All rejoiced greatly at this. The town was richly decorated for the
king's arrival and the streets strewn with fresh rushes and herbs. The
king entered at Vespers and lodged in the castle called the
Lion, and his men lodged in the town, as many as could, the majority installing themselves in the fields and surrounding villages. The
king stayed there for at least a month, and the situation remained as it was. Those who had invested the most in it found that they had come out of it the worst.
SHF 3-33 sync
Third Book, Chapter 19 [1388-(1385)]
Regarding the marvellous and lamentable battle which took place at Aljubarrota between the king of Castile and the king of Portugal.
Whilst the
king was residing at
Santarém, the
Gascons of
Béarn arrived with a fine company of men-at-arms.
Sir Arnaud Limousin rode out to meet them and received them very graciously, as he knew the right way to go about it, and led the companions to the
king who was delighted to see them arrived. He ordered
Sir Arnaud to ensure they were comfortably lodged, for that is what he wished. This was done to their entire satisfaction. The situation remained as it was, the
king staying at
Santarém with his men around him there.
King Juan of Castile had then four thousand men-at-arms and thirty thousand other men in the fields. One day he called the barons of
France to him to hear their advice as to how he should proceed in this war, because he had remained outside
Lisbon for a long time and at great expense, and had achieved nothing there. And I firmly believe that had the
Gascons not arrived there, who were of such great encouragement to the
king, he would have left
Santarém and withdrawn to
Burgos or into
Galicia, for his men were growing tired of waiting so long in the fields.
When these knights from
France and
Béarn came before the
king, he spoke, saying,
"Dear Sirs, you are all men well practiced and accomplished in war. I would, therefore, have your advice on how I should proceed against the
Lisbonners and the
Portuguese. They have kept me in the fields for close on a year already, yet I have done nothing to them. I hoped to draw them out of
Lisbon to a suitable place to fight them, but they had no desire to comply. At present my people are advising me to give every man leave to return to his own home. Now, what do you say to this?"
The knights of
France and
Béarn who had just joined the
king's army were eager for battle. They had as yet done nothing, but wished to earn the wages they had received and so replied,
"Sire, you are a powerful man with great lands, and it costs you little to support your people, especially when they are in their own country. Had they been in a foreign land and short of provisions, we would not suggest that they should have refrained from giving you such advice, for the suffering and adversity in such a case would have been incomparably greater, but we can see that they are very much at their ease here, and almost as if they were at home. We say, therefore, not by any means as definitive counsel, for you are wise enough with your great prudence to choose the best option, to remain in the field, for you could easily do so until Michaelmas. It may yet happen that your enemies will come forth into the field just when you least expect them to. If they do this they will undoubtedly find a fight. We are very keen to see them, since our journey to this country has taken a considerable toll on ourselves and our horses.
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