[92] Barros, Asia, Dec. 1, liv. ii, ch. 1, and Goes, Chronica do Principe D. Joào, ch. 6.

[93] Historia de S. Domingos, p. 1, liv. vi, ch. 15. Santarem suggests that Affonso V sent it to his uncle, Affonso the Magnificent of Naples, by his ambassador, Martin Mendes de Berredo, between 1453 and 1457; but this cannot be reconciled with the fact that certain passages in the Chronicle appear to have been written after the death of D. Henrique.

[94] Catalogue No. 148, Bibliotheca Hispana, February 1895.

[95] Chronica de D. Manoel, quarta parte, ch. 38.

[96] Asia, Dec. 1, liv. ii, ch. 2.

[97] Chronica de Guiné, chs. 1, 5, and 68.

[98] Chronica de Ceuta, ch. 21, and cf. Chronica de D. Duarte de Menezes, ch. 24.

[99] Asia, Dec. 1, liv. ii, ch. 2, and Chronica de D. Manoel, quarta parte, ch. 38. Goes says, too, that Azurara related the taking of Arzilla, which happened in 1470.

[100] Bibliotheca Lusitana, vol. ii, art. on Azurara.

[101] Chronica de D. Pedro de Menezes, chs. 1, 2, and parte II, ch. 26; and compare his references to the Chronica Geral in the Chronica de D. Duarte de Menezes, chs. 108, 111, 135, 142, and 145, as well as in the Chronica de Guiné, ch. 5.

[102] Prologue to the Chronica de D. Affonso V (Ineditos, vol. i, p. 202).

[103] Dr. Theophilo Braga mentions another MS. of the whole Chronicle, in a single volume of 644 folios, as being in private hands. The name of the English (?) Chronicler is there spelt "Henrique Fauste".—Amadis de Gaula, p. 196 n. Porto, 1873.

[104] But it is quite a distinct work from that of Diogo Fernandes, though the same period seems to have given them birth.

[105] Vide Part I, chs. 1, 4, 6, 17, and 37.

[106] Compare, on this question, the following studies:—Opusculo acerca do Palmeirim de Inglaterra e do seu auctor, by M. O. Mendes. Lisbon, 1860. Discurso sobre el Palmeirim de Inglaterra y su verdadero autor, by N. D. de Benjumea. Lisbon, 1875. Versuch über den Ritterroman Palmeirim de Inglaterra, by D. Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcellos. Halle, 1883.

Note.—The elegant signature of Azurara, with its flourishes and general ornateness, a woodcut of which appears below, was copied by my friend the Viscount de Castilho, son of the poet, from an original document in the Torre do Tombo. The writing, it will be observed, is clear and firm, a characteristic of all the Chronicler's signatures, which exist to the number of some half-dozen in the Torre.—E. P.

AZURARA'S CHRONICLE

OF THE

DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF
GUINEA.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

ere beginneth the Chronicle in which are set down all the notable deeds that were achieved in the Conquest of Guinea, written by command of the most high and revered Prince and most virtuous Lord the Infant Don Henry, Duke of Viseu and Lord of Covilham, Ruler and Governor of the Chivalry of the Order of Jesus Christ. The which Chronicle was collected into this volume by command of the most high and excellent Prince, and most powerful Lord the King Don Affonso the Fifth of Portugal.

CHAPTER I.
Which is the Prologue, wherein the Author sheweth what will be his purpose in this Work.

