Chapter III - New King, New Challenges (1447 - 1448)
Afonso V de Aviz, King of Portugal and the Algarve and Lord of Ceuta, took his crown at a most chaotic time. Europe burned with the fires of war. In the East, Constantinople was besieged by the Ottoman Turks led by Mehmed II, a man whose ambitions were only matched by his capabilities to achieve them. Meanwhile the West eagerly watched as the Valois King of France beat back every army the English stubbornly attempted to land on the continent. Fortunes were changing quickly and soon the young king Afonso would have to deal with them.
Dom Afonso V de Aviz, "the African", King of Portugal and the Algarve and Lord of Ceuta. During his reign, he would lead Portugal through a turbulent moment and be responsible for much of its early overseas expansion.
As soon as Afonso took charge of his kingdom, he assembled around him a group of trusted advisers that had helped run things during his minority. For the affairs of the army, he trusted the expertise of Dom Álvaro Vaz de Almada, the Count of Avranches, as he had already been training and enlarging the army for the past few years. He was an experienced knight and a veteran of the Hundred Years’ War, the Conquest of Ceuta in 1415, and the disastrous expedition to Tangiers in 1437. He was a close friend of the Duke of Coimbra and had followed him during his travels through Europe when they were younger. Now he enjoyed the honor of being
capitão-mor (captain-general
) of the city of Lisbon and effective commander of the royal armies.
For matters of the navies and overseas exploration, Afonso trusted his uncle, Dom Henrique the Navigator, who was Grand-Master of the Order of Christ. He was a brilliant and creative man, although his advanced age and trauma from the expedition to Tangiers meant he preferred to keep away from the field, instead enjoying staying home and working on his many ideas to improve maritime travel. In his place he placed his protégé, Diogo Gomes, as acting admiral of the Portuguese Royal Fleet. Diogo was a young and confident captain and explorer, responsible for the expedition to the Ivory Coast and the Kingdom of Mali in 1444-1445.
As his prime adviser, Afonso wanted to keep Dom Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, close by. He had performed well as regent and kept the Kingdom strong and united, as well as curbed much of the feudal nobility’s power base. He was experienced and had many contacts all over Europe from the travels from his youth. Afonso felt his uncle was competent and clearsighted, but that was not all. For years the young king had been hearing rumors and gathering suspicions about Coimbra’s loyalties. Many were wondering if the Prince was as eager as he claimed to hand over control to his 15-year old nephew. His many moves to centralize power could very well have the motivation of destroying possible adversaries to his power grab. Afonso suspected the only way to control his uncle’s ambitions were to keep him close.
To everyone’s surprise, Coimbra turned down the offer to advise his nephew. A few days after the acclamation, he announced he would be retiring from Court and going back to his estate in the province of Coimbra to be with his family. He said he could no longer handle the situation with the Moroccan sultanate and could never agree to a second expedition into North Africa so soon. He understood the value of capturing Tangiers, but also the dangers of risking war against the Muslim world. Instead he preferred to continue increasing defenses and wait for official Papal approval for a Crusade. When Afonso reinforced his decision to carry on Avranches and Henrique’s invasion plan as soon as possible, Coimbra resigned. The crisis shook the court. In Coimbra’s place, the king invited his other uncle, Dom Afonso, Duke of Bragança and an old ally of his mother’s, Leonor of Aragon. He promptly accepted.
Os Homens de Confiança do Rei (the King's trusted men) were the advisers assembled by king Dom Afonso V to help him rule during his early years. Top left: Dom Álvaro Vaz de Almada, the Count of Avranches and capitão-mor of Lisbon; Top right: Dom Henrique, the Navigator, the Duke of Viseu and Grand-Master of the Order of Christ; Bottom left: Dom Pedro, the Duke of Coimbra and former regent; Bottom right: Dom Afonso, the Duke of Bragança.
Bragança started advising immediately. Later that month, cautioning the King against displeasing the English, whose war the Duke of Coimbra had refused to join, he suggested to improve relations with England by way of a royal marriage between one of the King’s daughters and Bragança’s grandson, Fernando. Bragança himself benefitted the most from it, but king Afonso did it nevertheless. The wedding was arranged on January 31st, 1447.
The next few months of Afonso’s reign were focused on building up the military for the campaign for Tangiers. By early May the army of 16 thousand men was drilling daily in their camp just outside of Lisbon and the fleet was gathering close to the shores of the Algarve. Reconnaissance missions showed that only a small garrison was present in Tangiers and Afonso was confident of a quick and easy victory.
