HENRY, prince of Portugal, surnamed the NAVIGATOR : b. 4 March 1394; d. 13 Nov. 1460. He was a grandson of old John of Gaunt; nephew of Henry IV of England; and great grandson of Edward III. His father, King Joao or John, who formed a close English con nection by marrying Philippa of Lancaster, was the first king of the house of Avitz, under which Portugal, for 200 years, rose to its high est prosperity and power. The career of Portugal in exploration and discovery, due to the genius and devotion of Prince Henry, his biographer characterizes as phenomenon without example in the world's history, result ing from the thought and perseverance of one man." Prince Henry had become one of the first soldiers of his age when, in 1420, he re fused offers of military command, and under took to direct, at Sagres (the extreme point of land of Europe looking southwest into the At lantic Sea of Darkness), plans of exploration of the unknown seas of the world lying to the west and south. His idea was to overcome the difficulties of the worst part of that im mense world of storms, that lying west of Africa, and thereby get round Africa to the south and sail to India, and China, and the isles beyond India. Every year he sent out two or
three caravels; but his great thought and in domitable perseverance had yielded only ((twelve years of costly failure and disheartening ridi cule," when, in 1434, the first great success was achieved by Gil Eannes, that of sailing beyond Cape Bojador. Prince Henry made his seat at Sagres, one of the most desolate spots in the world, a school of navigation, a resort for ex plorers and navigators. His contemporary Az urara says of him: of heart and keen of intellect, he was extraordinarily ambitious of achieving great deeds. His self-discipline was unsurpassed; all his days were spent in hard work, and often he passed the night with out sleep; so that by dint of unflagging industry he conquered what seemed to be impossibili ties to other men. His household formed a training-school for the young nobility of the country." Consult by Beazley (1895), and Major (1868) ; Martin, Golden Age of Prince Henry the Navigator' (1911).