We are commonly taught by experience, that all well-doing requireth gratitude. And even though the benefactor doth not covet it for himself, yet he should desire it, that the recipient may not suffer dishonour where the giver hath acquired virtuous merit. And such a special communion is there between these two acts, to wit, giving and thanking, that the first requireth the second by way of obligation. And did not the former^[A] exist, it would not be possible for there to be gratitude in the world. Wherefore, Saint Thomas,^[B] who was the most clear teacher^[1] among the Doctors of Theology, saith in the second book of the second part of his work, in the 108th section, that every action returneth by nature to the cause from which it first proceeded. Therefore, since the giver is the chief cause of the benefit received by the other, it is requisite, by the ordinance of Nature, that the good he doth should come back to him in the shape of a fitting gratitude. And by this return we are enabled to understand the natural likeness between the works of Nature and those that give moral aid, for all things bring about a proper return, starting from a commencement and progressing till in the end they accomplish the recompence we speak of. And, in proof of this, Solomon saith in the book of Ecclesiastes, that the sun riseth over the earth, and, having encircled all things, returneth to where it first appeared. The rivers also proceed from the sea, and ceasing not their course, are continually returning to it. A like thing happeneth in the moral order, for all good that cometh from a generous will, doth run a straight course until it arrive at the fitting recipient, and then afterwards it returneth naturally to the place where the generosity allowed it to begin; and such a return bringeth about that sweet union between those that do good and those that receive it, of which Tully speaketh when he saith that no service is more necessary than gratitude, in order that the good may return to him who gave it.

And in that the most high and excellent Prince and most mighty Lord, the King Don Affonso the Vth (who at the time of the writing of this book reigned in Portugal, by the grace of God, whose reign may God in his mercy increase in length and in virtues), in that he, I say, saw and knew the great and very notable deeds of the Lord Infant Don Henry, Duke of Viseu and Lord of Covilham, who was his highly-valued and beloved uncle, and in that the said deeds appeared to him so noteworthy among the many actions of Christian princes in this world—it seemed to him a wrong thing not to have some authentic memorial of the same before the minds of men. And this most of all because of the great services which the said Lord had ever rendered to past kings, and the great benefits which by his efforts the Prince's countrymen had received.

For these reasons the King bade me engage in this work with all diligence, for although great part of his other actions are scattered through the Chronicles of the Kings of his day, as, for instance, what he did when the King Don John, his father, went to take Ceuta,^[2] and when on his own account he went with his brothers and many other great lords to raise the siege of the aforesaid town, and afterwards when in the reign and by the command of the King Don Edward of glorious memory, he attacked Tangier, where were done many very notable deeds, which are mentioned in his history, yet all that followeth was done by his ordinance^[C] and mandate, not without great expense and trouble, all which is truly to be set down to his account. For though in all kingdoms men compile general Chronicles of their Kings, they do not fail also to write separately of the deeds of some of those Kings' vassals, wherever the greatness of the same is notable enough to warrant such especial mention—as was done in France in the case of Duke John, Lord of Lançam,^[3] and in Castille in the matter of the deeds of the Cid Ruy Diaz,^[4] and in our own kingdom in the story of the Count Nunalvarez Pereira.^[5] And with this Royal Princes ought to be not a little contented, for so much the more is their honour exalted as they have seigniory over greater and more excellent persons; for no Prince can be great, unless he rule over great men; nor rich, unless he rule over the wealthy. For this cause said the virtuous Roman Fabricius, that he would rather be lord over those who had gold, than have gold himself.

But because the said deeds were written by many and various persons, so the record of them is variously written, in many parts. And our Lord the King, considering that it was not convenient for the process of one only Conquest^[D] that it should be recounted in many ways, although they all contribute to one result, ordered me to work at the writing and ordering of the history in this volume so that those who read might have the more perfect knowledge. And that we may return the benefit he conferred on us by gratitude to him from whom we received it, as I began to set forth at the commencement of this chapter, we will follow the example of that holy Prophet Moses, who, desiring not to let the people of Israel forget the good that God had shewn them, often commanded the receivers to write them upon their hearts, as in a book that should display to those who considered it what was written therein. Further, seeing that the remembrance of injuries is tender, and that the good deed is soon forgotten, those that came after^[E] set up signs that should be lasting, on which people might look and remember the benefits they had received in time past. And so likewise it is written of Joshua, that God bade him take twelve great stones from the midst of the river Jordan, and carry them to where the camp was pitched, after all had crossed. For this was done in order that they should be in remembrance of the wonderful miracle which God had wrought in presence of the people, when he parted the waters, so that those which came from above stood up in a heap and did not flow out towards the sides, while those which were below flowed on until the river was dry. But some, considering that even by such signs it was not always perfectly well known what had been done (just as we see that the Pillars of Hercules^[6] do not signify clearly to all who see them that they were placed there as a memorial of his Conquest of Spain), began the custom of writing what could not otherwise be long remembered. And in proof of this it is related in the book of Queen Esther, that King Ahasuerus kept a record of all the notable services that had been rendered to him, and that at certain times he caused this record to be read, that he might reward the authors of those services. So, too, the King Don Ramiro, desiring that the men of Spain should not allow themselves to forget the great aid that the blessed apostle Saint James had given them, when he delivered them from the power of the Moors, and promised to be our helper in all our battles with the Infidel, caused to be written the story of that event in the privileges that he granted the Church of Santiago,^[7] that is to say, in providing for the entertainment of the poor,—privileges which that Church now receives from every part of Spain where Christians then lived.