However, in June, another crisis would shake the government. Months after Coimbra’s resignation from court, there were those who still didn’t trust the former regent. Chief among them was Bragança himself, who tried weekly to convince the king of Coimbra’s incoming betrayal. He claimed he should not be allowed to stay north where he held his fief and power base, and where he could gather his supporters and amass an army big enough to take on the king’s. Bragança further argued that Coimbra should be ordered to return to Lisbon at once and there remain under watch. The king had already been quietly worrying for months about the loyalty of his former regent and teacher, and summoned his court for advice. Henrique at once took Coimbra’s side, as did Avranches. They both vouched for the prince. All the same, Afonso summoned Coimbra to the capital and arranged a court meeting where he could defend himself from those accusations.
Surprised, he arrived in Lisbon on June 22nd with his two older sons, Pedro and João, and a few retainers. A trial was held where the young king listened to his former regent and a bunch of witnesses. Coimbra, however, had nothing to hide. After three days of hearings, he proved his innocence to the king and went so far as to take back his previous opinions on the matter of Tangiers, saying the king’s plan was a solid one. Later it would be said he only did so to further secure the support of Henrique and Avranches, the men actually in charge of the expedition. Nevertheless, the king proclaimed his uncle innocent of all charges of treason and even offered him a position on his council again. Coimbra wisely understood Afonso was not asking. Even after everything, there was still some mistrust left.
The issue of Coimbra's loyalty was resolved by forgiving all charges of treason and "gently" asking him to take an adviser position as one the King's trusted men in Lisbon
Coimbra took a place as councilor for finances and regained some of his previous influence. Bragança was furious at the outcome of his plot, but the realm eventually returned to some stability. It was finally time to get attention back to the expedition. After the trial, Avranches took his army south to the province of Beja, where they camped near the village of Noudar close to the Castilian border. Admiral Diogo Gomes sailed the fleet to Gibraltar.
On July 2nd, 1447, king Afonso V finally declared war on the Marinid sultan. After much diplomatic effort, he managed to secure the support of King Juan of Castile in exchange for territorial gains from the Emirate of Granada. The Duke of Coimbra cautioned the king against strengthening their already powerful neighbor, but Henrique argued that Portugal couldn’t afford to wait for a better time. Morocco would only grow stronger if allowed to subjugate the sultanate of Tlemcen to the east. The time for action was now, no matter the cost. The court agreed and the issue was settled.
Ten years after the disastrous siege of Tangiers in 1437, Portugal launched a new expedition into Morocco.
Conflict began almost immediately when, on July 11th, the Portuguese fleet led by Diogo Gomes and some Castilian light ships caught the Granadan fleet led by admiral Dawud ibn Husayn attempting to secure passage for his troops to North Africa, where they would possibly join the rest of the Muslim forces. Husayn was less experienced than Diogo and his ships carried much less men and firepower. Of his nine ships, five were sunk and two were captured to be incorporated into the Portuguese fleet. Diogo got rid of the threat and established naval supremacy over the straits of Gibraltar, blockading the Moroccan fleet on the port of Tangiers.
The Battle of the Straits of Gibraltar kickstarted the Second Expedition to Tangiers and was a clear allied Christian victory
Avranches, on the other hand, marched through allied Castilian territory and reached the enemy walls of Málaga on July 25th, besieging it with most of his forces. Some of Diogo’s fleet established a blockade on the harbor and interrupted their maritime supply lanes. The city was completely isolated, but its brave defenders would resist bravely for almost a year. Morale was high on the Christian side, though, as on August 14th the Castilians announced an alliance with the Pope. King Afonso interpreted it as a sign of the Pope’s approval on his war, even though it most likely was an attempt of the Papal States to balance out Aragon’s influence on the Italian peninsula. All the same, the soldiers were now convinced they were fighting a holy war.
On September 15th, a Castilian force led by the knight Bertrán de Ojeda discovered the Nasrid army camped a few kilometers south of the town of Cádiz waiting for some Moroccan ships to provide safe passage into Tangiers, unaware that they were unable to due to the blockade set up by Diogo Gomes. The entire army of the Emirate of Granada was ambushed and easily destroyed by Ojeda’s cavalry charge. The few survivors scattered into the countryside. By late September, King Juan’s forces were surrounding the walls of the city of Granada itself.
