Page 80 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

henry “the navigator” 899

He took his first step when he was twenty-five years old and built himself
a modest house on the southern tip of Portugal, where he could stand
with Europe at his back, Africa before him, and the Unknown crashing
against the boundaries in between. • Jean Fritz (b. 1915)

however, and the Hausa are active in the politics of pres- impossible to surrender without loss of face.A subsequent
ent-day Nigeria. attack on Tangier failed, and Henry eventually turned to
more commercial pursuits that took his caravels into the
Frank A. Salamone
archipelagoesoftheeasternAtlanticandalongtheGuinea
coast of West Africa.Although the chief impetus for these
Further Reading voyages was commercial, Henry was also motivated by
Art & Life in Africa Online. (1998). Hausa Information. Retrieved an abiding belief in the medieval concepts of just war and
August 3, 2004, from http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/ crusade, and an obligation to preach the true faith to hea-
Hausa.html
BBC World Service. (n.d.). The story of Africa: West African kingdoms. thens and crusade against heretics and Muslims.
Retrieved August 3, 2004, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ Henry’s overseas interests began when he was made
africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter5.shtml donatory (lord-proprietor) of Madeira in 1433, where-
Cavendish, R. (2003). The fall of Kano: February 3rd 1903. History
Today, 53. Retrieved July 19, 2004, from http://www.questia.com/ upon he began to organize the colonization and exploi-
PM.qst?a=o&d=5000613021 tation of the islands for lumber, wine, and sugar. He
Falola,T. (1999). The history of Nigeria. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Graham, F. (1998). Documenting Kano “market” literature. Africa. Re- likewise began the settlement of the Azores in 1439.
trieved July 19, 2004, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&- Henry’s interest in the coast of Africa derived from his
d=5001503736 failedefforts to establish Portuguese control of the Canary
Greenberg, J. (1947). The influence of Islam on a Sudanese religion. New
York: J. J. Augustin. Islands, which were claimed by Castile. In the 1420s,
Hodgkin,T. (1960). Nigerian perspectives:An historical anthology (G. S. Henry began sponsoring a series of voyages down the
Graham, Ed.). London: Oxford University Press.
Smith, M. G. (1997). Government in Kano, 1350–1950. Boulder, CO: west coast of Africainthehopeofestablishingakingdom
Westview Press. rich in slaves, gold, and the produce of the coastal fish-
eries. By 1434, the Portuguese knew the coast of Africa
as far south as Cape Bojador, in the latitude of the Can-
aries—widely believed to be the southern limit of safe
Henry “the navigation. By 1445,a large expedition (reportedly num-
bering 26 ships) sailed for Río de Oro, and a few vessels
Navigator” reached the Senegal River and Cape Verde even farther

(1394–1460) south.Three years later a fort was built on the island of
Portuguese prince Arguin (in Mauritania), from which the Portuguese con-
ducted a lucrative trade in ivory, gold, and slaves. By
enry “the Navigator” was one of the earliest and Henry’s death twelve years later, the Portuguese had ex-
Hmost vigorous proponents of European overseas ex- plored about 4,000 kilometers of the coast of West Africa,
pansion and exploration. Prince Henry (Dom Henrique) including expeditions up the Senegal, Gambia, and other
was the third son of King João I of Portugal and his rivers, and they had discovered the Cape Verde Islands.
queen, Philippa of Lancaster, of England’s house of Plan- Henry’s sponsorship of these voyages was predicated
tagenet. Often credited with founding a school of navi- on returns, and he set clear objectives for his captains,
gation at Sagres in southwest Portugal, in point of fact regulating the distances to be covered and ensuring that
Henry was not a mariner—he probably never sailed far- details about the navigation and geography of the coast,
ther than northern Morocco—and he had no school at trade goods, and local languages were collected. One
Sagres or anywhere else.A strong advocate of the church result of these African voyages was the discovery of a
militant, in 1415 he took part in the capture of the route to India, but neither Henry nor any of his contem-
Moroccan port of Ceuta, a place of little economic or poraries had any such end in mind. However they did
strategic significance that proved costly to maintain but believe they could reach the lands of Prester John, the