Pero's birthyear is calculated from the fact that he was 52 years old at some point during his incarceration by the Inquisition (1629-33).

Research of Timothy Carrico Weaver (1997) at the Torre do Tombo (National Archives) in Lisbon and the records of the Municipal Library of MontemoroNovo, Portugal, described in an email from him to Carol Mitchell, which she then posted in two messages to the CARRICO-L mailing list.  In her first message, please see Item No. 15, which is then continued in her second message.  I apologize for the lack of formatting, but copyright concerns prevent me from reposting the message in a more readable form.

During the 15th and 16th Centuries, Portugal flourished as a great maritime and colonial power, but her grandeur ended when she came under Spanish domination in 1580, which lasted until 1640.  One practice of the Spanish Inquisition in Portugal was to accuse afluent citizens of the crime of "Judaismo," then imprison them.  The price of release was a conversion to Catholicism and their wealth, paid as fines.