In the discussions of which you have heard, and which took place in the King of Castile's royal council, so much of the day was wasted that it was approaching evening when the Castilians were completely ready and their battle formation drawn up. Indeed, that formation was so immense and striking to behold that, by contrast, the Portuguese resembled nothing more than the light of a feeble star in comparison with the full moon on the days it shines most brightly.

The Constable of Portugal rode his horse at the head of the vanguard and the two accompanying wings, bearing on his arm a shield to ward off the bolts that were raining in from certain quarters, not simply reaching that far but even crossing the lines and striking the men, boys and animals in the baggage train. This the constable was doing in order to check that every man was fully at the ready in the valiant and shrewd formation in which he had deployed them. He told them that they should all advance very slowly when the Castilians moved forward and that, at the joining of battle, they should calmly stand firm, holding their lances straight ahead, tightly gripped under their arms, yet extended forward as far as they could. He added that, when the enemy arrived, they should thrust their lances into them in such a way as to catch them and then push forward with all their might; as for those behind them who could not reach the enemy with their lances, they should push the others forward.

He praised and stimulated them with his courageous gallantry and cheerful countenance, encouraging them not to fear the enemy host, or the threats which they uttered with their hooting and whooping, for it all was just a bit of wind which would very soon have to cease. They should be strong and of good courage, placing great trust in God, in Whose service they had come, in order to defend a just cause on behalf of the realm and Holy Church. Besides, the Mother of God, Whose feast fell on the following day, would be their advocate, and the blessed martyr Saint George would be their captain and helper.

In the midst of these events which we have described and which you have heard about, many messages reached the Master in Lisbon, in which he was told that many townships and castles in the Alentejo were declaring their allegiance to him, and that the inhabitants of these places were forcibly seizing them from those who were holding them on behalf of the King of Castile; these messages were received with the greatest pleasure by the Master and by all those who were with him.

While this good news was arriving, he received a new message which caused considerable concern, because a number of town councils in that province told him that, owing to their declarations of allegiance to him, which greatly irked the King of Castile, the king had commanded his High Admiral Fernán Sánchez de Tovar, after getting the fleet ready for its attack on Lisbon, to assemble his men and head through the Alcántara area, to where the Master [of the Order of Alcántara] was to be found. These forces, along with Juan Alfonso de Guzmán, who was the Count of Niebla, and Dom Pedro Álvares, who was Prior of the Order of the Hospitallers, as well as other great lords and their companies, were to attack the townships which had declared for the Master and lay waste that entire area; after that, they were to join the king in laying siege to Lisbon. They had laid siege to Portalegre for five days, cut down vineyards and olive groves and created immense havoc. This was what they were doing wherever they went, and for that reason the people of this area were pleading with the Master to send them some captain under whom they could all assemble, in order to drive the enemy out of their province.

The Master discussed this occurrence with a number of those whom he trusted. When they came to discuss Count Álvaro Pérez de Castro and whether it was advisable to send him there, great doubts were raised about him, because he was a kinsman of Queen Leonor, not to mention other reasons which we shall touch on in due course.

Next day Nuno Álvares went on his way, while the queen was still in Alenquer in the company of the counts her brothers and of many others, as we have indicated. When he reached Alverca, he decided to spend the night there. The queen learned that he was heading for Lisbon to join the Master and was inclined to send out some soldiers to arrest him, declaring to those present, ‘Have you noticed the stupidity of Nuno, whom I raised since he was a mere boy? Are you aware that he has abandoned the prior his brother and is now heading for Lisbon to join the Master?’

Some of those present who had a liking for Nuno Álvares answered: ‘My lady, you have no grounds to order his arrest. Though he's making for Lisbon, you don't know what his reasons are for going there. He's perhaps going with such determination and intent as will enable him to serve you even better from there than if he came directly to you here.’

