Page 42 - All About History - Issue 54-17

Henry the Navigator

Henry the Navigator

Lord of the Horizon

The endeavours bankrolled by Portugal’s Prince Henry

kickstarted Europe’s Age of Discovery as he sent ships into the

unknown in search of fame and fortune

Written by Will Lawrence

t was in August 1415 that the small, poverty- ‘Talant de bien fere’ — translating as ‘a hunger to Indeed, it was not long after he took
gripped country of Portugal — only recently perform worthy deeds’ — demonstrating his interest administrative control of the order that Henry
unshackled from the grip of its mighty in the chivalric code. Crusade would forever remain shocked the members of the royal court by
neighbour Castile — shocked the European a topic that was close to his heart. announcing he had been studying charts of the
Isuperpowers. A fleet of Portuguese ships had In February 1416, King John appointed Henry to ‘Ocean Sea’, the Atlantic, expressing particular
sailed across the Straits of Gibraltar and sacked the oversee all matters pertaining to the defence and interest in two archipelagos off the coast of North
Muslim port of Ceuta on the Moroccan governance of Ceuta, an important move Africa: the Canary Islands and the group of islands
coast. This burgeoning city was the Henry as Henry now had a vested interest in around Madeira. The reasons for Henry’s interest
flower of Islamic North Africa and overlooked a world that most European princes in exploration are unclear — up until this point,
the gateway to the exotic lands never came into direct contact with. his great passion had been for further incursions
beyond. And yet, just three days race, religion When the allied Muslim armies against Islam. But it seems probable that the
after its capture, the city was and creed when of Morocco and Granada joined growth of his wealth and personal fame were more
awash with blood, its rich hoards assembling the scholars forces in a bid to retake the city, likely motivations than scientific enquiry.
of gold locked up in Portuguese Henry set sail with a heavily The Canary Islands had already fallen within the
coffers and the invaders revelling and savants to further armed relief force, though the compass of European interest, with the indigenous
in the material and spiritual push Portuguese Portuguese garrison had already population and Christian colonists living under
rewards of crusade. The tiny nation, expansion sent the besiegers packing by the the protection of Castile, though this brooked little
its kings so poor they were unable time he arrived. Still, the enterprise
to mint their own coinage, had served reinforced Henry’s crusading zeal.
notice. Portugal was on the rise. He yearned to take Granada and history seems to
King João I, more affectionately known as ‘John suggest that the funds he received from the crown
the Good’, had ensured that his three sons took to maintain Ceuta were spent as he saw fit, with
part in the siege and sacking of the city and it was the monies not necessarily going toward prosaic
here, as his countrymen bathed their hands in the administrative matters such as keeping the city
blood of the infidel, that Prince Henrique (or Henry) war-ready. Instead, Henry regarded positive action
first clapped eyes on the enormous bounty that against infidel as part of his remit, whether that
might be his nation’s harvest if it could venture was to fund his corsairs against Moorish shipping
deeper into the ‘Dark Continent’. If King John’s or to send his caravels down the African coast.
sacking of Ceuta acted as the foundation stone Henry received a further boost in 1420 when
of Portuguese expansion, it was his son Henry’s his father received papal permission to bring his
expeditions that built the pillars of empire. country’s military crusading order under control
Henry was born in 1394 to King John and of the crown. Mainland Portugal no longer had
the English noblewoman Philippa of Lancaster, a border with Islam and the crusading orders’
daughter of pivotal Plantagenet John of Gaunt. wealth would be a huge boon to the royal coffers.
Though contemporary biographers skimmed over One particular group, the elite Order of Christ,
much of Henry’s youth, it is clear that his mother came under Henry’s direct administrative control.
taught him to admire the knightly achievements This order was the heir to the Portuguese Knights
of his Plantagenet forbearers, whose deeds of Templar and to be the administrative head fitted
arms had done so much to boost English prestige well with Henry’s self-perception as chivalrous
in Europe. When knighted, all three of her sons knight errant. It also provided him with some extra Henry’s mother, Philippa of Lancaster,
selected Anglo-Norman mottos, Henry’s choice of funds he could divert to fuel his own ambitions. secured the Anglo-Portugeuse
alliance with her marriage to John I
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