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Henry the Navigator
Navigator, Portuguese Prince,
& Cartographer
 The founder of the Portuguese empire, Prince
Henry of Portugal was a patron of explorers and one of the earliest
geographers. In honor of the discoveries he inspired, he came to be
called Henry the Navigator.Henry was born in Oporto on March 4, 1394, the third surviving son of
King John I of Portugal. His mother, Philippa, was the daughter of the
English duke John of Gaunt. In 1415 Prince Henry distinguished himself
in a campaign in which the Portuguese captured the Moroccan citadel of
Ceuta on the African coast across the straits from Gibraltar. While he
was in Ceuta he became interested in the continent of Africa and decided
to send out expeditions to explore its coasts.From 1418 the prince sponsored numerous voyages of exploration. The
islands of the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands were
discovered or rediscovered, and the African coast was explored as far as
present-day Sierra Leone. Prince Henry set up a base near Cape St.
Vincent, the southwestern tip of Portugal, not far from the port of
Lagos.There, on a rocky promontory called Sagres, Henry created a small court
of his own called Vila do Infante. The most brilliant scholars did
pioneer work here in navigation, ship design, astronomy, and mapmaking.
From Sagres he sent out most of his expeditions. The prince expended his
entire fortune on these projects. He was in debt when he died in Vila do
Infante on Nov. 13, 1460. |
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