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XI
. HENRY'S POLITICAL
LIFE. 1433-1441.
The Prince’s exile
from politics in his hermitage at Sagres could not be
absolutely unbroken. He was ready to come back to Court and to the battle field
when he was needed. So he appeared at the deathbed of his father in 1433 and of
his brother in 1438, at the siege of Tangier in 1437, and during the first
years of the Regency (1438-40) he helped to govern for his nephew, Edward's son Affonso. From 1436 till 1441 he did not seriously
turn his attention back to discovery.
What is chiefly
interesting in the story of these years is the half-religious reverence paid to
Henry by his brothers, by Cortés, and the whole people. He was above and beyond
his age, but not so much as to be beyond its understanding. He was not a leader
where there are no followers; he was one of the fortunate beings who are most
valued by those who have lived on the closest terms with them, by father and by
brothers.
It was believed
throughout the kingdom that King John's last words were “an encouragement to
the Infant to persevere in his right laudable purpose of spreading the
Christian faith in the lands of darkness”; whether true or not, at any rate it
was felt to fit the place and the man, and Henry’s brothers, Pedro and Edward,
took up loyally their father’s commission to keep peace at home and sailing
ships on the sea.
But the new reign
was short and full of trouble. King Edward had scarcely been crowned when the
scheme of an African war was revived by Don Ferdinand, the fourth of the Famous
Infants of the House of Aviz (1433). Ferdinand,
always a Crusader at heart, had refused a Cardinal's hat, that he might keep
his strength for killing the enemies of Christ, and in Henry he found a ready listener.
It was the Navigator, in fact, who planned and organised the scheme of campaign now pressed upon the King and the country. It was
perfectly natural that he should do so. The war of Ceuta had been of the first
importance to his work of discovery; it had been largely his own achievement,
and his wish to conquer Heathens and Saracens and to make good Christians of
them was hardly less strong than his natural bent for discovery and exploring
settlement. He now took up Ferdinand's suggestion, made of it a definite
project—for a storm of Tangier—and wrung a reluctant consent from Edward and
from Cortés. The chief hindrance was lack of money; even the popularity of the
Government could not prevent “sore grudging and murmuring among the people”.
Don Pedro himself was against the whole plan, and from respect to his wishes
the question was referred to the Pope. Are we to make war on the infidels or
no?
If the infidels in
question, answered the Curia, were in Christian land and used Christian
churches as mosques of Mohammed, or if they made incursions upon Christians,
though always returning to their own land, or if doing none of these things
they were idolaters or sinned against nature, the Princes of Portugal would do
right to levy war upon them. But this should be done with prudence and piety,
lest the people of Christ should suffer loss. Further, it was only just to tax
a Christian people for support of an infidel war, when the said war was of
necessity in defence of the kingdom. If the war was
voluntary, for the conquering of fresh lands from the Heathen, it could only be
waged at the King0s own cost.
But before this
answer arrived, the armament had been made ready, and things had gone too far
to draw back; the Queen was eager for the war, and had brought King Edward to a
more willing consent. So in the face of bad omens, an illness of Prince
Ferdinand0s, and the warning words of Don Pedro, the troops were put on board
ship, August 17, 1437. On August 22d they set sail, and on the 26th landed at
Ceuta, where Menezes still commanded. The European triumphs of 1415 and 1418
were still fresh in the memories of the Moors, and Don Henry was remembered as
their hero. So it was to him that the tribes of the Beni Hamed sent offers of
submission and tribute on the first news of the invasion. The Prince accepted
their presents of gold and silver, cattle and wood, and left them in peace
during the war, for the forces he had with him were barely sufficient for the
siege of Tangier. Out of fourteen thousand men levied in Portugal, only six
thousand answered the roll-call in Ceuta. A great number had shirked the
dangers of Africa; and the room on shipboard had in itself been absurdly
insufficient. The transports provided were just enough for the battalions that
actually crossed, and for a fresh supply they must be sent back to Lisbon. In
the council of war most were agreed upon this as the best thing on paper, but
the practical difficulties were so great that Henry decided not to wait for
reinforcements, but to push forward with the troops in hand.
