Back in Portugal, the news of the defeat at Tangier and the subsequent treaty were received with shock. John of Reguengos immediately set sail for Asilah, hoping to negotiate Ferdinand's release in return for Salah ibn Salah's son (still being held hostage by Henry), but to no avail. The question of what to do divided Ferdinand's older brothers. Ceuta was highly symbolic – the brothers had been made knights there when their father conquered the city back in 1415. Peter of Coimbra, who had been adamantly opposed to the whole Tangier expedition to begin with, urged their eldest brother, King Edward of Portugal, to fulfill the treaty immediately, order the evacuation of Ceuta and secure Ferdinand's release. But Edward was caught in indecision. Henry the Navigator, who stayed in Ceuta, depressed and incommunicado after the defeat in Tangier, eventually dispatched letters to Edward counseling against ratifying the treaty he had himself negotiated and suggesting other ways of getting Ferdinand released without surrendering Ceuta. But Ferdinand himself wrote letters to Edward and Henry from Asilah noting that the Marinids were not likely to release him for anything less than Ceuta, urging them to fulfill the treaty and wondering what the delay was.