His family name occurs for the first time in 1498 in a document of king Manuel I, who granted him an annual allowance for his work at the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal. His signature occurs on a document of 1514. His name is mentioned in 12 documents, kept in the Monastery of Batalha and written between 1515 and 1521. His first name is only mentioned once : in 1515 on the list of the members of the ill-fated expedition to São João da Mamora (present-day Mehdya in Morocco) where the Portuguese lost 4,000 men.