Gonçalo Mendes da Maia (1079? in Maia? – 1170 in Alentejo), also known as O Lidador (The Toiler), so named for his fearlessness in the struggle against the Saracens, was a Portuguese knight of the time of Afonso Henriques, about whom tradition relates important achievements in the events preceding the independence of Portugal. He had a military post as a fronteiro in the border town of Beja, where he died in 1170, while fighting against a Muslim army.^[1] According to some documents, he was at the time ninety years old.^[2] Traditionally, Gonçalo Mendes da Maia is considered a hero of both the city of Maia, the homeland of the Mendes da Maia family, and Beja.

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Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
The Glorious Death of Gonçalo Mendes da Maia, a 19th century lithograph
Born	c. 1079 Maia, County of Portugal
Died	1170 Beja, Kingdom of Portugal
Nationality	Portuguese
Occupation(s)	Knight, military commander

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• Timeline of Portuguese history (First Dynasty)
• Portugal in the Middle Ages
  • Portugal in the Reconquista

• Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira - 50 vols. , Vários, Editorial Enciclopédia, Lisboa. vol. 16-pg. 887.
• D. António Caetano de Sousa, História Genealógica da Casa Real Portuguesa, Atlântida-Livraria Editora, Lda, 2ª Edição, Coimbra, 1946, Tomo XII-P-pg. 147
• Mattoso, José (1981). A nobreza medieval portuguesa: a família e o poder. Lisboa: Editorial Estampa. OCLC 8242615
• Sottomayor-Pizarro, José Augusto (1997). Linhagens Medievais Portuguesas: Genealogias e Estratégias (1279-1325). I. Porto: Universidade do Porto
• Gayo, Manuel José da Costa Felgueiras, Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal, 2ª Edição, Braga, 1989.