Now this care that the ancients showed ought to be a custom of to-day, and inasmuch as our memory is weaker than theirs was, and less mindful of the good that it receiveth, so much the more careful should we be to keep ever before us the benefits bestowed on us by others, since we cannot afford to forget them without manifest injury to ourselves. And because we received of God great benefit in the deeds hereinafter recorded, in three ways—firstly, by the many souls that have been already saved, and yet will be saved, of the lineage of our captives; secondly, by the great benefits we all of us receive from the said actions; thirdly, by the great honour that our realm is now gaining in many parts by subjecting to itself so great a power of enemies, and so far from our own land—for all these reasons we will put this history in remembrance to the praise of God, and to the glorious memory of our aforesaid Lord, and to the honour of many good servants of his, and other worthy persons of our country who toiled manfully in the doing of the aforesaid actions. Finally, because our said Chronicle is especially dedicated to this Lord,^[F] let us begin at once to speak of his habits and of his virtues, and of his appearance also, in accordance with the custom of various authors of credit whose chronicles we have seen.

[A] I.e., conferring of favours.

[B] I.e., Aquinas. See note 1, in vol. ii. Throughout the present volume the numbers inserted in the text refer to historical and other notes which will be appended to vol. ii.

[C] I.e., all that follows in this book was done by Henry's ordinance, etc.

[D] Such as that of Guinea.

[E] I.e., after Moses.

[F] "This Lord," the "aforesaid Lord," and so on, is of course Henry.

CHAPTER II.
The Author's invocation.

