11 - Concerning the discussions that King Pedro held with the prince about the capture of the prisoners

Summary

On the Monday, the king and the prince left the battlefield for the city of Burgos, somewhat dissatisfied for two reasons. The first was because on the day of the battle the king had slain Íñigo López de Orozco by his own hand, after he had been captured by a Gascon knight, who complained to the prince that the king had caused him to lose his prisoner and brought dishonour upon him. The prince told the king that it indeed seemed that he was unwilling to keep to the agreement which he had made with him, because he had already begun breaking one of its main clauses, which was that he should not kill any man of rank without the man first being put on trial. To this, the king made the best excuses that he could.

The second reason was that on the Sunday after the battle, King Pedro asked the prince to have all the Castilian knights and squires of rank handed over to him at reasonable prices, which the prince would owe to those who were holding them; he, the king, would undertake to pay to the prince the final amount. He added that if he held such men, he would talk to them in such a way that they would go over to his side. King Pedro was most insistent on this point, claiming that if they were released in any other way they would always act against him.

The prince asserted that this was not a reasonable request, as the prisoners belonged to those who held them, and they were of such mettle as not to hand over any of their prisoners for even 1,000 times what they were worth; indeed, they would immediately think that he was buying them in order to kill them. Therefore, the king should not pursue this matter any further, as it could never be brought about.

King Pedro replied that if matters were to proceed in this manner, then he realized that the prince had not helped him, that he had more fully lost his kingdom now than previously and that he had spent his wealth in vain.