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Prince Henry the Navigator (Renaissance and Reformation)

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  1. Introduction
  2. “Henry the Navigator” is a modern sobriquet for Henrique, Infante (prince, literally “Infant” or royal child) of Portugal (b. 1394–d. 1460), who played key roles both in the domestic history of late medieval Portugal and in the early oceanic explorations. The third surviving son of King Dom João I, the founder of the Avis dynasty, Henry was shaped by the internal problems faced by the new dynasty and by its struggle for recognition. Ambitious and steeped in the conventional values of his peers, Henry throughout his life pursued dreams of conquests in Muslim territories, particularly Morocco. However, it was his involvement in the exploration of the African Atlantic (which reached Sierra Leone by the time of his death), and in the colonization of Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands, that gained him what he desired the most: fame and a place in history. The explorations and settlement efforts were by-products of Prince Henry’s projects aimed at the Muslim Maghrib. The early expeditions were spin-offs of his corsair campaigns, either against Muslim shipping and settlements along the northwestern coast of Africa or intelligence-gathering and wealth-seeking forays, that he hoped would help enable his core objectives. Only toward the end of his life did Henry come to see the Atlantic explorations that he sponsored (but did not participate in) as a source of fame and prestige. To posterity, however, it was his oceanic ventures, which served as the foundation for the Portuguese seaborne empire and the trigger for European overseas expansion, that made him an important historical figure—one to be lionized, minimized, or vilified, depending on the viewpoint and ideology of respective writers. In consequence, most of the existing historiography has concentrated on Henry’s pursuits related to the Atlantic, from the perspective labeled in the past as “discoveries in geography,” or on the campaigns in Morocco. In comparison, the overall context of his life, the formative influences that shaped its course, and the very significant role he played on the domestic and European scenes have been relatively neglected, an example of the problems that for so long made biography and other forms of individual-based approaches to history a deprecated branch of historiography.
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  4. Bibliographies and Historiographical Overviews
  5. The literature on Henry “the Navigator” is vast but somewhat repetitive. Relevant material appears both in works specifically focused on Henry and in more general histories of the early oceanic explorations and “discoveries in geography.” While they are numerous, many of the older works tend to be of uneven quality and often are difficult to access. They frequently take the form of very short books and articles published in little known scholarly journals, magazines, and even newspapers. The repetitiveness resulted from ideological agendas, the need to engage past historiographical assertions, and dependence on a limited set of narrative sources. The literature is also unevenly distributed in time. Literature before 1984 dominates the topic. The majority of it was generated around the key centenary celebrations (1860, 1894, 1960, 1994) or during periods of heightened political and ideological interest in Henry, for example during the Salazar/Caetano Estado Novo (“New Republic”). Bibliographies and historiographical reviews play a fundamental role in acknowledging the existing scholarship and in establishing the historiographical patterns. The key bibliographies are the Bibliografia Henricina (Comissão das Comemorações do V. Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique 1960) and the Repertório bibliográfico da historiografia portuguesa, 1974–1994 (Instituto Camões, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra 1995). In terms of historiographical analyses, Russell (Russell 1960 and Russell 1984 [both cited under Biographical and Contextualizing Studies, 1960–1990]), Thomaz (Thomaz 1991), João 1994, Elbl 2001, and Oliveira e Costa 2011 offer comprehensive commentary on the literature pertaining directly to Henry. However, more general commentaries on the historiography of the early Portuguese overseas expansion or medieval Portugal, such as Pinheiro Marques 1991, Matos and Thomaz 1993, and Oliveira e Costa 2011, are very valuable both in offering specific comments on Henricine historiography and, even more so, in offering historiographical analysis of the more recent literature, in the context of Henry’s life and accomplishments.
  6.  
  7. Comissão das Comemorações do V. Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique. Bibliografia Henriquina. 2 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Comissão das Comemorações do V. Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, 1960.
  8.  
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  10.  
  11. The bibliography offers an extensive listing of both scholarly and journalistic works on Henry up to the fifth centenary of his death. Alphabetically organized, it includes works by both Portuguese and foreign authors. The latter are much less well covered than the former, and they were included largely to broaden the historical context.
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  16. Elbl, Ivana. “Henry ‘the Navigator’: The State of Research.” Journal of Medieval History 27.1 (2001): 79–90.
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  19.  
  20. The article discusses the state of Henricine historiography and potential future research directions following the publication of Russell 2000 (cited under Major Biographies), deemed by many the definitive work on the subject.
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  25. Instituto Camões, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra. Repertório bibliográfico da historiografia portuguesa, 1974–1994. Coimbra, Portugal: Instituto Camões, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, 1995.
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  28.  
  29. The repertory captures the dramatic developments in Portuguese historiography since the end of the Estado Novo. The authors are listed alphabetically and their works chronologically, allowing researchers to set in the context of their overall scholarship the works of authors who wrote on Prince Henry and his times.
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  34. João, Maria Isabel. O Infante D. Henrique na historiografia (Estudo inicial e selecção de documentos). Lisbon: Grupo de Trabalho do Ministério da Educação para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, 1994.
  35.  
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  37.  
  38. The book presents a useful, concise analysis of the relevant historiography from the 15th to the 20th centuries, supported by excerpts from key works under discussion. The objective is to identify key authors and their most important views or contributions.
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  43. Marques, Alfredo Pinheiro. A historiografia dos descobrimentos e a expansão portuguesa. Coimbra, Portugal: Livr. Minerva, 1991.
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  46.  
  47. A brief survey of the historiographical trends in the study of the Portuguese overseas explorations and expansion. A shorter version of this work appeared in 1990 (in French) and a more substantial one in 1988, titled Guia de história dos descobrimentos e expansão portuguesa: Estudos (Lisbon: Biblioteca Nacional).
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  51.  
  52. Matos, Artur Teodoro de, and Luís Filipe F. R. Thomaz, eds. Vinte anos de historiografia ultramarina portuguesa: 1972–1992. Lisbon, Portugal: C.N.C.D.P., 1993.
  53.  
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  55.  
  56. While this collection is not specifically devoted to the early explorations, it is valuable in tracking the overall developments in Portuguese historiography of the overseas expansion in the period following the restoration of democracy in Portugal.
  57.  
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  60.  
  61. Oliveira e Costa, João Paulo. “The Beginnings of the Portuguese Overseas Expansion.” In The Historiography of Medieval Portugal, c. 1950–2010. Edited by José Mattoso, Maria de Lurdes Rosa, Bernardo Vasconcelos e Sousa, and Maria João Branco, 591–605. Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), 2011.
  62.  
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  64.  
  65. Although not focused specifically on Henry, Oliveira e Costa’s chapter is the most recent historiographical assessment of literature on early Portuguese overseas expansion.
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  69.  
  70. Thomaz, Luís Felipe F. R. “O Infante Dom Henrique e a paternidade da Expansão: De Gomes Eanes de Azurara a Vitorino Nemésio.” In Vide e obra do Infante Dom Henrique. 5th ed. Edited by Vitorino Nemésio, xi–xxiii. Lisbon, Portugal: Imprensa Nacional, Casa da Moeda, 1991.
  71.  
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  73.  
  74. Thomaz traces and critically assesses the historiography, from the 15th century to the publication of Vitorino Nemésio, Vida e obra do Infante Dom Henrique (Nemésio 1959, cited under Biographical and Contextualizing Studies, 1960–1990), regarding the claim that Prince Henry was the initiator of the overseas expansion. See also the 6th ed. (Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, Casa da Moeda, 1991).
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  78.  
  79. Narrative Sources
  80. Most of the earlier historiography is based on a limited number of narrative sources that gradually became available between the 16th and 19th centuries. No primary narrative dedicated directly to Henry is known or available. His story has to be gleaned from narratives his contemporaries or near-contemporaries devoted to other topics. These fall into three basic categories: chronicles of the realm, chronicles of the early Portuguese presence in Morocco and explorations in the Atlantic, and the few surviving memoirs of participants in the early explorations, namely Luis de Cadamosto and Diogo Gomes. Most of the early narratives were authored or compiled by Gomes Eanes de Zurara, the cronista-mor of King Afonso V, member of the Order of Christ, and Henry’s protegé. Because of Zurara’s personal access to Henry, some elements in his chronicles are based on Henry’s recollections and echo autobiographical perspectives, in particular Zurara’s description of the planning and execution of the conquest of Ceuta. Zurara’s writings, and those of other Portuguese chroniclers, especially Rui de Pina, are a matter of debate that has never been satisfactorily resolved. Portuguese authors of the 16th and early 17th centuries who mentioned or celebrated Henry, such as Duarte Pacheco Pereira, João de Barros, or Damião de Góis, either adapted existing texts or added their vision and interpretation, based on their values and ideals. The relative paucity of the narrative sources is complicated by the lack of recent editions and scholarly commentary. Most of the relevant passages have been incorporated into major collections of documents (see Collections of Documents), whose editors annotated them extensively. However, all the commented editions date to the period from the 1940s to the 1970s, and, as such, they do not reflect recent findings. Most of the narratives remain available only in Portuguese. Only a few have been translated into English in the late 19th and the early decades of the 20th century and published by the Hakluyt Society, but both the language of the translations and the commentary are severely outdated, which creates additional problems for readers dependent on them. The narrative sources pertinent to Prince Henry’s life are finite and overexploited. In addition, whether in the original or in translation, they are in need of new editions, equipped with up-to-date apparatus.
  81.  
  82. Chronicles and Historical Narratives
  83. While not specifically focused on Henry, the works of royal chroniclers of the 15th and 16th centuries offer a contemporary context for Henry’s life, as well as perceptions and memories of him, his accomplishments, and his historical role. Lopes 1644 documents Henry’s early years. Zurara’s works (Zurara 1899, Zurara 1978, and in Serra 1790–1793) are of the most immediate significance because Zurara knew Henry personally and was, in fact, one of his protegés, He also based some of his narrative on information obtained directly from Henry, in conversations with him and his brother Prince Pedro. Of similar importance are the works of Rui de Pina (in Serra 1790–1793), which, while infused with Pina’s own research and interpretation, are partly based on older works that are now lost but were likely authored by Henry’s contemporaries. This is particularly true of the first part of Pina’s chronicle of the rule of King Dom Afonso V, which covers the crucial period from 1438 to 1449. Barros 1778 and Góis 1790 offer valuable 16th-century insights into Henry’s career and historical role.
  84.  
  85. Barros, João de. Da Asia: Decada I, Parte I. Lisbon, Portugal: Na Regia Officina Typografica, 1778.
  86.  
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  88.  
  89. The opening two books of the first decade of Barros’s Da Asia, a 16th-century history of the Portuguese expansion, summarize the explorations sponsored by Prince Henry and offer a panegyric to his accomplishments. The laudatory account is one of the essential founding blocks of the myth of Henry the Navigator.
  90.  
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  92.  
  93.  
  94. Góis, Damião de. Chronica do Serenissimo Principe D. João. Coimbra, Portugal: Na Real Officina da Universidade, 1790.
  95.  
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  97.  
  98. This history of the early life of King Dom João II (b. 1455–d. 1495), the crown prince of Portugal until acceding to the throne in 1481, contains valuable information on the last decade of Prince Henry’s life. Of particular importance are chapters 6–8, devoted to Prince Henry and his accomplishments.
  99.  
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  101.  
  102.  
  103. Lopes, Fernão. Chronica delrey D. Ioam.I de Boa Memoria e dos reys de Portugal o decimo. 2 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Antonio Aluarez Impresor DelRey, 1644.
  104.  
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  106.  
  107. The first edition of Lopes’s chronicle of the reign of Dom João I (r. 1385–1433) is now available online. Covering the reign of Prince Henry’s father, the founder of the Avis dynasty, up to 1415, it offers essential information on conditions during Henry’s formative years.
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  110.  
  111.  
  112. Serra, José Corrêa da Serra, ed. Collecçaõ de livros ineditos de historia portugueza, dos reinados de D. Joaõ I., D. Duarte, D. Affonso V., e D. Joaõ II. 3 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Academia Real das Sciencias, 1790–1793.
  113.  
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  115.  
  116. This classic collection, widely available online, contains Zurara’s chronicles of Pedro and Duarte Meneses (important for Prince Henry’s involvement in Morocco), Pina’s chronicles of the reigns of King Dom Duarte (r. 1433–1438) and King Dom Afonso V (r. 1438–1481), and Matthew of Pisa’s account of the conquest of Ceuta in 1415.
  117.  
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  119.  
  120.  
  121. Zurara, Gomes Eanes de. Chronica de El-Rei D. João I. Lisbon, Portugal: Escriptorio, 1899.
  122.  
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  124.  
  125. Zurara’s chronicle, also known as Chronica da Tomada de Ceuta, focuses on the events surrounding the conquest of Ceuta in 1415. Its particular value lies the fact that it contains autobiographical elements, since Prince Henry and his recollections constituted an important source for Zurara’s narrative.
  126.  
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  128.  
  129.  
  130. Zurara, Gomes Eanes de. Feitos notáveis que se passaram na conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique. 2 vols. Edited by Torquato de Sousa Soares. Lisbon: Academia Portuguesa da História, 1978.
  131.  
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  133.  
  134. First published in 1841, under the title Cronica do Descobrimento e Conquista da Guiné. The English edition appeared in 1896–1898, under the title The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea (London: Hakluyt Society), this work by Zurara is the most frequently used primary source, and it has shaped Henricine historiography ever since it was first published. It is a combination of Zurara’s own work and a subsumed narrative by António Cerveira, who compiled most of the information on the explorations.
  135.  
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  137.  
  138.  
  139. Travel Accounts
  140. Early travel accounts by Prince Henry’s contemporaries offer highly authentic and realistic reports about him and the expedition he sponsored. These include the accounts of the young Venetian merchant Luís de Cadamosto and Henry’s captain Pedro de Sintra (Cadamosto and Sintra 1988), based on travels in Atlantic Africa in 1455–1456, and the memoirs of Henry’s captain Diogo Gomes (Gomes 2002). Later narratives, such as that of Pacheco Pereira 1991, written in 1506–1507, tend to glorify Henry and contributed to the creation of his posthumous mythical persona.
  141.  
  142. Cadamosto, Luís de, and Pedro de Sintra. Viagens. Lisbon: Académia Portuguesa de História, 1988.
  143.  
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  145.  
  146. The accounts of Cadamosto and Sintra have been published in numerous editions. Cadamosto’s Relazione, originally written as an intelligence report for the Senate of Venice, is one of the most consulted primary sources on Prince Henry, together with Zurara’s chronicles (see Zurara 1899 and Zurara 1978, cited under Chronicles and Historical Narratives) The only English edition is G. R. Crone, The Voyages of Cadamosto and Other Documents on Western Africa in the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century (London: Hakluyt Society, 1937).
  147.  
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  149.  
  150.  
  151. Gomes, Diogo. Descobrimento primeiro da Guiné. Critical edition and translation by Aires de Nascimento. Lisbon, Portugal: Colibri, 2002.
  152.  
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  154.  
  155. Diogo Gomes, a ship captain who had served both Prince Henry and King Afonso V, shared, as an old man, his experiences with the German cosmographer Martin Behaim, who recorded them. They eventually came to form part of Valentim Fernandes’s compendium composed in the early 16th century.
  156.  
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  158.  
  159.  
  160. Pacheco Pereira, Duarte. Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis. Edited by Joaquim Barradas de Carvalho. Descobrimentos portugueses e ciência moderna. Lisbon, Portugal: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Serviço de Educação, 1991.
  161.  
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  163.  
  164. Pacheco Pereira’s 1506–1507 work is both a rutter (a handbook of written nautical and geographical directions, used by late medieval and early modern mariners) and a history of the Portuguese explorations in Africa. The panegyric prologue to the description of Atlantic Africa explored on Prince Henry’s orders is one of the foundations of the Henricine myths. The 1905 edition (Lisbon: Typographia Universal) may be the most accessible one. Text in French and Portuguese.
  165.  
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  169. Collections of Documents
  170. One of the most limiting factors in the study of Prince Henry is the fact that primary sources directly relating to his life and accomplishments are limited. However, they are not exhausted. The key problem is that almost none of his personal correspondence, or that of the members of his immediate family, has survived. Until recently, Henry’s biographers paid little attention to documentary sources, even those contained in published collections, particularly the Monumenta Henricina (Dias Dinis 1960–1974), Descobrimentos portugueses: Documentos para a sua história (Iria and Martins da Silva Marques 1944–1971), Monumenta Missionária Africana: África Occidental (Brásio 2004), Monumenta Portugaliae Vaticana (Sousa Costa 1968), Documentos das Chancelarias Reais anteriores a 1531 relativos a Marrocos (Azevedo 1915–1934), Documentos sobre a expansão portuguesa (Godinho 1943–1956), Documentação henriquina (Garcia 1995). The work of Oliveira e Costa and other historians working on various aspects of Henricine studies (see Other Recent Henricine Studies) is gradually redressing this problem.
  171.  
  172. Azevedo, Pedro de, ed. Documentos das Chancelarias Reais anteriores a 1531 relativos a Marrocos. 2 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 1915–1934.
  173.  
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  175.  
  176. Includes Vol. 1 (1415–1450) and Vol. 2 (1450–1456). This collection of royal chancery documents offers an insight into Henry’s operations in Morocco and documents the careers and preferment patterns of his men.
  177.  
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  179.  
  180.  
  181. Brásio, António, ed. Monumenta Missionária Africana: África Occidental. Vol. 7, 2a sér. Lisbon, Portugal: Centro de Estudos Africanos da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade, 2004.
  182.  
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  184.  
  185. Vol. 7, 2a sér. is a supplement to the 15th–17th centuries. See also Vol. 1, 1a sér. (1471–1531) (Lisbon: Agência Geral do Ultramar, 1952); Vol. 1, 2a sér (1342–1499) (Lisbon: Agência Geral do Ultramar, 1958). Brásio’s collection includes a broad range of narrative and documentary sources related not only to Portuguese proselytization but also to overall Portuguese expansion in West Africa. Its particular value lies in offering well-transcribed documents from the Portuguese national archive, particularly the Corpo Cronológico, the Gavetas, and the royal chanceries.
  186.  
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  188.  
  189.  
  190. Dias Dinis, António Joaquim, ed. Monumenta Henricina. 15 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Comissão das Comemorações do V. Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, 1960–1974.
  191.  
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  193.  
  194. This truly monumental collection of documents is the product of a multiyear collective project headed by António Joaquim Dias Dinis. The documents are arranged chronologically, each headed by date, summary, provenance, and publication history, and they are extensively annotated. Each volume contains approximately 250 documents, supported by an analytical index.
  195.  
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  197.  
  198.  
  199. Garcia, José Manuel, ed. Documentação henriquina. Translated fom Latin by Carlos Ascenso André. Maia, Portugal: Castoliva, 1995.
  200.  
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  202.  
  203. The collection contains a selection of documents from the Monumenta Henricina, organized into four sections: documents issued by Prince Henry; papal documents relating to Prince Henry; charters, gifts, and privileges granted to him; and, finally, other documents linked to him. It also includes an addendum of eighteen newly published documents.
  204.  
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  206.  
  207.  
  208. Godinho, Vitorino Magalhães, ed. Documentos sobre a expansão portuguesa. 3 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Gleba and Cosmos, 1943–1956.
  209.  
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  211.  
  212. The collection contains a combination of documentary and narrative sources as well as a wealth of contextual commentary. Its main objective is to disprove the claim that Prince Henry was the sole or even main promoter of early oceanic explorations; rather, it stresses the role of commercial interests and their advocates.
  213.  
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  215.  
  216.  
  217. Iria, Alberto, and João Martins da Silva Marques, eds. Descobrimentos portugueses: Documentos para a sua história. 6 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto da Alta Cultura, 1944–1971.
  218.  
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  220.  
  221. This collection documents the Portuguese overseas expansion up to the end of the 15th century. Vol. 1 and its two supplements contain documents from 1147 to 1460, Vol. 3 covers the period 1461–1500. Vol. 2 and its supplement, edited by Iria, deal with the role of the Algarve in the early explorations.
  222.  
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  224.  
  225.  
  226. Sousa Costa, António Domingues de, ed. Monumenta Portugaliae Vaticana. 3 vols. Rome: Livraria Editorial Franciscana, 1968.
  227.  
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  229.  
  230. The collection, of which only three volumes were published and the focus of which is not limited to Henry, covers only three decades of Henry’s life; however, in doing so, they treat his dealings with the Roman Curia during the initial period of his tenure as administrator of the Order of Christ.
  231.  
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  233.  
  234.  
  235. Classic Laudatory Works
  236. Much of the Henricine literature of the second half of the 18th century and first half of the 20th century is intensely partisan, in attempting to prove either Henry’s greatness or his relative lack of significance. In the laudatory works the historical Henry is frequently reduced to an idealized protagonist of one grand narrative or another, depending on ideological perspectives or needs of the moment. Whether in his persona as “Henry the Navigator” or as a hero of Portuguese history and identity, Henry’s portraits tend to be hyperbolic, passionate, and highly assertive, especially where little or no evidence exists to support the arguments, except vague utterances and unsubstantiated assertions by early modern authors, such as Pedro de Mariz (Mariz 1594) and José Soares da Silva (Soares da Silva 1730). The perspectives fall into three basic groups that are not mutually exclusive: Henry as a hero of modernity, Henry as a paragon of medieval militant Christian chivalry, and Henry as an embodiment of Portuguese identity and qualities. As a hero of modernity, Henry has been represented as a great scholar and visionary scientist, singularly dedicated to his pursuits. His intense search for knowledge allegedly led him to seek isolation from worldly distractions on the Promontory of Sagres in southwestern Portugal, where he is said to have established a research and teaching facility for navigation, cartography, and other matters related to oceanic exploration, developing the caravel as a type of ship able to deal with Atlantic wind and current patterns. It is here that he allegedly developed an oceanic master plan that would lead to the circumnavigation of Africa and the establishment of a sea route to India, in the hope of lucrative trade and alliance with African and Indian Christians against the Muslim world. The second group of portraits sees Henry as an ideal and idealistic crusader, motivated by religious zeal both in his military projects against Muslims in northwestern Africa and in promoting exploration in an effort to undermine or limit Muslim power, evangelize pagan peoples, and find Christian allies in Africa and Asia. The most extreme works in this group verge on hagiography. The third group was shaped by nationalist discourse. It presents Henry as an embodiment of Portuguese (or English) national spirit and character, stressing his religiosity, strength of character, idealism, genius, courage, perseverance, and dedication to the betterment of humankind. The laudatory literature placed much effort on praising Henry’s personality and habits in keeping with the personal approach to agency in history.
  237.  
  238. Mariz, Pedro de. Dialogos de varia historia em que summariamente se referem muytas cousas antiguas de Hespanha c [sic] todas a mais notauees q[ue] em Portugal ancontecerão em suas gloriosas conquistas antes e depois de ser levantado a dignidade real, e outras muytas de outros reynos dignas de memoria: com os retrados de todos os reyes de Portugal. Coimbra, Portugal: na Officina de Antonio de Mariz, 1594.
  239.  
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  241.  
  242. This historical compendium is one of the earliest integrations of Prince Henry’s accomplishments in the history of Portugal and Spain, with references to the history of other European countries.
  243.  
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  245.  
  246.  
  247. Soares da Silva, Joseph. Memorias para a historia de Portugal que compprehendem o governo del Rey D. João I do ano de mil trezentos e oitenta e tres até ao anno de mil quatrocentos e trinto e tres. Tomo Primeiro. Lisbon, Portugal: Na Officina de Joseph Antonio da Sylva, 1730.
  248.  
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  250.  
  251. This work is an early history of the reign of King João I, Prince Henry’s father and founder of the Avis Dynasty.
  252.  
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  254.  
  255.  
  256. Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900
  257. Works from this period, such as Freire 1758, built on the early modern tradition of representing Prince Henry as a blend of a devout and ascetic champion of Christianity and of a scholar devoted to science, particularly mathematics and astronomy. The 19th century, marked by the cult of progress and by nationalist fervor, swung gradually to the image of Henry as a learned Renaissance genius (whether Portuguese or English), whose vision and scientific acumen laid the foundations of European global expansion. The gradual increase in the availability of narrative primary sources, such as Zurara 1978 (cited under Chronicles and Historical Narratives), marks one of the key dynamic factors in the advancement of Henricine studies. Major 1967 (originally published in 1868) and Beazley 2007 (originally published in 1895) have imparted a lasting influence on both Portuguese and international readership, although they do not go much beyond preceding Portuguese works, now largely forgotten. Martins 1891 has left the most profound footprint. The author’s mesmerizing interpretive narrative shaped an enduring image of the personalities who made up the Portuguese royal family and of their historical role. Perhaps the most notable feature of early Henricine historiography is the assertive representation of the various authors’ vision of Henry as objective truth, despite the thin body of supporting evidence (see, for example, Almeida 1894), and the growing tendency to equate Henry’s biography with the history of early overseas expansion. This would eventually become a key pattern in Henricine biography until the publication of Oliveira e Costa 2013 (cited under Major Biographies).
  258.  
  259. Almeida, Fortunato de. O infante de Sagres. Porto, Portugal: Livraria Portuense de Lopes, 1894.
  260.  
  261. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  262.  
  263. Almeida’s award-winning work set the tone for future writing that equated Prince Henry’s life with early Portuguese expansion and for the critique that this trend would provoke from revisionist historians during the early 20th century.
  264.  
  265. Find this resource:
  266.  
  267.  
  268. Beazley, C. Raymond. Prince Henry the Navigator, the Hero of Portugal and of Modern Discovery, 1394–1460 A.D., with an Account of Geographical Progress throughout the Middle Ages as the Preparation for His Work. Gloucester, UK: Dodo, 2007
  269.  
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271.  
  272. Originally published in 1895. The history of geography constituted Beazley’s main interest, but his work nonetheless played a key role for dissemination of the entrenched Henricine myths, and it set an enduring model for future biographies. His work saw multiple editions and translations, and it holds a prominent place in both academic and public libraries.
  273.  
  274. Find this resource:
  275.  
  276.  
  277. Freire, Francisco José (alias Cândido Lusitano). Vida do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Na Officina Patriarcal de Francisco Luis Ameno, 1758.
  278.  
  279. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  280.  
  281. This is the first known biography of Prince Henry. Basically a hagiography, it portrays Henry as an ascetic, a divinely inspired and saintly champion of Christianity, as well as a notable scholar and mathematician.
  282.  
  283. Find this resource:
  284.  
  285.  
  286. Major, Richard Henry. The Life of Prince Henry the Navigator, Surnamed the Navigator, and Its Results. London: Cass, 1967.
  287.  
  288. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  289.  
  290. Originally published in 1868. In the spirit of the “Age of Progress,” Major presents Prince Henry as a Renaissance figure driven by the spirit of scientific inquiry, as well as an ambitious champion of a global vision, centered on a conscious plan for oceanic discoveries. This work bears primary responsibility for Henry’s enduring sobriquet “The Navigator.”
  291.  
  292. Find this resource:
  293.  
  294.  
  295. Martins, Joachim P. Oliveira. Os filhos de D. João I. Lisbon, Portugal: Imprensa Nacional, 1891.
  296.  
  297. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  298.  
  299. Oliveira Martins’s enduring, almost hypnotic characterization of the Henricine period and its key personalities is based both on 15th-century chronicles and on the Verstehen method of interpretation. He presents Henry as a calculating genius with a sense of mission, willing to sacrifice anything and everything to achieve his master plan. Published in English as The Golden Age of Prince Henry the Navigator (London: Chapman, 1914).
  300.  
  301. Find this resource:
  302.  
  303.  
  304. Defending and Celebrating Prince Henry, 1900–1960
  305. The legacy of all types of Henricine celebratory literature is very powerful. Their assertions and arguments, poorly supported or entirely polemical, set the agenda for more recent works that subsequently strove to find evidence for or against Prince Henry’s famed reputation. The critiques at first provoked a reaffimation and increasingly vociferous defense of the celebratory trend, especially in the period 1940–1960. The critiques of Prince Henry and his representation in earlier literature produced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries failed to dispel the image of Henry as a hero either of Christianity or of modernity and progress. The three main issues inherited from the early modern period—Henry’s personality and character, the School of Sagres, and his prescient design for overseas expansion (the “Plan of the Indies”)—not only survived, but also they became deeply ingrained in the historical consciousness of both scholarly and general audiences, partly owing to new editions of older works and partly because of the appeal of the embodied notions. The rise of the “New Republic” and its distinctive Salazarist ideology further reinforced the heroic image of Prince Henry as pivotal. The laudatory trend peaked during the quincentenary (1960) celebrations of Henry’s death, both in terms of scholarly and journalistic focus and in terms of the pitch with which the core ideas were voiced. Whereas in 1894 the quincentenary of Henry’s birth had celebrated an essentially secular “culture hero” of the “Age of Progress,” by 1960 the image of a Renaissance scientist largely gave way to that of a chivalric crusader and religious visionary, to culminate in the works supporting the 1960 campaign to see Henry canonized, which, among other traits, stressed his sexual purity and abstinence. The objective of the Comissão Executiva do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, the body governing the quincentenary celebrations, was very specific, namely to restore Prince Henry as the singular guiding genius behind early Portuguese overseas expansion and as a ruler who embodied Portuguese values, one who was driven by religious zeal and Christian universalism. The work plan was fourfold: the holding of an international congress; the publication of the Bibliografia Henricina (see Comissão das Comemorações do V. Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique 1960, cited under Bibliographies and Historiographical Overviews); the Monumenta Henricina (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, cited under Collections of Documents), a multivolume collection of documents; and the Colecção Henricina, a series of twelve secondary works by leading Portuguese scholars of the period, intended to capture and valorize all aspects of Henry’s life and achievements. The commission was quite draconic in imposing its viewpoint, rejecting, for example, Vitorino Magalhães Godinho’s seminal work, A economia do descobrimentos Henriquinos (1962).
