 The Castilian forces set about pillaging, burning, and terrorising the villages of Lower Navarre, a tactic the Castilian commander tried to justify in his letters.The Church appears to have approved of the subjugation of the Navarrese population.The Castilians demanded the submission of all the lords in Lower Navarre ("Ultrapuertos, Deça-Ports"), while the Duke of Alba ordered the pulling down of all the tower houses in the territory.