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.

Let us say no more about this and return to the deeds of the kings. You heard earlier, when reading the chapter on the flight of King Enrique after he lost the battle of Nájera, how King Pedro and the Prince of Wales made an agreement of friendship with the King of Aragon to prevent King Enrique from finding shelter in his lands. For this reason, when King Enrique later prepared to return to Castile, the King of Aragon sent a message to tell him that he could not pass through his kingdom and that if he tried he would forcibly block his way. King Enrique was very unhappy about this, but he got through to Castile as we have described. From that time to this, we have not found any peace treaties signed by them; rather, it seems to us that they were always at odds.

In the year 1374, the Prince of Mallorca, who was the nephew of the King of Aragon, being the son of his sister, was then King of Naples by right of Queen Giovanna whom he had married. He fought Aragon over the kingdom of Mallorca which belonged to him after the death of King Jaume, its former king, who was removed from the throne by King Pere, then King of Aragon. King Enrique's grievance against the King of Aragon meant that he knew some of his men had entered parts of Aragon in order to help the King of Naples, but he did not blame them, saying that they did it through their own choice, not on his orders; from which it appears that he did not mean well towards the King of Aragon. King Fernando, on the other hand, accused the King of Aragon of unreasonable behaviour and of doing him harm till then, in spite of the fact that we have only found records of when the King of Aragon seized the gold, about which you have heard. Therefore, while King Enrique was in Seville he ordered Fernán Fernández Escobar to go to Portugal to sign a new treaty with King Fernando over and above the agreements contained in the peace treaties we have previously described.

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.

King Fernando was in Santarém awaiting news when he was told that the Castilian Master of Santiago wanted to invade his kingdom, as you have heard, believing what everyone thought, namely that those great lords and soldiers who were along the frontiers would confront him. With regard to this, some say that, when Master Fernando Osórez, who was a very noble knight, was to make that incursion, he sent word to all those who were officers of the marches in that district to be prepared, because he wanted to enter the country on a certain day; and that they all gathered to discuss it, some saying they should challenge him in battle, whilst others agreed not to do so. At this point, he entered in the manner we have recounted.

When the king heard that the Master of Santiago had made an incursion and that his men were charging through the land plundering it, he was greatly aggrieved that they had been allowed to enter in that way, but he was confident that on the way back the Portuguese would attack them. When he found out that the master had returned safely with so much booty from his land, he was greatly perturbed and ordered all the great lords and knights who were on that frontier to join forces and go to Badajoz to fight Master Fernando Osórez. He also sent Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo, his trusted counsellor, to go and accompany them in that task. Rumour had it that he was sending him as captain over all of them and that they should follow his orders; but this was gossip and untrue, because it was neither right nor appropriate that a man such as he, however good and great he might be, should be charged with the captaincy of such great lords and noblemen as were there. However, those who believed the rumour circulating on this matter got very angry. Nonetheless, on Sunday, 7 July, all the officers of the marches gathered together in Vila Viçosa, and Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo with them. In all, there were some 1,000 worthy lances and many archers and foot soldiers.

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.

We have not found anything worthy of recounting about what the Portuguese officers of the marches might have done while the masters [of Santiago and Alcántara] entered Portugal except perhaps that Count Álvaro Pérez de Castro, who was in Elvas as officer of the marches, ordered a raid to be made on Badajoz. He spoke to Gil Fernandes, who lived in Elvas and whom we mentioned in our account of the war against King Enrique, beseeching him to accompany him and not to leave him, and Gil Fernandes so promised him.

Then they made ready and rushed towards the town. The mounted raiders went ahead, and the count remained behind in ambush with Gil Fernandes and some of the armed men. The city was well supplied with defenders, many of whom charged out at the Portuguese and put them in great danger. When Gil Fernandes saw them advancing like that, he at once addressed the count, ‘My lord, we must not allow the harm that our horsemen are suffering. Let’s rush to help them instead, before more harm is done.’

Slowly the count began to go about it, but Gil Fernandes mounted immediately with twenty horsemen who wanted to follow him, and told a squire called Gil Vasques Barbudo, with whom he had had rash words in the presence of the count, ‘Come here, Gil Vasques, for I now want to see how men are different from women.’

