Henry the Navigator and the great geographical discoveries. Henry the Navigator

The Portuguese prince Enrique the Navigator made many geographical discoveries, although he himself went to sea only three times. He marked the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries and significantly improved the position of Portugal.

Origin

The ancestor of Enrique (Enrique), became the first Portuguese count, having won the title in 1095 in the fight against the Moors - Arabs and Berbers who professed Islam, who occupied northwestern Africa and part of Europe. The ancestor of the ruling house was a relative of the Duke of Burgundy and representatives of the Hungarian Arpad dynasty, but there is no documentary evidence of this version.

The Kingdom of Portugal was founded in 1139. The ruling dynasties, which were related to each other, changed from time to time, which was always accompanied by a bloody war. The beginning of the next period in the history of the ruling house was given by Father Enrique - Joan (Joan, John). During the change of power, he invaded Portugal, laying siege to Lisbon by land and sea. The military campaign, during which João fought bravely, was successful. Later, he increasingly strengthened his power and as a result became a full-fledged ruler.

Joan was the first to sit on the throne for almost half a century. In addition, he headed the order of chivalry, although this role usually goes to the son of the king. It was John (Joan, Juan) who first initiated the development of the sea and new lands, but his son, Prince Enrique the Navigator, achieved real success in this field.

As a child, the boy and his brothers were taught knightly virtues: horseback riding, writing poetry, fencing, hunting, swimming, and playing checkers. Most of all, Enrique was interested in military art, although he did not neglect natural science and theology. Chivalry and determined the entire further existence of the prince.

Interests of the colonizer

The personality of Prince Enrique the Navigator combined the interests of a colonizer, explorer, missionary and crusader. Already at the age of 21, he participated in the Battle of Ceuta, which later became a trading post. Heinrich (Enrique, Enrique) The navigator also settled in Lagos in the south of the country, Sagres, where he opened observatories and navigational schools.

During the years of Enrique's reign, expansion proceeded at an unprecedented pace. In just one year, twice as many territories were added as in the previous two decades. The Portuguese reached the western edge of the continent - Cape Verde.

Enrique the explorer

But a much greater contribution was made by Henry the Navigator (Prince Enrique) as an explorer. Even after the defense of Ceuta, he learned from freed slaves that caravans with gold tirelessly roam the African desert. The prince, who was familiar with geography, understood that places where huge treasures are concentrated can be reached by sea. In addition, he understood that in the same way it was possible to reach Ethiopia and start trading with it, and then reach India itself.

Enrique the Navigator immediately began preparing and equipping sea expeditions to the shores of Africa. He founded navigational and nautical schools and observatories, added astronomy and mathematics to the course of the university in Lisbon. For Catholic Portugal during the Middle Ages, it was very unusual that everyone was accepted to the school of sailors, regardless of religious affiliation, class or ethnic differences. Until now, in the fortress, where the school was once located, a huge wind rose has been preserved.

Position of Portugal

For Portugal at that time, it was important to find a sea route to India - a source of spices and other treasures. The country was located far from the main trade routes and could not participate in international trade. At that time, Portugal could receive goods from the East only at a very high price, which, of course, was completely unprofitable economically. The geographical position of the country, however, favored discoveries.

Major discoveries

Enrique the Navigator considered his main business to be a thorough analysis of the reports of the captains and the ability to distinguish truth from fiction. From 1419, he constantly equipped expeditions, and sailors, inspired by the support of the king, participated in the discovery of Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde. And this at a time when Europeans considered Cape Nun on the coast where Morocco is now located, the extreme point of the world. It was said that terrible sea monsters lived beyond the cape, and the scorching sun would destroy any ship that dared to sail into those waters. But Prince Heinrich Enrique the Navigator, whose discoveries proved to the whole world the possibility of exploration, neglected these tales.

Sailors began regularly sailing beyond Cape Noon. Expeditions equipped by Enrique the Navigator discovered capes Bojador and Cabo Blanco there, explored the Senegal and Gambia rivers. They moved further and further, returning with gold. On open lands, the Portuguese built strongholds. Soon the first shipments of slaves began to be sent from there.

