Editing Ceuta (section)

===Portuguese===
[[File:Porto April 2019-7.jpg|thumb|right|Representation of [[Henry the Navigator|Prince Henry the Navigator]] during the [[Conquest of Ceuta]] in [[Azulejo|''azulejos'']] at the [[São Bento railway station]]]]
[[File:Septa (Ceuta) ca 1572.jpg|thumb|right|1572 depiction of Ceuta]]
[[File:Ceuta fortifications.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Royal Walls of Ceuta]], built from 962 to the 18th century, and navigable moats]]
On the morning of 21 August 1415, King [[John I of Portugal]] led his sons and their assembled forces in a surprise assault that would come to be known as the [[Conquest of Ceuta]]. The battle was almost anticlimactic, because the 45,000 men who traveled on 200 Portuguese ships caught the defenders of Ceuta off guard and suffered only eight casualties. By nightfall the town was captured. On the morning of 22 August, Ceuta was in Portuguese hands. [[Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches]] was asked to hoist what was to become the [[flag of Ceuta]], which is identical to the [[flag of Lisbon]], but in which the coat of arms derived from that of the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] was added to the center; the original Portuguese flag and [[coat of arms]] of Ceuta remained unchanged, and the modern-day Ceuta flag features the configuration of the [[Flag of Portugal#Portuguese shield|Portuguese shield]].

John's son [[Henry the Navigator]] 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, so he decided to keep the city to pursue further enterprises in the area.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Granada y la expansión portuguesa en el Magreb extremo|first=José Enrique|last=López de Coca Castañer|journal=Historia. Instituciones. Documentos|issn=0210-7716|issue=25|year=1998|page=351|publisher=[[Universidad de Sevilla]]|location=Seville|doi=10.12795/hid.1998.i25.018 |s2cid=252936676 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

From 1415 to 1437, [[Pedro de Meneses, 1st Count of Vila Real|Pedro de Meneses]] became the first governor of Ceuta.

The [[Marinid Sultanate]] started the [[Siege of Ceuta (1419)|1419 siege]] but was defeated by the first governor of Ceuta before reinforcements arrived in the form of [[John, Constable of Portugal]] and his brother [[Henry the Navigator]], who were sent with troops to defend Ceuta.

Under [[John I of Portugal|King John I]]'s son, [[Edward, King of Portugal|Duarte]], the city of Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury. [[Trans-Saharan trade]] journeyed instead to [[Tangier]]. It was soon realized that without the city of Tangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437, [[Illustrious Generation (Portugal)|Duarte's brothers]] [[Henry the Navigator]] and [[Fernando, the Saint Prince]] persuaded him to launch an attack on the [[Marinid]] sultanate. The resulting [[Battle of Tangier (1437)]], 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, which he reneged on.

Possession of Ceuta indirectly led to further [[History of Portugal (1415–1578)|Portuguese expansion]]. The main area of Portuguese expansion, at this time, was the coast of the [[Maghreb]], where there was grain, cattle, sugar, and textiles, as well as fish, hides, wax, and honey.<ref name=Payne>{{cite web| url = http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne10.pdf| title = Payne, Stanley G., ''A History of Spain and Portugal'', Vol.1, Chap.10 "The Expansion"}}</ref>

Ceuta had to endure alone for 43 years, until the position of the city was consolidated with the taking of [[Ksar es-Seghir]] (1458), [[Arzila]] and Tangier (1471) by the Portuguese.

The city was recognized as a Portuguese possession by the [[Treaty of Alcáçovas]] (1479) and by the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] (1494).

In the 1540s the Portuguese began building the [[Royal Walls of Ceuta]] as they are today including [[bastion]]s, a navigable moat and a drawbridge. Some of these bastions are still standing, like the bastions of Coraza Alta, Bandera and Mallorquines.<ref name=fortified-places>{{cite web|title=Ceuta|url=http://www.fortified-places.com/ceuta/|website=fortified-places.com|access-date=17 September 2015|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017195340/http://www.fortified-places.com/ceuta/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Luís de Camões]] lived in Ceuta between 1549 and 1551, losing his right eye in battle, which influenced his work of poetry ''[[Os Lusíadas]]''.