There were at least one hundred and forty who eagerly accepted the order of knighthood. Many barons of
Béarn first unfurled their banners that day, and several from
Castile, as did
Sir Jean de Rye also. Among these new knights great nobility, alertness and joviality could be seen, and they conducted themselves so graciously that it was a pleasure to behold them. They made a fine, large battalion. Then the
lord of Lignac came before the
king, along with others, from whatever their land of origin, since they were not
Spaniards and not from that country; they were known only as foreigners. They said to the
king, collectively, and in particular the most notable among them, fully armed save for their bassinets,
"Lord king, we have come to serve you willingly and from distant lands. Grant us the honour of forming the vanguard."
"I grant you this," said the
king, "in the name of God, St James and my lord St George, and may they be with your army."
Then the
Spaniards whispered to one another, "Look, for God's sake, look how our
king has complete confidence in these
Frenchmen! He does not trust anyone else. They already have and will have the first place in the battle, and value us so little that they do not call on us to join them.
They are going their own way, and so we must go ours. By God, we will leave them to fight by themselves. Have they not already boasted that they are strong enough to defeat the
Portuguese? So be it then, we are content, but we should ask the
king whether he wishes to remain with us or to go off with the
Frenchmen."
They stayed murmuring together for a long time to decide if they would ask the
king or keep silent about it, for they had a healthy fear of what
Sir Arnaud Limousin might say. Nevertheless, all things considered they did not see any harm in asking. So six of the most distinguished among them approached his person. They bowed to him and asked this.
"Most noble king, we understand from what we have seen that today we shall have battle with our enemies. God grant you honour and victory, as we fervently desire it, but we should dearly love to know wherein your pleasure lies, whether it be to remain with us who are loyal subjects, or with the
French."
"Fair sirs", responded the king, "Although I have granted the battle to the knights and squires of
France who have come to serve me and are valiant man of good counsel and of goodly heart, I do not renounce you on their account, but wish to remain with you, and you shall have your share in defending me."
The
Spaniards were overjoyed with this response and very contented. Thus the
king of Spain stayed with his people, the
Spaniards, who numbered a good twenty thousand armoured horsemen, and
Sir Arnaud Limousin was in the vanguard.
pb 239 v