Each man put his prisoner to death, and those who would not had them killed before their eyes. The
Portuguese and
English who had given this advice said,
"It is better to kill than be killed. If we do not slay them they will escape whilst we are busy defending ourselves in combat, and then they will kill us. A man may never trust his enemy."
Those who met their end in such sorry circumstances included the
lord of Lignac,
Sir Pierre de Ker, the
lord of Lespès named Sir Jean, the
lord of Bernech, the
lord of Bordes,
Sir Bertrand de Barège, the
lord of Morlanne,
Sir Raymond d'Arzac,
Sir Jean Assolegie,
Sir Menaud de Serremia,
Sir Pierre de Sarabiere,
Sir Etienne de Valentin,
Sir Raimon de Coarraze,
Sir Pierre de Marquefave and a good three hundred squires from
Béarn, and of the
French:
Sir Jean de Rye,
Sir Geoffroi Richon,
Sir Geoffroi de Parthenay and several others. This was a most unfortunate affair, for that Saturday evening they slew good prisoners who together could have brought them four hundred thousand francs.
SHF 3-42 sync
Third Book, Chapter 21 [1388-(1385)]
How the king of Castile and all of his great host were defeated by the king of Portugal outside the hamlet of Aljubarrota.
When the
Lisbonners,
English and
Portuguese had delivered the place and put all of their prisoners to death, no man was spared unless he had previously been taken to the village of
Aljubarrota where all their wagons and beasts of burden stood. They gathered together with a will, stationing themselves to guard the narrow, defended position they had created earlier when the vanguard had attacked them.
At that hour the sun was beginning to set and the
king of Castile advanced with his great force arrayed. With banners unfurled and all of his men mounted on armoured horses and shouting "
Castile!", they entered the fortified position. There they were received with lance and axe, and the first volley of arrows seriously wounded their horses so that many of them were killed and thrown into panic in the encounter. The
king of Castile and his men knew nothing at this stage of the great misfortune that had befallen the vanguard, nor that the
Frenchmen were dead, but thought they had all been taken prisoner. They were intent on their rescue, but as you have heard, it was too late for that.
The battle there was fierce and violent, with many men thrown to the ground. Yet the
Portuguese did not have the upper hand, but were compelled to fight bravely and fiercely, otherwise they would have been defeated. The principal cause of their salvation was that it was impossible to approach them save through the narrow opening. The
king of Portugal dismounted there, took up his battle-axe and entered the fortified position, performing wondrous feats of arms and striking down three or four of the most renowned, so that he was feared by all. His men did not allow their enemies to get close, nor did these last dare to, for fear of the great blows the
king was landing on them from all sides.
I will tell you a little of the
Spaniards' character.
pb 241 v