Gil Aires ( 1370 – 1437) 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 ...

nobleman.

Life

He was an honoured man and a much honoured

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

at the time of King

John I of Portugal John I ( WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in 1383–85 crisi ...

and an Escrivão da Puridade (Notary/Registrar of the Purity/Secret, furthermore, a

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

) of the 2nd

Constable of Portugal Constable of Portugal ({{langx, pt, Condestável de Portugal) was an office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in 1382, to replace the High Standard-bearer ('' Alferes-Mor'') as the head of the Portuguese Military. It was also referred as the ...

Nuno Álvares Pereira '' Dom'' Nuno Álvares Pereira, OCarm (; 24 June 1360 – 1 November 1431) was a very successful Portuguese general who had a decisive role in the 1383–1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile. He later became a my ...

, and some say also his relative, in 1422, and ''Vedor'' (Overseer) of the things belonging to

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

in 1423. He was perhaps born into the Moniz noble family. His connection to the main branch is, however, currently unknown. Barreiros, a Genealogist, does not nominate him, in his ''Livro Ms.'', more than by Gil Aires, and says at the margins these words: ''And of Maria Trabuca and of one from Alegrete, who seems they want to say he was their son''; and then, after nominating his children below, he says so: ''All of these were called themselves Moniz, after their father was put into honour.''; and says another information he was born in Alegrete, the one in

Coruche Coruche () is a municipality in Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,944, in an area of 1115.72 km². The present Mayor is Francisco Silvestre de Oliveira, elected by the Socialist Party. The Coruche City Council ha ...

or in Portalegre, son of a man who lived at the same village. He was buried at his Chapel of Our Lady of Piety or of the Prant of the

Carmo Convent The Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel () is a former Catholic convent located in the civil parish of Santa Maria Maior, municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. The medieval convent was ruined during the sequence of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and the ...

, in

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, in a Chapel that had been given to him by the Constable for his burial place, and there he nominates himself ''Escrivão da Puridade do Condestável''.

Marriage and issue

He married Leonor Rodrigues and had six children, three sons and three daughters: *

Vasco Gil Moniz Vasco Gil Moniz (formerly Vasco Gil) (died Lisbon, 1497) was a Portuguese nobleman. Life Vasco was the second son of Gil Aires and Leonor Rodrigues. He was a vedor of Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, son of King John I of Portugal. Marriages an ...

* Leonor Gil Moniz (or Leonor Moniz and formerly Leonor Gil), married as his second wife to Fernão de Sousa, o Labruja, son of João de Sousa and wife Beatriz de Almeida and widow with female issue of Maria Rodrigues de Castelo-Branco, and had extant issue * Diogo Gil Moniz * Rui Gil Moniz * Guiomar Gil Moniz (formerly Guiomar Gil) * Isabel Moniz (or Isabel Gil Moniz and formerly Isabel Gil), wife of

Bartolomeu Perestrelo Bartolomeu Perestrello (, in Italian ''Bartolomeo Perestrello''), 1st Capitão Donatário, Lord and Governor of the Island of Porto Santo ( 1395 – 1457) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer that is claimed to have discovered and populated ...

, mother of Filipa Moniz and mother-in-law of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

.Well documented as sister of Diogo Gil Moniz at Chancelaria de D. Afonso V, liv. 36, fl 216v, transcribed in Monumenta Henricina, Volume XIII

Sources

* Manuel João da Costa Felgueiras Gaio, "Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal", Tomo Vigésimo Primeiro, Título de Monizes, § 17, § 18 e § 19 * Various Authors, "Armorial Lusitano", Lisbon, 1961, pp. 370–372 * Dom Augusto Romano Sanches de Baena e Farinha de Almeida Portugal Sousa e Silva, 1.º Visconde de Sanches de Baena, "Archivo Heraldico-Genealógico", Lisbon, 1872, Volume II, p. CXV * Cristóvão Alão de Morais, "Pedatura Lusitana", Volume I (reformulated edition), pp. 668–670 {{DEFAULTSORT:Moniz, Gil Aires 14th-century Portuguese nobility 1370s births 1437 deaths 15th-century Portuguese nobility Year of birth unknown