O thou Prince little less than divine! I beseech thy sacred virtues to bear with all patience the shortcomings of my too daring pen, that would attempt so lofty a subject as is the recounting of thy virtuous deeds, worthy of so much glory. For the eternal duration of these thy actions, if the end of my attempt be profitable, will exalt thy fame and bring great honour to thy memory, giving a useful lesson to all those princes that shall follow thine example. For of a certainty it is not without cause that I ask pardon of thy virtues, knowing my insufficiency to compass such a task, and that I have more just reason to expect blame for doing less than I ought, than for saying over much. Thy glory, thy praises, thy fame, so fill my ears and employ my eyes that I know not well where to begin. I hear the prayers of the innocent souls of those barbarous peoples, almost infinite in number, whose ancient race since the beginning of the world hath never seen the divine light, but who are now by thy genius, by thy infinite expense, and by thy great labours, brought into the true path of salvation, washed in the waters of baptism, anointed with the holy oil, and freed from that wretched abode of theirs, knowing at this present what darkness lay concealed under the semblance of light in the days of their ancestors. I will not say with what filial piety, as they contemplate the divine power, they are ever praying for a reward to thy great merits—for that is a matter which cannot be denied by him who hath well considered the sentences of St. Thomas and St. Gregory^[8] on the knowledge possessed by spirits concerning those who have been, or are, profitable to them in this world. I see those Garamantes,^[9] those Ethiopians, who live under the shadow of Mount Caucasus, black in colour, because of living just opposite to the full height of the sun's rays—for he, being in the head of Capricorn, shineth on them with wondrous heat, as is shown by his movements from the centre of his eccentric, or, in another way, by the nearness of these people to the torrid zone,—I see the Indians of the greater and the lesser India,^[10] all alike in colour, who call upon me to write of thy gifts of money and of raiment, of the passing of thy ships, and of thy hospitality—which those received who, either to visit the Apostle,^[11] or to see the beauty of the world, came to the ends of our Spain. And those dwellers on the Nile, whose multitudes possess the lands of that ancient and venerable city of Thebes,^[12] they, too, astonish me, for I see them clothed in thy livery, and their bodies, that had never known a covering, now carrying robes of varied colours, while the necks of their women are adorned with jewels of gold and silver in rich workmanship. But what has caused this save the munificence of thine expenses and the labours of thy servitors, set in motion by thy beneficent will, by the which thou hast transported to the ends of the East things created in the West? Yet not even the prayers and the cries of these peoples, though they were many, were of such price as the acclamations I heard from the greatness of the Germans, from the courtesy of the French, from the valour of the English, and from the wisdom of the Italians,^[13] cries that were accompanied by others of divers nations and languages, all renowned by lineage and virtues. Oh thou, say these, who enterest the labyrinth of such great glory, why dost thou busy thyself only with the nations of the East? Speak to us, for we traverse the lands and encircle the circumference of the Earth, and know the Courts of Princes and the houses of great lords. Know that thou wilt not find another that can equal the excellency of the fame of this man, if thou judgest by a just weight of all that pertains to a great prince. With reason mayst thou call him a temple of all the virtues. But how plaintive do I find the people of our nation because I place the testimonies of some other race before theirs. For here in Portugal I meet with great lords, prelates, nobles, widowed ladies, Knights of the Orders of Chivalry, Masters and Doctors of the holy faith, with many graduates of every science, young scholars, companies of esquires, and men of noble breeding, with mechanics and an untold multitude of the people. And some of these shew me towns and castles; others villages and fields; others rich benefices; others great and wealthy farms; others country houses and estates and liberties; others charters for pensions and for marriages; others gold and silver, money and cloth; others health in their bodies and deliverance from perils which they have gained by means of thee; others countless servants both male and female; while others there are that tell me of monasteries and churches that thou didst repair and rebuild, and of the great and rich ornaments that thou didst offer in many holy places. Others, again, pointed out to me the marks of the chains they bore in the captivity from which thou didst rescue them. What shall I say of the needy beggars that I see before me laden with alms? And of the great multitude of friars of every order that shew me the garments with which thou didst clothe their bodies, and the abundance of food with which thou didst satisfy their necessities? I had already made an end of this chapter, had I not descried the approach of a multitude of ships with tall sails laden from the islands thou didst people in the great Ocean Sea,^[14] which called on me to wait for them, as they longed to prove that they ought not to be omitted from this register. And they displayed before me their great cattle-stalls, the valleys full of sugar cane from which they carried store to distribute throughout the world: they brought also as witnesses to their great prosperity all the dwellers in the kingdom of the Algarve.^[15] Ask, said they, whether these people ever knew what it was to have abundance of bread until our Prince peopled the uninhabited isles, where no dwelling existed save that of wild beasts. Next they shewed me great rows of beehives full of swarms of bees, from which great cargoes of wax and honey are carried to our realm; and besides these, lofty houses towering to the sky, which have been and are being built with wood from those parts. But why should I mention the multitude of things that were told me in thy praise, though all of them were things that I could write without injuring the truth? Let me tell how there now sounded in my ears some other voices very contrary to these I have recounted hitherto: voices for which I should have felt great compassion had I not discovered them to be the cries of those outside our law. For there addressed me countless souls of Moors, both on this side the Straits, and also beyond,^[16] of whom many had died by thy lance in the cruel war thou hast ever waged against them. And others presented themselves before me loaded with chains, their countenances pitiable to behold, men who were captured by thy ships through the strength of the bodies of thy vassals; but in these I noticed that they complained not so much of the ill fortune that overtook them at the end as of their fate in earlier life, that is, of the seductive error in which that false schismatic Mohammed^[17] left them. And so I conclude my preface, begging that if thy great virtues, if the excellence of thy great and noble deeds, suffer any loss by my ignorance and rudeness, thy magnanimous greatness may vouchsafe to look on my fault with a propitious countenance.

