49 - How the count left Lisbon for Aragon, and how he arrived there with all the treasure which he was taking along

Summary

Count João Afonso [Telo], as we have mentioned, was at that time King Fernando's principal privy counsellor, the one on whom he relied the most in respect of important matters, owing to his wisdom and discretion. He was then some sixty years of age. The king ordered him to proceed to Aragon in order to give momentum to his plans for the impending war and to bring back the princess. That is how we understand the situation, because, though some authors claim that the king sent only two galleys to Aragon, the truth is that seven galleys made the journey, for he ordered the galley Donzela and another five to be sent from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, as well as the Royal Galley, a large and beautiful vessel with vast and spacious staterooms.

The king commanded that the Royal Galley be very honourably decorated with his standard, many pennants, a pavilion and silken rigging, all in readiness for the journey the princess was due to make. To enhance their noble appearance, he also ordered the inlay of boars’ tusks along both sides of the walkway of the galley and required that all the oars and other parts of the vessel be splendidly painted. The oarsmen in the galleys were all uniformly decked out, whilst aboard the Royal Galley there travelled forty crossbowmen, who were quite young and men of recognized valour, all dressed in distinctive livery and wearing belts covered in black velvet with the king's coat of arms embroidered on them.

It certainly seems to be correct that the count had orders to bring back the princess at once, for the king ordered the withdrawal from the Treasury Tower, located in Lisbon's castle, of a crown of hinged gold plates, adorned with gems of immense value, several large seed-pearls in many places and a huge ruby set in claws of gold, surrounded by further large seed-pearls, not to mention the withdrawal of reliquaries, gold rings, cameos and other jewels of great price, as well as gowns, cote-hardies, kirtles and other items of ladies’ apparel, all of which were taken by the count aboard the galley on which he was to travel.

The king possessed other counsellors who were heavily involved in these arrangements and on whom he greatly relied, to wit, a Genoese named Master Baldassare di Spinola and Alfonso Fernández de Burgos.