When the count saw this, he said to Gil Fernandes, ‘It looks as if you do not quite remember what you promised me. You did say you would not leave me.’

‘My lord,’ he replied, ‘this is not the time to hold on to such a promise, for we can see that our men are having a rough time and we are just watching.’ Then he departed at all speed and reached the horsemen, urging them on as much as he could. They all fought in such a way that they made the Castilians turn back against their will, forcing them to ford the Guadiana. Quite a lot of them were wounded during the crossing; the Portuguese drove them back inside through the gates of the town and then returned to Elvas.

After the Thursday when her daughter was received by King Juan and taken to Badajoz, as we have related, Queen Leonor remained in Elvas for eleven days. On the morning of 30 May, which was a Tuesday, she left the town with a large escort, as when she had arrived there, although she sent many nobles back to their own lands. She went to dine in Borba that day and stayed overnight. In the course of the journey, the Master of Avis led her mount by the rein. They spoke of a number of things, and she asked the Master, ‘Tell me, brother, what do you think of the King of Castile, and the way he has acted and behaved?’

‘He seems to me to be a worthy knight,’ said the Master, ‘with good manners and prudent in his actions.’

‘You are right, brother,’ she said, ‘but I have to admit that I wish he was more manly.’

The queen moved on and went to Almada, where she already knew that King Fernando was staying, and that his health had deteriorated since she had left him. Indeed, whilst she was taking her daughter to Elvas, the king, whose condition was becoming increasingly worse, had ordered that he be taken from Salvaterra to Almada; he did not go out any more or ride his horse. When the queen returned from the marriage ceremony, the people who had travelled with her left immediately and returned to their own lands, except for the Count of Ourém, Count Gonçalo, Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo and a number of others who lived there.

In the agreements signed by the kings when this marriage took place, it was decided that other oaths and pledges should be made by certain towns and cities, as well as by prelates and noblemen of Castile, before King Juan left for Elvas to receive his wife, in addition to the ones which were made in Badajoz when the king gave his approval to the treaties, which we have already mentioned. This was to be done in the Cortes that King Juan was going to summon. Therefore, King Fernando immediately decided to send his proctor to Castile, so that he could receive the oaths and pledges of allegiance in his own name and that of the queen, his wife.

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.

When King Enrique saw this letter, he received the herald well and gave him lengths of cloth of gold and doblas. He took advice as to how he should reply to the prince, because some were saying that, as he had not addressed him as a king, he should write back to him in an uncustomary manner. But they then agreed to write to him courteously, and the letter read as follows:

The count and Gonçalo Vasques reached Elvas and told the King of Portugal all that had taken place with the King of Castile. The king laughed and said that he thought all that had been pretence, to show that the King of Castile was conceding such things against his will, since they did not do him much honour. Straight away, that day, he ordered the peace to be proclaimed. When the English heard it proclaimed, they could not have been more angry, laid their bascinets on the ground and hacked at them with maces, saying that the king had betrayed and deceived them, causing them to come from their country to fight his enemies, and now he was making peace with them against their will.

When the Earl of Cambridge heard peace proclaimed, he said in a rage that, if the king had negotiated peace with the Castilians, he, the earl, had not, and that, if he had his troops assembled, as when he had first arrived in Lisbon, notwithstanding the king ordering peace to be proclaimed, he would join battle with the King of Castile. At this, so many arguments flared up again that some people spoke out improperly against the king, to which Pero Lourenço de Távora responded as was befitting.

The king told him that he should take no notice of their arguments nor should there be any brawling, telling them that he would make sure they were satisfied and send them back to their country as honourably as they came. He did so afterwards, but not for everybody, since a large number of them had died in this kingdom. Then it was arranged for the hostages to be delivered from one side to the other, as was set out in the treaty.

On the part of Portugal, six hostages were delivered to Castile: a daughter of the Count of Barcelos; a daughter of Count Dom Gonçalo, called Dona Inês, who was later married to João Fernandes Pacheco; another daughter of Count Enrique [Manuel], called Dona Branca, who was later married to Rui Vasques Coutinho, the son of Beatriz Gonçalves de Moura and Vasco Fernandes Coutinho; Martinho, the son of Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo; Vasco, the son of João Gonçalves Teixeira; and, lastly, a son of Álvaro Gonçalves de Moura, called Lopo.

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: