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Prince Henry "the Navigator": A Life (Yale Nota Bene) Book

Prince Henry of Portugal (1394-1460) universally referred to as "The Navigator" achieved iconic status as one of the most important figures in the Renaissance history of exploration and discovery. According to a historical tradition established in the 19th century, Henry was responsible for despatching caravels down the African coast and immersing himself in the astronomical and geographical debates that were to prove so crucial to the subsequent development of maritime discovery. In fact, as Peter Russell explains in his exhaustive biography Prince Henry "The Navigator": A Life, this version of Henry was in fact a romantic myth, partly created by English writers keen to emphasise Henry's own English heritage (his mother was Philippa of Lancaster). Carefully reconstructing Henry's life from the sparse archival evidence that remains, Russell discovers "an obstinately enigmatic personality who seems, chameleon-like, to present a range of different images according to the various contexts in which we come across him". What emerges is a much more complex individual, able to lead the momentous Portuguese capture of Ceuta in 1415 with crusading fervour, as well as an astute coloniser of both Madeira and the Canary Islands with an eye for the commercial monopolisation of slaves and precious commodities throughout his new-found territories. Russell also carefully builds up a picture of a prince who "had always done his best to see to it that his public persona, not only in life but also posthumously, was and would be first and always that of a soldier of the Church Militant". Marshalling a lifetime's study of Spain and Portugal, Russell produces a far less likeable, but also much more realistic portrait of one of the key figures in the history of the Age of Discovery. --Jerry BrottonRead More

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  • Amazon

    A re-evaluation of the life of the legendary 15th-century Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator. It examines the full range of the Prince's activities as an imperialist and as a maritime, cartographical and navigational pioneer.

  • Foyles

    Henry the Navigator, fifteenth-century Portuguese prince and explorer, is a legendary, almost mythical figure in late medieval history. Considered along with Columbus to be one of the progenitors of modernity, Prince Henry challenged the scientific assumptions of his age and was responsible for liberating Europeans from geographical restraints that had bound them since the Roman Empire’s collapse. In this enthralling account of Henry’s life—the first biography of “The Navigator” in more than a century—Peter Russell reaps the harvest of a lifelong study of Prince Henry. Making full use of documentary evidence only recently available, Russell reevaluates Henry and his role in Portuguese and European history.Examining the full range of Prince Henry’s activities, Russell discusses the explorer’s image as an imperialist and as a maritime, mathematical, and navigational pioneer. He considers Henry’s voyages of discovery in the African Atlantic, their economic and cultural consequences, and the difficult questions they generated regarding international law and papal jurisdiction. Russell demonstrates the degree to which Henry was motivated by the predictions of his astrologer—an aspect of his career little known until now—and explains how this innovator, though firmly rooted in medieval ways of thinking and behaving, set in motion a current of change that altered European history.

  • TheBookPeople

    This enthralling life of the legendary fifteenth-century Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, is the first comprehensive biography in more than a century. Examining the full range of the prince's activities as an imperialist and as a maritime, cartographical and navigational pioneer, Peter Russell shows that while Henry was firmly rooted in medieval times, his innovations set in motion changes that altered the history of Europe and regions far beyond.

  • Blackwell

    This enthralling bio of the legendary 15th century Portuguese prince examines the full range of his activities as an imperialist and as a maritime, cartographical, and navigational pioneer. Russell shows his innovations set in motion changes that...

  • 0300091303
  • 9780300091304
  • Peter Russell
  • 10 October 2001
  • Yale University Press
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 460
  • New Ed
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