sand cart-loads of
worked stone, besides that of which I speak of to your Highness, and
since there are no carts the men can bring nothing, even were they given
60 reis [about 3d.] a cartload there is no one to do carting....

' ... And if your Highness will give me these oxen I shall finish the
work very quickly, that when your Highness comes here you may find
something to see and have contentment of it.'

Later he again complains of transport difficulties, for the few carts
there were in the town were all being used by the Dom Prior; and in the
year when he retired, 1551, he writes in despair asking the king for 'a
very strong edict [Alvara] that no one of any condition whatever might
be excused, because in this place those who have something of their own
are excused by favour, and the poor men do service, which to them seems
a great aggravation and oppression. May your Highness believe that I
write this as a desperate man, since I cannot serve as I desire, and may
this provision be sent to the magistrate and judge that they may have it
executed by their officer, since the mayor [Alcaide] here is always away
and never in his place.'[153]

These letters make it possible to understand how buildings in those days
took such a long time to finish, and how Joao de Castilho--though it was
at least begun in 1545--was able to do so little to the Claustro dos
Filippes in the following six years.

The last letter also seems to show that some at least of the labour was
forced.

Leaving the Claustro dos Filippes for the present, we must return to
Batalha for a little, and then mention some buildings in which the early
renaissance details recall some of the work at Thomar.

[Sidenote: Batalha.]

The younger Fernandes had died in 1528, leaving the Capellas Imperfeitas
very much in the state in which they still remain. Though so much more
interested in his monastery at Thomar, Dom Joao ordered Joao de Castilho
to go on with the chapels, and in 1533 the loggia over the great
entrance door had been finished. Beautiful though it is it did not
please the king, and is not in harmony with the older work, and so
nothing more was done.

In place of the large Manoelino window, which was begun on all the other
seven sides, Joao de Castilho here built two renaissance arches, each of
two orders, of which the broader springs from the square pilasters and
the narrower from candelabrum shafts. In front there run up to the
cornice three be