonisation was postponed for diplomatic reasons (the Portuguese government itself raised some difficulties), and thus did not initially take place.
On July 3, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI signed two decrees in Rome, promulgating the heroic virtues of Nuno and the authenticity of a miracle that had already been previously confirmed as such by medical and theological Commissions. By this act, the Pope formally canonised Saint Friar Nuno de Santa Maria Álvares Pereira. The public celebration of his canonisation took place on April 26, 2009 in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City. Saint Nuno's Feast Day is celebrated on April 1 except in Portugal where it is celebrated on November 6. A petition has been submitted to change the date universally to November 6.
Category:1360 births Category:1431 deaths Portuguese soldiers Category:Portuguese nobility Category:Carmelites Category:Portuguese saints Category:Portuguese Roman Catholic saints
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
