I have him born in Spain.
Shirley in CA
----- Original Message -----
From: cathybourgeois1218
To: Azores Genealogy
Cc: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2016 5:26 PM
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Joao Afonso das Grotas Fundas and the Counts
of Benavente
There is a discrepancy as to where he was born. Was he born in Portugal or
Baesa, Galiza Spain?
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 11:48:19 AM UTC-4, John Raposo wrote:
João Afonso (de Pimentel) “das Grotas Fundas
Died 2 Sept 1512
NB: this is the work of several people including Rodrigo Rodrigues, Andrew
Rapoza, George Pacheco, Diana cestodio Silva, in addition to those cited.
NAME: He became known in St. Michael, Açores as "João Afonso das Grotas
Fundas" [Frutuoso]. Frutuoso never gives him the family name Pimentel nor does
he ever make reference to a relationship to the Spanish Counts of Benevente.
This claim is made by his grandson João Afonso, o Moço, of Faial da Terra,
where he died on 16.4.1577. On the cover of his will, in an old script, it
says that the said João Afonso, o Moço descendes from the Condes de Benavente
of Castile.
BIOGRAPHY: "The Pimentels and the Resendes families of the island of São
Miguel descended from João Afonso de Pimentel who came with these names in the
last quarter of the 15th century" [Familias Antigas da Povoação]. (It was also
suggested that he arrive in the middle of the 15th century [James Guill]. "He
settled in the place of Grotas Fundas, on the island of São Miguel, where he
had a large family and house, by which he became well-known on the island as
João Afonso das Grotas Fundas [Frutuoso]." "The origin of this João Afonso is
wrapped in some mystery; nevertheless, his 5th grandson [through a daughter of
João Afonso], Padre Pedro Furtado Leite, outlined his ancestry in a letter in
which he wrote that his mother was descended from João Afonso who, in turn, was
the descendant of the Counts of Benavente, of Spain. In truth, there are some
nobiliaries that refer to a son of the third Count of Benavente (there is a
perfect coincidence of dates), of the name João Afonso, who left Spain, and
disappears from history. The third Count of Benavente, Alonso de Pimentel, also
known as the Count of Mayorga, was married to Dona Maria de Quinones y Toledo.
The subsequent nobiliaries referred to their son João Afonso de Pimentel
[Familias]." No further details are given in Genealogia de los Condes y Duques
de Benavente (at the Madrid Library), however. [J. Guill] This son would have
been 60 to 70 years old when João Afonso das Grotas Fundas made his will, His
great-grea-greatr grandson, Father Belchior Manuel de Resendes, in a letter,
says that his 4th grandfather, João Afonso das Grotas Fundas was the son of a
Count and exiled himself to S. Miguel for having committed a crime in Portugal.
"The Pimentels belong to one of the most illustrious families of the
Iberian peninsula and originate in Benavente, where they had a castle at the
juncture of a gigantic triangular territory formed by the lands of Leon,
Asturias, and Galicia and bordered by the rivers Esla and Orbigo [Familias]."
One Count built a hospital by the name of Nossa Senhora do Piedade to
benefit the pilgrims traveling the Silver Route on the way to Santiago de
Compostela. The church in Ponta Garça that serves the Grotas Fundas area where
João Afonso was the first settler, was also called Nossa Senhora do Piedade,
thus further suggesting the connection between João Afonso das Grotas Fundas
and the Counts of Benavente. [Familias.]
It may be this same João Afonso that is mentioned to have contributed 80
moios of wheat toward a program to direct fresh water from the land of Gaspar
de Bettancurt to Ponta Delgada because before this time the residents of that
town had to rely on well water (perhaps the town's population was growing too
large to sustain itself on the number of wells then available) [Alverne].
João Afonso das Grotas Fundas was again credited as being the earliest
settler of Grotas Fundas at the very beginning of Ponta Garça's settlement. (It
was also suggested that, given the isolation and difficult access to Grotas
Fundas, it could be assumed that João Afonso de Pimentel had a motive to flee
to so remote a spot [J.Guill].) He made his will on 26 May 1511. In it he made
his oldest son, João Afonso, and his son's wife, Catarina Manuel, the executors
and ordered that a third of his lands be set aside to produce a benefit of
10,000 reis [system of money later replaced by cruzeiros] for the purpose of
having three masses said one week a year in perpetuity; the first on Monday for
his faith in God to be a blessing on his soul; the second on Saturday in honor
of the Peace of Christ and the last one on Saturday in honor of "Nossa Senhora"
with all her prayers [Vida].
[Alverne] Chronicas da Provincia de São João Evangelista das Ilhas dos
Açores
[Familias] Familias Anitgas de Povoação
[Frutuoso] Doutor Gaspar Frutuoso, Livro Quatro: Saudades da Terra
[J. Guill] Letter from Dr. James H. Guill, FEB 98
[Vida] A Vida de Nossos Avós
See also Miguel Figueiredo Corte-Real: Os Descendentes dos Condes de
Benavente Radicados in Açores Desde o Século XV.
John Miranda Raposo
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