Nuno Álvares found out about this situation while spending the night at Alverca. As he was greatly apprehensive that the queen would have him arrested while he was on his way, he spoke to his squires, warning them that, if that were to happen, it would nevertheless be preferable for them to let themselves be killed than to be taken prisoner. All that night they never laid down their arms nor unsaddled their mounts. Next day, Nuno Álvares reached Lisbon and went at once to speak to the Master. The latter gave him a warm welcome, adding that he was delighted at his arrival and that for some time he had looked forward to seeing him. The city folk were likewise very pleased to see him and all confirmed the Master's welcome.

Two days after Nuno Álvares arrived in Lisbon, he made his way to the Master's palace, addressing him as follows: ‘My lord, for a very long time it has been and still remains my great wish to serve you. Yet before now it has not been my good fortune to be able to do so.

This incursion which the count launched into Castile has not been overlooked by the historians, but what persuaded him to do so immediately, with the victory in that mighty battle still so fresh and tender in men's eyes, is something about which they disagree. That is because some say that the king, considering that the Castilian fleet would already have left its anchorage off Lisbon, gave orders that the count and Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo, the Prior of the Order of the Hospitallers, and other accompanying knights, along with some 800 lances and 6,000 foot soldiers, should conduct this incursion into Castile. However, we should in no way approve of this viewpoint, because it is unbelievable that at this time the king would pile even more work on the count after the long period in which he had been so busy. Others relate that, since he was the officer of the marches for that region [the Alentejo], the king dispatched him there, and that, while the count was in Évora, he learned that a number of Castilians had furtively entered the country as a raiding party, as a result of which he decided to rectify matters, and that this was the reason for his incursion.

We, however, believe that a truer explanation was another objective that he is reported to have had, when they say that the count, being a man of wisdom and preparedness, an expert in the art of war, recognised the great turmoil and confusion in which the King of Castile and people of his realm found themselves at that time. He recognised that, for as long as their anguish at that great defeat lasted, some through having experienced it and others by hearsay, and for as long as they continued to be sadly disheartened and heedless about such a thing [as he intended], then he could meanwhile effect an incursion, much to his own honour, to the service of the realm and also to the benefit of his men. We believe that, when he left for Évora after taking his leave of the king, he went there with this immediate objective.

You have already heard about how much was done by former kings to cut back on both their own outlays and on those of the realm, establishing rules for themselves and their subjects in order to accumulate wealth and become rich. They maintained that, if the people were wealthy, then the king was wealthy also, and that a king who had wealth in his treasury was always able to defend his country and make war, whenever that were deemed necessary, and without causing any harm or detriment to his people. They considered that nobody could be so certain of remaining at peace as to be immune from unexpected adverse events.

To accumulate great wealth they all acted in the following way: every year the kings were informed by their comptrollers of finance of all the expenditure that they had incurred, not only in embassies but also in all other actions that it was necessary to accomplish. The comptrollers told them of what, over and above that amount, still remained from their revenues and the levying of duties, both in money and in other forms of income. The order was then issued for the purchase, from these sources, of quantities of gold and silver to be placed in the castle in Lisbon in a tower built for the purpose and known as the Torre Albarrã or Outer Tower. This tower was greatly fortified, though its construction was never completed. It was located over the main gate of the castle, and in it was stored most of the wealth which the kings had amassed in gold, silver and coins. The keys to the tower were held, one by a custodian of the Monastery of São Francisco, another by a prior of the Monastery of São Domingos, and the third by a member of the chapter of the city's cathedral.

The kings had the following method of amassing gold and silver. In all the large and small towns of the realm that were suitable for this purpose, the kings had their money-changers who bought silver and gold from anyone wanting to sell: they alone were authorized to make such purchases. At the end of the year each one took what he had bought to the designated place where it was to be deposited in the treasury.

While the king was nursing his great urge to invade Portugal, though he still hesitated a little because of the large number of advisers who opposed him on this, there was present at the time a certain Bishop of Guarda, the chancellor of Queen Beatriz, who had journeyed with her from Portugal for her marriage, as you have heard. The bishop informed the King of Castile that the town of Guarda, of which he was the bishop, was very strong, stood on the Portuguese frontier and that all the other people who lived there were his own criados and would do as he told them, so that if he were to be favoured by the king's advance on the town, he would be there to give him an immediate welcome.

