Chapter 181 - How the Master arrived in Coimbra and was welcomed by everyone in the city

Summary

The Master left Leiria and made his way to Coimbra without further delay; meanwhile Afonso, the brother of Dom Pedro de Castro, entered Leiria, to join García Rodríguez [Taborda].

Now, concerning the intentions the Master had, some writers are in disagreement and so here the lack of certainty gives rise to several assertions. Some write that the Master was going to the Cortes to decide whether or not he would take the title of king, this being a decision that he was required to make. Others say that his intention was no more than to govern and defend the realm until Prince João was released, so that he could then deliver it to him, and that this was the most honourable deed that any man could do and for which he would be greatly praised by all those who would learn of it.

Some of the writers also say that he ordered the assembly only for them to organise the prosecution of the war and how to provide for the expenses and all things necessary for it. Others state that all the [proctors of the] town communities were gathered there only to make him king, and that he was willing to accept that. Once this was achieved, then they would speak about the conduct of the war and matters related to it. This reason, as it appears to us, seems to be closer to the truth than the others. That is because, in the power of attorney document that Lopo Martins, at that time a magistrate in Lisbon, and João da Veiga, Afonso Gonçalves, Silvestre Esteves, Álvaro Gil, as well as many others from the city, had duly granted to Pedro Afonso Sardinha, the son of Afonso Eanes, and to Martim Lourenço, both of whom were Lisbon citizens, when they sent the two of them to these Cortes, they specifically used the following words and conferred the following powers, saying that, ‘on their behalf and in their name they could elevate and receive as king and liege lord of these realms the very noble lord Dom João, Master of the Chivalric Order of Avis; and pay him respect and allegiance as their king and liege lord; and receive from him the promise and pledge to keep and maintain their privileges, rights and customs’.