When we look up the accounts provided by those who have written books on these matters and who have drawn on the evidence provided by those who were present at the time, then, according to what most of those witnesses say, the Master, having agreed with Álvaro Pais to kill Count Juan Fernández, immediately communicated this secret to the Count of Barcelos, Dom João Afonso, as well as to Rui Pereira and others. They all assured him that they would be with him in readiness when once he chose to set his hand to the task.

While the queen was busy with the governance and provisioning of the realm, matters in which the Master was nevertheless constantly involved, he frequently made his way to the house of Álvaro Pais, sometimes accompanied by the count, sometimes on his own, in order to discuss bringing about the death of Count Juan Fernández. They particularly discussed how they could turn to the people to assist them in this matter. Álvaro Pais, who was very eager to see the deed carried out, assured him that in all certainty the people would help. It was not that he would reveal their secret intention to anybody, but rather that he believed it to be certain that the lack of goodwill felt by ordinary folk towards the queen and Count Juan Fernández would cause them to react against them, once they realised that the time and the place were appropriate.

They agreed that, in order to do things in the best way possible, as soon as the Master reached the palace and began to set his hand to the task, Gomes Freire, his page, mounted on his horse, would at once gallop through the city to the house of Álvaro Pais, yelling out at the top of his voice that people should go to the aid of the Master of Avis, because he was about to be killed.

Álvaro Pais would then rush forth with his men as if in a rescue party, calling out to any people he came across in the streets, who would willingly accompany him once they heard his appeals, and in that way the whole city would come together to help the Master.

Though we have already had something to say about the betrothal of King Fernando to Princess Leonor of Aragon, it now behoves us to relate the remainder of this occurrence as it later ensued, so that the existing confused account might be brought out into the open and subjected to greater clarity, and so that we might relieve it of all the stifling uncertainties that arise from the wretched narratives produced by a number of authors.

The first uncertainty is about what led the king to send so much gold and silver to Aragon and about what its total value was; the second one is about who in Aragon was the recipient of this treasure and what was done with it, once there; the third one concerns the failure to bring the princess to Portugal and the abandonment of the marriage; the fourth one concerns whether the count's departure from the court of the King of Aragon met with his favour, and why he returned to Portugal and by what means; and the fifth one is about why the count did not go back to Aragon, and whether the King of Aragon kept the treasure against the wishes of King Fernando. Our answer to these uncertainties has been achieved after a great deal of hard work and investigation as to where the truth lay in each case, so that the accurate account in respect of all of them now follows.

King Fernando, as we have already said, entered negotiations with a view to marrying Princess Leonor of Aragon in order to win her father's assistance against King Enrique, with whom he, King Fernando, was at war. He was betrothed to her through Don Juan de Villaragut, who came as proctor for the princess, as you have already heard. If we leave aside the other clauses of the agreements drawn up between them, then one of them was that the King of Aragon should make war on King Enrique for two consecutive years and that in this war King Fernando would undertake to pay for 1,500 lances at his own expense.

While these things were happening, the King of Castile was himself close to that district, moving from one town to another, as for example Tordesillas, and likewise Toro, Salamanca and towns where he believed it was important he should go. Every day he received word of how his enemies were ravaging his land. He spoke of this with Prince João, the brother of the King of Portugal, and with the commanders and masters of the orders and with the Prior of San Juan, who were there with him.

Having taken counsel on this, inasmuch as he had no wish to risk everything in battle, he was told that the King of Portugal and the duke would not stay long in Castile, since they lacked provisions and would not find them. This was because of the men who were posted throughout the district to guard the towns, who were consuming a great part of the provisions, and also because of the removal of food that he had ordered at the beginning; it was owing, too, to the destruction that the English and the Portuguese had carried out in those districts. Thus, it was inevitable that they would leave soon. ‘Especially’, they said, ‘as of your men and foreigners there are always 3,000 or 4,000 lances at hand around their camp, who will not let them do such harm that your land will suffer unduly. Meanwhile, the King of France's troops, whom we are expecting, will arrive very soon, and then you can determine what you deem to be best for your interests. Since the enemy camp is not very healthy and they are dying in it, or so we are assured, they cannot remain here for long.’ The king heard their arguments, and approved what they were saying, while these things were happening in the way we have related.

The King of Portugal likewise saw how no town among those they reached was persuaded to receive the duke as its liege lord, nor were other towns or people, and how those weak towns they had managed to capture were so far inside the kingdom and hence so hard to retain under his control that it was not a thing to be attempted.

