We have already mentioned on a number of occasions how King Pedro, before he died, strove greatly to send supplies to Carmona and fortify it as much as possible, through fear of finding himself in danger and having to seek refuge there, but we have not explained why he sent supplies to the town and fortified it more than any other place in his kingdom. Therefore, lest it be considered a gap in our account, we shall narrate it in the manner in which some authors have set it down, stating that King Pedro made great efforts to seek certainty from his astrologers about what the future held for him. This certainty he sought not only from the scholars of his own country, but he also sent a message to Granada to ask the Moor Ibn al-Khatib, the great sage and philosopher, to write down the truth about what could befall him. It is said that from these men he learned that he would be besieged in a town which possessed a tower called ‘Estrella’. As there is a tower of this name in Carmona, he concluded that this was indeed the town in question. Even though it is a strong tower, he consequently made every effort to send it supplies and to fortify it as much as possible. There he installed his treasure and his children, as we have already mentioned.

When King Enrique laid siege to Montiel, King Pedro learned that there was also a tower in that town called ‘Estrella’ and was greatly annoyed at this. For this and other reasons of which you have heard, he took steps to leave Montiel, as we have already described.

King Enrique went to attack the town of Carmona with many companies and, having pitched his camp outside it, laid siege to part of it, for it could not be completely surrounded. He had a siege tower built, and at night the town ramparts were scaled by forty armed men who had been chosen for this purpose. On hearing the noise, the town's defenders rushed in strength to the spot and fought with them to the point where numbers of them were forced to jump back down from the ramparts much against their will; others, having seized a tower, could make no further progress, and were forcibly captured. Martín López arrived and had them all killed: there were no survivors.