The direct road to
Tangier by way of Ximera was now found impassable,
and it was determined to march the army round by Tetuan,
while the fleet was brought up along the coast. Ferdinand, who was still
suffering and unequal to the land journey, was to go by sea, while his elder
brother, as chief captain of the whole armament, undertook to force his way
along the inland routes. In this he was successful. In three days he came
before Tetuan, which opened its gates at once, and on
September 23d, without losing a single man, he appeared before Old Tangier,
where Ferdinand was already waiting his arrival.
A rumour was now spread that the Moors were flying from
Tangier as they had fled from Ceuta castle two and twenty years before, but Zala ben Zala, who commanded here
as he had done there, now knew better how to defend a town, with the desperate
courage of his Spanish foes. The attack instantly ordered by Henry on the gates
of Tangier was roughly repulsed, and for the next fortnight the losses of the
crusaders were so heavy that the siege was turned into a blockade. On September
30th, 10,000 horse and 90,000 foot came down from the upland to the coast for
the relief of Tangier. Henry promptly led his little army into the open and
ordered an attack, and the vast Moorish host which had taken up its station on
a hill within sight of the camp, not daring to accept the challenge, wavered,
broke, and rushed headlong to the mountains. But after three days they
reappeared in greater numbers and even ventured down into the plain. Again
Henry drove them back; again—next day—they returned; at last, after their force
had been swollen to 130,000 men, and by overwhelming numbers had compelled the
Christians to keep within their trenches, they threw themselves upon the
Portuguese outposts. After a desperate struggle they were repulsed and a sally
from the town was beaten back at the same time; the Europeans seemed ready to
meet any odds. With these victories, Henry was confident that Tangier must soon
fall; he ordered another escalade, but all his scaling ladders were burnt or
broken and many of his men crushed beneath the overhanging parts of the wall,
that were pushed down bodily upon the storming parties. In this final assault
of the 5th of October, two Moors were taken who told Henry of immense succours now coming up under the Kings of Fez, of Morocco,
and of Tafilet. They had with them, said the
captives, at least 100,000 horse; their infantry was beyond count. Sure enough;
on the 9th of October, the hills round Tangier seemed covered with the native
armies, and it became clear that the siege must be raised. All that was left
for Henry was to bring off his soldiers in safety. He tried his best. With
quiet energy he issued his orders for all contingents; the marines and seamen
were to embark at once; the artillery was given in charge of the Marshal of the
Kingdom; Almada, the Hercules of Portugal, was to draw up the foot in line of
battle; the Infant himself took his station with the cavalry on a small piece
of rising ground.
When the Moors
charged, they were well received. In spite of all their strength, one army
being held ready to take another's place, as men grew tired, the Portuguese
held their own. Henry had a horse killed under him; Cabral, his Master of
Horse, fell at his side with five and twenty of his men; the cowardice of one
regiment, who fled to the ships, almost ruined the defence;
but when night fell, the Moorish columns fell sullenly back and left the Infant
one more chance of flight and safety. It was the only hope, and even this was
lost through the desertion of a traitor. Martin Vieyra,
the apostate priest, once Henry's chaplain, now gave up to the enemy's generals
the whole plan of escape.
After a long
debate, it was determined, not to massacre the Christian army, but to take
sureties from them that Ceuta should be restored with all the Moorish captives
in the Prince0s hands. These terms were accepted, for it was soon known that
escape was hopeless.