If we leave aside the reasons given by one party as well as the other, since they would take so long that they should be dispensed with, the count and the bishop submitted others so as to bring the kings to a good accord and, to put it briefly, the reasons were as follows:

The Portuguese towns and castles held by the Castilian adversary and those men who had gone over to him should be returned to the King of Portugal. Further, he should be compensated for the amounts covering the sentences passed by the judges and for the punishments imposed on the prisoners, as well as for the expenses incurred in preserving Badajoz, as it had been taken in pledge for such matters. Insofar as the Portuguese who had gone over to Castile had given rise to the war and would do so in the future, although there might be peace or a truce between the kings, for that reason they believed that for God's service and to ensure that the situation was kept calm, it was fitting that they be expelled from Castile; otherwise, while those Portuguese remained there, they could see no way in which there could be friendship or trust between the kings, with one honouring the enemies of the other. Further, all prisoners taken in the first war as well as in the second, wherever they might be found, should be released and freed, and the two homebound naos from Genoa should also be returned to the King of Portugal.

The King of Portugal should return the town of Badajoz to the King of Castile, with the latter paying to the former the amounts covering the sentences and the punishments imposed on the prisoners, and what had been expended in keeping it. Furthermore, the Portuguese king should return the town of Tuy, together with other places in the kingdom of Castile that he had taken as well as the prisoners that were to be found in his own kingdom.

Likewise, payment should be made for all the damage, expenses, losses and wrongs that were caused in the seizure of any places, Badajoz as well as others, from either kingdom, so that the parties would be released from obligation to each other.

When João Ramalho bade farewell to the Master, though it was already very late at night, it was soon known throughout the city that a message had arrived from the fleet that it was already lying at Cascais, and that the next day it was to enter the river and fight against the Castilian fleet. When this news was heard and spread throughout the city, it is not easy to describe how full of anxiety and hope the hearts of its citizens were. They were very happy with the hope that, when their fleet fought against the Castilian fleet, it would defeat it, and the city would be rid of the seaward blockade, and they would be able to receive supplies, of which they were very much in need. Also, if the Castilian fleet were defeated they would be able to seize part of it, and that would bring such a loss to the Castilians that perhaps it might be a reason for the King of Castile to raise the siege from the city.

On the other hand, they felt fear and anxiety when they took into account how the Castilian fleet was much bigger than theirs, and armed with many good men, and the great help which could come from the king's camp, which was so near, if they needed it; and if the Portuguese fleet were to be defeated, they considered the great loss of fathers, sons, husbands and brothers, and other relatives who would perish there. Apart from this, it is worth noting that another great misfortune was in store for them. The city would be under such distress and anguish that not only would they lose all hope of being able to defend themselves but also, if such a thing were to happen to them, within a few days they were bound to fall into the cruel hands of their mortal enemies to be dealt with as they deemed fit.

These inevitable fears made everyone rise from their beds at once, men and women alike, for they could no longer sleep. Talking to each other out of the window about these matters and the next day's battle, a great noise and commotion of people conversing began to spread throughout the city, and this, which went on for a long time, caused the church bells to toll early for matins, especially as the nights were short then.

Despite all these reasons, as well as others which we have not mentioned here, put forward by that doctor so that everyone should be in a peaceful frame of mind to elect a king without raising any further doubt, since goodwill is deeply embedded in the minds of those who love and cannot be easily eradicated, however many reasons are given for doing so, none of those you have heard could remove the initial intention some men had in their minds and hearts, to favour the princes. Such was the case of Martim Vasques [da Cunha] and his brothers as well as all those of that alliance, who said that despite what they had heard, there was no doubt that the kingdom belonged to Prince João by right. Furthermore, they ought to go to war in his name until he was released from prison, for they found it very strange that the Master be given the title of king when someone else was entitled to rule.

So intensely did they feel this that one day Martim Vasques left the council complaining loudly: ‘You can do what you like and make whoever you like king, for I am but one man and my voice counts for little. Whoever you make king, I shall help him defend the realm until I die. But, as far as I am concerned, I shall never consent to its being the Master.’

Nuno Álvares, together with other noblemen as well as those town representatives [who were present], were totally against these arguments and insisted that, to all intents and purposes, the Master should be king. They held their own separate meetings on this matter: the noblemen in one group and the proctors from the villages and towns in another.

Discussing this at length, one of them began by saying: ‘What is the point of talking about all this for so many days, and all this useless delay, throwing doubt on what everyone can see clearly?

