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58 - How the battle between the count and the Castilians was fought, and how the Master of Santiago was killed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

Amélia P. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Juliet Perkins
Affiliation:
King's College London
Philip Krummrich
Affiliation:
Morehead State University, Kentucky
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Summary

After this it was not long before the count completed his devotions. He rose sharply to his feet and with a cheerful countenance, greatly emboldened by Almighty God. With a face both joyous and full of daring, he rejoined his men, who, on seeing him, were immensely encouraged. At once he called for his gallant and proven lieutenant and said, ‘Diogo Gil, my friend, can you see those flags on the top of that hill, as well as another that's even higher, which, I suppose, belongs to the Master of Santiago?’

‘Yes, my lord, I can’, he replied.

‘Off you go, then, with this one belonging to me and plant it next to his!’

‘With the greatest pleasure, my lord’, he said. Then the count looked round at all his men, with a mature and venturesome expression on his face, saying, ‘Now, my friends, forward, all of you, at full speed!’

All of them then headed up the slope into battle, eager to reach where those great lords were posted, and those who formerly put up so much resistance, to their regret were now forced to yield to them. As they climbed up in this way, many Castilians headed down towards the count, among whom, as the gallant knight he was, there came towards him Pero Muñiz, the Master of Santiago, accompanied by many foot soldiers and horsemen. The master did this because he saw that, of all the great lords who till then kept on surrounding the count, not one of them dared to attack him. The count and all his men were fighting on foot and willingly received their onset, and, since they were so few and the Castilians so many, the master pressed them hard.

The battle was nobly fought by both sides, but the Portuguese forced the Castilian troops to break ranks in such a way that the master realised that his men were anxious to flee. While, as a valiant captain, he was extricating himself from the conflict, his horse was killed under him; he too at once fell dead. His head was swiftly cut off and later taken to Portugal. Many of his troops were also killed there alongside him, as were numbers of Portuguese, though their losses were very few. The hill was seized by force, with all the enemy retreating before the Portuguese troops and scurrying away as best they could.

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The Chronicles of Fernão Lopes
Volume 4. The Chronicle of King João i of Portugal, Part II
, pp. 158 - 160
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2023

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