As we have spoken of those nobles and great lords who joined the King of Castile, it is right that we should mention the townships which declared their allegiance to him and promised to obey him, so that you can see how he had a large portion of the kingdom under his command and throughout every region. That is not to say that the people resident in such townships willingly yielded them to him or declared their obedience; rather, it was the governors and high-ranking figures in each township who offered allegiance to him, and forced humble folk to declare their allegiance along with them.

Such was the case with Lope Gómez de Lira in Braga, who gave himself the title of bailiff on behalf of the King of Castile. By imprisoning certain residents of the town and the clergy from the cathedral chapter, he forced them to declare allegiance to the King of Castile and to obey him as their liege lord by paying homage to the Archbishop of Santiago. That situation arose because the said Lope Gómez entered the town against the wishes of both the town council and the cathedral chapter and ushered in the Archbishop of Santiago, along with further forces from Galicia who came with him. He then issued a proclamation throughout the town requiring all its people, both clerical and lay, to go at once to the cathedral cloisters to pay homage to the King of Castile and his wife, to accept them as their liege lord and lady and to serve them both in peace and in war. As for those who refused to do so, he would banish them from the kingdom of Portugal and would confiscate their property and possessions.

In addition, the people were at the mercy of the castle, which dominated the town. Its governor was Vasco Lorenzo, the brother of Lope Gómez, and he threatened the people that, if they did not do as Lope Gómez demanded, they would be annihilated. Terrified, they all did as he wanted. In this and other similar ways the people of Portugal handed themselves over to the King of Castile, though against their will.