But next morning a
large party of Moors, with more than the ordinary Moslem treachery, made a last
fierce attempt to surprise the camp. For eight hours, eight separate attacks
went on; when all had failed, the retreating Berbers tried to set fire to the
woodwork of the entrenchments. With the greatest trouble, Henry saved his
timbers, and under cover of night fortified a new and smaller camp close to the
shore. Food and water had both run short, and the besiegers, who were now
become the besieged, had to kill their horses and cook them, with saddles for
fuel. They were saved from a fatal drought by a lucky shower of rain, but their
ruin was only a matter of time, for it was hopeless to try an embarkation under
the walls of the city with all the hosts of Morocco waiting for the first
chance of a successful storm; but the losses of the native kings and chiefs had
been so great that they were ready to sign a written truce and to keep their
cut-throats to the terms of it.
On the 15th of
October, Don Henry, for the Portuguese, agreed that Ceuta, with all the Moorish
prisoners kept in guard by Menezes, should be given up and that no further
attack should be made by the King of Portugal on any side of Barbary for one
hundred years. The arms and baggage of the crusaders were to be surrendered at
once: directly this was done they were to embark, with none of the honours of war, and to sail back at once to Europe. Don
Ferdinand was left with twelve nobles as hostages for the treaty till Ceuta was
restored; on the other side Zala ben Zala0s eldest
son was all the security given. Even after this, a plot was laid to massacre
the "Christian dogs" as they passed through the streets of Tangier,
on their free passage to the harbour which the treaty
secured them. Henry got wind of this just in time, and instantly embarked his
men by boats from the shore outside the walls, but his rearguard was set upon
just as they were leaving the land and about sixty were killed.
It was a terrible
disaster. Although his losses were but some five hundred killed and disabled,
Henry was overcome with the disgrace. As he thought of his brother among the
Moors, he refused to show his face in Portugal and shut himself up in Ceuta.
Here, as he worried himself to find some means of saving Ferdinand, he fell
dangerously ill, till fresh hope came to him with the arrival of Don John, whom
Edward had sent to the help of his brothers with some reserves from Algarve.
Henry and John consulted about Ferdinand's ransom and at last offered their
chief hostage, Zala ben Zala0s boy, as an exchange
for the Infant. It was the only ransom, they told the Moors, that would ever be
thought of; Ceuta would never be surrendered.
Don John0s mission
was a failure, as might have been expected, and both the Princes were now
recalled to Portugal, where Henry steadily refused to go to Court, staying at Sagres in an almost complete retirement from his usual
interests, till King Edward's death forced him again into action. It was the
unavoidable shame of the only choice given to himself and the kingdom that paralysed his energy, and made him moody and helpless
through this time of inaction and disgrace.
Captive he saw his
brother, bright Fernand
The Saint,
aspiring high with purpose brave,
Who as a hostage
in the Saracen's hand
Betrayed himself
his 'leagured host to save.
Lest bought with
price of Ceita's potent town
To public welfare
be preferred his own.
The mere failure
to storm Tangier was brilliantly atoned for by the bravery of the army and the
repeated victories over immensely superior force. But now either Ceuta must be
exchanged for Ferdinand, or the youngest and favourite brother of the House of Aviz must be left to die
among the Berbers. Many, if not most of the Cortés, summoned in 1438 to Leiria
to discuss the ransom, were in favour of letting
Ceuta go; but all the chiefs of the Government, except the King himself,
"thought it not just to deliver a whole people to the fury of the infidels
for the liberty of one man." Even Henry at last agreed in this with Don
Pedro and Don John.
Edward was in
despair; he was willing to pay almost any price to recover Ferdinand, and in
hope of finding support he now appealed from his own royal house and his nobles
to the Pope, the cardinals, and the crowned heads of Europe. All agreed that a
Christian city must not be bartered even for a Christian Prince; Edward’s
offers of money and "perpetual peace" were scornfully rejected by the
Moors, who held to their bond “Ceuta or nothing”—and their wretched captive, treated
to all the filthy horrors of Mussulman imprisonment and slavery and torture,
died under his agony in the sixth year of his living death and the forty-first
of his age, 5th June, 1443.