The king travelled freely through his kingdom, taking with him Dona Leonor, until they arrived in the province of Minho at a monastery called Leça, which belongs to the Order of the Hospitallers. There the king decided to marry her in public, and on the day chosen for the ceremony a declaration on his behalf was proclaimed to everyone in the following words:

The king then married her in the presence of everybody, and it was proclaimed throughout his kingdom that she was his wife, which was a source of great sorrow to great and lowly alike. Moreover, the king immediately presented her with Vila Viçosa, Abrantes, Almada, Sintra, Torres Vedras, Alenquer, Atouguia, Óbidos, Aveiro and the Crown lands of Sacavém, Frielas and Unhos, as well as the land of Melres in Ribadouro. Thereafter she was called the Queen of Portugal, and by the king's command her hand was kissed by all those of noble rank throughout the kingdom, both men and women, just as she was received as their liege lady by all the towns, large and small, in his kingdom.

It was not long afterwards that one morning there arrived a spy whom Pero Rodrigues maintained in Vila Viçosa. He said that that coming night they were going to take Álvaro [Gonçalves] Coitado from Vila Viçosa to Olivença, and that he should consider what it was best to do. Pero Rodrigues at once called the squires into the spy's presence, and they began to speak of how they should proceed in the matter. They agreed that on this night they should set up an ambush near Vila Viçosa, in a pine grove well suited to the purpose, and that the spy should strive to find out the time when the prisoner would be moved, and how. They ordered him to go, and to bring them word at the pine grove.

After sundown Pero Rodrigues, with the sixteen of Nuno Álvares and fifteen of his own squires and fifty foot soldiers, departed from Alandroal, pretending that he was taking the road to Estremoz. After night had fallen, they turned back by another road, as secretly as they could, and went to the pine grove they had chosen. While they were there waiting for word from the man who had been sent to get news, it grew very late. They had received no news from any reliable informer from Vila Viçosa, and had no information except what that man they were waiting for had told them.

Seeing how long he delayed, they began to wonder if what he had said was true. Some said that this could be a trick on his part, a man whom Pero Rodrigues had trusted, and who had betrayed them. The one who feared this the most was Pero Rodrigues himself, so much so that he as well as the others would have been very happy to be far away from there, and not to have begun such an expedition. At this point, the two squires Lourenço Martins and Gomes Lourenço began to speak as follows: ‘Pero Rodrigues, you have come here in the service of God and of the Master. When Nuno Álvares sent us to you, this was the principal mission he commanded to be entrusted to you, namely that Álvaro Gonçalves should be freed from captivity when they tried to take him away from here, if you could do so.

A few days after this, a nobleman by the name of Vasco Gomes de Abreu, who called himself a relative of the queen, seeing it had been some time since she had shown the goodwill to him that she was wont to do, and furthermore because some people said that they thought the queen did not feel warmly towards him, went to her one day and said, ‘My lady, you have done me much good and raised me to an honourable estate, so that I am no more than what Your Grace has made of me. For that reason, I am bound to serve and love you as long as I live, and so I intend to do always. Now, and I do not know why, for some days past you have showed your hatred of me, as if I had gravely wronged you or served you badly. Therefore, I beg of your mercy that you tell me why this is, or if people have said that I have done something contrary to your service. If what you have been told about me is true, I will pledge in fealty and homage that I shall not depart this place until I die.’

The queen answered him, saying, ‘I have good reason to complain about you, and I really do not see the point of all those words and such a grand speech, because you well know that you have done me a wrong great enough to merit my ordering your head to be cut off, or to suffer an even worse death.’

‘My lady,’ he said, ‘you can say what pleases you, but no one else can tell me in truth that I have ever wronged you to the extent of deserving that fate. If anyone has told you anything about me, I beg you, kindly tell me.’

‘What greater wrong could you do me,’ said she, ‘than to tell my uncle, Count João Afonso, that I was sleeping with Juan Fernández de Andeiro.’

‘My lady,’ he replied, ‘Heaven forfend that I should ever say such a thing. Whoever told you that was lying, and there is nobody who, if he says it, I would not challenge even though he may be of higher rank than I.’

‘Why are you denying and contradicting this?’ retorted the queen, ‘I’ll produce the person to whom you said it.’

