Chapter 14 - How King Pedro of Portugal made João Afonso Telo a count and dubbed him a knight, and the great feast that he gave for him

Summary

We consider that there were three matters to which King Pedro of Portugal devoted most of his time. Those were justice and the affairs of the realm, hunting both large and small game, which he relished, and dancing and feasting as practised in those days, in which he took very great pleasure to an extent difficult to imagine today. These dances of his were performed to the music of long trumpets which were played at that time; indeed, he had no liking whatsoever for other instruments, even if available. If somebody ever did want to play another instrument for him, he soon got tired of it, declared that the devil should take it, and sent for the trumpeters again.

Let us now set aside our description of the games and festivities that the king ordered to pass the time and to which he devoted himself night and day in endless dancing. Consider, however, just how pleasurable it would be: he was wont to sail across from Almada to Lisbon in small boats, and the citizens and all the craftsmen came out to greet him, dancing and tumbling as was the custom then. He then left the boats, came ashore and danced with them all the way to the palace.

Consider indeed the pleasure he took when one night he lay in bed in Lisbon, unable to sleep: he roused all the servants and all those who were sleeping in the palace and sent for João Mateus and Lourenço Palos, ordering them to bring their silver trumpets. He had torches lit and set off with all the others [from the palace], dancing through the city. Wrested from their sleep, people went to their windows to see what kind of festivity it could all be and why. When they saw the king dancing, they were delighted to see him so happy. The king spent most of the night in this fashion, then danced back to the palace, requested wine and fruit, and lay down to sleep.

Without talking further about these amusements, we come to when the king ordered that João Afonso Telo be made a count and dubbed a knight: he was the brother of Martim Afonso Telo and received from the king the greatest honour in a celebration that up to that time had never before been vouchsafed by any king to any subject.