D. Paio Peres Correia was a Portuguese warrior who played an important role in the thirteenth-century

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 ...

. He was born c. 1205, in Monte de Fralães, a civil parish in the municipality of Barcelos. He went to

Uclés Uclés is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212. History The fortress and town w ...

, then the seat of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...

, very young. His career path took him back to Portugal, where he became ''comendador'' of Alcácer, i.e. the leader of the Portuguese knight-friars of Santiago, in 1232. In close collaboration with

Sancho II of Portugal Sancho II (; 8 September 1209 – 4 January 1248), nicknamed the Cowled or the Capuched ( pt, o Capelo), alternatively, the Pious ( pt, o Piedoso), was King of Portugal from 1223 to 1248. He was succeeded on the Portuguese throne by his br ...

, the knight-friars conducted several campaigns against 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 ...

in the region of Alentejo. These events are ill-documented, but it seems that the initial focus was on the castle of Aljustrel, which fell before March 1235. Form there he fortified a hill in Padrões and manned it with 40 knights which ravaged the defences of

Mértola Mértola () is a municipality in southeastern Portuguese Alentejo near the Spanish border. In 2011, the population was 7,274, in an area of approximately : it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portugal. Meanwhile, it is the second-lowest popula ...

, a stronghold of real strategic importance as it gave access to the mouth of the

Guadiana The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the ...

. Eventually, Mértola fell to the knights-friar which were under the command of his cousin Martim Eanes do Vinhal. He then went southwards to the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

conquering Cacela and

Tavira Tavira () is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilã ...

. In 1242, in Mérida he became Grand-Master of the military

until the rest of his life. As such, he became an asset in the reconquering efforts of

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III ( es, Fernando, link=no; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguel ...

. He guided his son, the prince of Castile, the future

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

, in the conquest of

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. According to the ''Crónica da Conquista do Algarve,'' during the reign of

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' ( Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ...

, he is said to have returned to Algarve, where he took part in the capture of Faro in 1249, thus completing the Portuguese conquest of the last part of the Algarve still in Moorish hands. D. Paio Peres Correia is remembered in the place names and street names in many cities and towns in Portugal as

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Setúbal Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area. In the ti ...

Silves Silves may refer to : Europe * Silves, Portugal, municipality and former bishopric in Algarve, southern Portugal ** Silves (parish), a civil parish in the municipality of Silves ** Castle of Silves, a medieval castle in civil parish of Silves ...

, and

, and in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

(Triana quarter). In Portugal, the parish of

Aldeia de Paio Pires Aldeia de Paio Pires is a former civil parish in the municipality ('' concelho'') of Seixal, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Seixal, Arrentela e Aldeia de Paio Pires. The population in 2011 was 13 ...

, in

Seixal Seixal () is a Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes six parishes. It is situated across the T ...

, and the town of

Samora Correia Samora is a unisex given name and a surname. People with the name include: Given name * Samora Fihlani (born 1985), South African rugby union player * Samora Goodson (born 1984), American football player * Samora Khulu (died 2008), South African ...

in Benavente claim to be named after him, although there is no evidence for this.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Correia, Paio Peres Portuguese knights People of the Reconquista Grand Masters of the Order of Santiago Portuguese Roman Catholics 1205 births 1275 deaths People from Barcelos, Portugal 13th-century Portuguese people

Correia Correia (Portuguese and Galician for "leather strap") is a surname of Portuguese and Galician origin, also spelled Correa or Corrêa. Correia/Correa is found throughout all of the Iberian Peninsular. It may refer to: People General Portuguese ...