35 - Advice which the King of Castile took as to whether or not to go into battle

Summary

The King of Castile was far from well, having already suffered from the ague for days, and it is said that it was so the day he was expecting to have the battle. Weak as he was, they took him from the litter in which he had travelled there, and he was leaning back propped up against one of his knights, when Pero López [de Ayala] and the others arrived, and was discussing with his advisers what tactics to adopt in the battle. Some said that they should attack the Portuguese at once, but others straight away rejected this. Nevertheless, they were making ready as effectively as they could. When the king saw Pero López and the others he was very pleased and asked for their opinion on the Portuguese battle formation. They said:

‘Sire, we told Nuno Álvares everything you told us to say, as well as all that we deemed to be in your service and best interests. However, his final reply was that the only relevant course of action was to place matters in God's hands and to test them on the field of battle. As for your question as to how your forces should proceed, our opinion is that, subject to correction on the part of Your Grace and of all the noblemen and great lords here present, you ought to proceed as follows: the day is already well advanced, and it will soon be evening; most of your troops have had nothing to eat or drink and are disgruntled with the heat and the long march; besides, many of the foot soldiers and crossbowmen haven't even arrived yet, because they’re accompanying the baggage carts and the army's mule train. Moreover, in our opinion, though the vanguard of your battle formation is worthily and nobly disposed, the two wings, where many valiant knights are to be found, from what we can see of their deployment, will benefit you little, because they have two valleys ahead of them which they cannot cross, either to hold back the enemy or to go and help the vanguard.

But that account was a trick to deceive those in ignorance, for there are no valleys or hills in the area which could have provided any hindrance to them. It is all open heathland, capable of containing ten armies of such magnitude.