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HENRY THE NAVIGATOR HENRY III. 



HENRY THE NAVIGATOR, the fourth son 

 of king John I. of Portugal, was born in 1394. 

 Portugal was then tranquil and prosperous, the 

 people were active and enterprising, and the am- 

 bition of discovery and conquest almost universal. 

 The infant Henry especially distinguished himself 

 by his seal. The generous youth gave early and 

 brilliant proofs of courage. His love of arms, 

 however, was surpassed by his love of the sciences, 

 particularly mathematics, astronomy, and naviga- 

 tion. When the Portuguese conquered Ceuta, in 

 1415, Henry distinguished himself by his bravery, 

 and was knighted by his father, after whose death he 

 chose for his residence the city of Sagres, in Algarve, 

 near cape St Vincent, and vigorously prosecuted the 

 war against the Moors in Africa. His vessels attack- 

 ed their coasts, and, on these expeditions, his sailors 

 visited parts of the ocean which the navigators of 

 that age had long regarded as inaccessible. But 

 Henry meditated the discovery of countries till then 

 unknown. Familiar with the previous progress of 

 geographical science, he neglected no opportunity, 

 during his campaigns in Africa, to obtain from the 

 Moors a knowledge of the regions bordering on Egypt 

 and Arabia, and to inquire into the probability of a 

 passage to the treasures of India by a voyage round 

 the western coast of Africa. The Arabians alone, at 

 this period, were acquainted with this portion of the 

 earth. From this source, Henry derived circumstan- 

 tial information concerning the interior of Africa ; 

 also of the coast of Guinea, and other maritime re- 

 gions. He conversed with men of learning ; and, 

 finding their testimony agreeable to the reports he 

 had collected, he resolved to execute his designs. 

 He erected at Sagres an observatory and a school, 

 where young noblemen were instructed in the scien- 

 ces connected with navigation. Though the compass 

 was already known in Europe, Henry was the first 

 who applied it to navigation. To him, also, a prin- 

 cipal part is ascribed in the invention of the astrolabe, 

 (q. v.) From time to time, he sent vessels on voy- 

 ages of discovery to the coasts of Barbary and Guinea; 

 these expeditions, however, produced at first no im- 

 portant results. In one of these voyages, two of the 

 pupils formed in his school, Juan Gonzalez Zarcoand 

 Tristan Vaz, driven by storms, discovered Puerto 

 Santo and Madeira (q. v.), the latter in 1418. The 

 first object of Henry was now to settle the new 

 islands, and to cultivate the fertile soil. The colon- 

 ists in Madeira had burnt down the thick woods, to 

 make room for cultivation. Henry foresaw that wood 

 was an article that would be afterwards wanted, and 

 ordered new forests to be planted. To obviate the 

 necessity of purchasing sugar from the Arabs, he 

 caused sugar-cane to be brought from the Sicilies, 

 which flourished excellently in the moist soil of the 

 island. After the discovery of Madeira, Henry di- 

 rected his thoughts to the coast of Guinea. Nothing 

 but his unfailing perseverance could overcome the 

 difficulties of this bold undertaking. Cape Non, it 

 was affirmed, was the limit put by God to the ambi- 

 tion of man. Henry heard all the objections of his 

 short-sighted opposers with calmness and equanimity. 

 Gilianez, one of his navigators, offered to sail round 

 the formidable cape, and to explore the coast of 

 Guinea. He set sail in 1433, safely doubled cape Bo- 

 jador, and took possession of the coast by the erection 

 of the cross. 1'he bold adventurer was rewarded 

 with honours and presents. The next year, a larger 

 vessel was sent out, which proceeded 140 miles be- 

 yond Bojador. These successful enterprises put a 

 etop to censure, and Henry found more support. His 

 brother Pedro, who administered the government 

 during the minority of Alfonso V., effectually assisted 

 him, and confirmed him in the possession of the 



islands of Puerto Santo and Madeira, which Henry 

 had before received from the late king Edward. Pope 

 Martin V. not only confirmed the gift of these two 

 islands, but also granted to the Portuguese all the 

 countries which they should discover along the coast 

 of Africa, as far as to the Indies. In 1440, Antonio 

 Gonzalez and Nunno Tristan readied cape Blanco; 

 and this new success made a favourable impression 

 upon the nation. Young men of enterprise were the 

 more eager to engage in voyages of discovery, as 

 they were tempted with the prospect of obtaining gold 

 dust. Henry had, thus far, paid all expenses of 

 the expeditions alone; but companies were now 

 formed of enterprising men, who ventured upon these 

 voyages under his guidance ; and the whole people 

 soon became animated with the love of discovery. 

 In 1446, Nunno Tristan doubled cape Verde ; and, 

 two years later, Gonzalez Vallo discovered three of 

 the Azores islands, about 1000 miles from the conti- 

 nent. Henry continued these efforts with vigour till 

 his death in 1463, at the age of 67. He had the joy 

 to survive the discovery of Sierra Leone, and to see 

 upon the throne of his country John II., a prince 

 who pursued with zeal the preparations commenced 

 with such flattering prospects of success. The impor- 

 tant consequences which the world lias derived from 

 the extension of navigation, and the discovery of a 

 new path to India, which was the result of his enter- 

 prises, have secured for him an undying name in 

 history. 



HENRY (surnamed the Younger), duke of Bruns- 

 wick ; born 1498 ; a man of an impetuous, restless, 

 and ambitious character, but of a manly mind, the 

 declared enemy of the reformation. He was one of 

 the combatants in the famous battle against the pea- 

 sants (May 15, 1525.) His restless disposition led 

 him to attack the city of Gosslar. With 1000 horse- 

 men he aided Charles V. in a war against Venice ; 

 but disease destroyed his troops almost entirely, and 

 he hardly escaped the vigilance of his enemies. 

 When the famous confederation of the Protestant 

 princes at Smalkalden took place (1537), Henry was 

 made chief commander of the Catholic forces. At 

 Hockelem, he and his son were made prisoners. The 

 battle at Muhlberg (1547), so fatal for the Protest- 

 ants, delivered him from his imprisonment. He sub- 

 sequently fought several battles ; lost in one his two 

 eldest sons, and died in 1568. Henry is also known 

 in story through his love to Eva Trott, of whom a 

 romantic tale is related, that Henry induced her to 

 feign the appearance of death, after which a formal 

 burial took place ; but Eva herself was conveyed se- 

 cretly to the castle of Staufenburg, where Henry lived 

 with her, and had several children by her. The spot 

 is still shown where one of the brothers of Eva was 

 killed when he came in search of her. 



HENRY III., king of France, the third son of 

 Henry II. and Catharine of Medici, was born in 1551, 

 at Fontainebleau. The death of his elder brother, 

 Charles IX., in 1574, left the throne vacant, and 

 Henry was crowned at llheims, February 12, 1575. 

 While duke of Anjou, he distinguished himself against 

 the Huguenots ; and the victories of Jarnac and 

 Montcontour gave him so much reputation, that the 

 Poles, in 1573, elected him their king. When his 

 brother's death called him to the throne of France, 

 the Poles were unwilling to part with him, and Henry 

 fled secretly from a country which would gladly have 

 retained him, to take the sceptre of another, of which 

 the greatest part of the inhabitants hated him. ^ In 

 Vienna and Venice, which Henry visited on his jour- 

 ney to Paris, he was ad vised to reconcile the contend- 

 ing parties of the Catholics and Huguenots by mild 

 measures, and thus spare his country the horrors of a 

 civil war. Unhappily, the weak and voluptuous 



