ABSTRACT
The Gomes Eannes de Azurara describes that the noble prince was of middle stature, a man thickset, with limbs large and powerful, and bushy hair; the skin was white, but the travail and the battles of life altered its hue as time went on. Lust and avarice had never obtained a hold upon his heart, for as to the first of these vices, he was so moderate that all his life he preserved the most perfect chastity, and his body was virgin when it was laid in the earth. Azurara shall not find a better opening for this chapter than the recital of the remarkable conquest of the great city of Ceuta, a celebrated victory which glorified the heavens. The first royal captain who touched land near the walls of Ceuta was he of whom Azurara write, and his square banner was the first to pass the gates of the city, the Infante himself being not far from its shadow.
