124 - How the galleys of Portugal went out to seek those of Castile, and how they were found in the harbour of Saltes

Summary

As we have mentioned above, at the beginning of this war each one of the kings set about building up a fleet of galleys, each one as many as it was then possible to arm. The King of Castile armed seventeen in Seville and the King of Portugal twenty-one in Lisbon, besides a galliot and a further four naos that went with them. As there were insufficient oarsmen for the galliots that King Fernando was arming, the king ordered many prisoners from other parts of the realm to be brought for that purpose. They were brought roped together and were handed over to the galley quartermasters. This way, they were soon equipped, although everyone thought it was quite wrong to take farmers and other poor people and put them in the galleys in this manner. However, it was done as ordered by the king, and they were prepared with all that was necessary.

The admiral of this fleet was Count João Afonso Telo, the queen's brother, and with him went fifty men-at-arms on the galley known as the Royal Galley. Gonçalo Tenreiro went as captain on another galley, very well fitted out, and as shipmasters, one for each galley, went Estêvão Vaz Filipe, Gonçalo Vasques de Melo, Aires Peres de Camões, Grand Commander João Álvares, who was Nuno Álvares's brother, Afonso Esteves de Azambuja, Afonso Eanes das Leis, Gil Esteves Fariseu, Rui Freire de Andrade, Álvaro Soares, Fernão de Meira and others we shall not mention.

Having been made ready with everything that was needed, the galleys and the naos departed from Restelo on 11 June. They reached the Algarve, on the Portuguese coast, where they searched for the Castilian galleys, which they knew full well had been at sea for some time.

The captain in charge of the galleys that had been armed in Seville was Fernán Sánchez de Tovar, who made his way with them to the Algarve. However, news reached him that the Portuguese galleys were heading in that direction. Although he was a most honourable and courageous knight, he was nevertheless fearful, and rightly so, of the additional five galleys and four naos that the Portuguese had with them. Consequently, he did not wish to wait there and turned back.