This latter is the last existing document signed by Azurara, though he appears to have given another certificate on August 17th, 1473, nearly a year after, relating to the forged grant of D. Fernando to the Order of Christ, as mentioned by João Pedro Ribeiro.68
There is no evidence to show when the Chronicler died, and tradition on the point varies. The oldest authority who refers to it is Damião de Goes, and, according to him, Azurara lived some years after 1472.69 He never married, and was succeeded in his post at the Torre do Tombo by Affonso Annes d'Obidos; but the charter of this man's appointment has been lost, and his first recorded certificate only bears date March 31st, 1475.70
* * * * *
We have now followed the life of Azurara step by step, and seen him honoured for his talents by his contemporaries, and rewarded for his services to King and country by numerous benefactions.71 We have also seen him on intimate terms with the Royal Family, and corresponding regularly with some of its members, as well as acquainted with the leaders of the explorations and the learned men of the time, and must conclude that this was chiefly due to his literary attainments and genial character. It is therefore pleasant to be able to record that, in our day, Portugal has marked her appreciation of him, as a man and a writer, by a statue, whilst recognising that his works form his greatest and most durable monument. In the Praça de Luiz de Camões in Lisbon there rises a noble statue of the "Prince of Spanish Poets"72, surrounded by eight of the most distinguished men of letters and action of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, his predecessors and contemporaries, and among them is a life-size figure of Gomez Eannes de Azurara.73
1 In the Chronica de Guiné, ch. 97, he calls himself "Gomez Eanes de Zurara."
2 Barros, writing before 1552, says, "I know not how long he lived."—Asia, Dec. 1, liv. ii, ch. 2.
3 "De Bello Septensi," p. 27 (in the Ineditos de Historia Portugueza, vol. i, Lisbon, 1790).
4 Chronica de Ceuta, ch. 23.
5 This place is in Beira Alta, twelve kilometres east of Vizeu, famous (inter alia) for the great picture of St. Peter as Pope, lately reproduced by the Arundel Society.
6 The first to mention Azurara's birthplace was Soares de Brito (born 1611, died 1669), who, in his Theatrum Lusitaniæ Litterarium, p. 547, says: "Gomes Anes de Azurara ex oppido, sicuti fertur, cognomine in Diocesi Portucalensi," voicing the tradition of his time (MS. U/4/22 of the Lisbon National Library, dated 1645). The first who suggested Beira in place of Minho seems to have been Corrêa da Serra, editor of the Ineditos, ibid., vol. ii, p. 209.
7 Vide the articles on Azurara in the Instituto de Coimbra, vol. ix, p. 72, et seq., by Vieira de Meyrelles, and in the Diccionario Universal Portuguez, vol. i, p. 2151, by R. d'Azevedo.
8 Azurara is named in this document "Commander of Alcains and Granja de Ulmeiro".—Chanc. de D. Affonso V, liv. x, fol. 113, Torre do Tombo.
9 According to Azurara, Pisano was tutor (mestre) to Affonso V, and "a laurelled Bard, as well as one of the most sufficient Philosophers and Orators of his time in Christendom."—Chronica de D. Pedro de Menezes, ch. 1 (Ineditos, vol. ii).
10 De Bello Septensi, p. 27.
11 So says Corrêa da Serra—Ineditos, vol. ii, p. 207.
12 Vide Ruy de Pina, Chronica de D. Duarte, ch. 8.
13 Because Azurara is found to have been the son of a Canon, it does not necessarily follow that he was illegitimate, and, in fact, no letters of legitimation exist in respect of him.
14 Definiçoẽs e Estatutos dos Cavalleiros e Freires da Ordem de N. S. Jesu Cristo com a historia da origem & principio della. Lisbon, 1628.
15 D. Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcellos, however, is of opinion that this, and the popular songs hereafter referred to, are pious frauds, invented in the first half of the seventeenth century to form materials for the canonisation of Nun' Alvares.
16 Chronica dos Carmaelitas, vol. i, pp. 469, 486. Lisbon, 1745.
17 Chronica de Ceuta, ch. 2.
18 Azurara's chief informants were D. Pedro, Regent in the minority of Affonso V, and D. Henrique, in whose house he stayed some days for the purpose by the king's orders; "for he knew more than anyone in Portugal about the matter" (Chronica de Ceuta, ch. 12). To this fact must be attributed the prominent place he gives D. Henrique in his narrative. The same circumstance is noticeable in the Chronica de D. Duarte, which was begun by Azurara and finished by Ruy de Pina, of which hereafter.
19 Diccionario Bibliographico Portuguez, vol. iii, p. 147.
20 Pisano testifies of Azurara, "scientiæ cupiditate flagravit".—De Bello Septensi, p. 27.
21 Chronica de Ceuta, ch. 38.
22 Vide Theophilo Braga, Historia da Universidade de Coimbra, Lisbon, 1892, vol. i, ch. 4, for the catalogues of these libraries and an account of the books they contained.
23 This letter defines the scope of the book, which was not meant to be a general history of the Portuguese expeditions and discoveries.