The only two contemporary testimonies of the conquest of Lisbon from the Moors are the letters of the crusaders Osbern ("
De expugnatione Lyxbonensi") and Arnulf, who, in their narratives, do not mention either this character or this episode. Historiographically,
Alexandre Herculano considered the episode narrated by tradition to be legendary, although it seems plausible in the context at the time. After this criticism, Vieira da Silva argued for the veracity of the episode.
Alfredo Pimenta, in his 1940 work
A façanha de Martim Moniz, comments on the existence of a document dated from 1258 mentioning to the Gate of Martim Moniz. The
Nobiliário of
Pedro Afonso, Count of Barcelos only mentions that it was said that Martim Moniz had died at that gate. But this name may come from an event other than the reconquest of Lisbon, namely the Civil War of 1245-1247. Pedro Gomes Barbosa made the most recent critical synthesis of this subject, considering that the episode lacks tactical meaning since there was not really an assault on Lisbon, as the city surrendered. Although there are controversies in genealogical research, some authors believe that this person was in fact the son of Monio Osorez de Cabreira and Maria Nunes de Grijó, married to Teresa Afonso (who some genealogists point out as an illegitimate daughter of D. Afonso Henriques and Elvira Gualter), with whom he had three children: •
Pedro Martins da Torre, ( 1160-1???), lord of the Torre de Vasconcelos (from which the important
Vasconcelos lineage comes), married to Teresa Soares da Silva, daughter of the lord of Torre de Silva, Soeiro Pires da Silva; • João Martins de Cabreira Salsa (1???-1???); • Martim Martins de Cabreira (1???-12??) ( Archdeacon of the
See of Braga ), who left a will after 1256, in which he named his great-nephew, Estêvão Anes de Vasconcelos, as heir. Genealogists point to another character with the name of Martim Moniz, who would have existed in 1149, married to Ouroana Rodrigues. Son of Moninho Viegas, lord with possessions in
Arouca, where Mór Martins was abbess, daughter (or descendant) of this Martim. == Legacy ==