Portuguese conquest of Ceuta
A Portuguese fleet led by King John I captured Ceuta, a Marinid port on the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar — Portugal’s first overseas conquest and the beginning of the Portuguese empire.
- Date
- 21 August 1415exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Ceutatoday: Ceuta, Spain · Africa
- Participants
- John I of Portugal, Henry the Navigator, Nuno Álvares Pereira, Kingdom of Portugal, Marinid Sultanate
- Threads
- History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Conquista de Ceuta; Битва при Сеуте
The expedition was prepared in secret for years: about 200 ships were assembled, and its true target was announced to the army only at Lagos. The princes Edward, Peter and Henry, eager to win their knighthood in battle, were its keenest supporters; Queen Philippa died of plague just before the fleet sailed. On 21 August 1415 the Portuguese landed, Henry among the first, and took the city by evening; the Marinid governor Salah ben Salah fled.
The main mosque was consecrated as a cathedral, and the princes were knighted in it. Ceuta, one of the outlets of the Saharan gold trade, was kept with a garrison of 2,700 men under Pedro de Meneses, which repulsed a Marinid siege in 1419; it became a base for further campaigns in Morocco and for voyages along the African coast. After the Restoration of 1640 Ceuta stayed with Spain and was formally ceded to it in 1668.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Battle of Aljubarrota14 August 1385 · Western and Central Europethe Aviz dynasty, secured at Aljubarrota, turned the energies of the nobility overseas after peace with Castile in 1411
Consequences
- Discovery and settlement of Madeirabetween 1418 and 1419 – 1425 · AfricaCeuta opened Portugal’s overseas expansion; Zarco, who fought there, soon led Prince Henry’s ships to Madeira
Related events
- Battle of Alcácer Quibir4 August 1578 · Africathe Moroccan ventures begun at Ceuta ended in disaster at Alcácer Quibir
Same participants
- Treaty of Windsor9 May 1386 · Western and Central Europevia John I of Portugal
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Latin America
- Construction of Machu Picchubetween 1420 and 1450
- Reign of Pachacuti — birth of the Inca Empire1438–1471
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Portuguese conquest of Ceuta
- Wikipedia (Russian): Битва при Сеуте (1415)
- Russell P. E. Prince Henry ‘the Navigator’: A Life. — New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
- Newitt M. A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400–1668. — London: Routledge, 2005.
- Wikidata: Q2888296