de Castro 'o Cegonho', governor of Infante Ferdinand's household, led the latter's household knights. On August 17, 1437, there was a solemn ceremony at the Lisbon Cathedral, where Henry received Edward's royal standard. After receiving their final instructions, the Lisbon fleet left the harbor of Belém on August 22. Morocco's defenses Unlike at Ceuta in 1415, the Portuguese did not enjoy the element of surprise. The noisy diplomacy and lengthy preparations had given Moroccans, despite their political divisions, ample time to prepare the defenses of the targeted citadels. Fortifications were improved, garrisons were reinforced, and the mountain passes around Ceuta were sealed. Seeing this already in motion in 1436, the Ceuta commander D. Pedro de Menezes (Count of Vila Real) dispatched a detachment of his garrison under his son Duarte de Menezes to raid the Moroccan city of Tétouan to the south to prevent it from becoming a threat to future Portuguese operations. but this did not seem to affect the strengthening of Moroccan defenses elsewhere. Tangier was under the command of the Marinid governor Salah ibn Salah (called Çallabençalla by the Portuguese chronicles), the same man who had been governor of Ceuta back in 1415, now probably quite advanced in years, and probably eager for revenge. (Salah ibn Salah was a Marinid vassal whose original dominions ranged along the northern coast, including Asilah, Tangier, and Ceuta). Salah ibn Salah counted on a garrison of about 7,000 men, including a contingent of crack sharpshooters imported from the Emirate of Granada. In the Marinid capital of Fez, the strongman Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi (called Lazeraque by the Portuguese chroniclers), the unpopular vizier of the young Marinid sultan Abd al-Haqq II (called Abdelac in the chronicles), launched an appeal for national unity and holy war to expel the Portuguese intruders. Although, for the past 15 years, Morocco had fragmented into virtually autonomous statelets ruled by rival regional governors, paying only lip service (if any) to the Marinid sultan, the governors answered Abu Zakariya's call. Troops from all corners of Morocco were set into motion, ready to place themselves at Fez's disposal to relieve Tangier and expel the infidel invaders. Portuguese siege of Tangiers March from Ceuta Henry's Lisbon fleet arrived in Ceuta on August 27, where they were greeted by the Ceuta garrison commander D. Pedro de Menezes (Count of Vila Real). The Porto fleet of Ferdinand of Arraiolos had arrived shortly