Biography of Prince Henry of Portugal
Prince Henry of Portugal was born on March 4, 1394 and he passed away on November 13, 1460. He was around 66 years old when he passed away. Prince Henry of Portugal was also known as Prince Henry the Navigator. He was born in Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. Prince Henry was a very important figure of Portuguese Empire. He was a Portuguese royal prince, soldier, and patron of explorers.
To begin, Prince Henry of Portugal was the third child of King João of Portugal and Queen Philippa of Lancaster. Prince Henry of Portugal's trade routes started in Porto, Portugal. On March 4, 1394 Prince Henry of Portugal was born in Porto. Porto is known as the second largest in Portugal. In English Porto is known as Oporto. Porto is one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula.
Studies say that Henry was born in Porto, probably when the royal couple was living in the city's old mint, now called Casa do Infante (Prince's House).
When henry was around 21 years old, Prince Henry with his father and brothers attacked the Moslem port of Ceutha in north Morocco which was in Africa, across the Mediterranean Sea. The attack was successful 1415 and it inspired Prince Henry to explore Africa. In that time Africa was most of which was unknown to Europeans.
In about 1418, Prince Henry started the first school for oceanic navigation. In this school, people were trained in navigation, map-making, and science, in order to sail down the west of Africa. He opened the navigation school in Sagres, Portugal. The reason why he opened a school was to advance the science of navigation. As a result much advancement in Celestial Navigation took place. Henry began to...