Note 34 — GOMES EANNES DE AZURARA; (continued 6)

(p. 19). Order of Christ ... Mother-convent ... Sacred uses.—Prince Henry was Grand Master of the Order of Christ, founded by King Diniz in 1319, in place of the Templars, whose property in great measure it inherited (see Introduction to vol. ii, p. xviii-xix).

The mother-convent of the Order of Christ was at Thomar, in the (Portuguese) province of Estremadura, 45 kilometres N.N.E. of Santarem, or a little N.W. of Abrantes, and is noticeable for its sumptuous architecture. It was founded originally as a house of the Templars by Donna Theresa, mother of Affonso Henriques, first King of Portugal; it was enlarged and rebuilt in 1180 and 1320. At the latter date it passed, with the reconstitution of Diniz, from the Templars to the Order of Christ.