164 - How the King of Castile approved the pacts before he received his wife, the princess

Summary

With the King of Castile being in Badajoz and Queen Leonor in Elvas, it was fitting that the agreements should first be signed by him before he received the princess as his wife, so the Master of Santiago and a number of Portuguese nobles set out for Badajoz, where the king was staying, so that they could see him give his approval to the arrangements which had been made by his proctor.

Then, on Wednesday, 13 May, while the King of Castile was in the cathedral of that city, in the presence of many Castilian and Portuguese noblemen, and while Don Fernando, the Bishop of Badajoz, wearing his pontifical vestments, held aloft the Holy Body of Christ on a paten, all the matters concerning the marriage and the conditions pertaining to the inheritance of the kingdom, which had been signed by the archbishop as well as by King Fernando, were displayed and read out word by word.

When everything had been read out, the King of Castile responded, declaring that everything that the archbishop had arranged had his approval and consent; moreover, that he had previously seen and given full consideration to each and every one of those matters, and had received lengthy advice on all of them. Then he approved them all, pledging to abide by them and not act against them in any way. Indeed, in order to lend greater validity and importance to his vows, he made a solemn promise on the Holy Body of Christ, which he touched, as the bishop held it in his hands, vowing that he would carry out all the things approved by his proctor, precisely as they were stated, without any trickery or deception, and that he would never act against them, either partially or completely, for his own benefit or that of any other person, in public or in private.

Then, many nobles who were present swore on the Holy Body of Christ, which they touched, and vowed solemnly that their liege lord, the king, would abide honourably and faithfully by everything contained in the agreements.