Chapter 5 - How the death of Count Juan Fernández was brought about, and who was the first to raise the matter

Summary

Sometimes great deeds tend to begin with people, through whom common folk could never imagine them to be possible. Hence it came to pass that in Lisbon there was a citizen named Álvaro Pais, an honourable and wealthy man, who had been King Pedro's chancellor of the great seal and afterwards King Fernando’s. While Álvaro Pais was living in the royal household, he began to suffer greatly from gout and, therefore, begged the king to favour someone else with that office and to provide for him to retire and take up residence in Lisbon, where he already had houses and a settled place in which to dwell.

However, his discomfort was not as great as the huge vexation welling up in his heart at the king's dishonour which was brought about by the queen’s ill repute. The king duly provided for him to retire and reside honourably in Lisbon. At the request of Álvaro Pais, the king commanded the city councillors to do nothing without the agreement of Álvaro Pais, and for that reason they sometimes went to his house to seek his advice as to how they should proceed, when, owing to his infirmity, he was unable to be present in their council chamber.

Nature, which obliges men to resort to the qualities with which they were born, bore down so much on Álvaro Pais that, as he could not lose his rancour and hatred for the dishonour which had been brought upon the king his liege lord, he wanted nothing more than to see Count Juan Fernández killed, given that he had not been killed while King Fernando was alive.