Estêvão Fernandes Barreto
Trovador medieval

Biographical Note:

Portuguese troubadour, active in the late 13th century. Originary from an aristocratic lineage based in Entre-Douro-e-Minho, he was the son of Fernão Gomes Barreto, a knight documented in the court of Afonso III1, and of Sancha Pais de Alvarenga, being cousin of the troubadours João Velho and Fernão Rodrigues Redondo. He was also brother-in-law of Maria Rodrigues Chacim, that had been concubine to King Denis. Of Estêvão Fernandes Barreto, the Nobiliary of Count Dom Pedro (26S5) further states that he married in Santarém with Joana Esteves and non casou como devera (didn´t marry as he should - as the name of his wife seems to indicate, she problably belonged to a local and burgeois family). It is exactly in Santarém that the troubadour is last documented in 1294, as witness to a donation to King Denis from the town council. His only preserved song also points us to these spatio-temporal coordinates. It should be further noted that the Nobiliary informs us that he had seven children, one of them, curiously, gafo (a leper - just like the knight he mocks in his song).

References

1 Oliveira, António Resende (1993), "Estevan Fernandiz Barreto", in Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa, Lanciani, Giulia e Tavani, Giuseppe (org.) , Lisboa, Editorial Caminho.