  306.  
  307. Portuguese Works
  308. Joaquim Bensaúde (Bensaúde 1912, Bensaúde 1929, Bensaúde 1942) and Jaime Cortesão (Cortesão 1975) stand out as both the most prolific and the most original among Portuguese scholars who championed Prince Henry in the first half of the 20th century. They helped to cement the image of Henry as a pioneering scientist, the author of the “Plan of the Indies,” and a dedicated crusader, creating a historiographical construct left for other historians to defend or to dismantle. Bensaúde and Cortesão were certainly not alone in this, as the Colecção Henricina and the contributions to the multivolume proceedings of the defining congresses of the Salazar period demonstrate (see, for example, Comissão Executiva das Comemorações do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique 1961). Most of the original scholarly effort, however, was invested in editorial work aimed at publishing primary sources, both narrative and documentary, and works on the broader general aspects of Portuguese overseas expansion. It is thus perhaps ironic to include Cortesão 1975 in this category, for the author was not a supporter of the Estado Novo. His poetry, plays, and historical works nonetheless played a fundamental role in cementing the image of Henry as a Portuguese national hero and an early Renaissance genius. Cortesão’s works, including Cortesão 1975, combine an advocacy of Henry’s personal historical role with various elements of contemporary revisionist scholarship. In addition to introducing the persistent notion of a “policy of secrecy” as an explanation for gaps in the evidence regarding early explorations, Cortesão 1975 is primarily responsible for entrenching the duality of medieval and Renaissance characteristics as a model in explanations of contradictions in Henry’s objectives, character, and conduct.
  309.  
  310. Bensaúde, Joaquim. L’astronomie nautique au Portugal à l’époque des grandes découvertes. Bern, Switzerland: M. Drechsel, 1912.
  311.  
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  313.  
  314. Bensaúde’s work helped to solidify assumptions concerning Henry’s contributions to science, which later scholars, especially Duarte Leite, struggled to correct.
  315.  
  316. Find this resource:
  317.  
  318.  
  319. Bensaúde, Joaquim. Origine du plan des Indes. Coimbra, Portugal: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, 1929.
  320.  
  321. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  322.  
  323. This work helped to entrench the idea that the Henricine explorations were pre-planned, namely with the intent to reach the Indian Ocean.
  324.  
  325. Find this resource:
  326.  
  327.  
  328. Bensaúde, Joaquim. A cruzada do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Agência Geral do Ultramar, 1942.
  329.  
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. Deeply embedded in the pro-Catholic ideology of the Estado Novo, Bensaúde’s work identifies the effort to oppose Islam by countering Muslim power and the desire to promote Christianity as the central components of Henry’s life mission, to which his other efforts were subordinate.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336.  
  337. Comissão Executiva das Comemorações do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique. Congresso Internacional de História dos Descobrimentos: Actas. 7 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Comissão Executiva das Comemorações do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, 1961.
  338.  
  339. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  340.  
  341. As in the case of its 1940 antecedent, the numerous contributions related to Prince Henry reflect quite exquisitely the academic and ideological concerns of the moment.
  342.  
  343. Find this resource:
  344.  
  345.  
  346. Cortesão, Jaime. A expansão dos portugueses no período henriquino. Lisbon, Portugal: Livros Horizonte, 1975.
  347.  
  348. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349.  
  350. See also Os descobrimentos portugueses (Lisbon: Livros Horizontes, 1975). Cortesão, who died in 1960, exercised a significant influence over Henricine historiography beginning in the 1920s. His works are not specifically dedicated to Prince Henry as the sole subject, but they contain fundamental and influential evaluations of Henry as a historical figure.
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354.  
  355. Laudatory Henricine Scholarship Abroad, 1900–1960
  356. Foreign authors produced little that was new regarding Prince Henry. Although not affected directly by the ideological and cultural atmosphere of Salazar’s Portugal, English and American scholars, in works such as Bradford 1961, followed the patterns set by Richard Henry Major (Major 1967, cited under Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900) and C. Raymond Beazley (Beazley 2007, cited under Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900), as well as by contemporary Portuguese authors. They continued to glorify and celebrate Henry’s role as the initiator of Portuguese overseas expansion and as a key figure in advancing knowledge of world geography (see Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900). Henry’s maternal links to England rendered him appealing to the English as an object of anglophone centrism. While such works brought little new information, they were widely read and, in the case of Prestage 1933 and Sanceau 1947, republished and translated. Together with Major 1967 and Beazley 2007, they remain widely available in both public and academic libraries and therefore continue to have a disproportionate impact.
  357.  
  358. Bradford, Ernle D. S. Southward the Caravels: The Story of Henry the Navigator. London: Hutchinson, 1961.
  359.  
  360. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  361.  
  362. This work of trade nonfiction presents a conventional Prince Henry, largely based on a limited range of primary narratives and on the work of R. H. Major. It is nonetheless found in numerous public and university library collections—hence its relevance.
  363.  
  364. Find this resource:
  365.  
  366.  
  367. Prestage, Edgar. The Portuguese Pioneers. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1933.
  368.  
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  370.  
  371. Prestage devotes the first two-thirds of the book to the story of Prince Henry and the explorations under his aegis. The text is heavily informed by Major, Beazley, and Bensaúde, although it takes into account the early works of Damião Peres.
  372.  
  373. Find this resource:
  374.  
  375.  
  376. Sanceau, Elaine. Henry the Navigator: The Story of a Great Prince and His Times. New York: W. W. Norton, 1947.
  377.  
  378. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  379.  
  380. Sanceau wrote biographies of several members of the Avis dynasty. Her book on Henry is lively, written in dramatic language, based on very limited secondary research, and devoid of notes. It also features fictional dialogue. It is one of the most frequently republished older works on the subject, most recently in 2012.
  381.  
  382. Find this resource:
  383.  
  384.  
  385. Revisions and New Perspectives, 1877–1984
  386. Henricine grand narratives and celebratory works have attracted criticism on three fundamental levels: empirical, methodological, and ideological, most often in conjunction with each other. The most common level is purely empirical, pointing out, with respect to Henry, a lack of proof, uncritical treatment of sources, factual errors and inaccuracies, and missing context or disregard for context. Critics have introduced new data. The other major strand of criticism reflects the influence of analytical and structural approaches to history, particularly the Annales School. Critics point out the importance of changing historical context, socioeconomic influences, economic stimuli, and collective interests and action, as opposed to the role of a single individual exercising his genius and will. While some of the revisionist literature is polemical and journalistic, the effort to improve the empirical foundations and the analytical approaches both to Henry as a historical figure and to the early overseas explorations and expansion has been quite remarkable in its results, especially after 1940. The most significant figure in this respect iss Vitorino Magalhães Godinho, whose extensive works are truly Braudelian in scope and impact. He built on the empirical foundation created by Duarte Leite, whose scattered but important publications he collected and edited. Iria’s painstaking work on Henry’s activities in the Algarve unravelled many of the erroneous assumptions concerning the “Infante of Sagres” and his residence in western Algarve. Luís de Albuquerque’s empirical analysis of the Henricine conundrums brought fundamental corrections to the underlying data. A significant component of the research effort during this period involved editorial work and extensive annotation of primary sources. While the interpretive and ideological perspectives of historians such as Dias Dinis, Domingues de Sousa, and António Brásio were very conservative, the editorial contribution was fundamental for the advancement of Henricine studies (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, Sousa Costa 1968, and Brásio 2004, all cited under Collections of Documents). Outside of Portugal, the most significant scholarship on Henry has been undertaken by British scholars, including John Ure, Malyn Newitt, and, most especially, Peter Russell. Russell 1960 and Russell 1984 (cited under Biographical and Contextualizing Studies, 1960–1990) are plenary lectures, published as booklets, that represent milestones in critiquing Henry’s “culture hero” image and restoring him as a contingent historical figure, thus laying a foundation for recent biographies. The central issue has been an attempt to situate Prince Henry within the grand narrative of the rise of the West, as a Janus figure caught in the cleft between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
  387.  
  388. Critiques of the Celebratory Literature, 1877–1960
  389. The representations of Prince Henry as either a Promethean or a national hero, and especially the various components of this valorization, drew criticism as early as the 1870s (for example, Souza e Holstein 1877). Many of the objections took the form of politicized polemic and journalistic coverage. Even material that was scholarly in nature found it difficult to disprove the most entrenched claims, such as Henry’s scholarship and the legend of his isolated retreat to the Sagres promontory (see Braga 1914). Perhaps the most successful was the effort to adhere to the limits set by the available evidence (Peres 1960) and show the early explorations as a result of collective endeavor rather than the creation of a single historical figure. Simões 1937 is particularly instrumental in pioneering this perspective. The critiques became more scholarly as empirical contributions regarding the early expansion became available, particularly with the appearance of multivolume documentary collections in the 1940s and 1950s (see citations under Collections of Documents). Of particular importance is the work of Duarte Leite, whose meticulous studies facilitated the dismantling of many unsubstantiated but persistent claims (Leite 1958–1962).
  390.  
  391. Braga, Teófilo. “A lenda infantista.” In A lenda de Sagres. By J. Tomé da Silva, 1–18. Porto, Portugal: Porto-Gráfico, 1914.
  392.  
  393. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  394.  
  395. Braga’s preface critically traces, like his other scattered works, the sources of the historiographical myths surrounding the figure of Prince Henry. The preface laid the foundation for later revisionist historians, particularly Duarte Leite and Peter R. Russell.
  396.  
  397. Find this resource:
  398.  
  399.  
  400. Leite, Duarte. História dos descobrimentos: Colectânea de esparsos. Edited by Vitorino Magalhães Godinho. 2 vols. Lisbon, Portugal: Edições Cosmos, 1958–1962.
  401.  
  402. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  403.  
  404. Leite’s work appeared over three decades in the form of short articles published in hard-to-access Portuguese periodicals, and they became available in book form only with the publication in 1958–1962 of the two collected volumes edited by Magalhães Godinho. The collection is of fundamental importance, but it is difficult to obtain.
  405.  
  406. Find this resource:
  407.  
  408.  
  409. Peres, Damião. História dos descobrimentos portugueses. 2d ed. Coimbra, Portugal: Author’s Edition, 1960.
  410.  
  411. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  412.  
  413. First published in 1943, Peres’s work has long been dominant as a seminal synthesis of the history of Portuguese explorations. His perceptions of Prince Henry strictly follow the evidence available at the time. Peres’s Henry is a strong personality with mutable and vague objectives, motivated by a combination of political, economic, and religious factors.
  414.  
  415. Find this resource:
  416.  
  417.  
  418. Simões, Alberto da Veiga. “O Infante Dom Henrique: O seu tempo e a sua acção.” In História da expansão portuguesa no mundo. Vol. 1. Edited by António Baião, Hernâni Cidade, and Manuel Múrias, 311–356. Lisbon, Portugal: Editorial Ática, 1937.
  419.  
  420. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  421.  
  422. Like many of his contemporaries, Simões saw the early overseas explorations as a result of collective efforts, rather than of voluntarist agency exerted by an individual genius. His most original contribution lies in the historicity of his characterization of Prince Henry as a contingent member of the hard-pressed late medieval nobility.
  423.  
  424. Find this resource:
  425.  
  426.  
  427. Souza e Holstein, Francisco de. A Escola de Sagres e as tradições do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Typographia da Academia, 1877.
  428.  
  429. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  430.  
  431. In one of the earliest works critical of an important aspect of the Henricine myth, Sousa e Holstein attacks the notion of a formal nautical academy at Sagres as an unsubstantiated fantasy, but he expresses a belief that Prince Henry lived in the company of scholars, cartographers, and naval experts.
  432.  
  433. Find this resource:
  434.  
  435.  
  436. Biographical and Contextualizing Studies, 1960–1990
  437. Vitorino Nemésio’s officially commissioned biography was to be the last full Portuguese coverage of Prince Henry for the next fifty years (Nemésio 1959). Scholars such as A. J. Dias Dinis (Dias Dinis 1960), Alberto Iria (Iria, et al. 1997), and others concentrated either on key editorial tasks or on short studies that contextualized the Henricine explorations and addressed various specific gaps or contentious points. The field thus opened for Peter E. Russell, a scholar on Portugal at the University of Oxford, who became the dominant authority on Prince Henry as a result of his efforts to dismantle the “culture hero” myth in a series of short but influential publications (Russell 1960, Russell 1979, Russell 1984). These works eventually culminated in his grand biography of Henry (see Russell 2000, cited under Major Biographies), but the peak of the argument had in some ways been reached, in fact, already in Russell’s Taylorian lecture (Russell 1984). Russell exercised considerable influence on his contemporaries, for example, John Ure (Ure 1977).
  438.  
  439. Dias Dinis, Antonio J. Estudos Henriquinos. Coimbra, Portugal: Universidade de Coimbra, 1960.
  440.  
  441. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  442.  
  443. Although intended as a multivolume collection of Dias Dinis’s numerous studies on Prince Henry, only the first volume is available. The work of this meticulous empirical historian remains fundamental to the study of Prince Henry, but his ideological convictions at times color his writing and selection of evidence.
  444.  
  445. Find this resource:
  446.  
  447.  
  448. Iria, Alberto, José Manuel Garcia, and Fernando Calapez Correia. O Infante D. Henrique no Algarve: Estudos inéditos. 2d ed. Lagos, Portugal: Centro de Estudos Gil Eanes, 1997.
  449.  
  450. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451.  
  452. Originally published in 1995. Alberto Iria’s study of the role of the Algarve in early Portuguese expansion, with a strong emphasis on the role of Prince Henry, is fundamental and extensive. The collection offers access to Iria’s unpublished works.
  453.  
  454. Find this resource:
  455.  
  456.  
  457. Nemésio, Vitorino. Vida e obra do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Comissão Executiva do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, 1959.
  458.  
  459. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  460.  
  461. Formally commissioned by Comissão Executiva do V Centenário da Morte do Infante D. Henrique, Nemésio’s brief work was a polemic-free synthesis and the last full biography of Prince Henry by a Portuguese scholar until Oliveira e Costa 2013 (cited under Major Biographies). It continues to be reprinted, most recently in 2010 (Lisbon: Texto).
  462.  
  463. Find this resource:
  464.  
  465.  
  466. Russell, Peter E. Prince Henry the Navigator: Canning House Seventh Annual Lecture, 4 May 1960. London: The Hispanic & Luso-Brazilian Council, 1960.
  467.  
  468. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  469.  
  470. The first of his seminal works, Russell’s lecture sought to chip away at the anachronisms with which past historiography had encrusted the image of Prince Henry and to place his conduct, motives, and objectives in their late medieval context.
  471.  
  472. Find this resource:
  473.  
  474.  
  475. Russell, Peter E. O Infante D. Henrique e as ilhas Canárias: Uma dimensão mal compreendida da biografia henriquina. Lisbon, Portugal: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 1979.
  476.  
  477. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  478.  
  479. The short monograph explores the role of the Canary Islands in Henry’s life and his preoccupation with gaining rights to the territory. The material was later incorporated into Russell’s biography of Prince Henry (see Russell 2000, cited under Major Biographies).
  480.  
  481. Find this resource:
  482.  
  483.  
  484. Russell, Peter E. Prince Henry the Navigator: The Rise and Fall of a Culture Hero; Taylorian Special Lecture, 10 November 1983. Oxford: Clarendon, 1984.
  485.  
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487.  
  488. This lecture, published in the form of a short booklet, represented the most important re-interpretation of Prince Henry’s life and accomplishments in the last four decades of the 20th century because of its perceptive attempt to separate Henry from the Henricine myth and to restore him to an appropriate historical context.
  489.  
  490. Find this resource:
  491.  
  492.  
  493. Ure, John. Prince Henry the Navigator. London: Constable, 1977.
  494.  
  495. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  496.  
  497. Ure’s short biography follows the traditional structure of preceding works, stressing the attempts at conquest in Morocco and the Atlantic explorations. Its most notable feature is the emphasis placed on the medieval versus Renaissance dichotomy of the protagonist, to the point of claiming that Henry operated alternatively in medieval and Renaissance modes.
  498.  
  499. Find this resource:
  500.  
  501.  
  502. New Analytical Approaches
  503. New analytical approaches and methods, such as the broad-spectrum socioeconomic analysis of Henricine overseas expansion by Vitorino Magalhães Godinho (Godinho 2008) or attempts to apply Marxian and world-system theories (Newitt 1986), have proved no less important than the various contextualizing studies. Important efforts include the complex sociopolitical and prosopographical studies of the regency of Prince Pedro (the brother of Prince Henry) by Humberto Baquero Moreno (Baquero Moreno 1969, Baquero Moreno 1970–1980), the early studies on Portuguese late medieval nobility, analyses of Henry’s household and social network (Cunha and Gomes Pimenta 1984, Ferraz 1986), the renewed attention to psychological factors, and major articles of Luís Felipe Thomaz (Thomaz 1989, Thomaz and Alves 1991) that highlight contemporary attitudes, values, and beliefs as powerful formative factors.
  504.  
  505. Baquero Moreno, Humberto. “O Infante D. Henrique e a Alfarrobeira.” Arquivos do Centro Cultural Português 1 (1969): 53–79.
  506.  
  507. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  508.  
  509. The article analyzes the role of Prince Henry in a pivotal event of late medieval Portuguese history, the Battle of Alfarrobeira in 1449, which resulted in the death of Prince Pedro, the former regent. Henry’s failure to support his brother tarnished his memory but the decision had a pragmatic political effect.
  510.  
  511. Find this resource:
  512.  
  513.  
  514. Baquero Moreno, Humberto. A batalha de Alfarrobeira: Antecedentes e significado histórico. 2d ed. 2 vols. Coimbra, Portugal: Biblioteca Geral da Universidade, 1970–1980.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. Originally published in 1973. While it does not focus primarily on Prince Henry, Baquero Moreno’s work is vital for understanding Henry’s domestic role in the 1440s during the regency of his brother, Prince Pedro. It also contains invaluable biographical sketches of Henry’s dependents, affiliates, and agents.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522.  
  523. Cunha, Maria Cristina Almeida, and Maria Cristina Gomes Pimenta. “A casa senhorial do Infante D. Henrique: Organização social e distribuição regional.” Revista da Faculdade de Letras: História 2 sér. 1 (1984): 221–284.
