(One of the expeditions that Prince Henry patronized disco...)
One of the expeditions that Prince Henry patronized discovered Madeira Islands
http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/history-uk.html
1418
explorers and geographers patron
Henry the Navigator was born on March 4, 1394. His father was John I, King of Portugal, while his mother was Philippa of Lancaster, sister of the King of England Henry IV. He was named the Navigator three centuries after his death, by a couple of German historians. Although he's famous by this name in English-speaking world, Portuguese prefer to call him Infante Henrique (Prince Henry) of Portugal.
Henry was educated at home, under the supervision of his parents. She showed great affection for astrological literature and chivalric romance. Although he didn't grow any hopes to be the King of Portugal (which was realistic, considering he was the third surviving son of his parents), he wanted to take part in his father's military campaign, with the goal of winning the kingdom for himself.
His dreams did come true in 1415. when his father and brothers attack the Ceuta port in the northern Morocco. Despite the fact that the queen died that year from plague, they went on with the attack and captured the port easily. He was installed as the King's lieutenant in Ceuta in order to make sure that the city is properly defended in the years to come.
He experienced his first big challenge as the King’s lieutenant in Ceuta in 1418 when the Spanish kingdom Granada and rulers of Fez in Morocco tried to recapture the port Henry governed. Although Henry did hurry up to help the city with the reinforcements, once he was there he saw that Portuguese army has already repelled the attackers. The Prince wanted to counterattack Granada, but his father refused because he didn’t want to break peace with Castilians.
When Henry came back to Portugal, he became Lord of Covilha and Duke of Viseu. Henry also became governor of the Algarve province, which is today the southernmost region of Portugal. In 1420, he has been promoted to the administrator general of an organization called Order of Christ, the successors of the Crusading Templars’ order in Portugal. This has proved to be the major point of Henry’s life because it was the funds from the Order of Christ that were used to finance numerous expeditions along the African coast.
Henry showed the will to explore new territories as soon as the Portuguese captured Ceuta. He noticed that caravans were bringing gold to the city, and he wanted to locate the source, so he sent and expedition led by Zarco and Teixeira. The expedition was hit by a storm which caused them to go off course and find a shelter at an unknown island (today the island of Madeira). They named it Porto Santo (Holy Harbour) to express their gratitude. Considering the island was still unpopulated, Henry ordered an expedition and settled the territory, claiming the Madeiran Islands in the name of the Portuguese crown in 1420.
Henry noticed that the ships the Portuguese had at the time when Ceuta was captured were extremely heavy and very slow, which is why he decided to patronize developing of a new, lighter ship, called the caravel. Caravels were significantly faster and very maneuverable but were more dependent on the wind. However, they enabled the Portuguese to explore the open ocean and shallow rivers and other waters with great autonomy.
In 1425, Henry received a very valuable gift from his older brother Pedro (Peter), who brought him a map of the current known world made by a cartographer from Venice. Some source state that Henry used his Vila do Infante (Estate of the Prince) to gather mapmakers and navigators in order to create as accurate maps as possible, but this is considered to be an exaggeration by modern historians. The truth is he hired some cartographers, including Jehuda Cresques, who was very appreciated in his field, but it is a misconception that he made any kind of observatory or center of navigational science. Tercanabal, a village where Vila do Infante was located in, did serve as a strategic position for his maritime ventures.
When King John I died in 1433, Henry’s oldest brother Duarte succeeded him and enabled Henry to keep all profits that came from the trade with the newly-discovered lands. Besides that, Henry was granted to be the only one who has the right of permitting expeditions along the African coast. However, the expeditions Henry authorized didn’t have great success, and one of the biggest ones is considered the rounding of Cape Bojador. Which was at the time thought to be the end of the world and the sailors refused to go around it. Henry also discovered the Azores and started with colonization in the name of Portuguese crown.
Ceuta didn’t make great profits at the time, which is why Henry believed that Portugal should conquer the neighbouring city in order to make Ceuta safe and profitable again. He got the consent of King Duarte to start an expedition on Tangier with the youngest brother Fernando, where they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the locals. Thanks to Henry’s bad generalship, the Portuguese army was taken hostage. They had to accept to leave Fernando behind as a prisoner, in order to guarantee that Portugal will fulfil the terms of the peace agreement made for their freedom. The terms were not fulfilled and Fernando died as a prisoner of Tangier in 1443.