Realizing how important the development of shipbuilding was in geographical discoveries, Enrique invited the best craftsmen to Portugal. Ships then were not fast enough for long-distance travel, and this needed to be changed. Under Enrique, a caravel with slanting sails was created, which could go quickly and almost regardless of the direction of the wind. Under the leadership of Enrique, a lot of geographical discoveries were made, but he himself went to sea only three times. It was rumored that he was afraid of pirates or simply considered it an insulting fact to be among sailors. Most likely, the prince simply considered it his business to analyze the reports of sailors and direct the equipment of new campaigns.

missionary

The biography of Prince Enrique the Navigator is not limited to geographical discoveries alone, although they made up the most significant part of it. As a knight, Enrique actively spread Christianity among the conquered peoples. He was a master of the Order of Christ and participated in some campaigns against the Arabs living in northern Africa.

Prince's legacy

After the death of Henry (Enrique), the active advance of the Portuguese in a southerly direction slowed down significantly. But it was the activity of this man that laid the main pillars of the maritime and colonial power of Portugal. Enrique was not a stranger to political intrigues, but in military affairs success was not always on his side.

Personal life

The prince never married. He was gloomy and very restrained, blaming himself for the death of his younger brother, who died in an unsuccessful year in 1437. Prince Enrique the Navigator spent his last years within the walls of a school built by himself. He was surrounded by students. A couple of years before his death, Enrique went to sea for the third time, but for a very short time. Prince Henry died in 1460 and was buried in the chapel of the monastery.

Henry (or Enrique) A navigator who lived from 1394 to 1460. Enrique is a Portuguese infant (infants is the title of Portuguese princes or princesses), the son of King Juan the 1st, and just like his last name sounds, he is a traveler who made expeditions south along the West African coast. However, this is not true, since he only sent expeditions. It is also known that he participated in the capture of the city of Ceuta in 1415, which later became the outpost of the Portuguese expansion in Africa. From 1418, Enrique moved to the city of Lagos, where he established an observatory. Henry paid particular attention to sailing south along the western coast of Africa in order to find an eastern sea route to India. This was important for Portugal, since she was far from trade routes, and she had to buy spices at a high price, which was not profitable for her, since she was poor at that time after the wars with Castile.

From 1419, Henry, until his death, made expeditions, thanks to which the islands of Madeira and the Azores were discovered. He also explored the mouths of the Sengal and Gambia rivers. From time to time, he brought gold to his homeland and created settlements on the lands he discovered. In Ceuta, he learned that south of the Atlas Mountains stretched the great Sahara desert, in which the Moors send caravans through it of slaves and gold. It was at this time that the first black slaves were in Portugal. Henry, by the way, introduced a monopoly on the slave trade.

It is known from his biography that he tried to find the country of Ophir, in which King Solomon mined gold. He, for forty years, sent expeditions to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa, with the aim of extracting gold and slaves.

Also, he paid great attention to the development of cartography. He invited experts in this field from different countries. During his reign, the Portuguese learned how to make new types of ships that sailed against the wind, carrying a large amount of cargo.

After Enrique died, there was a break in the exploration of the south in Portugal, but, however, his activities contributed to the economic development of the state.

Video: Henry the Navigator

HEINRICH THE NAVIGator(1394-1460), correctly Enrique (Dom Enrique o Navigator), Portuguese prince, nicknamed the Navigator. For 40 years, he equipped and sent numerous sea expeditions to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa, creating the prerequisites for the formation of a powerful colonial empire of Portugal. Born March 4, 1394 in Porto. The third son of King Joan I (founder of the Avis dynasty) and his wife Philippa of Lancaster (daughter of John of Gaunt).

In 1415, Prince Henry, together with his father, took part in a military campaign, as a result of which the Moorish fortress of Ceuta, located on the African coast of Gibraltar, was taken. There he learned that caravans loaded with gold, following from the Niger River valley, crossed the Sahara, but decided that Portugal should look for sea routes to the gold-bearing lands of Guinea. Thus was the beginning (since 1416) of a long and well-organized campaign of sea expeditions. The ships moved along the African continent and returned to Portugal, using a wide belt of tailwinds and coastal currents. One of the results of these expeditions was the discovery of Madeira (1418–1419) and the Azores (1427–1431).

Madeira Island, located 900 km southwest of Portugal, became the first Portuguese colony. On his lands began to grow sugar cane and planted vineyards.

The exploration of Africa itself was fraught with great difficulties, for example, Cape Bojador in the south of the Canary Islands posed a great danger to navigation. But the southern route to the tropical lands of Africa was finally opened - in 1434 Gilles Ianish rounded the cape.