The King of Castile left Toro after the Cortes were over and journeyed through his kingdom till he reached the town of Tuy. At that time, King Fernando was in his city of Oporto, from where he dispatched as his envoys to King Enrique a great nobleman from his household, who was a trusted counsellor and a man of great standing, and Afonso Domingues, who was a knight of his Royal Council. They were to deal with a number of recurrent doubts and matters of contention between him and the King of Castile, not only in respect of the [intended] marriage to Princess Leonor, the daughter of the King of Castile, whom King Fernando had undertaken to marry, but also with regard to the townships which were to be transferred between them, not to mention the hostages who were to be handed over as guarantees of the treaty, as had been extensively set down in the peace agreement which we have described and which was drawn up in the township of Alcoutim.

After the envoys had come before the King of Castile and had declared the purpose of their embassy, they signed a further pact and agreement concerning a number of doubts and matters of contention which because of that treaty had arisen once more. The first matter, on which they agreed at once, was that King Fernando be dispensed from marriage to Princess Leonor and that he should totally renounce the donation which the King of Castile had made, on the grounds of the marriage to his daughter, of Ciudad Rodrigo, Valencia de Alcántara, Monterrey and Allariz; moreover, any rights, possessions or property which he held already therein he should hand over to the King of Castile by a given date, together with other castles which also belonged to King Enrique and still sided with King Fernando, such as Arahujo, Cabrera, Alba de Aliste and others.

King Enrique should cede to the King of Portugal the city of Bragança, which was held by García Álvarez de Osorio, as well as the castle on the hill at Miranda do Douro and any others which had been placed under his command after war had broken out between them.

As for the great nobleman, he was to take responsibility for all the relevant townships of both realms and to make contractual arrangements for them to be handed over to the respective monarchs.

When once the Master had set about minting money, he immediately decided to mint silver reais. But first you should be made aware that, at the time, when the Master declared himself ruler and defender of the realm, its currency was what we have already mentioned, namely: dinheiros from the reign of King Afonso IV, nine of which were worth one soldo, with 20 soldos being worth one libra; barbudas, which were valued at two soldos and four dinheiros; graves, each of which was worth 14 dinheiros; and pilartes, which were worth seven dinheiros, as was duly written down when we spoke of the debasement of the currency brought about by King Fernando. The currency also included reais of standard silver worth 10 dinheiros each, 56 of which constituted one mark. We shall now explain why such names were given to these coins.

When King Fernando went to war against King Enrique, as you have heard, there accompanied him in the invasion of Castile a large French force known as the White Company. They were armed in the following fashion: they wore bascinets with visor, arming cap and camail, and these [items together] were known as a barbuda. The coin of that name was stamped on one side with a saltire, in the middle of which was a shield displaying the five quinas, while on the other side there was a barbuda with its visor. These men-at-arms carried graves with small banners on their tips: these weapons are nowadays called ‘lances’. The youths who wore their barbudas over their pourpoints were known as pilartes and later they came to be known as ‘grave bearers’. Nowadays we call the barbudas ‘bascinets with camail’ and the youths, ‘pages’.

From the names given to that armour and those weapons the names of the coins were derived. The grave was stamped with a lance bearing a small banner on its tip, while on the other side was a saltire and the quinas. With these coins circulating together, the crossed dobra was worth 5 libras, the Moorish dobra 4½, and the gold franc from France 4. The mark made from standard silver was valued at 11 dinheiros, or 22 libras.

For you to see in what manner Gil Fernandes was avenged for his captivity, although it did not happen very soon afterwards, we wish to relate it here, as we do not know whether we will have any further occasion to speak about his exploits.

It so happened that Payo Rodríguez Mariño sent twenty horsemen from Campo Maior to raid Elvas. Gil Fernandes went out after them with fifty horsemen, followed them for a very long way and captured four squires from among them. He paused on the approach to a hill called Segóvia, believing that Payo Rodríguez would make for there, since he had been sent for by his men. While they were waiting, some of Payo Rodríguez's men came on ahead, and Gil Fernandes captured two of them. Payo Rodríguez had eighty horsemen with him, very well arrayed. When he arrived, he established himself on a small rise at the edge of the road on the side of the hill, whereas Gil Fernandes was at the bottom.

On both sides there were no foot soldiers except for two that Payo Rodríguez had brought with him; one was a crossbowman, and the other threw stones by hand and caused considerable damage. At this point a good squire called Pero Fernández Viscaino said to Payo Rodríguez, ‘I tell you, Payo Rodríguez, my advice is that you should not fight with Gil Fernandes.’

