of Majorca, to come to Portugal to instruct his officials. This seems to be the sole evidence of the existence of a nautical school at Sagres, which apparently must be given up if any systematic institution is thought of. The same is true of the supposed foundation of a chair of mathematics at the University of Lisbon attributed to him by Major and others. Prince Henry's will first published after Major wrote gives a detailed statement of his foundations and mentions many churches and a bequest to a chair of theology, but is silent in regard to any nautical school at Sagres or a chair of mathematics.[1]
The main line of results of Prince Henry's work are probably familiar to most readers of this essay. As was indicated at the beginning, he removed some of the greatest obstacles to geographical progress, the fantastic and imaginary terrors of the deep. I cannot do better than to quote a passage from Diogo Gomez which with its vivid reflection of contemporary ideas is more forcible than any modern statement: "And these things which are written here are put down with all respect to the most illustrious Ptolemy who wrote much that is good on the parts of the world, but in regard to this region he was wrong. For he divides the
- ↑ Barros' words are: "Pera este descubrimento mandou vir da ilha de Malhorca hum Mestre Jacome, homem mui docto na arte de navegar, que fazia cartas e instrumentas, o qual lhe custou muito pelo trazer a este Reyno pera ensinar sua scieucia aos oflficiaes Portuguezes daquelle mester." Dec. I, ch. XVI. Codine, from whose review of Major this citation is taken (Bull., de la Soc. de Geog. Juin, 1873, 645), deduces from it "la cre'ation d'une Ecole hydrographique." This expanding generalizing process has been followed by most of the modern writers on Prince Henry, but in the absence of corroborative testimony Barros' words do not warrant the deduction. The most ancient chroniclers are silent on the subject. The contemporary documents are silent. Prince Henry's will covers six octavo pages and mentions all his foundations so fully that its silence in regard to the School of Sagres is almost decisive. Consequently the Marquis de Souza Holstein concludes "that in Sagres there never existed a school in the sense in which the word is generally understood." A Escola de Sagres, 77. Prince Henry's will is given on pp. 81-86. This most interesting document is also printed in O Infante D. Henrique por Manuel Barradas, Lisbon, 1894, 129-146, and separately in cheap form by the Typographia Lisbonense, Porto, 1894, 12mo.