CHAPTER III.
In which we recount the descent of the Infant Don Henry.

Two reasons move me to speak in this chapter of the descent of this noble prince. First of all, because the long course of ages driveth out of the memory the very knowledge of past things, which would be altogether dimmed and hidden from our eyes were they not to be represented before us in writing. And since I have determined to write for the representing of this present time to those that come after, I ought not to pass by in silence the glory of so noble a descent as our Prince's, since this book must indeed be a work placed by itself. For it may happen that those who read through this may not know anything of other writings.

But this digression must needs be brief, that I may not be drawn away far from my projected task.

And the second reason^[G] is that we may not attribute the whole of such great virtues to one man only, but may rather give some part to his ancestors, for it is certain that nobility of lineage, being well observed by one that hath sprung from such a stock—for the sake, as often happeneth, of avoiding shame, or in some way of acquiring virtue—constraineth a man to shew courage, and strengtheneth his heart to endure greater toils.

Therefore you must know that the King Don John, who was the tenth King of Portugal, the same that was victor in the great battle of Aljubarrota and took the very noble city of Ceuta, in the land of Africa, was espoused to Donna Philippa, daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, and sister of the King Don Henry of England, by whom he had six lawful children, to wit, five princes, and one princess, who was afterwards Duchess of Burgundy.^[18] Some others, who died while still very young, I omit to mention. And of these children Prince Henry was the third, so that with the ancestry he had, both on his father's and his mother's side, the lineage of this royal prince embraced the most noble and lofty in Christendom. Now this same Prince Henry was also brother of the King Don Edward and uncle of the King Don Affonso, the kings who, after the death of the King Don John, reigned in Portugal. But this, as I said, I touch on briefly, because if I were to declare things more fully I should meet with many matters of which any single one duly followed up, as would be necessary, must needs cause so great a delay that I should be late in returning to my first commencement.

[G] I.e. for undertaking Prince Henry's genealogy.

CHAPTER IV.
Which speaketh of the habits of the Infant Don Henry.

