(1360-1431) Nuno Alvares Pereira, founder of the house of Braganza, was born in Cernache do Bonjardim, Portugal, on 24th July 1360. As Constable of the Kingdom of Portugal, he was the general who led the successful war of independence against Spain. He became a national hero and his deeds were commemorated by L. Camoes in the Lustiadas. Following the death of his wife, he joined the Carmelites in 1423 in Lisbon, in the house which he himself had founded for the Carmelites. He asked to become a simple lay brother and took the name of Brother Nuno of Saint Mary. He died in the convent on Easter Sunday, 1st April 1431, having given throughout his life a witness of prayer, penitence, love of the poor and filial devotion to our Lady. His cult was approved in 1918.