Born in 1958 in Coimbra, where he is Full Professor with Agregation. Researcher at the Center for History of Society and Culture of the University of Coimbra and at the History Center of the University of Lisbon. Teaches Portuguese and European medieval history, ancient and medieval military history, ancient history and history of religions, authoring more than 100 scientific works, among which 18 books. Was Guest Professor of the Université Paul Valéry (Montpellier) and Visiting Lecturer of the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris). Between 1995 and 2001, he coordinated a multidisciplinary research project in the Military Field of São Jorge - Aljubarrota. He is a Corresponding Academician at the Portuguese Academy of History and at De Re Militari - The Society for Medieval Military History. He is currently the President of the Iberian Association of Military History (IV-XVI centuries) and Director of Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra. Among his main works are: A guerra em Portugal nos finais da Idade Média (Lisbon, Notícias, 1998, Prize Defesa Nacional 1996); Os castelos portugueses nos finais da Idade Média (Coimbra, Colibri-FLUC, 1999, Prize Defesa Nacional 1999); Vegêcio. Compêndio da Arte Militar (with José Eduardo Braga, Coimbra University Press, 2009, Honorable Mention in the Prize Tradução Científica e Técnica da FCT-União Latina in 2010); História Militar de Portugal (Lisbon, Esfera dos Livros, 2017, work in collaboration with Nuno Severiano Teixeira and Francisco Contente Domingues, Prize Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation of "História da Europa" of the Portuguese Academy of History); Nuno Álvares Pereira, guerreiro, senhor feudal e santo: os três rostos do Condestável (Lisbon, Manuscrito, 2017); War in the Iberian Peninsula 700-1600 (London and New York, Routledge, 2018, edited by Francisco García Fitz and João Gouveia Monteiro). Professor, researcher and translator, he was Pro-Rector for Culture and Director of the Coimbra University Press.