We have already mentioned in its due place how the king, when he dispatched the count to the Alentejo and decided to leave Alenquer, sent for the noblemen of Beira, namely Gonçalo Vasques Coutinho, Martim Vasques da Cunha, Vasco Martins [da Cunha], his brother Gil Vasques, who was standard-bearer, João Fernandes Pacheco, Egas Coelho, and others. In particular he wrote to João Fernandes that, owing to the great trust which he placed in him, he was requesting him to urge them to come and join him, as it was so necessary; and just as he had directed so honourable a feat as the battle which in that place they had fought with the Castilians, he should now arrange for those others to join him in this battle, which would bring great honours to them all and be of great service to the realm. With the king writing to them very frequently and sending forth squires to them, their spoken and written reply was always that they were busily getting ready to go and join him at once. However, most of the messages which the king received from them came from João Fernandes, who was earnestly striving to complete his task. As a result, there was talk about these noblemen every day and the king continuously received news from the squires he sent there and from the noblemen's letters that they were ready to leave. Other messengers, in order to please the king, led him to believe that they had already left.

Owing to the immense delay and the doubts about whether they would come, the king sometimes declared, when discussing the matter, that he was very doubtful as to whether they would arrive and that he was inclined to believe that they would not, because more than a month had passed since he had sent for them. Diogo Lopes [Pacheco], when present, answered him as follows: ‘I cannot speak about the others, but if João Fernandes is a son of mine, I’m certain he will come.’

João Fernandes worked as hard as he could to get the others to come. Their answer to him was that they wished to make the journey together rather than separately, the occasion being what it was, and that for them to do so properly they could not do things in haste, especially in view of so important a battle.