Posted
on March 4, 2014
It
may not surprise you to hear that, when this particular Henry was
born (on this date in 1394), he was not called “Henry the
Navigator.” That was a name that he earned, a name for the history
books. As a baby boy, the third child of the King of Portugal, he was
called Infante Henry, Duke of Viseu.
As
a young man, Henry was intrigued by tales of Africa, by the idea of
expanding Portugal's trading partners, and by the lure of
exploration. At age 21 he convinced his father to conquer the African
port Ceuta, which was only a short distance from Portugal across the
Straits of Gibraltar. He wasn't doing it just on a lark—after all,
Barbary pirates based in Ceuta had been raiding Portuguese villages
for years, kidnapping Portuguese people and selling them in the
African slave market.
The
venture succeeded, and Henry began to send expeditions to explore the
coast of Africa. At the time very few Europeans knew much about
Africa. Henry's expeditions expanded Europeans' knowledge of new
lands while looking for the source of West African gold trade—and
of course trying to stop the pirate attacks!
Notice
that Henry didn't go on these expeditions himself! He wasn't captain
OR navigator of the ships—he waited safe and cozy at home!
The
ships of the time just weren't up to the far-away travel and
exploration. So Henry directed Portuguese ship builders to create a
new, lighter-weight sort of ship called a caravel. It could sail much
faster, much further. The caravel revolutionized ocean travel!
With
Henry pushing his people to explore and make maps and trade, the
Portuguese discovered and colonized the Azores and the Madeira
Islands and sailed for the first time past the storms and strong
currents of Cape Bojador, into what was known as the “Sea of
Darkness.” Within Henry's lifetime, his explorers ended up sailing
as far south as Cape Palmas.
Of
course, all was not lollipops and roses. Henry may have succeeded in
ransoming some Portuguese people who had been enslaved, thus freeing
them, but he also enslaved some African people and ordered violent
actions against Muslims and others.
Learn
more about Henry the Navigator with the videos, books, and lessons
from this Pinterest board.
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