Prince Henry "The Navigator": A Life

Mr. Russell's book is superb in many ways: the prose is very elegant, even to a French speaking reader, the author's erudition is impressive and any amateur historian will find here a fascinating introduction to a side of European history which he or she is most unlikely to have been familiar with prior to acquiring Mr. Russell's book. That "the navigator" hardly ever set foot on a ship of any kind, I must confess I didn't know! His cupidity, pettiness in certain ways and magnanimity in other are very intriguing. The context is beautifully described. In other words, here is a splendid book by a very gifted historian. One word of caution, though: this is not an easy read! Don't take Mr. Russell's book to the beach after a stressful few months at the office. It takes a relaxed and attentive mind to really enjoy the book. I read it whilst in a yoga camp on a carrot juice fast. Both were perfect!

A fascinating book for history buffs and professionals, although maybe hard going for the general reader. It's wrong to criticize an author for not writing a different book, and this is a biography rather than a history of maritime technology but I felt shortchanged in the scientific history department. Why were the Portuguese able to make these voyages at this particular time? He mentions the caravels as better able to sail close to the wind than were purely square-rigged ships but does not say when and where they were developed or what the evidence is that this was a major development. Did anyone in Portugal possess any kind of sextant? Did the King really have "a court astrologer" ? Did Henry have access to the Majorcan maps? I'd like to have known more about these, and how they were circulated. Sir Peter's main message is debunking. He wants to show that Henry was a narrow-minded incompetent, literally Quixotic, medieval bigot and not a scientifically curious Renaissance man. He holds no punches about his involvement in the slave trade. Without endorsing post-mortem psychanalysis it seems strange that the author so resolutely withholds comment on Henry's celibacy and relationship with his adopted heir, while freely speculating about his motives in other areas. I was puzzled about the fate of Henry's brother Don Pedro. Regent of Portugal. The table at the front shows that he was killed in 1449, and on page 357 of my paperback edition we are told that Henry contributed to his death, but no details are given. Did I miss something?

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.

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.

Sir Peter Russell, late Professor of Spanish in Oxford University, has written a marvelously detailed biography of Prince Henry, commonly known as "The Navigator." Russell manages deftly to destroy most of the nonsense propagated about Henry by idolotrous biographers in the past, especially those who wrote during the period of the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal. The Salazar regime made Prince Henry into a national icon and loaded him down with numerous virtues he never had, such as scientific expertise, astronomical knowledge, etc., etc. At the same time scarcely a mention was made of his role as the founding father of the Afro-Atlantic slave trade and other far from admirable characteristics, such as his military incompetence and fraternal disloyalty. Russell's portrait puts paid to all the previous puffery. [One of his most delicious remarks is to the effect that "in Henryspeak" conversion and enslavement were "interchangable terms."] The books is based upon at least 40 years of research and is the most detailed biography ever of this late medieval figure. It is must reading for all students of European expansion and for those who wish to understand the modern world. A masterpiece!