150 - How King Fernando and the English arrived at Elvas, and how the queen gave birth to a son there

Summary

After the queen brought about the release of the Master and Gonçalo Vasques in order to make it understood that she was not originally to blame, as you have heard, she arranged for a son of Gonçalo Vasques, called Álvaro Gonçalves, to be married to a daughter of Juan Fernández de Andeiro, called Doña Sancha de Andeiro. She thought that such a marriage would silence Gonçalo Vasques in respect of her actions and bind him to her party.

At this point, the king gave orders for everyone to move further towards Castile. He wrote to the earl, requesting him to leave Vila Viçosa, which he did on the last day of June, a Monday, with his wife and people, and set up his camp by the River Guadiana, near Juromenha. The king and queen departed from Estremoz, where they already were, on the following Wednesday, with all their troops, and came to Borba. On the Friday, they reached Vila Boim. On Saturday, 6 July [1382], they proceeded to lodge at Elvas, where all of them later assembled. The king lodged higher up in the old town, and the earl in São Domingos. The king's host pitched camp in the orchards around the town, and the English in the olive groves on the Badajoz road, so that it was not long before they began to overrun each other's ground.

The queen, who was pregnant, gave birth to a son thirteen days after their arrival, at which the king showed much pleasure, as did those of the queen’s party, but after four days the child died. Out of respect for his death, all the nobles who accompanied the king put on capes of coarse woollen cloth in mourning, more to follow his wishes than because they believed it was his son, since many of them assumed that it was the child of Count Juan Fernández. They said that the ailing king had not slept with the queen for some time. Others, who gave greater rein to their tongues, said that for this reason the king had smothered the baby in its nurse's lap.

It is important that you should know that, at this time, and during this journey, two new offices were established in Portugal, which had not previously existed, those of constable and marshal.