Chapter 170 - How the Master of the Order of Christ was captured and taken to Santarém

Summary

In this same season, in the month of November, when we said that the Master had gone to besiege Alenquer, the Master of the Order of Christ, Dom Lopo Dias de Sousa, departed from the town of Tomar. With him went Dom Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo, who called himself Prior of the Order of the Hospitallers, Rodrigo Álvares Pereira, who was the brother of Nuno Álvares, and others. He went to lay siege to Torres Novas, taking around 100 lances, as well as foot soldiers and crossbowmen, and he brought along a small siege engine which he ordered to be used to fire on the town, battering it every so often but causing little harm.

Alfonso López de Tejada, who had been left as governor of the town, defended it as best he could. As there followed a period of days under siege, he began to run out of water and fish so that every day they ate meat and expected to suffer worse.

Diego Gómez Sarmiento was in Santarém and became aware of the shortage of provisions in Torres Novas. He ordered a raid to be made in that direction in order to kill two birds with one stone: to take some victuals to the town, if it were possible to get them in through the postern gate, and to try as hard as he could to lift the siege. With this aim the raiders left Santarém at midnight with 200 horsemen, both men-at-arms and light horsemen. They travelled the 5 leagues that lay between the two towns, reaching Torres Novas as the sun rose.

When the Master of the Order of Christ, who knew nothing of this, suddenly saw them so close to him, he assembled all the men he had there and prepared them to fight. Seeing them to be so few, the Castilians also summoned up the courage to fight them. The master was defeated and taken prisoner, and with Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo and others was taken to Santarém. They thus lay there until the Battle [of Aljubarrota] was won, as you will hear later.