Nuno Fernandes Cogominho said: ‘In truth, do you call that good advice? There are eighty of us horsemen here, well armed, and Gil Fernandes has no more than fifty over there, and all of them thieves and rascals, such as João Ruivano and Afonso das Vacas, and others of the sort, and you advise us not to fight with them! I tell you that if he misses this chance, it will be a long time before he gets another one as good.’

To this Pero Fernández retorted, ‘Really, Nuno Fernandes, do you not see those good squires riding there alongside Gil Fernandes? Let Payo Rodríguez do as he likes, for I shall not abandon him and flee the field.’ Nuno Fernandes was a powerful man and had seven squires of his own with him there, and moreover was a good fighter. Payo Rodríguez did not reply to either of them, and they continued disputing with each other for what must have been a quarter of an hour.

Sir Bertrand was very worried by the arguments which Men Rodríguez had put before him, and the next day he called together those kinsmen and friends who were there with him, especially a cousin of his named Sir Olivier de Mauny. He explained to them all the reasons which Men Rodríguez had set out and asked for their advice as to what they thought he should do. Nevertheless, he told them at once that there was no way in the whole world that he would do such a thing, as King Pedro was the enemy of the King of France, his liege lord, as well as of King Enrique, in whose service he was and from whom he received his pay. However, he was asking them whether he should reveal to the king the arguments advanced by Men Rodríguez or whether he should take the matter any further at all, as the latter had proposed to him something which, were he to carry it out, would be an act of treason.

Having heard the discussions which had taken place between him and Men Rodríguez, the knights who were his kinsmen, as well as a number of others with whom he raised the matter, declared that their advice was that he should avoid doing anything that ran counter to the service of his liege lord, the King of France, or, indeed, to the service of King Enrique, from whom he received his pay, especially as he was well aware that King Pedro was the foe of those two great lords. Rather, they told him that they thought it right that he should inform King Enrique of the matter.

Sir Bertrand accepted their advice and informed the king of everything that had passed between him and Men Rodríguez de Sanabria. King Enrique thanked him warmly for doing so, adding that God be praised that he was in a better position than King Pedro to grant him those towns and doblas which the latter had promised him. He undertook to grant them to him at once and requested him to tell Men Rodríguez that King Pedro would have safe conduct to his, Sir Bertrand’s, pavilion and that he would set him free; when the king arrived, Sir Bertrand was to inform King Enrique.

We have already mentioned on a number of occasions how King Pedro, before he died, strove greatly to send supplies to Carmona and fortify it as much as possible, through fear of finding himself in danger and having to seek refuge there, but we have not explained why he sent supplies to the town and fortified it more than any other place in his kingdom. Therefore, lest it be considered a gap in our account, we shall narrate it in the manner in which some authors have set it down, stating that King Pedro made great efforts to seek certainty from his astrologers about what the future held for him. This certainty he sought not only from the scholars of his own country, but he also sent a message to Granada to ask the Moor Ibn al-Khatib, the great sage and philosopher, to write down the truth about what could befall him. It is said that from these men he learned that he would be besieged in a town which possessed a tower called ‘Estrella’. As there is a tower of this name in Carmona, he concluded that this was indeed the town in question. Even though it is a strong tower, he consequently made every effort to send it supplies and to fortify it as much as possible. There he installed his treasure and his children, as we have already mentioned.

When King Enrique laid siege to Montiel, King Pedro learned that there was also a tower in that town called ‘Estrella’ and was greatly annoyed at this. For this and other reasons of which you have heard, he took steps to leave Montiel, as we have already described.

King Enrique went to attack the town of Carmona with many companies and, having pitched his camp outside it, laid siege to part of it, for it could not be completely surrounded. He had a siege tower built, and at night the town ramparts were scaled by forty armed men who had been chosen for this purpose. On hearing the noise, the town's defenders rushed in strength to the spot and fought with them to the point where numbers of them were forced to jump back down from the ramparts much against their will; others, having seized a tower, could make no further progress, and were forcibly captured. Martín López arrived and had them all killed: there were no survivors.

You have already heard, in the chapter in which we spoke of this, how the king, because of the harassment of the war in which he had become embroiled after he began to rule, had no way of establishing an allowance for his vassals, nor did he take them into his service as the other kings used to do; instead, each one served with those whom he could supply, both men-at-arms and foot soldiers, and there was a salary for all.