The king was very pleased at what the bishop told him, which greatly increased his desire to invade Portugal by any means. He at once left Puebla de Montalbán, where he had been staying, and sent for companies and men-at-arms to hasten to join him from wherever they happened to be.

The king and queen arrived at the bridge of Alcolea, which the archbishop was at that time building across the Tagus. The archbishop gave orders that they and their party should be given all that they needed. They remained there for two days and then left for Talavera, from where they went on to Plasencia. There the king informed his Royal Council that the Bishop of Guarda had told him that he would hand Guarda over to him and asked the counsellors what their opinion was in that respect.

Some of them repeated that it was his sovereign duty to uphold the treaties which he and the Portuguese had signed and mentioned again the oaths taken and the penalty clauses to which he and his proctors would be subject if they broke them; for that reason they should in no way set them aside. They added that, if he were to enter the town in that manner, the Portuguese would be afraid of him and would say that he wanted to take over the land against their will and to their great sorrow; also, that the governance of the kingdom, in accordance with the treaties, belonged to Queen Leonor his mother-in-law, and that he had no right at all to do so.

Álvaro Mendes de Oliveira, the Chief Provincial Governor of the town of Évora, who at that time held the castle in the queen's name, heard what was happening in a number of townships and realised that events similar to what was happening to others could also happen to him. Recognising this, and recognising too that he had no forces available with whom he could defend the castle, other than a handful of criados of his, such as Gonçalo Eanes Melão, Martim Bravo, Rui Gil and up to seven or eight others all told, he sent for Martim Afonso Arnalho, who was a merchant and at that time a judge and married to a lady-in-waiting of Queen Leonor. He also sent for Gonçalo Lourenço, who was the deputy governor, as well as Vasco Martins Porrado, who was the town council clerk, Rui Gonçalves, who was a land surveyor, along with Martim Velho, the merchant Álvaro Vasques and other worthy men of the town. When they all assembled in answer to his summons, he put to them many arguments on behalf of the queen, whom he wished to support, with the result that they all agreed to join with him and help to defend the castle on her behalf.

That very day, once they had all hurried inside the castle and this had become known throughout the town, Diogo Lopes Lobo, Fernão Gonçalves da Arca and João Fernandes his son, who were among the men of rank who lived there, together with all the townspeople, immediately rose up against them and attacked the castle. This they did by climbing on top of both the cathedral and the slaughterhouse, which are lofty buildings from which they were able to attack them with crossbows and from which they shot many bolts at those inside the castle, a building which was very strong owing to its towers, ramparts and surrounding moat and which was very difficult to capture without immense effort.

In order to bring about their surrender more quickly, they seized the wives and children of those who were inside defending the castle, and placed them on carts, all tied together, which was a ploy, in such circumstances, which the common folk customarily resorted to in those days.

After the queen's departure and with the council's work completed, work immediately began on the construction of a great bridge of boats across the Douro at a place known as Barca da Régua, thus enabling troops from Beira to cross over without going via Oporto. The king posted no frontier garrison elsewhere in the kingdom, except between the Tagus and the Guadiana, where Vasco Martins de Melo was stationed with his sons Gonçalo Vasques and Martim Afonso, Martim Gonçalves, who was the Count's uncle, Gómez García de Hoyos and others, numbering all together 250 lances. As for the troops in the king's force, they came to 3,000 lances, 2,000 crossbowmen and more than 4,000 foot soldiers, apart from others who had at once come in answer to the general summons the king had made when besieging Coria.

If anyone were to query whether the king should take so many men with him, more indeed than he was obliged to by the treaty, and were to argue that the increased expense would be an unwelcome payment of wages, then he would be quite right to do so. However, the king took counsel first. Some said he should not assemble more troops than he was obliged to. Others asserted that it was unsafe for him to set forth without extra forces, for, if he invaded enemy territory in that fashion, the duke might strike a dishonourable deal with the King of Castile; on that account he ought to advance with the greatest possible strength, so that he could safely counter any adverse turn of events. Moreover, it showed that he had sufficient forces to assist the duke and had additional troops if they were needed. Therefore, he took with him the [extra] numbers that we have mentioned.

