Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry the Navigator (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), was a Portuguese prince, a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and often credited as one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. Henry was the third child of King John I of Portugal, who founded the House of Aviz.

Utilising the new caravel ship, Henry directed the early development of Portuguese exploration and maritime trade with other continents through the systematic exploration of Western Africa, the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, and the search for new routes. He supported his father in the 1415 conquest of Ceuta, a Muslim port on the North African coast across the Straits of Gibraltar from the Iberian Peninsula. Regarded as the patron of Portuguese discoveries, he died on 13 November 1460 in Vila do Bispo in the Algarve.