Gualdim Pais was the son of Paio Ramires and Guntroda Soares, paternal grandson of Ramires Aires and great-grandson of Aires Carpinteiro. His brother Vasco Pais Ramirão was
alcaide-mor of
Coimbra. e.g. «MAGISTER GALDINUS NOBILI SIQUI / DEM GENERE BRACARA ORIUNDUS[...]». He fought alongside
Afonso Henriques against the
Moors, and received a knighthood by him in 1139, after the
Battle of Ourique. He departed for
Palestine shortly thereafter, and during the next five years fought as a Knight Templar. He had a prominent role in the siege of the city of
Gaza. He also fought in the
Siege of Ascalon; in sieges and battles around
Sidon and
Antioch, and other campaigns of the Zengid–Crusader and Fatimid-Cruzader wars, against the Sultans of Egypt and Syria. He was ordained the fourth
Grand Master in
Portugal of the Order of Knights Templar in 1157, which then was ruled from
Braga, where the
Archbishop D. Paio Mendes gave them land corresponding today to the Hospital of Saint Marcus. He founded the
Castle of Tomar in 1160, then near the frontier with the
Muslim states, and transferred the seat of the order there. The famous
Round Church of the Castle of Tomar, inspired by similar structures in Jerusalem, was built under his supervision. He issued a feudal charter (
foral), to the town of
Tomar in 1162. During his life, he supervised the building or restoration of several other frontier castles for the Templars: the
Almourol,
Idanha, Ceres,
Monsanto and
Pombal (founding the settlement of Pombal and issuing a foral in 1174).
Besieged in 1190 by vastly superior forces under the
Almohad King of
Morocco Yusuf I, he and his knights managed to defeat the monarch's forces, thus defending the north of the fledgling Kingdom. He died in
Tomar in the year 1195. His grave is located in the
Church of Santa Maria do Olival in that city. ==See also==