Before this his
loss had dragged down to the same fate his eldest brother, King Edward, and but
for the inspiration of a great purpose, which again put meaning into his life,
Henry might have died of the same “illness of soul”. Every Portuguese burned to
revenge the Constant Prince; the Pope was called upon to approve a new crusade,
levies were made and vessels built, when the plague broke out with terrible
violence, and ravaged every class and every district as it had not since the
days of the Black Death. The King, seized by it in his misery and weakness and
bitter disappointment, fell a victim. The wreck of all his hopes left him with
hardly a wish to live, and on September 9, 1438, at the age of forty-seven, and
after a reign of five years, he died at Thomar, in
the act of breaking open a letter, but not before Henry had come to his side.
To the last he
kept on working for his people, and it was in the fatigue of travelling from
one plague-stricken town to another that he caught the pest. Among all the
kings of Christendom there was never a better, or nobler, or more luckless, an
Alfred with the fortune of “Unready” Ethelred.
By his last will
there was fresh trouble provided for Don Henry and Don Pedro and the Cortés.
His successor—the child Affonso V, now six years of
age—was strictly charged to rescue Ferdinand even at the price of Ceuta; this
was nothing to practical politics; but in naming his wife, Leonor of Aragon,
along with Don Pedro and Don Henry, as guardian of his children and regent of
the kingdom, he put power in the wrong place.
The Portuguese
were always intensely suspicious of foreign government, and after the age of
Leonora Telles they might well refuse a female
Regent. On the other side King Edward's Queen, who had won his absolute trust
as a wife and a mother, was not willing to stand aside for Pedro or for Henry.
She began to organise a party, and she worked on her
side, the nobles and the patriots counterworked on theirs. Don John was the
first of her husband's brothers to take his natural place as a leader of the
national opposition; Henry for a time seemed to waver between friendship and
loyalty; all who knew the Queen loved her, but the people hated the very notion
of a foreign female reign. Like John Knox they could not be fair to the
Monstrous Regiment of Women, and their voices grew clearer and clearer for Don
Pedro and his rights, real or supposed. The eldest of the young King's uncles,
the right-hand man of the State since his return from travel in 1428, he was
the proper guardian of the kingdom; Henry was a willing exile from most of
Court life, though his support was the greatest moral strength of any
government; John had begun the movement of discontent, but no one thought of
him before his brothers; while they lived his only part was in helping them on
their way.
Donna Leonor recognised her chief danger in Don Pedro, and tried to win
him over. When she summoned Cortés, she pressed him to sign the royal writs;
then she offered to betroth his daughter Isabel to her son; Pedro secured a
written promise, and waited for the opening of the National Assembly in 1439.
Here a fierce outcry was raised by a party of the nobles against the
marriage-settlement of their King, but Don Pedro was too strong to be put down.
He moved on by slow and steady intrigue towards the Regency he claimed. Henry
had now appeared as peacemaker, and in his brother's interests arranged a
compromise. The Queen was to keep the actual charge of her children, and to
train the little King for his duties; Pedro was to govern the state as
"Defender of the Kingdom and of the King"; the Count of Barcellos, soon to be Duke of Braganza, the leader of the
factious and fractious party, was to be bought off with the Administration of
the Justice of the Interior.
The Queen at first
struggled on against this dethronement; fortified herself in Alemquer, and sent for help from her old home in Aragon. At
this the mob rose in fury and only Henry was able to prevent a massacre and a
war that would have stopped the expansion of Portugal abroad for many a day. He
went straight to Alemquer (1439), talked Queen Leonor
into reason, and brought her back with him to Lisbon, where she introduced Affonso to his people and his Parliament. For another year
Henry stayed at Court, completing his work of settlement and reconciliation,
and towards the end of 1440 that work seemed fairly safe. The fear of civil war
was over; Don Pedro's government was well started; Henry could now go back to Sagres to his other work of discovery.
It was time to do
something on this side. For in the past five years scarcely any progress had
been made to Guinea and the Indies.
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