A number of historians have written in praise of King Pedro [of Portugal], relating that he reigned in peace throughout his lifetime and that it was not in vain that fortune saw fit to guide his reign, at its beginning, middle, and end, through peace and unbroken calm. When he came to power on the death of his father, King Afonso, he found the kingdom free of any dissension likely to lead to conflict with any king, whether of Spain or of some more distant land. In addition, when he became king, he immediately sent Aires Gomes da Silva and Gonçalo Eanes de Beja to his nephew, the King of Castile, with a message, and a nobleman by the name of Fernán López de Estúñiga, representing the king, travelled from Castile to see King Pedro. It was duly agreed that the two kings would be true and loyal friends, and their mutual friendship was signed and sealed at that time.

A year later, when King Pedro was in Évora, a group of messengers arrived from the King of Castile, namely Don Samuel Leví, his chief treasurer, along with García Gutiérrez Tello, the chief magistrate of Seville, and Gómez Fernández de Soria, the governor of that city; these men negotiated a more binding truce between the two kings than the previous one.

On this occasion it was also decided that Prince Fernando, the eldest son of the King of Portugal and heir to the throne, was to marry Princess Beatriz, the daughter of the King of Castile, and that their betrothal should be carried out by their proctors between the middle of the coming February and the last day of March; then the marriage would take place on the last day of April. Moreover, as his daughter's dowry, the King of Castile should give the same amount of money as King Afonso of Portugal had given his daughter Maria when she married his father, King Alfonso. The King of Portugal was to give Princess Beatriz, as dowry and bond, the same amount of money that his father, King Afonso, had given Princess Constanza when she was married to him.