Conquest of Ceuta

Panel of azulejos by Jorge Colaço (1864-1942) at the São Bento railway station, depicting Prince Henry the Navigator during the conquest of Ceuta

Date	21 August 1415
Location	Ceuta, Africa (In modern day Spain)
Result	Conquest of Ceuta by Portugal. Beginning of the Portuguese Empire

Belligerents

Kingdom of Portugal

Marinid Empire

Commanders and leaders

John I of Portugal
Henry the Navigator (WIA)

Governor Ben Salah

Strength

45,000 men

Unknown

Casualties and losses

8 men killed

Several thousands killed or taken prisoners
1 cannon captured

The conquest of Ceuta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈθeuta]) by the Portuguese on 21 August 1415 marks an important step in the beginning of the Portuguese Empire in Africa. The conquest also marks a starting point on European colonization, which would last for five more centuries.

Ceuta had served as a staging ground in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711, but it was destroyed in 740 and only rebuilt in the 9th century, passing to the Caliphate of Córdoba in the 10th century. In the subsequent centuries it remained under the rule of the Almoravids and Almohades as well as various Andalusian Taifas. Prior to its capture by the Portuguese, Ceuta had seen a period of political instability in previous decades, under competing interests from the Marinid Empire and the Kingdom of Granada.

The chief promoter of the Ceuta expedition was João Afonso, royal overseer of finance. 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.

The attack on Ceuta also offered the younger nobility an opportunity to win wealth and glory. On the morning of 21 August 1415, John I of Portugal led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault on Ceuta. The battle itself was almost anti-climactic, because the 45,000 men who traveled on 200 Portuguese ships caught the defenders of Ceuta off guard. By nightfall the town was captured. John's son Henry distinguished himself in the battle, being wounded during the conquest. The looting of the city proved to be less profitable than expected for John I; he ultimately decided to keep the city, in order to pursue further enterprises in the area.

Under King John's son, Duarte, the colony at Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury. Trans-Sahara caravans journeyed instead to Tangier. It was soon realised that without the city of Tangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437, Duarte's brothers Henry and Ferdinand persuaded him to launch an attack on the Marinid sultanate. The resulting attack on Tangier, led by Henry, was a debacle. In the resulting treaty, Henry promised to deliver Ceuta back to the Marinids in return for allowing the Portuguese army to depart unmolested.

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Wikipedia