Brás Garcia De Mascarenhas

Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas (

Avô Avô is a civil parish in the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital Oliveira do Hospital () is a municipality in the district of Coimbra, in the central part of continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 20,855, in an area of 234.52 km² ...

Oliveira do Hospital Oliveira do Hospital () is a municipality in the district of Coimbra, in the central part of continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 20,855, in an area of 234.52 km². History Inhabited by ancient civilizations, Oliveira do Hospita ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, 3 February 1596 - Avô, Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal, 8 August 1656) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

soldier, poet and writer, author of the poem '' Viriato Trágico''. During his youth, he traveled to the Portuguese

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Dur ...

, and through parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(France, Italy, and Spain). He then fought in the

Portuguese Restoration War The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between History of Portugal (1640–1777), Portugal and Habsburg Spain, Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668), ...

, where he organized a battalion of volunteers known as the ''Company of the Lions of Beira''. As a reward for his services, he was awarded the governorship of the Castle of Alfaites at the Portuguese border. After disobeying the general of the Beira province,

Sancho Manoel de Vilhena Sancho Manuel de Vilhena, 1st Count of Vila Flor (1610–3 February 1677), was a Portugal, Portuguese Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and military leader, of royal background. He participated in several battles in Central Europe and fought the D ...

, he was arrested and held at the

Castle of Sabugal The Sabugal Castle is a castle in the city of Sabugal, near the Côa river, in central Portugal. With a pentagonal outer wall and an inner wall with five square towers, this castle is an example of Gothic architecture in Portugal. Castles in ...

. He then wrote to the king

John IV of Portugal John IV ( pt, João, ; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer ( pt, João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from H ...

the epic poem '' Viriato Trágico'', as a way of justifying his actions and requesting forgiveness. The king, impressed with his talent and skill, returned him to freedom. His work, posthumously edited in 1699, was re-edited in 1846. He married Maria da Fonseca da Costa on 19 February 1645. 1596 births 1656 deaths 17th-century Portuguese poets Portuguese male poets 17th-century Portuguese people People from Oliveira do Hospital 17th-century male writers {{Portugal-bio-stub