ON APRIL 6, 1385, João, Master of Avis, was crowned as the tenth Portuguese monarch, therefore giving rise to a second (and brilliant) dynasty. At the same time, the legal advisor João das Regras was appointed Chancellor and Nuno Álvares Pereira was chosen to be the Constable of the kingdom. At the same time, a loan of £400,000 was granted by the Cortes to the hero who had saved Lisbon from the Castilian conquest, since it was clear that the war was far from over.

With his legitimacy greatly reinforced by the election held in Coimbra, João I then advanced northwards, and alongside his Constable, he took a series of garrisons in the district of Minho, which stubbornly held out for Juan and Beatriz—Neiva, Viana, Cerveira, Monção, Caminha, Braga, Guimarães, and Ponte de Lima. However, at Easter 1385, as we shall see in more detail later, various English vessels loaded with mercenaries docked at Lisbon, Setubal, and Porto. The old chancellor Lourenço Fogaça and the Master of Santiago had managed to unblock their contracts in England.

In response, Juan I ordered a new attack on Portugal. This time the offensive would take place on three fronts: the Castilian fleet would attack Lisbon, while a land army would once again invade Beira, and the king himself would lay siege to the Alentejan border town of Elvas. The plan was good, but operations went wrong, except for the naval operation. The incursion into Beira resulted in an absolute disaster, since the Castilian column carrying a considerable amount of loot on its return from Viseu was ambushed and slaughtered near Trancoso. This happened on May 29, 1385 and the heroes of the hour were Portuguese noblemen from the province of Beira: Gonçalo Vasques Coutinho, Martim Vasques da Cunha, João Fernandes Pacheco, and Egas Coelho, among others. All the captains in the service of Juan I perished in the fighting, with the exception of his chief cupbearer, Álvaro García de Albornoz. To make matters worse, Elvas resisted siege by the king and he was therefore forced to change plans. He concentrated a large number of troops on the Portuguese–Castilian border and, in the second week of July, entered Portugal once again with a powerful, reinvigorated army.