Let Me Introduce Myself......

Good day my fellow viewers. My name is Prince Henry and I am an Infante of the Portuguese Kingdom. My father is King John I of Portugal, the great founder of the Aviz dynasty, and my mother is Queen Philippa of Lancaster. I was born in the city of Porto as the third in line to the throne on the 4th of March in 1394. I have eight well known brothers and sisters and together, my surviving siblings make up the "Illustrious Generation", a generation of well-known princes and princesses of Portugal. 

Now let me tell you about my fascination with exploring across the vast lands and dangerous seas. The truth is, although they call me Prince Henry the Navigator, I have never set sail with any of the voyages I had helped to sponsor. Then why was I such an avid supporter of exploration? Why was it that, although I wasn’t present at the expeditions physically, my soul and spirit was with my explorers in the form of sponsorships? Here is my story: I was only third in line to the throne, thus I knew there was little chance of my being king. Therefore I was able to focus on many goals throughout the course of my life. My greatest interest was captured by the western coast of Africa. There were many reasons why the land of Africa appealed to me so much, with the main reasons being:

1. I wanted to acquire greater trade opportunities for Portugal, such as establishing advantageous trade relations. I also wished to set up trade routes, create maps of the West African coast to aid future expeditions, and to search for gold along the African coast.

2. I had heard of a Christian kingdom of Prester John and hoped to become allies with such a kingdom. With combined forces, we could defeat the Muslims.

3. I intended to spread Christianity to other parts of the world.  

My love of exploring and fulfilling my goals was much greater than my love for any mortal. Thus, I never exchanged marriage vows. 

           I have sent many ships down to Africa in efforts to fulfill my goals, though a great number of these efforts have failed due to the dangers of the sea and dreadful weather conditions. However, my most successful story lies in Gil Eannes's rounding of Cape Bojador and returning safely, bringing back plants as proof of his accomplishment. There has also been many other successful stories. A few glorious moments were: In 1441, I sent Nuno Tristão and Antão Goncalves to Cape Blanco. Antonio de Noli and Alvise da Cadamosto discovered the Cape Verde islands for me. Cadamosto also explored the Gambia River and reported back to me that the people there were hostile and Cadamosto could not trade with them. In 1458, I sent Diogo Gomes on an expedition that reached as far as Cape Palmas. As you can see, I helped Portugal take the lead during the European age of expansion and discovery by helping sponsor some of the greatest explorers of my era.

                                   

                                                                             --Portrait of Myself--

Sources: 

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/prince_henry_the_navigator.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator

http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/princehenry.htm

http://www.thornr.demon.co.uk/kchrist/phenry.html

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1118.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/prince-henry-the-navigator-a79628
Picture:
Nyssabunyan---http://year8exploration.wikispaces.com/file/view/Henry_the_navigator_portrait.jpg/143348135/Henry_the_navigator_portrait.jpg