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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 December 2023
After the people of the city had been restored to calm, and likewise the men of the fleet, Rui Pereira told the city dwellers that they should all gather together, for he wished to inform them of several things that the Master had sent him to say. The next day, a Friday, they all assembled to hear the message he brought, which he, having first shown a letter of credentials, began to deliver as follows: ‘Gentlemen, friends, the Master, our ruler and defender, wishes you all good health and praises your loyalty. He says to you that you well know how all this kingdom is currently in turmoil caused by differing political objectives, and how the Castilians wish to subjugate it and obtain it for themselves with all their might, which God will never grant them. You also know that for the good of the kingdom and its defence, he took on the responsibility of being its ruler and defender, as there is no other [liege lord] to stand and defend and protect it, and that he offers himself in its defence, to the extent of putting his body and life at risk of death. Moreover, you know well that the King of Castile is now very close to the city [of Lisbon] with all his men and might, intending to lay siege to it; they are raiding and laying waste that entire district which they already claim as their own, waiting until the fleet arrives so that they can then encircle the whole city by sea and land. Therefore he implores you as good and loyal Portuguese, and as people who have always shown loyalty to the House of Portugal, that you agree to the immediate fitting out of the naos and barges that are here in this city.
‘Likewise, he asks that you have the galleys launched and fitted out at once, so that they, along with these others that have recently come from Lisbon, can all go to do battle with the Castilian fleet when it arrives. We trust in God and in the Virgin Mary His mother that He will help us against them, and He will enable us to gain such a victory as will be to the great honour and advantage of the kingdom, and service to our lord the Master, and redound to the good name of all of us.
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