74 - How the count ordered a squire to be burnt for stealing a chalice from a church, and how Afonso Peres was taken prisoner

Summary

In the incursion into Castile which the king now made, he divided his troops up into three sections. In his own contingent he retained those who suited him best, whereas he sent the constable forward with his vanguard. As for Martim Vasques, Gonçalo Vasques and others, they were to form the third section elsewhere, since envy led them to be at odds with the count. Before the count left, Martim Vasques and Gonçalo Vasques advanced with their troops to capture Hinojosa [de Duero] and San Felices [de los Gallegos], two small villages on their route that had weak fortifications and poor defences. This they did in order to gain the honour for their capture before the count arrived. First they seized Hinojosa, which was a very small village. Then they went further ahead, intending to capture San Felices, though it proved not so easy to seize; the villagers, however, realising they would be unable to defend themselves against such a large force, declared that they preferred to surrender the place to the constable. After the Master of the Order of Christ and Martim Vasques and all the others had set up camp, the count arrived, and the village surrendered to him. Thus both villages were captured, looted and left bereft.

However, we do not intend to make much of certain arguments, alleged by other writers, between these nobles and the count, for no great commotion took place. Departing from there, the count headed for Fuenteguinaldo, which is located just within the limits of the area pertaining to Ciudad Rodrigo, and there he stayed for some three days. While he was there, he was informed that a squire, Gonçalo Gil de Veiros by name, had stolen a chalice from a church, for which the count at once had him arrested. After a careful investigation had established the truth, for the constable was greatly astonished that anyone could steal anything from a church, he gave orders for the squire to be burnt. When once the firewood had been piled up and the fire lit, all the captains and knights in the army went to the constable and begged him not to put the squire to death, but the count was unwilling to agree. However, they pressed him so hard that he gave way to them against his will. Instead, he expelled him from his contingent, and thus the squire escaped.