English Troops in Portugal in 1381, according to Fernao Lopes

In 1380, an ambassador of King Fernando of Portugal made an agreement with the Earl of Cambridge where the latter would provide 2,000 soldiers to help the Portuguese in their war with Castile. The English troops arrived the following year, but when John of Gaunt failed to arrive with reinforcements, the English troops were left with little to do. They sent word to King Fernando that if he did not fight they would begin by themselves and if he did not pay them, they would help themselves. Eventually, the English troops were sent home without having to fight the Castilians, but in the meantime they seemed to have caused many problems for their allies. The following extract is from the Chronicles of Fernao Lopes, who was the keeper of the Portuguese royal archives from 1418 to 1454. He composed his chronicle in the 1430s, and is one of the best sources for the history of Portugal in the later middle ages.

Collection: Texts

Project: 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.

Chronology: XIV

Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20060622094250/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/lopes.htm

Resource type: Document

Format: Texts

Source: The Chronicles of Fernao Lopes and Gomes Eannes de Zurara

Language: English

Owner: Porto group (Modernalia)

Abstract: Fernandine Wars