Thus, the king decided to establish an allowance for the nobility, not like the other kings, as we have said, who gave it to the father and then to the son as soon as he was born. Rather, he decreed that the personal fealty of a nobleman of the lowest rank, once written down in the book of the king, should cause him to receive 1,000 libras, and the one who accompanied him would have 700; and so on for each nobleman, fewer or more [libras] according to the rank of each one. Not that the son was to receive this income when he was born, but rather after he reached the age at which he could serve; then he was ascribed his allowance according to the one his father had, although always smaller. Those 1,000 libras for the allowance, at the time when the king established them, were 20 Castilian doblas, each dobla at the time being worth 50 libras in the coinage of reais of 10 soldos, then in circulation.

Furthermore, he granted lands to the queen and an allowance to the women of her household, which each one should receive each month. He ordered that Beatriz Gonçalves [de Moura], whom he had assigned as personal companion to the queen because she did not know the customs of the country – as otherwise it would have been unnecessary – should receive 800 libras every month, which were 16 Castilian doblas. To Dona Beatriz de Castro, who was the highest in rank among the other ladies-in-waiting, he awarded 1,000 libras, which were 20 doblas; to Teresa Vasques Coutinha, her gentlewoman of the bedchamber, 200; and to all the others, 150. Other less important attendants received 60.

When the English troops we mentioned billeted in Lisbon, they behaved not as men who had come to help defend the land but rather as if they had been called to destroy it and cause all manner of evil and dishonour to the people who lived in it; they began to stray further afield in the city and beyond, killing, robbing and raping women, showing such arrogance and contempt for everyone, as if they were their mortal enemies whom it was necessary to subjugate. At first, no one dared to face up to it, for the great fear they had of the king, who had ordered that nobody should offend them, owing to the great need he had of them, little thinking at first that men who came to help him and on whom he intended to bestow great favours would behave like that in his own realm. Therefore, when certain people complained to him about the outrageous deeds they suffered at their hands, the king spoke about it to the earl, but all in all, little was done to make amends.

What else is to be said? People from the city and beyond were put through such suffering and subjection, being as afraid of the English as of their great enemies, that the earl, to keep the farms and estates safe, ordered that each one of them should display a banner with his device, which was a white falcon on a red field. Any farm or estate that the English found without such a banner was immediately robbed of all its contents. Every pack-animal that came into the city, from the farms, estates and surrounding hills, with wares to sell, had to carry one of those banners, which cost a certain price, so that no harm should befall them. Just see how clever the Englishmen's game was: when the king's animals were being taken to water, they seized them, and took them by force, saying that the king owed them payment and that they wanted him to forfeit the animals. These were in fact seized but later given back by order of the earl.

On one occasion, some of the Englishmen arrived at the house of a man called João Vicente, who was in bed at night with his wife and little son, who was still being breastfed.

Since King Fernando's passing had been marked very simply, and he was not paid the funeral rites that were his due, Queen Leonor ordered all the great lords and noblemen of the realm to attend the month's mind, so that it could be carried out in the most honourable manner possible. Indeed, it was performed with all due ceremony, as befitted the king's rank, although some people, such as Count Gonçalo, Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo and others, made excuses and did not go. The King of Castile, realizing that everyone would be gathered together in Lisbon for this occasion, had letters sent to Queen Leonor, his mother-in-law, and to all the counts, masters [of the military Orders] and knights in Portugal, as well as to certain towns and cities in the kingdom.

He sent as his ambassador a knight of the Order of Santiago, a native of Salamanca, called Alfonso López de Tejada, to deliver the letters. He arrived in Lisbon and presented them to the queen and the other people to whom they were addressed. The letters stated that they were well aware that his wife, Queen Beatriz, daughter of King Fernando, was the heiress to the kingdom of Portugal, as her father had died without leaving another legitimate child who could inherit by right, and for that reason he, the King of Castile, would be king and liege lord of the realm, as he was her husband. Therefore, he asked them to kindly abide by what they ought to do in this matter, as good and loyal vassals, accepting Queen Beatriz as their queen and liege lady, and himself as their king and liege lord. Furthermore, if they did so, they would be doing what they were bound to do and faithfully fulfilling their duty. For this reason, he and his wife, the queen, would always be obliged to grant them many favours. In addition, he gave them many good reasons which he thought would persuade them to do what he said.

The reply he received from them all was that they were happy to have his wife, Queen Beatriz, the daughter of King Fernando, as their queen and liege lady, and that they were willing to uphold and abide by the treaties which had been made between the King of Castile and King Fernando concerning this matter. With this reply, Alfonso López returned to the king.