Once the Master had been installed in his royal eminence, invested with his lofty undertaking, and accepted by everyone as their liege lord, he at once appointed his household officials and those officers necessary for other matters throughout the realm. Apart from Nuno Álvares, who was made Constable [of Portugal] and chief steward, the following were installed in office: Álvaro Pereira as marshal of the army; Gil Vasques da Cunha as standard-bearer; João Fernandes Pacheco as chief of the royal guard; Rui Mendes de Vasconcelos as chief bailiff of the province of the Minho; Nuno Viegas the Younger as chief bailiff of the province of Trás-os-Montes; Afonso Furtado as captain general of the fleet; Estêvão Vasques Filipe as commander-in-chief of the crossbowmen; João Rodrigues de Sá as head chamberlain; João Gomes da Silva as chief cup-bearer; Pero Lourenço de Távora as master of the great wardrobe; Lourenço Eanes Fogaça, who was away in England, as chancellor of the great seal, with Doctor João das Regras acting in his name; Gonçalo Peres his clerk of the crown in chancery; Afonso Martins, who had been the Abbot of Pombeiro, as private secretary to the king; João Gil and Martim da Maia as comptrollers of finance; Lourenço Martins, who had been governor of Leiria, as chief treasurer; Fernando Álvares de Almeida as comptroller of the finances of the royal household (the king also made him commander of Juromenha, an office held till then by Fernão Rodrigues de Sequeira, and made him a knight of the Order of Avis, while Fernão Rodrigues was promoted to the rank of grand commander); similarly, other officials were appointed throughout the realm in accordance with the king's view as to what was required. As for the mastership [of the Order of Avis], he retained that for himself.

We shall have a few things to relate about the Cortes which were then held – the first to be summoned by the king – particularly because certain enquirers would like to know what was requested of their liege lord in that assembly by the people of the nation who had so recently chosen him as their king, and how keen he was to reward them for their excellent service to him.