Prince Henry, Figurehead of NRP Sagres and Patron of
the Naval Academy, was the third child of John I of Portugal; he was born in
Oporto on March 4th, 1394, and became, throughout his life, the great promoter
of the Portuguese Expansion and Discoveries.
He took part in the Conquest of Ceuta in 1415, along
with his father and brothers, and it was during his life that Portugal
consolidated the Atlantic strategy, which was already present at the time of
the alliance established with England, in 1373. Nowadays, the importance of his
action is unanimously recognized in the support he provided, in different
levels, by encouraging and promoting exploratory trips to the western shoreline
of Africa and to the Atlantic archipelagoes. His attitude and perseverance were
reflected in the discovery (1419) and colonization (1425) of Madeira, as well
as in sailing beyond Cape Bojador (1434); discovery (1427) and colonization
(1439) of the Azores, and arrival at Cape Branco (1441), Arguim Island (1443),
Senegal river (1444), Cape Verde islands (1456), and Sierra Leone (1460).
When Prince Henry died, on November 13th,
1460, in Sagres, aged 63, his ships were about to reach the Gulf of Guinea. Due
to his pragmatic, prepared attitude, the basis for the continuation of the
maritime expansion were laid, thus allowing it to have the conditions to be
continued, even after his death. Even if the goals set for the first trips
southward had not been innovative, in time, the results of the voyages
systematically continued over the decades, eventually became one of the
greatest achievements in the History of Humankind.
As a result, it is considered as the greatest action
of acknowledgement, that his motto, Talant de Bien Faire – Talent to make good
– is, nowadays, the motto that underlines the coat of arms of the Navy and of
the Naval Academy, a century old institution, where even today the spirit and
the principles of Prince Henry are kept as references in the technical and
humane training of the Portuguese Navy Officers.
Also as to pay homage to his legacy, School Ship
Sagres bears, as a figurehead, the effigy of Prince Henry.
