The day before the King of Castile arrived at Badajoz, that is, on 30 July [1382], the English went out of their camp and reached Caia, across the border from Badajoz, to see the field where the battle was to take place. While they were there in Caia, they told King Fernando that people from the Castilian side were fighting with the English. When he heard this, he immediately left Elvas with all his troops, but when he arrived he found it was nothing at all and returned to the town. The next day, when the King of Castile arrived at Badajoz, as we have said, his men pitched a tent there in Caia.

People came to tell King Fernando how the Castilians were pitching their tents and organizing their formations in order to fight, but it was not so. The king and the earl immediately departed with all their men and went to Caia, and the Castilians, when they saw them coming, struck camp and returned to Badajoz. Then the Portuguese cut off the toes of their shoes, which at that time used to be worn very long, and laid them all together, so that it was comical to see such a pile of toes. At that time, those who did not wear long-toed shoes were taken for Jews or clergy.

The king had a good 6,000 lances among his troops, along with the English forces, as well as many crossbowmen and foot soldiers, so that each king had sufficient men of his own in order to fight. They then drew up their battle order thus: the Earl of Cambridge was in the vanguard, and King Fernando in the rearguard, with their wings placed appropriately. With their formations in position and waiting for battle, the king began to create knights, English as well as Portuguese. Among those awarded the honour of knighthood from his hand were ‘the Canon’ [Robersart] and other Englishmen. Of the Portuguese, there were Count Gonçalo, Fernão Gonçalves de Sousa, Fernão Gonçalves de Meira and Gonçalo Viegas de Ataíde, as well as some twenty-four squires of noble birth.

The king had already created some knights when he was told that he could not do so, since he was not himself a knight. For, although a king, he could not dub knights since he was not one.