Portuguese forces under the command of King John I conquered the North African city of Ceuta from the Marinid Sultanate on 21 August 1415. The city's defenses fell under Portuguese control after a carefully prepared attack, and the successful capture of the city marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire. Ceuta remained under Portuguese control until it was transferred to Spain in 1668.
Background
Ceuta is a North African coastal city strategically located on the Strait of Gibraltar. In the early 15th century, the city featured rich trade with the Levant, Egypt, Libya, abundant tuna fishing stocks in its surrounding waters as well as coral, which constituted its main export industry, besides being also a notorious pirate haven, where Berber pirates sold their prey after raiding Iberian coasts and shipping. It had, however, to import grain for its sustenance. Ceuta's position opposite the straits of Gibraltar gave it control of one of the main outlets of the trans-African Sudanese gold trade; and it could enable Portugal to flank its most dangerous rival, Castile. It was defended by a composite system of walls, built and added to by various Islamics dynasties throughout the centuries, most recently the Marinids, and with a high number of gates which could prove difficult to defend. It included a strong citadel built by the Marinids. Yet by the 15th century Ceuta had markedly declined from what it had once been in the 13th century, as its population had since then shrunk, trade and intellectual life had withered and it several of its districts fell to semi-dereliction.
The political situation in the Maghreb fell to disorder shortly before the Portuguese conquest. Relations between the Marinids of Morocco and the Nasrids of Granada in southern Iberia were strained after Abu Said Uthman III had attempted to capture Gibraltar in 1411, and Yusuf III of Granada in response instigated a revolt in Morocco, by supporting a rival claimant to the throne. Fighting continued throughout 1412, ten cities were destroyed and Fez lost control of much northern Morocco. A new crisis occurred in 1414, as the neighbouring Kingdom of Tlemcen managed to briefly install Ahmad Ibn Abi Salim as governor of Ceuta, but he was ousted by Salah ben Salah, though Ibn Abi Salim still took the citys naval forces with him. An outbreak of plague also decimated Moroccan population about this time.
European landings in north Africa were not unheard-of. In 1270, king Louis IX landed an army in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. In 1390, Mahdia was attacked by a Franco-Genoese force in what became known as the Barbary Crusade. More successful than either, in 1399 the Castilians under Hugo de Mendoza sacked Tetouan, a known pirate haven.
After defeating a Castilian army that had invaded Portugal in 1385 at the Battle of Aljubarrota, the recently crowned King John I of Portugal signed a peace treaty with Castille, in 1411. With the end of hostilities, the king was then faced with a restless aristocracy with diminishing incomes and who depended on military service. Even before signing peace with its only neighbour, King John I had cast an eye at gaining Ceuta and began preparations as early as 1409. The chief promoter of the Ceuta expedition was João Afonso, royal overseer of finance. The children of King John, prince-heir Edward, prince Peter and Prince Henry (later nicknamed 'the Navigator') wished to be armed knights, and towards that objective king John had ordered various tournaments to take place in which the most renowned knights in the world were invited to join, but at the suggestion of the experienced knight João Afonso de Alenquer the princes were persuaded that it would be more honourable to win their spurs by proceeding to Ceuta. They eagerly supported the project and effectively lobbied in its favour, as the prospect of taking Ceuta offered them an opportunity to win wealth and glory.
Preparations for the conquest
Preparations for the conquest of Ceuta, such as the gathering of materials and money started years beforehand and carried out slowly, though the objective was kept a secret. No taxes were raised because such a course of action demanded a gathering of Cortes and it would risk leaking the objective of the projected expedition. Nor was currency debased. Loans were taken, foreign ships chartered, galleys repaired and new ones built, until 30 had been assembled by the admiral of Portugal Carlos Pesanha, and expenses closely controlled.
Prince Henry, later surnamed 'the Navigator' was tasked with organizing the recruitment of men in the provinces of Beira and Trás-os-Montes and assemble them in the city of Porto. Henry's brother Peter was tasked with enlisting in the southern provinces of Extremadura, Alentejo and Algarve, with the gathering point at Lisbon. Prince-heir Duarte handled paperwork and judicial matters, though he fell into depression.
Faux embassy to Sicily
In order to scout the defenses of Ceuta beforehand, King John nominated the Prior of Crato Dom Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo as ambassador to the then regent and heir of the Kingdom of Sicily Blanche of Navarre, but they were to stop at Ceuta to study its defenses. He was to take two galleys commanded by general-of-the-sea Afonso Furtado de Mendonça and officially propose to Blanche the marriage of Prince Peter, but stop at Ceuta to take in supplies. They stopped at Ceuta for four days, and measured the depth of the harbour. Having successfully reached Sicily and received a negative reply, as King John had anticipated, they headed back to Portugal, again stopping at Ceuta.
After returning to Portugal, Camelo was received by John I in a public audience to hear the result of the mission to Sicily, in which the king pretended to be disappointed. At the royal Palace of Sintra Dom Álvaro drew for King John and the princes in private a map of Ceuta and its surrounding geography with sand and thread.
