Andraca
Andraca or Thomas de Jesus, brother of the last, and monk of the Augustine monastery at Coimbra. He laid the foundation in 1578 of the Discalceats. He followed King Don Sebastian into Africa, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Alcacer, August 4, 1578, and thrown by the infidels into a dungeon. where no other light penetrated but that which came to him through the cracks in the door. Here he wrote, in Portuguese, The Labors of Jesus, which obtained great celebrity, and has been translated into Spanish. Italian, and French. He died April 17. 1582, in the place of his confinement, where, in spite of the ransom sent by his sister, the Countess of Linhares, he preferred to remain, that he might comfort, during the remainder of his days, the Christian captives imprisoned with him. Father Alexis de Meneses has written his Life, which is appended to "The Labors of Jesus," printed in 1631. — Landon, Eccles. Dict. 1, 350.