Henry was strongly influenced by his brother Prince Pedro, the king's second son. In 1418–1428 he visited many of the royal courts of Europe. Later, Pedro arrived in Venice, where he observed with interest the trade of the Venetians with the eastern countries, and where he was presented with a manuscript Books Marco Polo . After reviewing the manuscript, Heinrich invited the captains of their ships to collect information about the sea route to India, as well as about the African Christian country of Ethiopia. He hoped to reach this land by bypassing the Muslim countries from the southeast. In this he was supported by his brother Pedro.

After the second campaign in Ceuta (1418), Henry established his residence in the Algarve, the southernmost province of Portugal, where the reliable bay of Lagos was located. In 1443, Henry received at his disposal Sagrish, the southwestern point of Portugal at Cape San Vicente, or, as it was then called, the "Sacred Cape." There, at the expense of the Portuguese spiritual and knightly order of Christ, of which he was the head, the prince founded an observatory and a nautical school. Called Villa do Infante, it became a center of attraction for prominent scientists, cartographers and astronomers of the time.

Henry's life was a chain of personal tragedies. In 1437, together with his younger brother Ferdinand, he participated in an unsuccessful expedition to Tangier; Ferdinand was taken prisoner by the Moors and imprisoned, where he died because Henry failed to ransom him. After that, in 1438, his older brother, King Duarte, died. The middle brother Pedro became regent, but, having started a fight with the pretender to the throne, Alfonso V, he was killed at Alfarrobeyre in 1449.

All these events led to the fact that the expeditions were organized by Henry sporadically, and long intervals appeared in their schedule. Nevertheless, in 1444 Henry's captains discovered the Senegal River, two years later they reached the Gebe River in Sierra Leone. South of this point, during the life of Henry, the Portuguese could not advance. In 1455 and 1456 the Venetian Alvise da Cadamosto, the most famous of Henry's skippers, sailed up the Gambia River in the Gambia, and the following year discovered the coast of the Cape Verde Islands. At this time, a massive trade in African slaves began, the center of which was located in Argen, not far from Cape Blanco. Henry encouraged the slave trade, and considered the act of baptizing slaves as a way to save their souls. The prince's expeditions began to generate income and, in the eyes of the Portuguese nobles and merchants, Henry turned into a national hero.

Henry's last years were spent in almost complete seclusion in Sagrisha, surrounded only by members of his "university", although in 1458 he accompanied a successful expedition to Tangier and further south to Arquila. He then returned to Saghris on the "Sacred Cape", where he died on November 13, 1460.

As a child, he was fond of swordsmanship, horseback riding, the study of natural sciences and religion. However, most of all he was attracted by military affairs and mastery of the spear. This occupation predetermined the future life of Henry.

First trips and discoveries

in 1415, a military campaign was made and the capture of the fortress of Ceuta on the coast of Africa. The king entrusted control over the conquered outpost to Henry. At that time, Henry learned about the caravans going through the desert and carrying gold from Guinea. He began to search for sea routes to the gold-bearing lands. Beginning in 1418, Henry organized a series of sea expeditions, as a result of which several islands were discovered on the northwestern coast of Africa (Madeira (1418) and the Azores (1427)). An interesting fact is that the organizer himself went on sea expeditions no more than three times.

Madeira became the first colony of Portugal. For the first time black slaves were sent to Portugal. Thus the beginning of the slave trade was laid, on which Henry introduced a state monopoly. After the discovery of the Azores, they also began to be colonized. In the occupied territories, the Portuguese grew grapes and sugar cane, mined valuable wood and sent it to their homeland.

One of the important directions for Portugal was the search for a sea route to India - the land of spices - around the African continent. Portugal, located far from the main trade routes, could not effectively participate in trade for itself. Oriental goods were very expensive for a poor country at that time, and exports to other countries were small. Therefore, Henry paid great attention to sea voyages to the northwestern coast of Africa in order to find an eastern route to India.

In 1438, Henry founded an observatory and a nautical school called "Villa do Infante". It became the first center of science in Europe, the best European scientists, astronomers and cartographers of that time came here.

Last years

Prince Henry spent his last years in solitude, surrounded by students of his nautical school. The great Navigator died on November 13, 1460 in Sagres, Portugal.

