Portuguese gallantry in the baron of Alvito’s reply

April 3, 2014

Knights by Gustav Adolf Closs

The king of Portugal sent the baron of Alvito on a diplomatic mission to the Emperor Charles V, King of Spain.

The baron entered Castile accompanied by a glittering retinue of eighteen knights. At one point, a Castilian who was astonished at the number of knights asked them:

—    “Do you gentlemen intend to conquer Castile?”

—    “Had I come for that I would have brought fewer Portuguese,” answered the baron proudly.

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José  Hermano Saraiva, Ditos portugueses dignos de memória (Sintra: Europa-América, 1997).

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 373

 

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