Prince Henry "the Navigator": A Life [Hardcover]

Sir Peter Russell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2000

Henry the Navigator is a legendary, almost mythical, figure in late medieval history. Together with Columbus he was considered one of the progenitors of 'modernity', a man who dared to challenge the scientific assumptions of his age and by so doing was responsible for liberating Europeans from the geographical constraints which had bound them since the collapse of the Roman Empire. His image as imperialist and, above all, maritime, mathematical, and navigational pioneer has been slow to die. Yet there has been no English life of this 'hero of both science and of action' since Beazley's of 1895. This book, therefore, represents the first re-evaluation of his life in over a century. Peter Russell has made use of much recently published documentary evidence to provide an eloquent, sophisticated and highly readable account of Henry's life. While full attention is given to all aspects of his voyages of discovery in the African Atlantic, including their economic and cultural consequences and the difficult questions of international law and papal jurisdiction, Russell also examines in detail the other spheres of activity which contributed to his fame, or sometimes brought it into question. He demonstrates the degree to which Henry's actions were motivated by the predictions of his astrologer an aspect of his career that has been neglected in the past and explains how it was that a man who was anything but 'modern' could have taken the first steps which were to change the political and demographic landscape not only of Europe but of much of the world. This is not a biography in the traditional sense. Too few of Henry's writings survive to provide the kind of material necessary to describe in any detail the emotional or daily life of the man. It is rather a history of Henry's actions, of the world in which they took place and the impact that they had upon the Europe of his time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prince Henry of Portugal (1394-1460), called "the Navigator," is widely known as a precursor of Columbus, a man who helped set the European world on its great global adventure, and a paragon of learning who established the first school devoted to the art and science of navigating the open seas. None of this, Russell reveals, is true. Nor is Henry a progenitor of modernity, as he is sometimes described. Russell shows him to have been a thoroughly Renaissance prince, who embodied a mix of faith, science and mystical irrationalityAa far cry from modernism. It has been close to a century since a biography of Henry has been written, and Russell, now retired after a long and distinguished career at Oxford, has written a fitting capstone to his work on the history of early modern Iberia. Beginning his biography of Henry with the astrological portents attendant on his birth (which seems to have strongly influenced his unshakable image of himself as a great crusader and a great discoverer of secrets), the author does a masterful job of placing the events of Henry's life in the context not only of his own time but of ours as well. Russell's treatment of the Prester John myth (the belief that there was a Christian king of Ethiopia with whom Henry wanted to ally himself against the Turks) and his analysis of Henry's place in the development of the Atlantic slave trade are especially fine, and by themselves they could recommend this excellent work. The volume is graced with beautifully produced color plates; the map and family tree provided are helpful; the notes are copious and useful; and the bibliography is extensive. This book, like Henry, is a font of virtues but, thankfully unlike the prince, it has no glaring faults. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An illuminating and well-written life of the founding figure of the Age of Exploration." -- Kirkus Review

"An outstanding volume that will take decades to supersede." -- Frank McLynn, New Statesman

"May well be the finest work of history to be published this year." -- J. M. Roberts, Times Literary Supplement

"[Russell] presents a . . . fascinating man in a superbly written and thought- provoking book." -- Economist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1St Edition edition (August 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300082339
• ISBN-13: 978-0300082333
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MAN MEDIEVAL, March 18, 2001

By 

Arnold A. Putnam (Kennebunkport, Maine United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prince Henry "the Navigator": A Life (Hardcover)

Peter Russell's subject was one about whom, I must confess, I knew very little. I was aware that Prince Henry had initiated exploration of the west coast of Africa and was indirectly responsible for the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama. These are the facts found in any general survey of Western Civilization. However, the real character and life of Henry is much more interesting and complex.

Mr. Russell opens the story with a typical background concerning Henry's family. He then deals with Henry's horoscope. Despite being on the verge of the Modern World, horoscopes at birth were common at that time. This sets the stage, and to some extent, seems to explain much of Henry's life. Henry is not the "Monastic Prince," dedicated to exploration in the name of disinterested science and the glory of Portugal. Rather, he is a live, flesh and blood, product of the late Middle Ages. He seeks fame and honor as a Christian Crusader against Islam and the forces of darkness, with, like most crusaders, an eye to profit.

Henry did not initiate the Slave trade. It is worthy of note to see how a people, who believed that all men were descended from Adam, could justify the abomination of slavery. "Though in natural law there may be no distinction between a free man and a slave, for the practical working of society natural law in this case had been superceded by man-made law which treats freemen and slaves differently" (p. 249). Looking at our own day I can find instances of where Constitutional Rights have been sacrificed to the "higher good" of expediency. The Orwellian expression that "All men are created equal, but some men are more equal than others" applies.

In our current rush to dispel myths of the past we often leap from one extreme to another. We are quick to turn unvarnished heroes into despicable demons. The fallacy of unmixed blessings is replaced by one of unmixed curses. We sit upon our arrogant, high throne of judgment of those in the past, forgetting that there will be those in future who are apt to sit in judgment of us. Just as the Portuguese and Europeans mistakenly thought what they did was right, so too will future generations see our faults. Let us hope they will be fair and not politically motivated in their judgment.

Mr. Russell has written an excellent biography of the Prince, dispelling numerous myths, without falling into the currently fashionable morass of Political Correctness. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the period of European exploration and discovery.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a missed opportunity, June 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Prince Henry "the Navigator": A Life (Hardcover)

I was very much looking forward to reading this book, a deep and scholarly portrait of one of the central figures in the history of Western civilization. I found it quite an interesting read, but I must say that I found it a bit disappointing in important ways.

Russell does a good job of looking with a clear eye at Henry's role in the expansion of the Atlantic slave trade as well as reporting on his almost comical crusading misadventures in Morocco. These failures, both moral and military, are an important part of the man's legacy.

But I would have liked to have seen a greater emphasis on, and ultimately respect for, Henry's central historical accomplishment. After all, this is the man who set in motion the Age of Discovery. Russell writes of Henry's maritime and trading initiatives with a tone that is often dripping with contempt and sarcasm. In virtually every area in which he might actually acknowledge the extraordinary events that Henry sponsored, he looks to diminish the vision and the energy that must have been required to sustain the activity. Only in a handful of passages does Russell even grudgingly acknowledge that some of his contemporaries were grateful to, respectful of and even admiring of Henry the man. He seems to take great pleasure at the end in pointing out that Henry died in debt. The more salient observation, it seems to me, is that a single man was able to sponsor such an unprecedented project with the resources that he gained from entrepreneurial trading activity, the resources of his royal family and only marginally overstretch his financial resources. The tragedy, of course, is that Henry's trading profits came heavily from the sales of black African his crews abducted along the way.

In this respect, I suggest that Russell has missed a wonderful opportunity to teach us more than we can find in fragments about an extraordinary, if flawed, man.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough and somewhat deflating biography, February 25, 2002

By 

M. A Michaud "michael_michaud" (Dulles, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prince Henry the Navigator (Paperback)

This is the definitive English language biography of Prince Henry of Portugal, known as "The Navigator." The author, a retired former director of Portuguese studies at Oxford, has researched his subject as thoroughly as the source material allows. As is the case with other exhaustively researched biographies, this one makes its subject appear less heroic than legend implies. Though Henry did sponsor the early Portuguese exploration of the West African coast, his motives were commercial and religious rather than scientific. Russell, describing Henry's failures as well as his successes, concludes that the Prince was essentially a man of the late middle ages, not the Renaissance. Nonetheless, Henry initiated the astonishing adventure of a small country extending its reach around the world.