Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Before Aljubarrota
- Chapter 2 Fighting a Battle in the Middle Ages
- Chapter 3 The Decision to Fight at Aljubarrota
- Chapter 4 The Decisive Battle
- Chapter 5 Casualties and the Aftermath
- Chapter 6 Contemporary Memory and Myth-Making
- Chapter 7 The Legacy for Later Memories
- Chapter 8 The Battle of Aljubarrota Interpretation Centres
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 5 - Casualties and the Aftermath
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Before Aljubarrota
- Chapter 2 Fighting a Battle in the Middle Ages
- Chapter 3 The Decision to Fight at Aljubarrota
- Chapter 4 The Decisive Battle
- Chapter 5 Casualties and the Aftermath
- Chapter 6 Contemporary Memory and Myth-Making
- Chapter 7 The Legacy for Later Memories
- Chapter 8 The Battle of Aljubarrota Interpretation Centres
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
THE PORTUGUESE ARMY remained in its fortified position on the battlefield for three days (according to royal letters issued on those days). On August 17, they headed to Alcobaça, around fifteen kilometres to the southwest. When they crossed the Chiqueda bridge, they found the bodies of many more Castilians that had tried to escape the battlefield. This slaughter was due to the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Alcobaça (D. João de Ornelas) and his men, who were loyal to the Portuguese king. Indeed, on the day of the battle, they had sent pack-horses laden with bread and wine to the Constable to help sustain the troops during their long wait in the sun.
López de Ayala confirmed that many good gentlemen and knights died at São Jorge. He provides a list of twenty names, including noblemen, the adelantado mayor, the admiral, the two marshals, and the mayordomo mayor of Castile, in addition to “many other knights from Castile and Leon.”1 Ayala also mentions the death of some of the Portuguese that were with Juan I (such as the Master of Calatrava, brother of Nuno Álvares Pereira), and some French allies (such as Jean de Rye). The Castilian chancellor remains silent regarding deaths on the Portuguese side (which is suggestive) and confesses that, despite the disproportionate number of Castilian dead, the only reason more were not slaughtered was that many managed to flee with the Master of Alcântara's column or with king Juan I.
Fernão Lopes estimates the Castilian deaths at twenty-five hundred and presents a long list of names, including some Portuguese. He was also aware of the large number of commoners that had been killed in flight. As regards the Portuguese army, Lopes only records the deaths of thirty Portuguese foot soldiers that fled before the battle began, some men that fell during the attack on the Castilian king's dinner service, and the particular cases of Vasco Martins de Melo (killed in pursuit of Juan I), Martim Gil de Correixas, and the Anglo–Gascon leaders “Bernaldom Solla” and “Joham de Monferrara,” in addition to “other people of little account and foot soldiers, in total up to fifty.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Aljubarrota Battle and Its Contemporary Heritage , pp. 67 - 74Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020