It is true that historical accounts are much more easily understood and remembered if they are neatly and perfectly organised than if they are presented in any other manner. Though it is our intention, in respect of the account which we wish to set down, that it should be written in a good, clear style, nevertheless we are confronted by such a huge number of separate stories, especially at this point, that they disrupt our best intentions. There are several reasons for this: the King of Castile is on his way to invade Portugal; Nuno Álvares is likewise heading for Lisbon; the Master and the common people are striving to capture the city's castle; throughout the kingdom townships are rising up against the governors of their castles; some groups are rising up to challenge others; so many other events are simultaneously taking place that it becomes impossible to narrate them with reference to the exact dates when they came about.

It is our opinion that it is better to relate first some events and then others (despite the fact that such an approach does not please certain people), than it is to bundle events together in a confusing muddle which is far harder to understand. That being so, let us begin by taking the queen to Santarém, and then we shall speak about the highly praiseworthy Nuno Álvares and how he came to Lisbon to serve the Master; then we can go on to relate how the castle of Lisbon was taken and, after that, recount other events as best we can.

Consequently, we want you to grasp that, when the queen learned that the city folk had adopted the Master as their ruler and defender, and that he in his decrees was already using that very title, further feelings of belligerence were stirred deep within her being, along with the deadliest thoughts as to how to thwart his efforts. For that reason, after pondering on all manner of schemes and having turned them over in her mind, she decided to leave Alenquer for Santarém. Prior to that, the townsfolk of Santarém had risen up against their governor, when, at his command, the banner [of Queen Beatriz] was borne through the town, as you have already heard.