115 - How the messengers of the King of Castile came to speak to the duke and reached several agreements

Summary

In view of the time the duke spent in Castile with the King of Portugal and all that had happened to him up to this point, it is now fitting that we should relate how such an important matter turned out and how he emerged from it, since we promised to recount this. Since, however, several things intervened in this period which should not be forgotten, it is right that we should tell them up to the time when he left the kingdom for England.

It is important for you to know, then, that the King of Portugal, once he was back in his kingdom, ordered the constable to go to the Alentejo to attend to the defence of the region and other necessary matters. The king, according to the vow he had made before he invaded Castile, set out at once on foot for the Church of Santa Maria da Oliveira, which was about 30 leagues away, in the town of Guimarães, in order to complete his pilgrimage.

The duke decided, meanwhile, to go to Coimbra to see his daughter. While he was in the town of Trancoso, which lay 9 leagues from there, envoys arrived from the King of Castile to discuss with the duke certain agreements by which they might put an end to their contention. For the common rumour was that the duke was surely going to gather more men to invade Spain once more. The King of Castile was very much displeased at this, especially because the duke had the King of Portugal to aid him. Therefore, he sent to ask of the duke what he had already previously proposed to him, namely, if it pleased the duke to marry his daughter Lady Catalina with Prince Enrique, his son, the heir to the kingdom of Castile, he would give to the duke, to his wife and to the Princess whatever was reasonable, both in towns and in money.

Speaking of these matters, the two sides easily agreed regarding the marriage, but as to the other things that the duke requested they strongly disagreed.

Finally, however, an agreement was reached about the marriage terms. The King of Castile should give as dowry to his future daughter-in-law the city of Soria and the towns of Almazán, Atienza, Deza and Molina, and to her mother, the duchess, Guadalajara, Medina del Campo and Olmedo during her lifetime.