  524.  
  525. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  526.  
  527. This long article carefully analyzes the organization of Prince Henry’s household and clientele, and it includes an extensive prosopographical study of the people associated with Henry as dependents, clients, and agents.
  528.  
  529. Find this resource:
  530.  
  531.  
  532. Ferraz, Maria de Lurdes de Freitas. A Ilha da Madeira sub o domínio da Casa Senhorial do Infante D. Henrique e os seus descendentes. Funchal, Portugal: Secretaria Regional do Turismo e Cultura, 1986.
  533.  
  534. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535.  
  536. The short monograph explores Prince Henry’s role in the early colonization of Madeira.
  537.  
  538. Find this resource:
  539.  
  540.  
  541. Godinho, Vitorino Magalhães. A expansão quatrocentista portuguesa. 2d ed. Lisbon, Portugal: Dom Quixote, 2008.
  542.  
  543. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  544.  
  545. Godinho’s work combines the socioeconomic approach of the Annales School to the study of early Portuguese overseas expansion with a realistic and perceptive assessment of the role of Prince Henry in initiating and stimulating early explorations and economic activities overseas. First published in 1962 as A economia dos descobrimentos henriquinos (Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa).
  546.  
  547. Find this resource:
  548.  
  549.  
  550. Newitt, Malyn. “Prince Henry and the Origins of Portuguese Expansion.” In The First Portuguese Colonial Empire. Edited by Malyn Newitt, 9–35. Exeter Studies in History 11. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press, 1986.
  551.  
  552. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  553.  
  554. Newitt’s chapter carefully and realistically summarizes Prince Henry’s role in early Portuguese overseas expansion in the context of late medieval social and political history. He seeks chiefly to explicate for English-speaking academia the works of Magalhães Godinho and to dismantle Henry’s “culture hero” image.
  555.  
  556. Find this resource:
  557.  
  558.  
  559. Thomaz, Luís Filipe. “Le Portugal et l’Afrique au Xve siècle.” Arquivos do Centro Cultural Português 26 (1989): 161–256.
  560.  
  561. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  562.  
  563. The article offers a comprehensive reevaluation and synopsis of 15th-century Portuguese explorations and expansion in Africa, and of Prince Henry’s role.
  564.  
  565. Find this resource:
  566.  
  567.  
  568. Thomaz, Luís Filipe F. R., and Jorge Santos Alves. “Da cruzada ao Quinto Império.” In A Memória da nação: Colóquio do Gabinete de estudos de simbologia realizado na Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, 7–9 outubro 1987. Edited by Francisco Bethencourt and Diogo Ramada Curto, 81–163. Lisbon, Portugal: Livraria Sá da Costa, 1991.
  569.  
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571.  
  572. The article evaluates the role of religion and of religious motivation in early Portuguese expansion. The author’s discussion of the Henricine period is of particular relevance here.
  573.  
  574. Find this resource:
  575.  
  576.  
  577. Recent Biographical Studies
  578. In 1991 Magalhães Godinho, a historian and the doyen of studies of Portuguese overseas expansion, argued that a new biography of Prince Henry constituted the most urgent task of scholars studying the history of Portuguese overseas expansion. The 1990s and early 2000s, marked by commemorations of the 600th anniversary of Henry’s birth, generated several new biographies, some of which tended to be brief and directed at general or even adolescent audiences. The period also saw the publication of three major biographical studies, authored by Michel Vergé-Franceschi, Peter E. Russell, and João P. Oliveira e Costa (see (Vergé-Franceschi 2000, Russell 2000, and Oliveira e Costa 2013, all cited under Major Biographies). One of the two key constraining factors in the study of Prince Henry is the fact that standard sources directly relating to his life and accomplishments are limited, if not exhausted. Peter Russell is of the opinion that few new primary sources are likely to be brought to light (Russell 2000). Almost none of Henry’s personal correspondence, or that of the members of his immediate family, has survived. However, as Oliveira e Costa 2013 shows, much potential remains in advancing knowledge through indirect means.
  579.  
  580. Short Studies
  581. Biographical short studies, as opposed to articles on Henricine topics, are relatively few. They were written as preparatory essays, laying the groundwork for larger works to follow. Elbl 1991 argues that documentary sources offer a way out of the apparent impasse in the life history of Prince Henry. Borges Coelho’s study demonstrates the usefulness of this approach, particularly his work with the Monumenta Henricina (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, cited under Collections of Documents). A short book, Lingua 1994 deals largely with early Portuguese explorations. Elbl 2001, discussing the state of the Henricine literature following the publication of Russell 2000, argues that further study of Prince Henry’s life and historical role is warranted.
  582.  
  583. Borges Coelho, António. “Henrique, o Navegador.” In Clérigos, mercadores, “judeus” e fidalgos. Questionar a história 2. Edited by António Borges Coelho, 57–102. Lisbon, Portugal: Caminho, 1994.
  584.  
  585. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  586.  
  587. Borges Coelho’s long study contains a synopsis of Prince Henry’s biography, a critique of the existing historiography, and an assessment of the protagonist’s historical role. The study is enriched by the inclusion of documentary sources, drawing on the Monumenta Henricina (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, cited under Collections of Documents).
  588.  
  589. Find this resource:
  590.  
  591.  
  592. Elbl, Ivana. “Man of His Time (and Peers): A New Look at Henry the Navigator.” Luso-Brazilian Review 28.2 (1991): 73–89.
  593.  
  594. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  595.  
  596. The article argues that new directions in Prince Henry’s life history rest in exploitation of hitherto underutilized documentary sources.
  597.  
  598. Find this resource:
  599.  
  600.  
  601. Elbl, Ivana. “Henry ‘the Navigator’: The State of Research.” Journal of Medieval History 27.1 (2001): 79–90.
  602.  
  603. DOI: 10.1016/S0304-4181(01)00002-1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  604.  
  605. The article discusses the state of Henricine historiography and potential future research directions, following the publication of Russell 2000 (cited under Major Biographies), deemed by many the definitive work on the subject.
  606.  
  607. Find this resource:
  608.  
  609.  
  610. Lingua, Paolo. Enrico il Navigatore: Un principe cavaliere del XV secolo. Milan: Camunia, 1994.
  611.  
  612. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  613.  
  614. Despite the title’s reference to the “chivalric prince,” Lingua’s small-format book focuses largely on the early overseas explorations.
  615.  
  616. Find this resource:
  617.  
  618.  
  619. General Interest Biographies
  620. Several short biographies of Prince Henry have appeared since 1994, aimed at addressing the interest he continues to generate among general audiences both in Portugal and around the world. They include Matos 1994, Wu and García 1995, and Gil 2010. These new works continue to be supplemented by reeditions of older material, such as Beazley 2007 (cited under Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900), Sanceau 1947 (cited under Laudatory Henricine Scholarship Abroad, 1900–1960), and Nemésio 1959 (cited under Biographical and Contextualizing Studies, 1960–1990), perpetuating earlier and often discredited stock images and myths in the consciousness of historians, undergraduate students, and the general public.
  621.  
  622. Gil, Alexandra. Filhos da nação. Vol. 2, Infante D. Henrique e D. João II: Os descobridores. Matosinhos, Portugal: Booklândia, 2010.
  623.  
  624. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  625.  
  626. A brief volume in a general series on great Portuguese figures, the book is aimed at very young readers. Thus, it is likely to play a role in shaping the historical awareness of the forthcoming generation.
  627.  
  628. Find this resource:
  629.  
  630.  
  631. Matos, Artur Teodoro de. Henrique O Navegador. Translated by George Dykes. Lisbon, Portugal: Clube de Coleccionador, 1994.
  632.  
  633. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  634.  
  635. This brief bilingual (Portuguese and English) study by a distinguished historian of Portuguese overseas expansion offers an accessible scholarly synopsis of Prince Henry’s life and historical role.
  636.  
  637. Find this resource:
  638.  
  639.  
  640. Wu, Zhiliang, and José Manuel Garcia, eds. O Infante Dom Henrique e a expansão portuguesa. Lisbon: Grupo de Trabalho do Ministério da Educação para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, 1995.
  641.  
  642. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  643.  
  644. This brief publication aimed at a general readership combines a commentary with documents illustrative of Prince Henry’s role in early Portuguese overseas expansion.
  645.  
  646. Find this resource:
  647.  
  648.  
  649. Major Biographies
  650. The major biography of Prince Henry that first appeared in 1994 was published in French and authored by the distinguished maritime historian Michel Vergé-Franceschi (Vergé-Franceschi 2000). While a substantial volume, the work is heavily focused on the history of early Portuguese expansion rather than on Henry. It appeared in a Portuguese translation in 2000, the same year that saw the publication of the English original of Peter Russell’s long-awaited biography (Russell 2000), translated into Portuguese in 2004. Russell 2000 is the most acclaimed work on the subject, a culmination of almost half a century of scholarship, and it carries the imprint of Russell’s earlier works. Russell intended to put a decisive end to the view of Henry as a “culture hero” of modernity and to identify him firmly as a typical medieval figure. Yet, like the preceding accounts, the work largely dwells on the early stages of overseas expansion, especially in the second half of the book. The dramatic history of Portugal that shaped Henry during his lifetime and the crucial role that Henry played domestically are largely left out. The author of Oliveira e Costa 2013, the most recent work, aims to restore the balance and offer a more encompassing portrait. Oliveira e Costa seeks to dispel the heroic image of “the Navigator” and the legacy of stale historiographical debates, and to present a balanced overview of Henry as a person and as a member of the Portuguese royal family. Of all the competing works, Oliveira e Costa 2013 is the most original and the most attuned in its approach to current principles of the “new biography” and to individual-based approaches to history. The drawback is that the length of the book does not match its intended scope. The author was forced to proceed from one subheading to the next, without fully developing the rich information. The author’s decision not to address the historiographical conundrums, and the fact that he based his work exclusively on published sources, has left the scholarly apparatus, particularly the bibliography, relatively thin. These limitations notwithstanding, Oliveira e Costa 2013 is the first book on Henry that places the different dimensions of Henry’s life in their overall context and that extensively exploits the documentary evidence (as opposed to relying heavily on narrative sources). While Peter Russell had likewise incorporated documentary data, Oliveira e Costa has done so much more extensively, expanding the range of information well beyond previously set boundaries.
