D. Paio Peres Correia (1205 – January 1275) was a Portuguese warrior who played an important role in the thirteenth-century

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

.López Fernández, Manuel (2003)
"Sobre la muerte y enterramientos de un Maestre santiaguista"
in ''Revista de estudios extremeños''. Vol. 59 (2): 757–775. ISSN 0210-2854

Biography

He was born c. 1205, in

Monte de Fralães Monte de Fralães is a former Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish, located in the Municipalities of Portugal, municipality of Barcelos, Portugal, Barcelos, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Viatodos, Grimancelos, Minhotães e ...

, a civil parish in the municipality of Barcelos. While still quite young, he travelled 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 ...

, the headquarters of the

Order of Santiago The Order of 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 pilgrims on the Way of S ...

in the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...

. By 1232 he was back in Portugal, as ''comendador'' of Alcácer, i.e. the leader of the Portuguese knight-friars of Santiago. Working closely with king Sancho II, the knight-friars conducted several campaigns against the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

. The initial target was apparently the castle of

Aljustrel Aljustrel (), officially Town of Aljustrel (), is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km2. The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the Socialis ...

, albeit this is undocumented; regardless, this had been conquered by March 1235. Advancing from there, he fortified a hill in Padrões, and manned it with 40 knights. This meant he could threaten the defences of

Mértola Mértola (), officially the Town of Mértola (), is a town and 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 Portu ...

, strategically important for its control over the mouth of the

Guadiana The Guadiana River ( , , , ) 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 la Mancha and the e ...

. Eventually, Mértola fell to the knight-friars under the command of his cousin Martim Eanes do Vinhal. Paio Peres Correia went southwards to the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, wresting Cacela and

Tavira Tavira (), officially the City of 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 riv ...

from Moorish control. In 1242, in Mérida he was made Grand-Master of the military

for life. In that role he assisted the reconquering efforts of

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III (; 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 Berengaria of Castile. Through his ...

. Ferdinand’s son, the prince of Castile and the future

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

, was guided by Paio Peres Correia in the conquest of

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. The ''Crónica da Conquista do Algarve'' suggests he returned to Algarve during the reign of king Alfonso III. He took part in the capture of Faro in 1249, thus completing the Portuguese conquest of the last of the Algarve still in Moorish hands.

Legacy

D. Paio Peres Correia is honoured in the names of places and streets of many Portuguese cities, such as

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

, Silves, and

, and also in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the Triana quarter of Seville. 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 Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal District, Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon region, Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes ...

, 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 Africa ...

in Benavente claim to be named after him, though this seems to be undocumented.

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 "leather strap") is a surname of Portuguese and Galician origin, also spelled correia variant became Correia. Origin: Latin ''corrigia'' (leather belt, gird, harness). Correia and Correa and Correya are found throughout all of P ...

Biography

Legacy

See also

References