Born in 1195, Antony began life in Lisbon as Fernando Martins de Bulhões. His parents, rich and well-connected, entrusted his education to the cathedral clergy.
Rather to their dismay, religion "took" in the boy, who decided at 15 to join the regular canons of St Augustine in the suburbs of Lisbon. Two years later, anxious to avoid continual visits from his friends, he transferred to the priory at Coïmbra, then capital of Portugal.
There he remained for the next eight years, devoting himself to prayer and study, and acquiring a deep knowledge of the Bible.