  651.  
  652. Oliveira e Costa, João Paulo. Henrique, O Infante. 2d ed. Lisbon, Portugal: A Esfera dos Livros, 2013.
  653.  
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655.  
  656. Originally published in 2009. Oliveira e Costa’s book is conceptually the most encompassing of the existing biographies of Prince Henry. It is balanced in its choice of topics and makes extensive use of documentary sources. It is the only single-volume Henricine work that currently offers a compact panorama of the domestic Portuguese factors and contexts shaping the protagonist’s life.
  657.  
  658. Find this resource:
  659.  
  660.  
  661. Russell, Peter E. Prince Henry “the Navigator”: A Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.
  662.  
  663. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  664.  
  665. Considered by many the definitive work on Prince Henry, Russell’s biography combines scholarship with accessibility. Its professed aim is to claim Henry’s figure for the Middle Ages; however, it is weakened by the fact that much of the latter part of the work deals in fact with conventional topics of overseas expansion. The chapters follow the traditional structure of works dealing with Henry: youth; the conquest of Ceuta and its aftermath; the early explorations in the Atlantic; the Tangier expedition of 1437; the explorations, raids, and trading forays along the West African coast; the failed struggle for the Canary Islands; the 1458 conquest of Ksar al-Seghir; and the end of Henry’s life. Published in Portuguese as Peter Russell, Henrique, o navegador, translated by Ana Carvalho (Lisbon: Livros Horizonte, 2004).
  666.  
  667. Find this resource:
  668.  
  669.  
  670. Vergé-Franceschi, Michel. Un prince portugais au XVe siècle, Henri le Navigateur, 1394–1460. Paris: Kiron/Éditions du Félin, 2000.
  671.  
  672. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  673.  
  674. Originally published in 1994. Vergé-Franceschi’s book follows the pattern set by biographies of Prince Henry of the late 19th century and earlier and is largely devoted to the history of early overseas explorations. Published in Portuguese as Michel, Vergé-Franceschi, Henrique o navegador: Um príncipe português; A descoberta do mundo (Lisbon: Instituto Piaget, D.L., 2000).
  675.  
  676. Find this resource:
  677.  
  678.  
  679. Other Recent Henricine Studies
  680. In addition to the general as well as major biographical works dedicated to Prince Henry, various authors have explored specific themes and issues pertaining to his life, accomplishments, and legacy. The works cover Henricine Iconography, Commentaries on Primary Sources, Henry’s role in Portugal’s domestic affairs, his ambitions in Morocco, the Atlantic explorations, and the various sub-aspects of the myths that have accumulated in historiography over time.
  681.  
  682. Iconography
  683. No authentic portrait of Prince Henry survives. The image most commonly associated with him is that of a man in a large black Burgundian hat, one of the central figures in the “Painéis de São Vicente” now in the Museu de Arte Antiga, Lisbon (Seruca 2013, Barghan 2013). A similar image also appears on the frontispiece of the manuscript of Zurara’s Crónica dos Feitos Notáveis held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. However, the authenticity of the image has been extensively debated (Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses 1994) and some authors argue that early-16th-century statues better reflect eyewitness descriptions of Henry’s physical appearance and the biometrics of his remains (Ribeiro 1991).
  684.  
  685. Barghan, Barbara von. Jan van Eyck and Portugal’s “Illustrous Generation.” London: Pindar, 2013.
  686.  
  687. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  688.  
  689. This recent work by an American art historian examines the iconography and symbology of the images of the Portuguese royal family, including a very dramatic reinterpretation of the “Panéis de São Vicente” and the identification of the figure of Prince Henry.
  690.  
  691. Find this resource:
  692.  
  693.  
  694. Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, ed. O rosto do Infante. Lisbon: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, 1994.
  695.  
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697.  
  698. The most recent collective effort aims at addressing the question of Henry’s appearance and representation in visual arts. The team consisted of noted art historians, literary scholars, historians, and the distinguished photographer António Sacchetti.
  699.  
  700. Find this resource:
  701.  
  702.  
  703. Ribeiro, Manuel Sampayo. O verdadeiro retrato do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Editorial Notícias, 1991.
  704.  
  705. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  706.  
  707. The book argues that the statue of Prince Henry in the southern portico of the Church of Santa Maria de Belém in Lisbon is the one true representation of his appearance.
  708.  
  709. Find this resource:
  710.  
  711.  
  712. Seruca, Henrique. Os painéis de Nuno Gonçalves: Religião e política. Lisbon, Portugal: Scribe, 2013.
  713.  
  714. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  715.  
  716. The books offers an analysis of the sources underpinning the most widely accepted image of Prince Henry, the figure from the Painéis de São Vicente, attributed to the celebrated fifteenth-century Portuguese painter Nuno Gonçalves, and reasserts the identification of the figure in the Burgundian headgear as Prince Henry.
  717.  
  718. Find this resource:
  719.  
  720.  
  721. Commentaries on Primary Sources
  722. Uncritical interpretations of primary sources represent a key issue in Henricine historiography. Recent commentaries on the key narratives as well as on bodies of documents not only provide extended context, but also expand the future potential of the sources (Albuquerque 1989, Bertoli 2007, Gonçalves de Freitas 2013). Of particular importance is the recognition of the active role that Prince Henry and other members of the Avis royal family played in shaping their own image and historical legacy (Cabral Coser 2007).
  723.  
  724. Albuquerque, Luis de. “Uma Releitura de Azurara.” Studia 47 (1989): 417–438.
  725.  
  726. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  727.  
  728. The article is one of the first of the recent reexaminations of Gomes Eanes Zurara’s characterization of Prince Henry and his motives.
  729.  
  730. Find this resource:
  731.  
  732.  
  733. Bertoli, André Luiz. “Uma leitura possível da Crónica da Tomada de Ceuta, levando em conta a representação do Infante D. Henrique nesta obra de Zurara.” Sociedade em Estudos, Curitiba 2.2 (2007): 89–102.
  734.  
  735. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  736.  
  737. The article offers a brilliant analysis of Zurara’s portrait of Prince Henry.
  738.  
  739. Find this resource:
  740.  
  741.  
  742. Cabral Coser, Miriam. “A dinastia de Avis e a construção da memória do reino português: Uma análise das crônicas oficiais.” Cadernos de Ciências Humanas – Especiaria 10.18 (2007): 703–727.
  743.  
  744. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  745.  
  746. Cabral Coser’s article helps to conceptualize Dom Henrique’s place in the valorization of the early Avis dynasty in Portuguese chronicles of the realm.
  747.  
  748. Find this resource:
  749.  
  750.  
  751. Gonçalves de Freitas, Judite A. “The Memory of Prince Henry the Navigator: Genesis, Formation and Classification of a Monumental Collection of Documents—the Monumenta Henricina.” Roda da Fortuna: Revista Eletrónica sobre Antiguidade e Medievo 2.2 (2013): 379–400.
  752.  
  753. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  754.  
  755. Gonçalves de Freitas analyzes the role of the Monumenta Henricina (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, cited under Collections of Documents) in shaping Prince Henry’s historiographical representation.
  756.  
  757. Find this resource:
  758.  
  759.  
  760. Henry and Portugal
  761. The place and the role of Prince Henry in the history of late medieval Portugal represents probably the weakest segment of the Henricine literature, partly because for a long time this aspect was vastly overshadowed by Henry’s overseas involvement and did not fit the universal “culture hero” image and partly because only recent advances in the historiography of late medieval Portugal have supplied the required context. Since the late 1980s, studies covering various aspects of Henry’s domestic role have appeared, culminating in Oliveira e Costa 2013 (cited under Major Biographies). They include Silva de Sousa 1991, a monograph on the evolution of Prince Henry’s household, retinue, and estates; Baquero Moreno 1994 and Baquero Moreno 1996 on Henry’s position and strategies during the contested regency of his brother Dom Pedro; the relationship of Prince Henry to places and regions in Portugal (Iria, et al. 1997; Câmara Municipal de Viseu 1995; Delgado and Mendes 2000), and his role in the Order of Christ (Morgado de Sousa e Silva 2002). The numerous recent biographical and thematic studies, for example Ramos 2009, dealing with the Avis dynasty and its members contemporary with Prince Henry shed valuable new light on various forces affecting Henry’s life and the roles of concurrent personalities.
  762.  
  763. Baquero Moreno, Humberto. “O Infante D. Henrique em torno da regência do Infante D. Pedro.” Mare Liberum 7 (1994): 23–30.
  764.  
  765. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  766.  
  767. Building on his earlier works, Baquero Moreno assesses the role and fortunes of Prince Henry during the troubled regency of his brother Pedro (r. 1439–1448).
  768.  
  769. Find this resource:
  770.  
  771.  
  772. Baquero Moreno, Humberto. “Os Infantes D. Pedro e D. Henrique durante o período da Regência.” In Os descobrimentos e a expansão portuguesa no mundo: Curso de verão, 1994; Actas. Edited by Universidade Lusíadas, 45–56. Lisbon, Portugal: Universidade Lusíadas, 1996.
  773.  
  774. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  775.  
  776. The article analyzes the roles and relations of the two brothers during King Afonso V’s minority (r. 1438–1448).
  777.  
  778. Find this resource:
  779.  
  780.  
