King João, by the grace of God King of Portugal and the Algarve: To all who read this charter we make the following declaration. We have considered the great, indeed outstanding, services which the very noble and loyal city of Lisbon has rendered to these realms, the governance of which has been entrusted to us by Almighty God, and has likewise rendered to us in helping to defend the said realms against harsh and most powerful enemies, to wit, the King of Castile. Contrary to reason and the rule of law, that king has sought to subjugate both us and the realms which it is our duty to defend; he has been helped in this by many wicked Portuguese who, according to reason, nature and the fealty which they had sworn to uphold, were duty-bound to help to defend these realms against the aforesaid King of Castile and against any others who sought to inflict harm upon them. By doing what they ought not to have done, they applied and have continued to apply all that was in their power to serve the King of Castile with their lives and with the towns, villages and castles of these realms, despite having solemnly undertaken to defend them against the King of Castile and the said kingdom; moreover, they have transferred the allegiance of those castles to him, thus jeopardising both us and these realms.

The said city [of Lisbon], which has always been loyal and truly faithful to these realms, has striven and continues to strive to preserve their honour and to prevent them from falling into the aforesaid subjection, not fearing pressure from the King of Castile, nor his immense power, nor the threats which he has issued both against the city and this country. That is because the city's objective was right and just by divine, natural and civil law and was in accord with the advice of many former knights, learned scholars and other most discerning noblemen and squires, as well as native inhabitants of the said city, who on the grounds of both reason and the rule of law were ready to defend these realms if they were given the opportunity to do so.