Paio Mendes ( la, Pelagius, es, Pelayo; died 1137) was the

Archbishop of Braga The Archdiocese of Braga ( la, Archidioecesis Bracarensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman R ...

from 1118 until his death. He was an adherent of the cause of

Afonso Henriques 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 ...

Count of Portugal The County of Portugal ( pt, Condado de Portugal, Condado Portucalense, Condado de Portucale; in documents of the period the name used was Portugalia) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Braga and Porto, today corresp ...

. In 1136 Paio attended the council of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

presided over by the legate

Guido Pisano Guido Pisano (died 1149) was a prelate and diplomat from Pisa. He probably belonged to the family of the counts of Caprona, and was promoted to the College of Cardinals and appointed to the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano by Pope Innocent II on ...

. At the council, he appears to have accepted the election as

Bishop of Mondoñedo A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, one of his suffragan sees, of Pelayo, the candidate endorsed by

Diego Gelmírez Diego Gelmírez or Xelmírez ( la, Didacus Gelmirici; c. 1069 – c. 1140) was the second bishop (from 1100) and first archbishop (from 1120) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compost ...

Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela The Metropolitan Archdiocese of (Santiago de) Compostela ( la, Archidioecesis Compostellana), is the senior of the five districts in which the Catholic Church divides Galicia in North-western Spain.João Peculiar, as

Bishop of Porto The Portuguese Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto ( la, Dioecesis Portugallensis) (Oporto) is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal. History The diocese was pro ...

, a diocese over which he had up until then wielded much influence.Bernard F. Reilly, ''The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126-1157'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), 250. Paio also witnessed the granting of an indulgence to the members of the

Confraternity of Belchite The Confraternity of Belchite was an "experimental" community of knights founded in 1122 by Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon and Navarre, and lasting until shortly after 1136. Members could enlist permanently or for a set time, vowing "never to ...

.Patrick J. O'Banion, "What has Iberia to do with Jerusalem? Crusade and the Spanish Route to the Holy Land in the Twelfth Century", ''

Journal of Medieval History The ''Journal of Medieval History'' is a major international academic journal devoted to all aspects of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. Each issue contains 4 or 5 original articles on European history, including the British Isles, North A ...

'', 34 (2008), 389. On 4 July 1137 Afonso Henriques signed a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

recognising himself as a vassal of

Alfonso VII of León Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, a document to which Paio was a witness. The archbishop then remained with the Leonese court as it visited

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

, where he signed a royal charter. Before the end of October he was dead and succeeded by João Peculiar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Paio Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown 1137 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Braga 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Portugal