John returned to Portugal empty-handed. King Edward of Portugal received the news of the turn-around on October 19, at his residence in Santarém. Peter of Coimbra, then in Lisbon, received the news around the same time, and immediately set about assembling an armada to rescue his brothers. However, Peter was still in Lisbon when the advance ships of the returning fleet arrived in Lisbon harbor with the news of the Portuguese capitulation and treaty. After the initial shock, the question of what to do was posed immediately. The quandary would become the anvil of the Ínclita Geração. The princely brothers had been made knights when their father captured Ceuta back in 1415. And they now looked to be undone by it. Peter of Coimbra and John of Reguengos, who had both long argued for abandoning Ceuta, had no doubt on what the course of action should be: fulfill the treaty and evacuate Ceuta. King Edward had enough powers to order it, but was caught in indecision. After a prolonged silence, Henry eventually dispatched a letter from Ceuta to Edward, arguing against fulfilling the treaty he had signed. Henry noted that the skirmish on the beach exempted the Portuguese from fulfilling the agreement, and proposed instead that perhaps they could swap Salah ibn Salah's son (still being held by Henry) for Prince Ferdinand. However, Edward received a note from the captive Ferdinand at the same time, reporting that the Marinids would accept nothing less than Ceuta, and wondering why it had not been evacuated yet. It is clear from these letters, that, contrary to later legend (propagated by Henry himself), Ferdinand did not seek a martyr's fate, that he expected the treaty to be fulfilled and to be swiftly released. Cortes of Leiria Uncertain of what to do, King Edward of Portugal summoned the Portuguese Cortes to Leiria in January, 1438 for consultation. Henry did not attend the summons, but remained in Ceuta. The Cortes of Leiria opened on January 25. Before the Cortes, King Edward (via a spokesman) openly blamed Henry's neglect of his military instructions for the debacle at Tangier. But there was no getting away from the fact that Edward had authorized the expedition himself, against the advice of others, including the Cortes itself. A letter from the captive Ferdinand was read before the Cortes. The letter urged the fulfillment of the treaty, expressing Ferdinand's desire to be