released and outlining why holding on to Ceuta served Portugal little purpose. Once again, Pedro of Coimbra and John of Reguengos, who had opposed the expedition from the start, urged the Cortes to ratify the treaty and surrender Ceuta immediately. The prelates agreed – although the Archbishop of Braga added that the Pope's approval should also be sought. Most of the burghers also agreed – save for those of the major commercial port cities of Lisbon, Porto and Lagos, who felt that the release of a prince was too small a reward for so important a city, and that perhaps the treaty could be renegotiated. Ultimately, it was the noble magnates that sank the proposal. Rallied by Ferdinand of Arraiolos, the constable who had led the nobles at Tangier (although he earlier opposed the expedition), the Portuguese nobles opposed the swap altogether. Arraiolos argued fervently that reneging the treaty was no dishonor because it had been signed under duress. The Cortes was dissolved without a decision being made. In June, no longer able to resist his brother's summons, Prince Henry left Ceuta and returned to Portugal, but he requested exemption from presenting himself in the king's court in Evora. King Edward met in him at a private conference in Portel. It was probably there that the decision to hold on to Ceuta was definitively made. Henry proposed alternative schemes to secure Ferdinand's release – ransoming for money, persuading Castile and Aragon to join in a mass release of Muslim prisoners, raising a new army and invading Morocco again, etc. Henry proposed a myriad of schemes to release Ferdinand, but delivering Ceuta was not one of them. In May, citing six months of foot-dragging, Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi, vizier of the Marinid palace in Fez, took charge of the noble hostage from Salah ibn Salah, and ordered Ferdinand transferred from his comfortable quarters in Asilah to a common jail in Fez. There, Ferdinand's status was downgraded, and he was subjected to humiliating ordeals by his captors, including being kept in chains for prolonged periods. According to the chronicler Frei João Álvares (who was there with him), Ferdinand bore the humiliations with stoic resilience. Castro Mission, 1440–1441 King Edward of Portugal died in August (of pestilence, said his doctors; of heartbreak over the hapless fate of Ferdinand, said popular lore). Edward's death provoked an internal conflict in Portugal over the regency for