Person:Gil Ayres (1)

In 1398 and 1404, Gil Ayres was the personal secretary of the Constable of Portugal, Nuno Alvarez Pereira, one of the most famous warriors of his time

Gil died in 1437, and was buried in the Chapel of our Lady of Pranto, one of the four chapels of the church of the monastery of Saint Mary of Carmo which the Constable had founded. The Moniz burial chapel was commonly known as the Chapel of Piety because of a large statue of the Pieta placed there. Gil was given the exclusive right of burial in this chapel for himself and his descendants. His tomb bore the inscription, "Here lies Gil Ayres Moniz, clerk of Purity of the very virtuous Holy Constable". Clerk of Purity was an official title given to an intimate assistant of royal or highly placed persons, somewhat analogous to an executive secretary. The tomb bore three identical coats of arms, each with five stars on it. It appears, however, that whomever Gil's father was, he did not use the surname, Moniz. In the recorded pedigrees of the Portuguese nobility, Moniz is found during this period only as a patronymic, used by children of fathers having the given name of Nuno, or its' variant, Moninho. Although the name "Gil Ayres Moniz" is found on his tomb, that tomb was probably carved some thirty years after Gil's death, when his son's tomb was carved. Gil Ayres d! escendants appear to have adopted this patronymic as a surname, possibly out of respect for Gil's patron, the saintly Constable Nuno. Most, if not all, of those using the Moniz surname in Columbus' time seem to be Gil Ayres’ descendants. (Sao Payo, p. 151)