Meseemeth I should be writing overmuch if I were to recount fully all the particulars that some histories are accustomed to relate about those Princes to whom they addressed their writings. For in writing of their deeds they commenced by telling of the actions of their youth, through their desire to exalt their virtues. And though it may be presumed that authors of such sufficiency would not do aught without a clear and sufficient reason, I shall for the present depart from their course, as I know that it would be a work but little needed in this place. Nor do I even purpose to make a long tale about the Infant's bodily presence, for many in this world have had features right well proportioned, and yet for their dishonest vices have got great harm to their fair fame. So, though it be nothing more, let it suffice what the philosopher^[19] saith concerning this, that personal beauty is not a perfect good. Therefore, returning to my subject, let me say that this noble Prince was of a good height and stout frame, big and strong of limb, the hair of his head somewhat erect, with a colour naturally fair, but which by constant toil and exposure had become dark. His expression at first sight inspired fear in those who did not know him, and when wroth, though such times were rare, his countenance was harsh. Strength of heart and keenness of mind were in him to a very excellent degree, and beyond comparison he was ambitious of achieving great and lofty deeds. Neither luxury nor avarice ever found a home within his breast, for as to the former he was so temperate that all his life was passed in purest chastity, and as a virgin the earth received him at his death again to herself. And what can I say of his greatness, except that it was pre-eminent among all the princes of the earth? He was indeed the uncrowned prince, whose court was full of more numerous and more noble vassals of his own rearing than any other. His palace was a school of hospitality for all the good and high-born of the realm, and still more for strangers; and the fame of it caused there to be a great increase in his expenses: for commonly there were to be found in his presence men from various nations so different from our own, that it was a marvel to well-nigh all our people: and none of that great multitude could go away without some guerdon from the Prince. All his days were passed in the greatest toil, for of a surety among all the nations of mankind there was no one man who was a sterner master to himself. It would be hard to tell how many nights he passed in the which his eyes knew no sleep; and his body was so transformed by the use of abstinence that it seemed as if Don Henry had made its nature to be different from that of other men. Such was the length of his toil and so rigorous was it, that as the poets have feigned that Atlas the giant held up the heavens upon his shoulders, for the great knowledge that was in him concerning the movements of the heavenly bodies, so the people of our kingdom had a proverb, that the great labours of this our Prince "conquered the heights of the mountains," that is to say, the matters that seemed impossible to other men, by his continual energy, were made to appear light and easy. The Infant was a man of great wisdom and authority, very discreet and of good memory, but in some matters a little tardy, whether it were from the influence of phlegm in his nature, or from the choice of his will, directed to some certain end not known of men. His bearing was calm and dignified, his speech and address gentle. He was constant in adversity, humble in prosperity. Of a surety no Sovereign ever had a vassal of such station, or even of one far lower than his, who held him in greater obedience and reverence than he showed to the kings who in his days reigned in Portugal, and especially to the King Don Affonso, in the commencement of his reign, as in his Chronicle^[20] you may learn more at length. Never was hatred known in him, nor ill-will towards any, however great the wrong he might have done him; and so great was his benignity in this matter that wiseacres reproached him as wanting in distributive justice, though in all other matters he held the rightful mean. And this they said because he left unpunished some of his servants who deserted him in the siege of Tangier, which was the most perilous affair in which he ever stood before or after,^[21] not only becoming reconciled to them, but even granting them honourable advancement over and above others who had served him well; the which, in the judgment of men, was far from their deserts. And this is the only shortcoming of his that I have to record. And because Tully commandeth^[22] that an author should reason, in the matter of his writing, as truly appeareth to him—in the sixth chapter of this work I shall declare myself more fully on this,^[H] that I may approve myself a truthful writer. The Infant drank wine only for a very small part of his life, and that in his youth, but afterwards he abstained entirely from it. He always shewed great devotion to the public affairs of these kingdoms, toiling greatly for their good advancement, and much he delighted in the trial of new essays for the profit of all, though with great expense of his own substance. And so he keenly enjoyed the labour of arms, and especially against the enemies of the holy faith, while he desired peace with all Christians. Thus he was loved by all alike, for he made himself useful to all and hindered no one. His answers were always gentle, and therewith he shewed great honour to the standing of every one who came to him, without any lessening of his own estate. A base or unchaste word was never heard to issue from his mouth. He was very obedient to all the commands of Holy Church, and heard all its offices with great devotion; aye and caused the same to be celebrated in his chapel, with no less splendour and ceremony than they could have had in the College of any Cathedral Church. And so he held all sacred things in great reverence and treated the ministers of the same with honour, and bestowed on them favours and largess. Well-nigh one-half of the year he spent in fasting, and the hands of the poor never went away empty from his presence. Of a surety I know not how to find any prince so Catholic and religious, that I could say as much of him. His heart never knew what fear was, save the fear of sin; and since from chaste habits and virtuous actions spring great and lofty deeds, I will collect in this next chapter all the notable things which were performed by him for the service of God and the honour of the Kingdom.

[H] I.e., on this point of distributive justice.

CHAPTER V.
In which the Chronicler speaketh briefly of the notable matters which the Infant performed for the service of God and the honour of the Kingdom.