Bertrán de Ojeda's army ambushed the enemy forces close to the town of Cádiz, eliminating Nasrid resistance
So far, the war had been going extremely well. However, with Henrique working from his estate in the city of Lagos and Avranches away commanding the expedition, Lisbon became again a stage for the influence battle between the Duke of Coimbra and the Duke of Bragança. Still furious that his whispering had only brought his brother and rival back to a position of government, Bragança wished to find a way to gather more influence with the king. It also didn’t help that Coimbra’s centralization policies were badly hurting the rural nobility that composed most of Bragança’s power base. By mid-September, he managed to devise a plan to regain some of his lost influence.
King Afonso was then still only 15 years old, but there was already speculation on who he would marry. It was a majority the opinion that the best course of action would be to secure some foreign alliances by marrying to him a Habsburg princess or a daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. Both would prove themselves valuable in holding back King Juan’s ambitions should it come to that. However, the Duke of Bragança unexpectedly made his move and suggested that the king marry the beautiful Barbara d’Albuquerque, daughter of Tomé d’Albuquerque, a powerful noble with a estate in Northern Portugal. The d’Albuquerque family was old and famous for their participation on the Conquest of Ceuta. Barbara’s brother, Gonçalo, served as first-mate on the Amazona, one of the ships that journeyed to the Ivory Coast on Diogo Gomes’ expedition in 1444, and now had just been promoted due to his service at the naval battle of the Straits of Gibraltar against the Granadan fleet. The match was important in order to seek support from the northern nobility still displeased with how the Duke of Coimbra handled the recruitment incident in Madeira two years earlier. King Afonso agreed to the wedding, ignorant to the fact that the d’Albuquerques were loyal to his uncle and had their estate on the province of Bragança. Through Barbara, the Duke of Bragança would now have even more influence with the king.
The marriage between Dom Afonso V and Barbara d'Albuquerque proved itself very valuable to the Duke of Bragança, whose feudal powerbase included the powerful House d'Albuquerque
The wedding was a grand but quick ceremony held at the Lisbon Cathedral on November 2nd, as most attention was still directed at the war effort in Granada. To the court’s surprise however, a few weeks later the royal couple announced the queen’s pregnancy. The succession to the throne was safe, as she would later give birth to Dom Pedro, Prince of Portugal, named after Afonso’s uncle, the Duke of Coimbra. During wartime, the kingdom cheered the good news.
Infante Dom Pedro de Aviz, Prince of Portugal, was born in late 1447. The heir legitimized Afonso's reign and brought much joy to Portugal during wartime.
During late 1447 and early 1448, the war slowed down significantly due the stubbornness of the Granadan defenders. Avranches had surrounded the city of Málaga, but wanting to preserve his men, waited cautiously for hunger and disease to work for him. He had detached a part of his army and sent south, to Gibraltar, in order to safeguard against any possible invasions should Diogo Gomes’ blockade fail. It wasn’t even necessary though. The Moroccan forces were already deep into the territory of the Kingdom of Tlemcen, leaving the defenders at Málaga and Granada completely isolated.
Eventually they broke. First, on July 4th, 1448, the captain of the garrison in Málaga came forth bearing the white flag and discussed with Avranches terms of surrender. The city had little food left and had abandoned every hope that reinforcements would arrive from the south to lift the siege. Avranches promised the city wouldn’t be sacked and every soldier who laid down his weapon would have his life spared. Also, the Portuguese army wouldn’t spend much time in the city before crossing the straits and moving on to their actual target: Tangiers. The Nasrid captain was happy to accept those terms and on the next day Málaga surrendered.
The walls of Málaga were a thorn in Avranches' side for almost a year. When the city ultimately surrendered, he had a clear path towards Tangiers. Most importantly, he now controled the fates of the city, and not king Juan of Castile.
After hearing of the Fall of Málaga, the Emir of Granada, Muhammad IX, panicked. Realizing the food supplies of Granada itself were almost over and the Portuguese armies could now march north to aid in the Castilian siege, he took his close family and advisers and fled the castle during the night. Somehow, he managed to dodge the Castilian naval blockade and traveled to the port of Melilla on the Moroccan coast and then proceeded to run a government in exile in Fez, the Marinid capital. King Juan was furious that the Emir had escaped, but king Afonso was secretly relieved: the capturing of the enemy monarch would have given the Castilians even more leverage for demands after the war. Anyway, when the city realized the absence of their Emir, it also surrendered to Ojeda’s army on July 19th. With Granada subjugated, the path to North Africa and the prized port city of Tangiers was finally open.