The duke took very few of his own troops, because many of them had died during the course of that winter he had spent in Galicia, including able captains, archers and other men-at-arms. Some relate that numbers of them died of the plague, and others from shortages of various kinds. Some of them were killed in the woods and on the heathland by those who found them out foraging for food, for, though some people in that region at first rallied to the duke, they later changed their minds and secretly inflicted much havoc on his troops.

Together with everyone in a peaceful and well-ordered assembly in the palace, there was a distinguished man, one who was highly competent, of wide-ranging knowledge and a great scholar in law: his name was Doctor João das Regras. The subtlety and clarity of his oral exposition are qualities nowadays held in high regard by learned men.

This man addressed the Cortes, taking care to show, through knowledge and reasoned thinking, the true nature of such an important issue as this and the benefits at stake, and then leaving it up to the people to make their own decision. But who would be able to retain, as some have written, his great speech in full and how wisely he proceeded in such an important act? About this outstanding discourse, some laymen who have left us the few scattered details of what they were able to glean and put in writing, say that he began in this fashion:

A number of historians have written in praise of King Pedro [of Portugal], relating that he reigned in peace throughout his lifetime and that it was not in vain that fortune saw fit to guide his reign, at its beginning, middle, and end, through peace and unbroken calm. When he came to power on the death of his father, King Afonso, he found the kingdom free of any dissension likely to lead to conflict with any king, whether of Spain or of some more distant land. In addition, when he became king, he immediately sent Aires Gomes da Silva and Gonçalo Eanes de Beja to his nephew, the King of Castile, with a message, and a nobleman by the name of Fernán López de Estúñiga, representing the king, travelled from Castile to see King Pedro. It was duly agreed that the two kings would be true and loyal friends, and their mutual friendship was signed and sealed at that time.

A year later, when King Pedro was in Évora, a group of messengers arrived from the King of Castile, namely Don Samuel Leví, his chief treasurer, along with García Gutiérrez Tello, the chief magistrate of Seville, and Gómez Fernández de Soria, the governor of that city; these men negotiated a more binding truce between the two kings than the previous one.

On this occasion it was also decided that Prince Fernando, the eldest son of the King of Portugal and heir to the throne, was to marry Princess Beatriz, the daughter of the King of Castile, and that their betrothal should be carried out by their proctors between the middle of the coming February and the last day of March; then the marriage would take place on the last day of April. Moreover, as his daughter's dowry, the King of Castile should give the same amount of money as King Afonso of Portugal had given his daughter Maria when she married his father, King Alfonso. The King of Portugal was to give Princess Beatriz, as dowry and bond, the same amount of money that his father, King Afonso, had given Princess Constanza when she was married to him.

After the Castilians had suffered the defeat of which you have heard in that great battle [at Aljubarrota], the King of Castile and all his kingdom felt great distress and pain. His people could not rest, but rather talked endlessly about the misfortunes that had befallen them, one after another, not only the lords and nobles, but also good squires and other middling folk. They boldly declared in public that good fortune was clearly against them at every turn, since they had lost so many troops who were dead, both through defeats in battle and other accidents ever since the beginning of the war. Indeed, it was true that there were far fewer men on their side, a shortage not only among common folk but even of nobles and able captains, which left them greatly deprived. For besides those who were mentioned when we spoke of that battle, many others who could be mentioned also died there, such as Pedro Boil and a son of his; Pedro Gómez de Porres and two of his sons; Ruy de Tovar, the brother of the admiral [Juan Fernández de Tovar]; the Grand Commander of [the order of] Calatrava; Gómez Gutiérrez de Sandoval; Álvaro Núñez Cabeza de Vaca; Lope Fernández de Padilla; Juan Fernández Mujica; Pedro Suárez de Toledo; Fernán Rodríguez and Álvaro Rodríguez de Escobar; Lope Rodríguez de Aza; Ruy Niño, Lope Niño and Juan Niño, three brothers; García González and Lope González de Quirós, brothers; Sancho Fernández de Tovar; Master Arnaud and Lemisan, Gascons; and others whom authors have not chosen to record.