Disclosure of the plan to the privy council
Only after he was in possession of these precise informations about Ceuta did King John then disclose his intentions to capture Ceuta to his wife Queen Philippa of Lancaster. The Queen initially disapproved of king Johns plan. He then sought the valued opinion of the experienced Constable of Portugal, the renowned general Nuno Álvares Pereira, though only three years later. By occasion of a hunting trip in Montemor-o-Novo later, the king then disclosed the project to Nuno Álvares Pereira, who approved it in earnest.
Finally, the King disclosed the project to the highest members of the Court, at Torres Novas, to where he summoned the Queen, the princes, the Constable Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, the royal chancellor João das Regras, the archbishop of Braga Dom Lourenço, the grandmaster of the Orders of Christ Dom Lopo Dias de Sousa, the grandmaster of the Portuguese order of Santiago Dom Fernando Afonso de Albuquerque, the grandmaster of Aviz Fernão Rodrigues de Sequeira, the prior of the Hospitallers Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo, the Marshal of Portugal Gonçalo Vasques Coutinho, lord Martim Afonso de Mello, and the royal ensign João Gomes da Silva. By order of the King, the Constable expressed his vote first, and as he voted in favor the rest of council then vote unanimously in favour too.
Faux embassy to Holland
The success of the project depended on its secrecy. The secretive nature of the expedition caused numerous theories to rise among Portuguese society as to its true objective, some speculating the King meant to undertake a Crusade to the Levant, others to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily, still others (correctly) guessing Ceuta. By that point, rumours of the preparations being carried out in Portugal against a secret objective spread throughout Europe. The residents of Ibiza and Sicily made preparations to resist a possible Portuguese attack, in which they incurred considerable expense. Some French wrote to King Ferdinand of Aragon expressing their suspicion that the Portuguese were preparing to participate in the Hundred Years War alongside the English, in France. Genoese reports implied that the objective of the expedition was an attack on Seville.
King John II of Castile, King Ferdinand I of Aragon and the emir of Granada Yusuf III all sent embassies to the Portuguese Court enquiring on the purpose of King John's preparations; the Castilian and Aragonese ambassadors were reassured that the purpose of the armada aimed neither Kingdom, but the ambassador of Granada was only given evasive answers. As a result, the Granadine embassador advised the emir to reinforce his defences.
In order to conceal the true objective of the expedition, John dispatched Fernão Fogaça as an ambassador to the Count of Holland William VI, with the official mission of publicly demanding from the Count a compensation over a number of abuses the Hollanders had supposedly carried out at sea against Portuguese mariners. The Count had in fact been informed by King John of the true purpose of this phony embassy beforehand, hence he entertained Fogaça with a public audience in which he offered such a rude reply that it might be understood as a declaration of war. As a result, rumour thus spread that King John was about to depart on an expedition to attack Holland. Under cover of this plot, the king openly chartered ships in Galicia, Biscay, England and Germany, with news spreading throughout Christendom that Portugal was about to invade Holland.
Final gathering in Lisbon
In the Spring of 1415, plague broke out in Lisbon, forcing the Court to relocate to the nearby town of Sacavém. On July 10, 1415, Prince Henry called at Lisbon with a fleet of 7 galleys and 20-26 transports bearing a numerous corps of well-equipped men. Among them was 90 year-old Aires Gonçalves de Figueiredo, who had fought in the Battle of River Salado and commanded a carrack.
The Portuguese fleet numbered about 200 ships of different kinds. It included 59 oarships, of which 15 were galleys, plus 33 carracks or cogs and 120 smaller vessels. It transported as many as 50,000 men, of which about 19,295 were soldiers. Of these, 5,385 men were part of the kings host, plus 9,000 infantry, presumably bearing spears or swords, 3,000 crossbowmen on foot and 1,900 mounted crossbowmen.
English, French and German mercenaries took part in the expedition. One German baron commanded 50 men of his household, while an Englishman by the name of Mondo (Mundy) commanded four ships.The expedition included among its ranks some of the most important persons in Portugal at the time besides the king, such as prince-heir Duarte, prince Peter, prince Henry, the Count of Barcelos Dom Afonso de Cascais, the Constable of Portugal Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira and his nephew Dom Álvaro Pereira, the Grandmaster of the Order of Christ Dom Lopo Dias de Sousa, the prior of the Knights Hospitaller Dom Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo, the Admiral Carlos Pessanha, the Count of Viana Dom Duarte de Meneses, the General of the Sea Afonso Furtado de Mendonça, the first Duke of Braganza Dom Afonso, the Marshal of Portugal Gonçalo Vascques Countinho and the Royal Ensign João Gomes da Silva, among others. All of the main noble houses in Portugal participated in the expedition, with the notable exception of the Lima family.
Shortly before their departure, Queen Phillippa fell ill from the plague. She died on July 19 1415 and her funeral took place the following day. The expedition was nearly called off, but King John decided to carry it through. A day of mourning was decreed, at the end of which Prince Henry commanded that all participants wear their best, the ships be decorated and trumpets be sounded with fanfare.
The grandmaster of the Order of Aviz was appointed to administer Portugal in the king's absence on July 23, and that day King John embarked on the royal galley. The fleet weighted anchor two days later on July 25 and departed from Lisbon, while the citizens and local inhabitants watched from the surrounding hills and beaches.
From Sacavém, the Aragonese spy Ruy Dias de Vega wrote a few days later to the King of Aragon Ferdinand I that the objective of the expedition was rumoured to be either Ceuta or Gibraltar.