After his death, Portuguese explorers managed to reach the shores of modern Sierra Leone and discover the Cape Verde Islands (now the Republic of Cape Verde). Henry's business of finding sea routes to India and the Far East was continued by such great travelers as.

Henry the Navigator was born in the family of the Portuguese king John the First on March 4, 1394. The beginning of the era of the Great geographical discoveries is associated with his name. Heinrich Enrique himself lived in the city of Porto. As a member of the royal family, it was necessary for him to study the history and culture of his state, to learn how to manage the country. In his youth, the young prince was engaged in fencing and horseback riding, comprehended the natural sciences and religion.

Heinrich paid special attention to military craft and exercises with a spear. His mother, a true Englishwoman, instilled in her children the ideals of chivalry, upbringing and respect for elders. Heinrich and his brothers played chess and composed poetry. However, all his work was manifested in military art. It was military affairs that determined the further fate of the crown prince.

Passion for war and religion made Henry a minister of the church - a knight - a crusader. He was directly involved in military campaigns, the seizure of various territories. The Portuguese prince was a participant in a military campaign in Africa, as a result of which he was able to capture the fortress of the Moors and bring many slaves home.

First military campaigns

The capture of the fortress of Ceuta, located on the African coast, becomes Henry's first sea campaign. From that moment on, an irresistible desire to travel, make discoveries and acquire new lands arises in him. Henry became the founder of navigation in Portugal, although he himself was directly involved in expeditions no more than three times. However, despite this, the nickname "Seafarer" was firmly entrenched in him.

While in Africa, the prince learned about caravans carrying gold and spices from Guinea. He began to look for sea routes to the gold-bearing lands. He made huge plans to annex new territories. Henry participated not only in military campaigns. As a true knight - a crusader, he sought to free the Christian population from the infidels. It was from Christian slaves that he learned about gold-rich lands and made preparations for sea voyages.

Heinrich sought to enrich Portugal, so he abandoned his military career and devoted all his time to the construction of shipyards and ships. The crown prince retired from the royal court and settled in Sagrisha, where he began to plan sea voyages. In Sagrisha, Heinrich becomes the founder of the spiritual - knightly order and began work on the construction of ships.

No one before Henry dared to go out into the Atlantic Ocean, considering it unsafe. Since no one was engaged in swimming on the ocean, there were no maps of the islands and coasts either. Heinrich independently studied the geography of Africa and tried to put theoretical knowledge on maps. This was a creative person. With his filing, many successful sea expeditions were organized.

Expeditions of Henry the Navigator

An excellent education, received by Henry through the efforts of his mother Philippa, served him well. In 1416, Enrique sent the first ships to the coast of Africa. Travelers reached the western coast of Morocco, but refused to sail further. The first failure did not frighten Henry. He continued to form new expeditions.

In 1420, through the efforts of a navigator, the island of Madeira was discovered, which became the first colony of Portugal. A few years later, the Azores were discovered. Heinrich Enrique petitioned the Pope to grant Portugal new lands inhabited by Christian peoples. The pope agreed, and the new lands passed to the Portuguese crown.

Black slaves were brought from Madeira to Portugal. The slave trade began to develop, on which the king introduced a state monopoly. A flood of gold, silver, spices and slaves poured into Europe. Open territories became not only colonies, but also markets for raw materials and products. The international market begins to take shape.

Practically without going to sea, Heinrich was able to make many travels and discoveries. Through his efforts, the Cape Verde Islands were discovered, the mouth of the Senegal River was discovered, and a geographical map of the western coast of the African continent was created.

During the life of Henry the Navigator, Portugal was still a rather poor and small country, so the prince paid attention to the development of trade relations between colonies and peoples. New goods began to arrive in the country, international relations were established. In 1458, the last expedition organized by Henry went to sea.

The Portuguese prince devoted the last years of his life to the development of a sea route to India. In Sagrisha, he founded a navigational school, opened an observatory and invited many foreign specialists to train young sailors.

Heinrich Enrique made an invaluable contribution to the development of the maritime affairs of Portugal, took part in the training of sailors. It was he who made the necessary changes to the design of the caravel so that it would be possible to safely go out into the open ocean on it. Enormous funds were spent on the construction of ships and shipyards, which subsequently fully paid off.

On the territory of Portugal, a monument was opened to the famous navigator. The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries began with the reign of Henry.