It is well known the presence of the playwriter in Santarém , on the 26th of January , during the 1531 Lisbon Earthquake , where rumors quickly spread , apparently encouraged by the friars of Santarém , that the disaster was divine punishment ( Latin : " Ira Dei " - Wrath of God ) and that the Jewish community was to blame . Faced with social instability in the city Gil Vicent , reportedly , personally defused the situation while scolding the friars for their fear-mongering in a powerfully written letter to King John III , and possibly averting a massacre of Jews and recent converts to Christianity
1531 Lisbon Earthquake
1531 Lisbon earthquake
Gil Vicente