142 - Concerning some of the arguments that the King of Castile put forward with regard to the Cortes he had summoned

Summary

After these things we have related, came the year of 1390, in which the King of Castile summoned Cortes in the town of Guadalajara, to which the important men of the kingdom and the proctors of all the cities and towns were to come, as in fact they did. While the king was at those Cortes, some of those who talked of the matter were critical and said that the treaty he had made had been worked out with little honour to him, especially in yielding so many places he had in Portugal, in exchange for two that had been taken from him, as well as other such arguments. The king replied publicly to what was being talked of in private, saying: ‘Regarding this treaty that I have made, even though some say that it was not done in pursuit of my honour nor of that of the House of Castile, because I have given back to my adversary so many places and he so few to me, it seems that they understand it poorly and do not have full knowledge of it. For I say to you that, to keep those places, I was incurring such expense and feeling such aggravation that, had they asked me for them in exchange for nothing and had it not been for the shame, I would rather have given them to him gratis than incur the kind of expense I have been incurring till now. Besides, I was induced to do what I did because I saw my people so troubled by this war, with such losses and in so many ways; it was not only the nobles and my vassals, but also all the people, who gave such large tributes as they did in order to support the war; also, there was the continuing dearth of good captains and men-at-arms. But I hope in God that once the period of the truce is over, I shall wage war again for my honour and that of the kingdom. This is why I have summoned these Cortes, in order to notify everybody of my intention in this matter. I have said it already to everyone in the Cortes and I say it now in public.’