Son of King John I of Portugal, born Oporto, Portugal, 1394; died Sagres, Portugal, 1460. In 1415 he captured Ceuta in Morocco, Portugal's first over-sea conquest. As Grand-Master of the Military Order of Christ he carried on constant war against the infldels; and his swift caravels, making continual voyages down the west coast of Africa, discovered the Azores, the Madeira, and Cape Verde Islands, and traced the coast as far as Sierra Leone.