page_title: Illustrious Generation
section_title: Relationships
hierarchical_section_title: Illustrious Generation / Relationships
context_page_description: The Ínclita Geração is a term commonly used by Portuguese historians to refer to a group of 15th-century infantes of the House of Aviz, specifically the sons of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster: the future king Edward of Portugal; the future regent Peter of Coimbra; Prince Henry the Navigator; the constable John of Reguengos; and the martyr Ferdinand the Holy Prince.
context_section_description: According to the chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara, all of the five brothers participated in the Battle of Ceuta of 1415 and were knighted in the aftermath by their father, King John I, with arming swords supplied by their dying mother, Philippa of Lancaster.  They began receiving their lordships shortly after, e.g. in 1416, Peter was made duke of Coimbra and Henry duke of Viseu, etc.  John I also began to seize control of the main military orders of Portugal by securing from the pope the appointment of his sons as their grand masters. John took the Order of Saint James of the Sword in 1418, Henry the Order of Christ in 1420 and Ferdinand the Order of Aviz.  John I appointed young John to succeed his loyal lieutenant Nuno Álvares Pereira as Constable of Portugal (i.e., high military chief) in 1431.
  Despite the high titles, John I retained careful control over the activities of his sons, deploying them as deputies of his will, and not allowing them too much room for independent maneouver, responsibility or authority. It is probably as a result of this that, through the 1420s, the princes dedicated themselves to individual pursuits - Edward to philosophy, Peter to celebrated tours of Renaissance Europe and Henry to his nautical charts.  The "illustrious" label for this generation of princes refers in good part to their intellectual achievements.  The nature of these accomplishments also justifies the inclusion of Isabella of Portugal in the list, as she helped transpose much of the Renaissance spirit and flair of the Burgundian court back to Medieval Lisbon.
  It is really only after the death of their father in 1433 that the princes came into their own. Now king, Edward of Portugal ran his court almost jointly with his brothers, who were his intimate counsellors.  Edward generously handed out lucrative benefices and monopolies to his brothers, giving them the means for independent action.  Flush with new grants, Henry the Navigator's naval expeditions kicked into high gear after 1433.
  Disagreements over policy soon produced fraternal fissures.  In 1436, Edward assembled the Cortes of Évora to consider the ambitious scheme proposed by Henry the Navigator to conquer Tangiers from Morocco. Peter of Coimbra and John of Reguengos argued vigorously against the plan, urging Edward to focus on domestic priorities, but Ferdinand the Holy backed Henry's plan.  Against Edward's misgivings, the plan went forward, with Henry personally leading the expeditionary force in 1437.  It was a fiasco.  The Portuguese army was quickly surrounded and starved into submission.  The humiliation was complete when Henry agreed to deliver Ceuta back to the Marinids and left his youngest brother Ferdinand as hostage for the fulfillment of the treaty.  Despite Peter and John's entreaties, the Portuguese Cortes refused to ratify the treaty, and left Ferdinand in captivity in Fez, Morocco, where he eventually died in 1443.
  The Tangiers debacle and the harrowing fate of Prince Ferdinand may have contributed to Edward's premature death in 1438. The country was surprised by Edward's will, which appointed his consort Eleanor of Aragon, rather than his brothers, as regent of the kingdom on behalf of his young son, the new king Afonso V of Portugal. Many commoners believed the foreign-born Eleanor would be a pliable puppet of the Portuguese high aristocracy, who were itching to claw back the authority they lost to the burghers since the revolution of the 1380s.  The country seemed to be careening towards civil war, when John of Reguengos, in his capacity as constable, quickly seized control of the city of Lisbon and assembled a burgher-packed Cortes that promptly elected his brother and ally Peter of Coimbra as regent.  The Portuguese high nobility, now rallied around the half-brother Afonso, urged Eleanor to refuse to step down.  The crisis was finally defused when Henry the Navigator offered to arbitrate between the parties; he negotiated a tense power-sharing arrangement between Peter, Eleanor and Afonso.  For many commoners, who were steadfast behind Peter an
caption: Panel of the famous polyptych of St. Vicent by painter Nuno Gonçalves, believed to represent the four younger sons of John I: Ferdinand the Holy (on top, in black), John of Reguengos (left, red), Peter of Coimbra (right, green), Henry the Navigator (bottom, purple)
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