Name: Siege of Ceuta (1419)
Start: 1419
Location: Siege of Ceuta (1419)

Siege of Ceuta (1419) 1419

Image: Zittau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Year	1419	Wikidata P580 (start time)
Era	Medieval (500–1499)	derived from year
Location	Spain	Natural Earth (modern borders)
Continent	Africa	Natural Earth
War / conflict	Moroccan–Portuguese conflicts	Wikidata P361
Participants	Aabu, Lord of Mogequra, Afonso Marques, Afonso Pego, Afonso Pires, Beneaadu Admite Velho, Catelina de Santiago, Caçomebemcane, Diogo Gil, Diogo Vasques de Portocarreiro, Emirate of Granada, Fernão Barreto, Fernão Gonçalves da Arca, Fernão Rodrigues de Buarcos, Gil Afonso, Gil Vasques de Portocarreiro, Gomes Fernandes, Gonçalo Esteves Tavares, Gonçalo Velho, Huycet Bem Rahude, João Esteves Sarrabodes, João Lopes de Azevedo, João Moreno, João Rodrigues Godinho, João Soares de Paiva, João da Veiga, Jufez, Kingdom of Portugal, Leonor Afonso, Lopo Vasques de Portocarreiro, Lourenço Afonso, Marinid dynasty, Martim Vicente, Martim de Castro, Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real, Rui Gomes de Azevedo, Rui Mendes Cerveira, Rui Vaz Pereira, Xeber, spouse of Rui Gomes de Azevedo, Álvaro Mendes Cerveira	Wikidata P710
Coordinates	35.8867, -5.3000	Wikidata P625

About the battle

The siege of Ceuta of 1419 (sometimes reported as 1418) was fought between the besieging forces of the Marinid sultanate, led by Sultan Abu Said Uthman III, including allied forces from the Emirate of Granada, and the Portuguese garrison of Ceuta, led by Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real. After the loss of the city in a surprise attack in 1415 known as the Conquest of Ceuta, the Sultan gathered an army four years later and besieged the city. The Portuguese gathered a fleet under the command of Princes Henry the Navigator and John of Reguengos to relieve Ceuta. According to the chroniclers, the relief fleet turned out to be quite unnecessary. In a bold gambit, Pedro de Menezes led the Portuguese garrison in a sally against the Marinid siege camp and forced the lifting of the siege before the relief fleet even arrived.

Blamed for losing Ceuta, the Marinid sultan was assassinated in a coup in Fez in 1420, leaving only a child as his heir. the sultanate descended into anarchic chaos, as rival pretenders vied for the throne and local governors carved out regional fiefs for themselves, selling their support to the highest bidder. The political crisis released the pressure on Ceuta for the next few years.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Ceuta (1419) (revision 1370740121), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.