Chapter 149 - Concerning the plague that raged among the Castilians, and concerning certain captains who died of it

Summary

It is superfluous to strive to praise the many valiant soldiers that the King of Castile had with him when he was moved to enter Portugal. For, certainly, you may be assured that the House of Castile was at that time one of the noblest houses in the world, a house of many fine gentlemen, great lords and noblemen, as well as knights and squires well mounted and furnished with arms, and with other lesser troops, including a great number of crossbowmen and foot soldiers.

After the king entered the kingdom and as he was advancing towards Lisbon, lodging in villages 2 or 3 leagues away, a few people of lesser rank in the encampment began to die of the plague. When some worthy knight or squire happened to die, his men took him to Sintra or Alenquer, or to some of the other places that supported Castile. There, they opened and salted their corpses and placed them on catafalques in the open air, or burned them and kept the bones, to take them later to their place of origin. For this reason, the king moved from one village to another with his troops until his fleet arrived, when he launched himself upon the city as has already been said. With his siege in place, many deaths began to occur in the fleet, and also among those in the siege camp, so that both the one and the other were deeply perturbed. They repeatedly advised the king to leave there for the moment: then he would have the opportunity to come and surround the city any time he wished. But he rejected their good reasons and was very much inclined not to raise the siege, whatever might happen. He well knew that the city was severely short of provisions and that it could not be long before it became unable to resist and he could take it at will.

Now it is true that, among all the things in which we see Divine power most resplendent, it is in those that, being desperate in every aspect, He brings to an advantageous result when it pleases Him.