Consequently, speaking of all this in many ways, these people came to express various opinions. Some of them, especially the foreigners, who were audacious in their presumption, said that it was very good for them to make an incursion into Portugal without any captain at all. Rather, acting on their own account and in good numbers, they would show their disdain for the constable, gaining thereby much honour, and could do so in complete safety.

This discussion and gathering took place in Jerez de Badajoz, 8 leagues from Olivença. Assembled were a good 300 lances, along with foot soldiers and crossbowmen; the greater part of them were Gascons.

When those prelates and noblemen who intended to defend Portugal had gathered there, together with a number of proctors from certain towns and cities throughout the realm, they began to speak to one another, knights and squires as well as other ordinary folk, both in public and in private, about the governance of the land and who should rule.

Those who were in favour of Prince João, who was being held prisoner in Castile, formed a faction on his behalf; and, having no doubt with regard to that, were ready to give him the kingdom through direct line of succession and with immediate effect, saying that he alone and no other man should reign; and that the Master should rule and govern the realm until the prince was freed and released, or something else should happen to him. If he were to die, then either his brother Prince Dinis, or the Master, or whoever was deemed to be the most appropriate person to rule for the benefit of the realm, was to reign. But, they said, electing another king, seeing the juncture at which they were, was a very wrong thing to do, and it was not to be accepted. This party had the support of certain noblemen who declared themselves openly and others privately, especially Martim Vasques da Cunha and his brothers and some of their followers.

The greatest number of the other noblemen and common people were completely against this intent and gave many reasons why it should not be so. They said that one of the princes was imprisoned and would never be released. Besides, he had come to make war against the kingdom. The other had done the very same thing at the time of King Enrique. Therefore, it behoved them to elect such a man as would rule the kingdom and dedicate himself to it, and they should not think of any other heirs there might be. They spoke about this matter so often, putting forward their conflicting opinions and sometimes using such harsh words, that it was soon well known to all which noblemen were opposed to the Master becoming king and which defended his party, so that they were ranged in two opposing parties, of which the Master had already been notified.

The King of Castile left Lamego, quite defenceless and with very few followers, for there were no more than about 200 horsemen riding with him. He arrived in Monterrey, a town in Galicia, and from there he wrote messages to Logroño, to Soria and to Zamora, all of which were on his side, urging them to hold on, for he would bring them help. He informed the King of Navarre and the Prince of Wales that he was in Galicia and wished to know what support he could expect from them. There he waited for the Archbishop of Santiago and for Don Fernando de Castro, his standard-bearer and Provincial Governor of the provinces of León and Asturias, who prior to this had come to Galicia in answer to his command. He spoke with all the prelates, knights and squires, as well as with representatives of the cities, towns and fortresses, with the result that all of them took his side.

For three weeks they remained in council, deliberating whether it was better to go on to Zamora and from there to Logroño, since King Enrique and his forces were in Seville, or to go to Bayonne in England to make a personal plea for aid from the Prince of Wales. The king preferred the advice to go to England rather than to return once more to his kingdom, for he trusted as little in those who had expressed their support for him as in those others who were not on his side. He left Monterrey and went to spend the Feast of Saint John in Santiago [de Compostela] in Galicia; there he agreed with his followers to kill the archbishop and seize his strongholds.

Don Suero [the Archbishop] came trustingly on his command on the Feast of Saint Peter, for the king had sent to summon him to the council. However, as he was coming in through the city he was slain at the door of the Cathedral of Santiago by Fernán Pérez Turrichao and Gonzalo Gómez Gallinato, two knights who hated him and whom the king had ordered to kill him. They also killed Pero Álvarez, the Dean of Santiago, a man of great learning and wisdom. The king was watching from the top of the church while all this was done.

Speaking again in that same palace, with everybody gathered there as usual, the aforesaid great doctor began by declaring: