Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
Now that we have dealt with the contents of these treaties, in order not to prolong this account too much, you should know that, just as the Count of Ourém set out for Castile to receive the oaths and pledges that we mentioned briefly earlier, so did the King of Castile send an archbishop and a knight to Portugal to receive similar pledges in his name. All the nobles, great lords and proctors from the towns and cities who were to take these oaths were assembled in Santarém. In the nunnery of São Domingos, with that archbishop wearing his robes and bearing the Holy Body of Christ on a paten in his hands, similar oaths and pledges were made in the same way as the others which you have just heard about.
After everything had finished, and leaving aside the documents each of the proctors carried, the archbishop said to those who were with him, ‘Now I can tell you that this is very beneficial for Castile, for much harm used to befall us due to this little kingdom of Portugal.’
He said this out of arrogance, convinced that according to the treaties and because of the illness from which King Fernando was suffering, this time Portugal was sure to become part of Castile. What is more, if he knew how little his master, the king, wished to keep the treaties, he could have spoken about this matter even more fully.
The Portuguese, nobles and common people alike, were greatly upset by these agreements concerning the succession of the kingdom, because of the king's illness, and considered that Portugal was selling itself with such treaties. However, there was nothing they could do about it, as they were bound to obey their sovereign lord. The archbishop left for Castile, and the King of Castile heard that the condition of his father-in-law, King Fernando, had greatly deteriorated and that he had not long to live.
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