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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 December 2023
After the Master had besieged Alenquer for some days, Count Pedro arrived, the brother of the aforesaid Alfonso Enríquez who had died there. He had stayed in Oporto with a hand injury when the fleet had left, as we have related. He brought a few men with him, and the Master received him very well and made him feel welcome.
At this point the town began to lack water because a paved conduit that was under construction did not reach far enough up the hill to channel the water [from a nearby spring] for people to collect, and although it was wintertime it did not rain enough to be of any use. Aware of the mines that were being dug and the great trebuchet they were setting up to launch stones at them, and aware also that the Master had sent to Lisbon for supplies, Vasco Peres understood that he intended to continue this siege.
Therefore Vasco Peres and his father-in-law, Gonçalo Tenreiro, sent a message informing the Master about a settlement by which they agreed to the following terms: Vasco Peres would expel the men-at-arms and crossbowmen from Castile who were present and who were to go to Santarém with all their possessions; he would declare for the Master and serve him in war and peace; and, if Queen Leonor who had given him that castle [to guard] should return to the kingdom under her own free will without the company of Castilians, in order to help defend the kingdom, he would hand it over to her so that he would not lose face.
They made this agreement on 10 December in the Monastery of São Francisco where the Master was staying; this took place at night by torchlight with many of those who were in Alenquer in attendance. It was laid down in the agreement that the Master would leave men-at-arms there to guard the town, those whom Vasco Peres wished to choose. Having done homage to the Master, Vasco Peres chose, to stay with him, Rui Cravo, Gonçalo Gonçalves Borges, Fernão Gonçalves da Ameixoeira and others who were his companions and friends. The Master left there and went to besiege Torres Vedras, having spent six weeks besieging Alenquer.
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