Góis, Damião de

(1502-1574)

   Portuguese Renaissance humanist writer, cosmopolite, diplomat, and royal servant. The son of a Portuguese noble father and a mother of Flemish descent, De Góis was widely traveled in Europe and studied for four years at the University of Padua, Italy. Later, he became associated with Martin Luther and Erasmus. For a period, he settled in Louvain. For a while in Antwerp, De Góis was employed at the Portuguese Factory. After his return to Portugal and his authorship of the famous Crônica dedicated to King Manuel I, he was persecuted by conservative, jealous nobles as well as by the Portuguese Inquisition. As a writer, correspondent, and lay humanist, De Góis, although a late student of Latin, cultivated the use of Latin in his extensive correspondence with other humanists, such as Erasmus, as well as in his historical works. Arrested by the Inquisition in 1571 and accused of heterodoxy, De Góis died at his home some years later, under mysterious circumstances.