ADDENDA TO INTRODUCTION TO VOL. I.
Dr. Sousa Viterbo, writing on Azurara in the Revista Portugueza Colonial e Maritima (October 20th, 1898), supplies the following fresh facts relating to the life of the Chronicler, gleaned by him from the Chartulary of the Convent of the Order of St. Bernard at Almoster, near Santarem. On December 27th, 1465, Azurara was appointed Procurator of that famous convent by the Abbess, and in this capacity his name appears in various documents, e.g., of January 21st, 1471, and February 22nd, 1472. The post was an important, and doubtless also a lucrative, one. He had a residence in Santarem, and no doubt lived there for a portion of each year during the last eight years of his life. On December 1st, 1473, we find him in Lisbon on convent business, and on April 2nd, 1474, his servant, one Gonçalo Pires, was named Procurator in his stead. It seems, therefore, that the Chronicler died between the last two dates.
Azurara, though he was forbidden to marry owing to his position as a Knight of the Order of Christ, nevertheless had a son and two daughters by one Inez Gonçalves, as appears from certain Royal letters of legitimation. Their names were:—
(1) Caterina da Silveira—of the household of the Countess of Loulé—legitimated by letters of June 22nd, 1482 (v. Torre do Tombo Livo 2 D. João II, f. 138).
(2) Gonçalo Gomez de Azurara—Squire of the household of King John II—legitimated by letters of April 14th, 1483 (v. Torre do Tombo, Livo I, Legitim. de Leitura Nova, f. 243).
(3) Filipa Gomez—legitimated on the same day as her brother, Gonçalo Gomez (same reference as No. 2).
The foregoing information was kindly supplied by General Brito Rebello, who had discovered these letters during his researches in the Torre.
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