Ferdinand The Saint Prince - Hostage in Asilah

Hostage in Asilah

Ferdinand was formally a hostage of Salah ibn Salah (called Çallabençalla in the Portuguese chronicles), the Marinid governor of Tangier and Asilah (and lord claimant of Ceuta). Ferdinand was allowed to bring along a private entourage of eleven household servants with him into captivity. This included his secretary (and future chronicler) Frei João Álvares, his household governor Rodrigo Esteves, his wardrobe keeper Fernão Gil, his confessor, Frei Gil Mendes, his physician mestre Martinho (son of the late chronicler Fernão Lopes), his chaplain Pero Vasques, his head cook João Vasques, his chamberlain João Rodrigues (described as a collaço, meaning a foster-brother or close confidante of Ferdinand), his quartermaster (aposentador) João Lourenço, his hearth-keeper João de Luna and his pantry keeper (homen de reposta) Cristóvão de Luviça Alemão. Álvares was entrusted with Ferdinand's money purse, estimated to be carrying some 6,000 reals for expenses. They were joined by an additional set of four Portuguese noble hostages – identified as Pedro de Ataíde, João Gomes de Avelar, Aires da Cunha and Gomes da Cunha/Silva, the first three were knights of Ferdinand's household, the last a knight of Aviz. These four were not part of Ferdinand's entourage, but part of separate temporary hostage swap to ensure the smooth embarkation of the defeated Portuguese troops back on to their ships, for which Salah ibn Salah gave his own eldest son as hostage to the Portuguese in return. These were meant to be released once the troops were boarded, whereas Ferdinand and his entourage were only to be released upon the evacuation and handover of Ceuta.

Ferdinand, his entourage and the four knights were handed over to Salah ibn Salah on the evening of October 16, 1437 by the Portuguese negotiator Rui Gomes da Silva (alcaide of Campo Maior), who then received the son of Salah ibn Salah in return. The hostages stayed in a tower inside Tangier while the troops evacuated the beach. But the embarcation did not go smoothly. Discipline broke down and a skirmish broke out on the beach, apparently provoked when some of the Portuguese soldiers were caught smuggling forbidden items. After the troops were all embarked (October 19 or 21), Henry the Navigator refused to release his own temporary hostage, the eldest son of Salah ibn Salah, cut the moorings and sailed off. As a result the four noble hostages were now stranded in Moroccan captivity. Hearing of the beach skirmish and receiving no communication from Henry, Ferdinand was beside himself in tears, fearing that his brother had been among those killed. Ibn Salah sent a few men investigate the bodies to assure him Henry wasn't among them, and when that was insufficient to comfort the prince, Ibn Salah even sent a messenger to Ceuta to try get written assurance from Henry himself.

Ferdinand, the entourage and the four knights left Tangier on October 22, and made their way under Moroccan guard to Asilah (Arzila), thirty miles down the coast from Tangier. The Portuguese hostages were jeered by Moroccan crowds as they made their way. Upon arrival, Ferdinand and his entourage were kept in relatively comfortable quarters in Asilah, as befit a royal hostage. He was allowed to write and receive correspondence from Portugal, interacted with the local Christian community and had dealings with local Genoese merchants. The entourage was also allowed to celebrate Christian mass daily. Fellow-prisoner Frei João Álvares reports Ferdinand expected that the treaty would be promptly fulfilled – that Ceuta would be evacuated and handed over and that they would soon be released. Salah ibn Salah also expected to hear of the evacuation of Ceuta in a matter of days.

Back in Portugal, the news of the defeat at Tangier and the subsequent treaty were received with shock. John of Reguengos immediately set sail for Asilah, hoping to negotiate Ferdinand's release in return for Salah ibn Salah's son (still being held hostage by Henry), but to no avail. The question of what to do divided Ferdinand's older brothers. Ceuta was highly symbolic – the brothers had been made knights there when their father conquered the city back in 1415. Peter of Coimbra, who had been adamantly opposed to the whole Tangier expedition to begin with, urged their eldest brother, King Edward of Portugal, to fulfill the treaty immediately, order the evacuation of Ceuta and secure Ferdinand's release. But Edward was caught in indecision. Henry the Navigator, who stayed in Ceuta, depressed and incommunicado after the defeat in Tangier, eventually dispatched letters to Edward counseling against ratifying the treaty he had himself negotiated and suggesting other ways of getting Ferdinand released without surrendering Ceuta. But Ferdinand himself wrote letters to Edward and Henry from Asilah noting that the Marinids were not likely to release him for anything less than Ceuta, urging them to fulfill the treaty and wondering what the delay was.

In January, 1438, still undecided, Edward of Portugal convened the Portuguese Cortes in Leiria for consultation. Ferdinand's letters were read before the Cortes, wherein Ferdinand expressed his desire to be released, and noted that Ceuta did not serve Portugal any strategic purpose and should be abandoned regardless. It is clear from these letters, that, contrary to later legend, Ferdinand did not seek out a martyr's fate, that he wanted and expected the treaty to be fulfilled, for Ceuta to be handed over and to be swiftly released. At the Cortes, urged by Peter and John, the burghers and clergy voted largely for the swap, but the nobles, rallied by Ferdinand of Arraiolos, argued strongly against it, with the result that the Cortes were dissolved without a decision being made. The decision to keep Ceuta was only made in June 1438, after a conference in Portel between Edward and Henry the Navigator. Henry once again urged a repudiation of the treaty, and proposed alternative schemes to secure Ferdinand's release – e.g. ransoming for money, persuading Castile and Aragon to join in a mass release of Muslim prisoners in exchange, raising a new army and invading Morocco all over again, etc. After repeated entreaties from Ferdinand, Henry finally dispatched a message to his imprisoned brother giving his reasons for not fulfilling the treaty – firstly, that he (Henry) had not had the royal authority to make such a treaty to begin with, and secondly, because of the beach skirmish at Tangier, Henry considered the treaty had already been violated and thus he was under no legal obligation to honor it.