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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
On King Pedro's side, the army was drawn up as follows: all of his troops were to fight on foot. In the vanguard was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the prince's brother; with him were Sir John Chandos, who was the prince's Constable of Guyenne, Sir Robert Knollys, Sir Hugh Calveley, Sir Olivier (the Lord of Clisson) and many other knights from England, altogether 3,000 men-at-arms who were valiant and experienced in warfare.
On the right wing were the Count of Armagnac and the Lord of Albret and his kinsmen, along with the Lord of Rauzan and other knights from Guyenne who were followers of the Count of Foix, as well as many captains of companies, some 2,000 men-at-arms in all. In the rear were King Pedro, the King of Naples, the Prince of Wales and the banner of the King of Navarre, plus 300 of his men-at-arms and about 1000 English lances. In total, they numbered 10,000 men-at-arms and just as many archers.
These men-at-arms were at that time the very flower of the world's chivalry, for there was peace between France and England; for that reason, the whole duchy of Guyenne supported the Prince of Wales, and therefore he was accompanied by all the valiant men of the duchy. So too did the men of Armagnac, the men of the county of Foix, all the knights and great lords of Brittany and all the chivalry of England. King Pedro was accompanied by some 800 Castilian men-at-arms. Thus, each side's battle-lines were drawn up in readiness for the day on which battle would take place.
King Enrique then left the place where he had been and headed for the area where King Pedro was, pitching camp on a ridge overlooking Álava, where the forces of King Pedro could not fight his troops owing to the strength of their position. The English were greatly heartened by this, because they saw that King Enrique had camped on the ridge and was not going down into the plain, where they were ready to do battle with him. When King Enrique discovered that many of the prince's forces were dispersing across the plain to forage for food, he sent down some of his captains with their companies, and, finding them scattered about as they foraged, they succeeded in capturing them all.
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