In such labours passed the first thirty years after the battle of Aljubarrota, and Portugal and its great king became renowned throughout Europe. During this period, a new generation grew up, the sons of the men of Aljubarrota and Trancoso, and the young nobility burned to prove themselves worthy sons of their brave fathers. In their aspirations they were headed by the princes of Portugal. The union of the old royal family of Portugal as represented by King John, with the blood of the English Plantagenets in the person of his queen, Philippa of Lancaster, produced the five famous princes, whose names stand out conspicuously in the history of the fifteenth century. The three elder sons of John and Philippa, Dom Duarte or Edward, Dom Pedro, and Dom Henry, were in 1414 respectively 23, 22, and 20 years of age; they longed to win their knightly spurs, and to show themselves worthy cousins of Henry V. of England. The King of Portugal did not wish to check their ardour; he felt the need of occupying the energies of his youthful nobility; and as there were no enemies at home, he acquiesced in the desire of his sons to attack the old enemies of Portugal, the Moors, in Morocco. By such an expedition against the Mohammedans the young princes would show themselves crusaders, and would find adversaries worthy of their swords, without arousing the jealous watchfulness of the King of Castile. Ceuta was the city of Africa selected for attack, not only because it was the chief port of the Moors in the north-western corner of Africa and threatened the south of Spain, but also because it was the headquarters of the numerous corsairs and pirates, who preyed upon the already growing traffic of Portugal with the west coast of Africa, and at times made descents upon the Portuguese province of the Algarves. The expedition sailed from Lisbon in 1415; the three princes were followed by the flower of the Portuguese chivalry, and accompanied by their two boy brothers, Dom John, who was but fifteen, and Dom Ferdinand not yet thirteen; from her deathbed the Queen sent her blessing, and in the month of June the expedition safely disembarked on the African coast. The Moors fought bravely on their native soil, and it was not until 24th of August that the city of Ceuta was stormed, after a siege, in which the sons of John the Great showed themselves to be gallant soldiers and prudent leaders. This conquest was of importance in two ways; it was the first conquest made by the Portuguese outside the limits of their own country, and was therefore a proof of their energy and the expansion of their power; but, on the other hand, it pointed in a false direction, and was the first of a series of African expeditions, which were not profitable to the country, even when successful, and which terminated in the great disaster associated with the name of Dom Sebastian. [Illustration: QUEEN PHILIPPA. (_From her recumbent statue over the tomb at Batalha._)]