![[Septa_(Ceuta)_ca_1572.jpg]] Also in 1415, the Portuguese captured the Muslim city of Ceuta, on the African side of the Straits of Gibraltar. The "Crusade" against the Muslim port was authorized by Pope John XXIII (the Pisan Pope, who earlier in his life had been a pirate) and was led by the Portuguese King João I, along with his three sons. The youngest of these sons, who became known as Henry the Navigator, continued pursuing Portugal's main goal of finding a sea route to the riches of Asia and the Spice Islands, bypassing the Muslim middlemen in Silk Road markets like Baghdad and Cairo.  *Monument to the Portuguese Discoveries in Lisbon, Portugal, features Henry the Navigator.* The *Reconquista* continued for the Spanish in Iberia, but the dramatic conquest of Ceuta by a fleet of over 200 ships with 20,000 fighting men began a period of Portuguese domination of the Atlantic coast of Africa. Though they never expanded into the the western Mediterranean, which was controlled by Genoa, Venice, Aragon, Granada, and Muslim North Africa, the Portuguese began moving steadily down the western coast of Africa, taking control of archipelagoes along its coast. In 1419, the uninhabited islands of Madeira were settled; followed by the Azores in 1427. By the 1430s the Portuguese had passed Cape Bojador, once the frightening endpoint of the known world, and reached the Rio de Oro (river of gold) in the Western Sahara. Annual trips were sponsored by Prince Henry, and in 1444 the first European trading "factory" was established on the island Arguim (Mauritania), establishing a permanent market for gold and slaves. ----- Next: [[14.10 - Sugar]] Back: [[14.8 - Anti-Popes]]