João Pires de Lobeira (c. 1233–1285) was aPortuguesetroubadour of the time ofKing Afonso III, who is supposed to have been the first to reduce into prose the story ofAmadis de Gaula.[1]
Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcellos, in her masterly edition of theCancioneiro da Ajuda (Halle, 1904, vol. 1, pp. 523–524), gives some biographical notes on Lobeira, who is represented in theCancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional (Halle, 1880) by five poems (Nos. 230–233). In number 230, Lobeira uses the sameritournelle thatOriana sings inAmadis de Gaula, and this has led to his being generally considered by modern supporters of the Portuguese case to have been the author of the novel, in preference toVasco de Lobeira, to whom the prose original was formerly ascribed.[1]
The folklorist A. Thomas Pires (in hisVasco de Lobeira, Elvas, 1905), following the old tradition, would identify the novelist with a man of that name who flourished inElvas at the close of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century, but the documents he publishes contain no reference to this Lobeira being a man of letters.[1] His name suggests he was fromLobeira, in the northernmost limits of Portugal.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lobeira, João".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 837.