53 - How the count made preparations for the incursion into Castile and how he went about it

Summary

This incursion which the count launched into Castile has not been overlooked by the historians, but what persuaded him to do so immediately, with the victory in that mighty battle still so fresh and tender in men's eyes, is something about which they disagree. That is because some say that the king, considering that the Castilian fleet would already have left its anchorage off Lisbon, gave orders that the count and Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo, the Prior of the Order of the Hospitallers, and other accompanying knights, along with some 800 lances and 6,000 foot soldiers, should conduct this incursion into Castile. However, we should in no way approve of this viewpoint, because it is unbelievable that at this time the king would pile even more work on the count after the long period in which he had been so busy. Others relate that, since he was the officer of the marches for that region [the Alentejo], the king dispatched him there, and that, while the count was in Évora, he learned that a number of Castilians had furtively entered the country as a raiding party, as a result of which he decided to rectify matters, and that this was the reason for his incursion.

We, however, believe that a truer explanation was another objective that he is reported to have had, when they say that the count, being a man of wisdom and preparedness, an expert in the art of war, recognised the great turmoil and confusion in which the King of Castile and people of his realm found themselves at that time. He recognised that, for as long as their anguish at that great defeat lasted, some through having experienced it and others by hearsay, and for as long as they continued to be sadly disheartened and heedless about such a thing [as he intended], then he could meanwhile effect an incursion, much to his own honour, to the service of the realm and also to the benefit of his men. We believe that, when he left for Évora after taking his leave of the king, he went there with this immediate objective.