In the meantime, in 1438, King Duarte passed away. His son, Afonso V, was too young to rule (he was six) so Pedro took over the Kingdom. Henry gave him his support and got an identical agreement as the one he made with Duarte in return. When Afonso V reached his legal majority in 1446, Pedro had to hand him the position of the King. However, he wanted to rule as well and the conflict was imminent. Henry tried to be on the sidelines for this conflict, which ended in 1449 when Pedro was killed at Alfarrobeira.
Meanwhile, an expedition in 1441 brought Henry some gold and several slaves. One of the people they captured promised Henry more people in exchange for freedom and soon Portugal was intensively trading with slaves. This is why Portugal is regarded as the founder of the Atlantic slave trade.
During the last years of his life, Henry was focused on the exploitation of resources and sponsoring the expeditions that only made minor discoveries. Until his death in 1460, the Portuguese have made it until the modern-day Sierra Leone.
Henry is considered to be the originator of the Age of Discoveries. Many until then unknown territories in Africa were discovered and visited during his reign;
During his life, Portugal founded its first colonies. He also was the initiator of the Atlantic Slave Trade;
(One of the expeditions that Prince Henry patronized disco...)
1418(Prince Henry is thought to be the originator of the Age o...)
As the other members of his family, Prince Henry was a Roman Catholic. He was baptized in Porto in his early life and remained fairly devoted to faith throughout his life. He was named the administrator general of an organization called Order of Christ, the successors of the Crusading Templars’ order in Portugal
Being a royal prince himself, it's only natural that Henry supported Kingdom of Portugal. He was the third son of the KIng so he never claimed the throne, but has supported his father, as well as his oldest brother Edward during their ruling. When King Edward died, Henry sided with his older brother Pedro and supported his claim for the throne against Edward's son Alfonso, who was deemed unfit to rule because he was too young at the time (he was 6 years old). Henry had his interests in each of these cases, considering his brothers granted him the exclusive right to approve expeditions beyond Cape Bojador in return for his support.
Henry showed his intelligence in the early years, when he was educated under the supervision of his parents. It was also then when he demonstrated the will to rule, but given that he was only the third King's son, he knew the only way would be to get himself a kingdom. He did this in the age of 25, when he was appointed the governor of Algarve.
Prince Henry wanted good things for Portugal. It is said that he had great passion for exploring and discovering new territories but it seems that the motives behind this were in fact economy and expanding the kingdom. The first expedition he sponsored in 1418 had the task of discovering the source of gold that caravans were bringing into Ceuta. Instead, the explorers went off track because of a storm and conquered the Madeiran Islands.
He patronized a lot of expeditions and wanted the best but he didn't make great choices, so they mostly failed. He was obsessed by the Canary Islands, which he never conquered and they subsequently fell in the arms of Spain, and he never acted on his wish to turn the people in West Africa to Christian faith. However, Henry was very aware that a public image was very important, which is why he paid his biographer to make a heroic image of him.
It seems that this is why there is such a great image of Henry even today. In reality, he was a big lover of his country and an even bigger lover of the province he ruled in. Despite that, his reputation of being an essential figure in the advancement of science is an exaggeration. Considering that he didn't take part in many expeditions himself, epithet the Navigator is also exaggerating. This is something the modern historians used to describe him, although this nickname hasn't been widely accepted in Portugal.
Administrator general
Order of Christ , Portugal
1420
As a part of the Order of Christ, he spent most of his life living asceticly and refraining from pleasures known to a man then. However, he wasn't immune to money and ensuring more and more profits for himself and the kingdom was one of his main preoccupations. Henry is one of the people responsible for Portugal starting slave trading in the 15th century, and the main goal of his expedition was often to look for the resources to exploit.
He even asked and received the permission to be the only one responsible to determine who will go on expeditions along the African coast. Duarte, Henry's brother, often lectured him for lacking scruples when it comes to raising money, as well as for some other traits, like making promises he couldn't keep ane being extravagant without good reason.
Physical Characteristics: Prince Henry was usually portrayed with moustache, wearing a big hat with drapery over it and a one-sided coat.
Quotes from others about the person
"To beat the Ports (Portuguese) to China, we must guess not only where Henry might go, but go where we ourselves would not, for the earth is indeed round, and he is so far ahead of us that he is indeed behind us as well." - Reynaldo Purefoy
geography, cartography
John I of Portugal
Jehuda Cresques
Henry the Navigator didn't get married and fathered no children, although there are some sources claiming he had an illegitimate daughter when he was young.
Henry the Navigator is the third son of King John I of Portugal
Henry's oldest brother, who ruled Portugal from 1433-1438
Henry's older brother, who ruled Portugal from 1438-1446
He was the leader of the expedition that discovered Madeira Islands
Governor of Algarve
Duke of Viseu
Lord of Covilha
