Henry the Navigator did not sail to many foreign lands or explore new, undiscovered locations, yet he is remembered by the epithet O Navegador, The Navigator. Through his patronage, Henry kicked off the Age of Exploration. for example, Vasco da Gama discovered a route around Africa to India. Henry brought Portugal wealth, a chance to become a maritime empire, and fame. Henry also laid the groundwork for colonization, capitalization, and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Henry was a very influential man. Let's figure out who this historic icon truly was!
Prince Henry the Navigator Life and Facts
Dom Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu, is known today as Henry the Navigator. Henry was the third surviving son of King John I of Portugal and Queen Phillipa. Born on March 4, 1394, Henry was one of eleven children. Since he was the third surviving son, Henry had little chance of becoming king. Instead, he focused elsewhere; he was fascinated with the story of Prester John.
Prester John (Part I)
Today, we know that Prester John was a fictional king, but Europeans thought that he could be a powerful ally in the fifteenth century. A Mongolian army pushed Muslim forces further out of Asia. When news of this returned to Europe, the story had changed: it was a Christian king who had defeated the Muslims. At the time, a letter was circulating in Europe from a mysterious Prester John who claimed to be that king and have the fountain of youth.
When Henry was twenty-one, he and his brothers captured Ceuta, a fortified Muslim city, in Morocco. Because of the capture of Ceuta, the king knighted Henry and his brothers. When in this city, Henry learned of the ways that the Northern and Western Africans traded with Indians. He started to think of ways to make Portugal's trade more profitable.
If Portuguese ships traveled the Mediterranean, then they were taxed by Italians. If they traveled through the Middle East, the Muslim nations would tax them. Henry wanted a way to trade where the Portuguese would not be taxed.
Fig 1: Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry the Navigator's Accomplishments
While Henry was not a sailor, explorer, or navigator, he was a patron to people who were. Henry hired capable mathematicians, mariners, astronomers, ship designers, map makers, and navigators to innovate sailing equipment. Henry's sponsored voyages rediscovered African coastal islands, and Henry's patrons were some of the first Europeans to establish trade with some African tribes.
Did you know?
Henry wasn't known as the Navigator in his own time. Later, in the 19th century that British and German historians referred to him with that epithet. In Portuguese, Henry is also known as Infante Dom Henrique.
Innovations to Seafaring
Henry's team modified the compass, hourglass, astrolabe, and the quadrant to work at sea. An astrolabe was a device used by the Ancient Greeks to tell the time and locate stars. Henry's explorers used it to locate stars that could pinpoint where they were. Sailors used the quadrant to find latitude and longitude on maps.
One of their chief inventions was the caravel ship–probably based on a Muslim design. This small ship was easier to maneuver, making it perfect for sailing around the African coast. It also had lateen sails. These sails were triangular shaped instead of the usual square. The triangular shape of the sail allowed it to sail against the wind!
Fig 2: Caravel Ship
Alongside wanting riches for Portugal, Henry wanted to spread Christianity. Even though Henry was very religious, he still hired Jewish and Muslim people to work on his team of innovators. This team was based in Sagres on the Southern coast of Portugal.
Sponsored Voyages
Henry's sponsored voyages rediscovered some coastal islands off of Africa. During his lifetime, colonists explored around 15,000 miles of coastal Africa on behalf of the Portuguese. These explorers were searching for fabled rivers of gold, the tower of Babylon, the Fountain of Youth, and mythical kingdoms.
While the explorers found none of that, they did "discover" the island chains of Azores and Madeira. These islands acted as stepping stones for further African exploration. Ships could stop at these islands, restock and continue their voyages.
The most consequential island discovery was the Cape Verde Islands. The Portuguese colonized these islands, thus creating the blueprint for the colonization of the Americas. The Cape Verde Islands were added to the stepping stones restock chain and played a significant role when Europeans traveled the New World.
Fig 3: Henry the Navigator's Sponsored Voyages
Henry the Navigator and Slavery
Henry's voyages were expensive. While Portugal was selling some African spices, this did not cover the cost of exploration. Henry wanted something more profitable. In 1441 Henry's captains began to capture Africans living in Cape Bianco.
One of the men captured was a chief who spoke Arabic. This chief negotiated freedom for himself and his son in exchange for ten other people. Their captors brought them home in 1442, and the Portuguese ships returned with ten more enslaved persons and gold dust.
Portugal had now entered the slave trade and would remain a large slave market until the decline of the slave trade. The churches did not agree. After all, many of the newly enslaved people were Christian Africans or had converted to Christianity. In 1455, Pope Nicholas V limited the slave trade to Portugal, and that slavery would Christianize the "uncivilized" Africans.
Henry the Navigator's Contributions
After the death of Henry the Navigator on November 3, 1460, his legacy grew beyond explorational goals.
Fig 4: Portuguese Voyages
Henry's contributions allowed Bartholomew Dias to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, in 1488. Many sailors were too afraid to attempt this because they thought it meant certain death. The currents around the cape would push boats backwards. The ambitious Diaz sailed around the cape and returned to Portugal to inform the then King, John II.
In May of 1498, Vasco de Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India. This was the first time a European had made this voyage. Henry the Navigator's original goal was to find a route via sea that would eliminate the need to go through the Mediterranean or the Middle East.
Prester John (Part II)
In 1520, the Portuguese thought they had found the descendant of the legendary Prester John. They believed that Ethiopia, a kingdom in Africa, was the imaginary kingdom from legend and that the Ethiopians were the perfect Christians and potentially powerful allies. Portugal and Ethiopia allied together, but this allegiance disintegrated a century later when the Pope declared African Christians were heretics.
Henry the Navigator - Key Takeaways
- Henry the Navigator was a patron of maritime innovation, exploration, and colonization.
- Henry the Navigator began the Age of Exploration and opened Africa up to the European slave trade.
- Vasco de Gama and Bartholomew Dias were able to make their voyages because of Henry.
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