During most of his lifetime, Duarte Coelho had enjoyed a free hand in developing his captaincy. In the period following his death until the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, Pernambuco continued to develop along a path set by the first "donatário" with success breeding success and with somewhat less guidance from Duarte Coelho's heirs and little interference in the captaincy by the governors-general in Bahia. The reasons were several: First, despite the intention of the crown to reduce the privileges previously granted to the donataries and enhance the royal government in Bahia, the crown's intentions were often not realized in Pernambuco. The Portuguese crown first experienced the death of João III in 1557. At that time, his grandson and heir, Sebastian, was three years old. In 1578, Sebastian led an ill-advised invasion of Morocco. He was defeated at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir. His uncle, Cardinal Enrique reigned for two years and died without an heir. (In 1580, Phillip II of Spain assumed the crown as Phillip I of Portugal.)