114 - How the 2,000 lances that had been promised by the King of France to aid him reached the King of Castile

Summary

With the king and the duke back in Portugal, before you hear more of this matter that we are recounting, it is fitting to speak of the 2,000 lances whom the King of Castile was expecting to come to his aid. It is not that we have nothing else to tell or add to the historical record, but rather, since we took a message to France and brought back the answer you have seen, it is only reasonable that you should wish to know about the fulfilment of that promise.

So it was that when the king and the duke had left their campaign of conquest and returned to Portugal, the King of Castile received word that the Duke of Bourbon, the uncle of the King of France, his mother's brother, was coming to his aid as the captain of the 2,000 lances he was expecting, and that they were on the outskirts of Logroño, travelling as fast as they could to arrive in his kingdom. The duke arrived ahead of those troops, and the king made him very welcome. Consulting with him as to how they would conduct the war, certain French captains and many of the Castilians said that it was a good idea for the king to invade Portugal and go to do battle with the duke [of Lancaster] and the Master who called himself king. Others who were displeased by this expressed grave doubts about finding food that would suffice for so many men.

Now although some historians do not speak at much length of this, the truth of the matter was this. The King of Castile was very short of money after paying the wages of his vassals and his own men as well as the foreign troops. Thus, not knowing how to remedy the problem, he ordered some (such as the Count of Longueville, who was in Villalpando, and whom the king had no means of paying) to take provisions at will, without making payment for them. He did so, and the entire town was plundered. Therefore, the king told those captains from France who were there that he thanked them very much for the trouble and labour they had endured in his service, having come from such a distant land to serve him.