Everyone was prepared and showed their enthusiasm for this venture. When Saturday morning came many trumpets sounded throughout the army, the
king heard mass in the castle and then drank, as did all of his men, and they mounted their horses and marched into the fields in disciplined formation with
Sir Arnaud Limousin, marshal of the army, right at the front. They sent out mounted scouts to observe their enemies' behaviour, where they could be found, and to determine what they thought their numbers might be. Two squires were sent by the
French, one a Burgundian and the other a Gascon. The Burgundian was called
Guillaume de Montdigy, from the company of
Jean de Ré, and the Gascon from
Béarn was
Bertrand de Barège. They were both knighted that day, and with them a castellan of Castile and fine man-at-arms named
Pero Fernández de Medina, who was mounted on a light jennet which had remarkable pace. Whilst these three messengers rode back and forth through the fields to reconnoitre the movements of the
Portuguese, the main army comprising a full two thousand lance, Gascon, Burgundian, French, Picard and Breton knights and squires, as well armed and equipped as any men-at-arms could be, and a good twenty thousand
Spaniards, all on horseback, rode forth at a steady pace, but had only gone the distance of a bowshot when they came to a halt. Elsewhere the
king of Portugal had sent out three mounted scouts to determine as clearly and precisely as could be managed the arrangement and disposition of the
Spanish. Two of them were
English, squires and able men-at-arms, one named
John Hartlebury and the other
Philip Barkeston, and with them a Portuguese soldier named
Ferrand de la Griose.
They were all well mounted and rode so far forward that from an outcrop which they had climbed, concealed among trees so that they could not be seen for the leaves, they could survey the whole of the Spanish army.
Afterwards the three aforementioned riders returned to the
king of Portugal and his council and found the whole army there in the fields. They gave a report of their expedition, saying,
"Lord king, we have travelled so far forward that we have thoroughly observed the positions of your enemies; you should know that they are very numerous and impressive, and there must be at least thirty thousand horses. Now consider this and act accordingly."
Then the
king asked, "Tell me, do they march as one unit?"
"No my lord, they are in two divisions."
The
king of Portugal then turned to his men and said aloud, "Take heed! There must be no weakness here. We shall certainly fight, for our enemies are on the march and eager to meet us, and they shall for we can neither flee nor turn back. A great many of us have left
Lisbon, so you must resolve to do well and not sell your lives cheaply. You made me king, today I will see if the
Portuguese crown is to remain mine in peace. You may be sure that I will not flee, but shall rather share with all of you whatever is to happen."
They replied, "God be with us, and we shall all stay with you."
Now
Norbury,
Hardreshull and some men more experienced in arms and who had seen the most battles were summoned.
pb 237r