Martim Moniz (; died 1147) 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 ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of noble birth, and famous figure in the

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. The siege of Lisbon was one of the few Christian victories of ...

in 1147. According to the legend, Martim Moniz was a knight participating in the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

invasion force, led by king

Afonso I of Portugal Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French inf ...

, in the

, during the ''

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

''. At one point in the siege of

São Jorge Castle Saint George's Castle ( pt, Castelo de São Jorge; ) is a historic castle in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, located in the ''freguesia'' of Santa Maria Maior. Human occupation of the castle hill dates to at least the 8th century BC while th ...

, he saw the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

closing the castle doors. He led an attack on the doors, and sacrificed himself by lodging his own body in the doorway, preventing the defenders from fully closing the door. This heroic act allowed time for his fellow soldiers to arrive and secure the door, leading to the eventual capture of the castle. Martim Moniz was killed in the incident. In his honor, the entrance was dubbed ''Porta de Martim Moniz'' (Gate of Martim Moniz). There are currently several monuments and parks named after Martim Moniz in Lisbon. One of Lisbon's metro stations is named after him. The station features a stylized graphic depiction of the event on its walls. One of his sons,

Pedro Martins, Lord of the Tower of Vasconcelos Pedro Martins, Lord of the Tower of Vasconcelos, was a Portuguese 12th century noble knight, son of Martim Moniz (legendary figure of the Siege of Lisbon in 1147) and Teresa Afonso. He was the Lord of the Tower of Vasconcelos, located in the pa ...

, was the ancestor of the prominent

Vasconcelos Vasconcelos (also Vasconcellos) is a Portuguese surname. Today it can be found in Portugal, Brazil, and elsewhere in the Portuguese-speaking world. People * Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1837–1880), Portuguese Roman Catholic Archbishop of G ...

family.

References

1147 deaths Christians of the Second Crusade People of the Reconquista Portuguese knights Portuguese military personnel killed in action 12th-century Portuguese people Year of birth unknown {{Portugal-bio-stub