  781. Câmara Municipal de Viseu. Actas do Congresso “Infante Dom Henrique, Viseu e os Descobrimentos,” Viseu, 27–28–29 de maio de 1993. Viseu, Portugal: Câmara Municipal, 1995.
  782.  
  783. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  784.  
  785. The inland city of Viseu constituted the center of Prince Henry’s duchy. The papers from this small congress explored the relationship of Prince Henry to Viseu and the role of this town in the early overseas expansion.
  786.  
  787. Find this resource:
  788.  
  789.  
  790. Delgado, Rui, and Aníbal Mendes. Infante Dom Henrique, Senhor da Covilhã, 1415–1460. Covilhã, Portugal: Biblioteca da Escola Sec. Frei Heitor Pinto, 2000.
  791.  
  792. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  793.  
  794. The small monograph explores Prince Henry in his role as the lord of Covilhã, a major town in the eastern foothills of the Serra de Estrela.
  795.  
  796. Find this resource:
  797.  
  798.  
  799. Iria, Alberto, José Manuel Garcia, and Fernando Calapez Correia. O Infante D. Henrique no Algarve: Estudos Inéditos. 2d ed. Lagos, Portugal: Centro de Estudos Gil Eanes, 1997.
  800.  
  801. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  802.  
  803. Originally published in 1995. Alberto Iria’s studies of the role of the Algarve in early Portuguese expansion, with a strong emphasis on the role of Prince Henry, are fundamental and extensive. The collection offers access to Iria’s unpublished works.
  804.  
  805. Find this resource:
  806.  
  807.  
  808. Morgado de Sousa e Silva, Isabel L. “A Ordem do Cristo, 1417–1521.” Militarium Ordinum Analecta 6 (2002): 1–503.
  809.  
  810. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  811.  
  812. The monograph offers an invaluable analysis of the functioning of the Order of Christ in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Prince Henry governed the Order of Christ from 1420 to his death in 1460 (see in particular pp. 60–80), and he drew extensively on its resources to support his projects.
  813.  
  814. Find this resource:
  815.  
  816.  
  817. Ramos, Manuel. “Os membros da Geração de Avis, amizades, inamizades, e falta de exemplaridade.” In Symbolon I. Edited by Belmiro Fernandes Pereira and Jorge Deserto, 91–114. Porto, Portugal: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 2009.
  818.  
  819. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  820.  
  821. The article explores the often turbulent emotional relationships among Henry’s royal relatives, challenging the image of a harmonious and exemplary extended family.
  822.  
  823. Find this resource:
  824.  
  825.  
  826. Silva de Sousa, João. A casa senhorial do Infante D. Henrique. Lisbon, Portugal: Livros Horizonte, 1991.
  827.  
  828. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  829.  
  830. Based on painstaking documentary analysis, and drawing extensively on the Monumenta Henricina (see Dias Dinis 1960–1974, cited under Collections of Documents), Silva de Sousa’s book is one of the few monographs that introduced significant new information on Prince Henry. While the primary focus is on analysis of Henry’s household and estate, the publication provides vital insights into the prince’s life.
  831.  
  832. Find this resource:
  833.  
  834.  
  835. Henry and the Overseas Expansion
  836. The role of Prince Henry in early Portuguese overseas expansion has received the most attention by his biographers and by historians of maritime explorations and empire building. While Thomaz and Alves 1991 and Thomaz 1994 retain their value, new syntheses continue to appear (Garcia 1994 and Garcia 2012) and many aspects of the topic continue to received attention and innovative treatment, for example the Tangier expedition of 1437 (Elbl 2013).
  837.  
  838. Elbl, Martin M. “Contours of Battle: Chronicles, GIS, and Topography—A Spatial Decoding of the Portuguese Siege of Tangier, September to October 1437.” Portuguese Studies Review 21.2 (2013): 1–135.
  839.  
  840. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  841.  
  842. A long study that employs spatial analysis and a meticulous dissection of the existing written sources to radically reframe the failed Tangier campaign and to disprove the image of Prince Henry as a poor and impetuous commander.
  843.  
  844. Find this resource:
  845.  
  846.  
  847. Garcia, José Manuel. Portugal e a repartição do mundo: Do Infante D. Henrique a D. João II; Portugal and the Division of the World from Prince Henry to King John II; Portugal und die Aufteilung der Welt von Heinrich dem Seefahrer bis König Johann II. Lisbon, Portugal: Imprensa Nacional, Casa da Moeda, 1994.
  848.  
  849. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  850.  
  851. Garcia’s work, published in a trilingual edition, explores the historical role of Prince Henry and the beginnings of Portuguese overseas expansion in the context of the “division of the world” between Portugal and Spain in 1493 and 1494.
  852.  
  853. Find this resource:
  854.  
  855.  
  856. Garcia, José Manuel. O mundo dos descobrimentos portugueses. Vol. 1, O Infante Dom Henrique e o início da globalização, 1415–1460. Vila do Conde, Portugal: QuidNovi, 2012.
  857.  
  858. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  859.  
  860. This recent work, tracking the role of Prince Henry during the beginnings of globalization, is the first in the newest multivolume history of Portuguese overseas explorations.
  861.  
  862. Find this resource:
  863.  
  864.  
  865. Thomaz, Luís Felipe F. R. “A evolução da política expansionista portuguesa da primeira metade de quatrocentos.” In De Ceuta e Timor. Edited by Luís Felipe F. R. Thomaz, 43–147. Lisbon, Portugal: Difel, 1994.
  866.  
  867. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  868.  
  869. Thomaz’s long essay remains the best analysis of Portuguese overseas expansion in the first half of the 15th century and of the role played by Prince Henry.
  870.  
  871. Find this resource:
  872.  
  873.  
  874. Thomaz, Luís Felipe F. R., and Jorge Santos Alves. “Da cruzada ao Quinto Império.” In A memória da nação. Edited by Francisco Bethencourt and Diogo Ramada Curto, 81–165. Lisbon, Portugal: Livraria Sá da Costa, 1991.
  875.  
  876. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  877.  
  878. This lengthy study is fundamental to the evolution of crusading ideas, Christian universalism, and sacred history in late medieval and early modern Portugal. It provides context for Prince Henry’s crusading ambitions and projects.
  879.  
  880. Find this resource:
  881.  
  882.  
  883. Henricine Myths
  884. The myths with which earlier celebratory historiography surrounded Prince Henry are remarkably tenacious, partly because of the emotive appeal they hold for their advocates and readers. The steady republication of older works also greatly contributes to keeping them alive. Thus the old representations of Henry as an ascetic scholar living in isolation on the Sagres promontory and dedicated to the promotion of the study of navigation and natural sciences associated with oceanic explorations, or the equally ascetic, virginal paragon of Christian chivalry continue to shape the historiographical agenda and demand considerable scholarly effort to dispel them. For example, Elbl 1985 addresses the phases of development of the caravel, which disproves the myth that it was developed under the impetus of Prince Henry; Randles 1993 and João 2005, which discuss the persistent myth of Sagres; and João 1999, which seeks to untangle the historical Henry from the image created by Oliveira Martins in 1891 (see Martins 1891, cited under Early Biographies and Other Studies, 1750–1900). Johnson 2007 tackles the sensitive issue of Henry’s sexuality and character, taking a Freudian approach.
  885.  
  886. Elbl, Martin M. The Portuguese Caravel and European Shipbuilding: Phases of Development and Diversity. Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto da Investigação Científica Tropical, 1985.
  887.  
  888. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  889.  
  890. This short study traces the development of the caravel as a ship type, effectively disproving its specificity to the Henricine explorations and to Prince Henry’s agency in the development of such vessels.
  891.  
  892. Find this resource:
  893.  
  894.  
  895. João, Maria Isabel. “História e Ficção: O Infante D. Henrique em Oliveira Martins.” Revista da Universidade de Coimbra 38 (1999): 273–284.
  896.  
  897. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  898.  
  899. The author tracks the shaping of Prince Henry’s image by the still influential work of Oliveira Martins, published in the late 19th century and frequently reprinted since.
  900.  
  901. Find this resource:
  902.  
  903.  
  904. João, Maria Isabel. “Sagres, lugar mítico da memória.” In Des(a)fiando discursos: Homenagem à Professora Maria Emília Ricardo Marques. Edited by Dulce Carvalho, Dionísio Vila Maior, and Rui de Azevedo Teixeira, 409–422. Lisbon, Portugal: Universidade Aberta, 2005.
  905.  
  906. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  907.  
  908. João’s chapter is the latest scholarly effort to deconstruct the myth of Sagres and the discourses that account for its persistence.
  909.  
  910. Find this resource:
  911.  
  912.  
  913. Johnson, Harold. “Discovering the Character of Prince Henry ‘the Navigator’: A Freudian Approach, or a Question Jaime Cortesão Never Dared to Ask: Might Prince Henry ‘The Navigator’ Have Been Gay?” In Pelo Vaso Traseiro: Sodomy and Sodomites in Luso-Brazilian History. Edited by Harold Johnson and Francis A. Dutra, 21–48. Tucson, AZ: Fenestra, 2007.
  914.  
  915. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  916.  
  917. The article examines the question of Henry’s sexuality, or rather the supposed lack of it that gave rise to the image of his life-long abstinence and virginity, one of the enduring components of his myth. Johnson proposes that Henry may have been a homosexual or at least homoerotic.
  918.  
  919. Find this resource:
  920.  
  921.  
  922. Randles, W. G. L. “The Alleged Nautical School Founded in the Fifteenth Century at Sagres by Prince Henry of Portugal, Called the ‘Navigator.’” Imago Mundi 45.1 (1993): 20–28.
  923.  
  924. DOI: 10.1080/03085699308592761Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  925.  
  926. The article carefully examines various issues associated with claims concerning a “School of Sagres” and disproves a number of standard assertions.
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