Mendes da Maia Goncalo

Gonçalo Mendes da Maia (c.1079–1170) was also known as O Lidador (the hardworking), so named for his fearlessness in the struggle against the Saracens. He was a Portuguese knight at the time of Alfonso and had a military post as a fronteiro in the border town of Beja. It is believed that he died there in 1170 while fighting against Muslim armies.

According to some documents, he was ninety years old at the time. Traditionally, Gonçalo Mendes da Maia is seen as a hero of both the city of his homeland Maia, and of Beja.