71 - How King Enrique entered Portugal, and the message he received from the papal legate
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
Summary
King Enrique departed from Zamora and journeyed without a pause, with such men as could follow him, until he entered Portugal. He hastened in this way, without waiting longer for anyone, in order to hasten his men’s preparations to join him. His departure took place in mid-September, in the aforementioned year of 1372. When he arrived at the frontier between the kingdoms, he waited there for his men and seized the following towns: Almeida, Pinhel, Linhares, Celorico, and the city of Viseu, which was quite easy for him to take, as it was a town without a wall.
While the king was in that area, Prince Dinis, the brother of King Fernando, went to meet him, as he had agreed with Diogo Lopes when he came to Portugal. King Enrique welcomed him and entertained him lavishly. Before the king left there, he learned that Guy de Boulogne, cardinal and papal legate, had arrived in Castile to discuss an accord and peace treaty between him and the King of Portugal. Moreover, the king received a letter from the cardinal, in which he was informed of the reason for his coming to his country. He also asked the king if he wanted him to come and see him where the king was staying, or what he would prefer him to do. The king sent his reply, in which he asked him to go to the town of Guadalajara, where the queen and his sons the princes were staying, and that he, God willing, would very quickly complete what was to be done in Portugal, and would then return to Castile and speak with him.
The cardinal, having read his letter, realized that the king wished to continue his war, and therefore had sent him this message to put off seeing him until later. Thinking about this, he concluded that since the Pope had sent him to establish peace and good terms between the two kings, it was not fitting for him to delay in this matter; instead, he should make every effort to meet the King of Castile, before the war could become more intense. Thus, he decided to leave Ciudad Rodrigo to go and speak with the king wherever he might be.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Chronicles of Fernão LopesVolume 2. The Chronicle of King Fernando of Portugal, pp. 126 - 127Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2023