Where could this chapter begin better than in speaking of that most glorious conquest of the great city of Ceuta, of which famous victory the heavens felt the glory and the earth the benefit. For it seemeth to me a great glory, for the sacred college of the Celestial Virtues,^[23] that all those holy sacrifices and blessed ceremonies should have been celebrated in praise of Christ our Lord in that city from that day even until now, and by his grace ever shall be celebrated. And as to the profit of our world from this achievement, East and West alike are good witnesses thereof, since their peoples can now exchange their goods, without any great peril of merchandise—for of a surety no one can deny that Ceuta is the key of all the Mediterranean sea. In the which conquest the Prince was captain of a very great and powerful fleet, and like a brave knight fought and toiled in person on the day when it was taken from the Moors; and under his command were the Count of Barcellos, the King's bastard, and Don Fernando, Lord of Braganza, his nephew, and Gonçalo Vasquez Coutinho, a great and powerful noble, and many other lords and gentlemen with all their men-at-arms, and others who joined the said fleet from the three districts of the Beira, and the Tral-os-Montes and the Entre Douro-e-Minho.^[24] Now the first Royal Captain who took possession by the walls of Ceuta was this same of whom I write, and his square banner was the first that entered the gates of the city, from whose shadow he was never far off himself. On that day the blows he dealt out were conspicuous beyond those of all other men, since for the space of five hours he never stopped fighting, and neither the heat, though it was very great, nor the amount of his toil, were able to make him retire and take any rest. And in this space of time, the Prince, with four who accompanied him, made a valiant stand. For as to the others who should have followed in his company, some were scattered through that vast city, and others were not able to join him by reason of a gate through which the Infant with the said four companions had passed together with the Moors, which gate was guarded by other Moors on the top of the wall. So for about two hours the Prince and his friends held another gate, which is beyond that one which stands between the two cities^[25] in a turn of the wall under the shadow of the castle, which gate is now called that of Fernandafonso. And to this had retired the greater part of the Moors who had fled out of the other town from the side of Almina just where the city was entered, but in the end, despite the great multitude of the enemy, they shut that gate. And whether their toil were idle or no could well be seen by those who had fallen and lay dead there, stretched out along that ground. In that city of Ceuta was the Infant knighted, together with his brothers, by his father's hand, with great honour, on the day of the consecration of the Cathedral Church. And the capture was on a Thursday, the 21st day of the month of August, in the year of Christ 1415. And immediately on the return of the King Don John to his kingdom, he made this honoured prince a duke, with the seignory thereof, in a place of the province of the Algarve.^[26] And afterwards at the end of three years there came against Ceuta a great power of Moors, who were reckoned at a later time by the King's Ransomers of Captives to be 100,000 strong—for there were present the people of the Kings of Fez and of Granada and of Tunis and of Marocco and of Bugya,^[27] with many engines of war and much artillery, with the which they thought to take the aforesaid city, encircling it by sea and land. Then the Infant was very diligent in succouring it with two of his brothers, that is to say the Infant Don John and the Count of Barcellos, who was afterwards Duke of Braganza, with many lords and gentlemen and with the aid of a great flotilla; and after killing many of the Moors and delivering the city, he repaired it and returned again very honourably to Portugal. Yet he was not well content with his victory, because the chance of taking the town of Gibraltar, for which he had made preparation, did not offer itself to him.^[28] The chief reason of his being thus hindered was the roughness of the winter, which was just then beginning; for although the sea at that time is dangerous everywhere, it is much more so at that very part because of the great currents that are there. He also fitted out a very great armada against the Canary Islands,^[29] to shew the natives there the way of the holy faith.

Again, while the King Don Edward was reigning, by his order he passed over a third time into Africa, when he besieged the city of Tangier, and went for nineteen leagues with banners flying through the land of his enemies; and then maintained the leaguer for two and twenty days, in which time were achieved many feats worthy of glorious remembrance, not without great slaughter of the enemy, as in the history of the kingdom you can learn more fully.

He governed Ceuta, by command of the kings, his father, brother and nephew,^[I] for five and thirty years, with such prevision that the crown of the kingdom never suffered loss of honour through any default of his; but at last, because of his great burdens, he left the said government to the King Don Affonso, at the beginning of his reign.^[30] Moreover, from the time that Ceuta was taken he always kept armed ships at sea to guard against the infidels, who then made very great havoc upon the coasts both on this side the straits and beyond; so that the fear of his vessels kept in security all the shores of our Spain and the greater part of the merchants who traded between East and West.^[31]

Also he caused to be peopled in the great Sea of Ocean five islands, which embraced a goodly number of people at the time of the writing of this book, and especially Madeira;^[32] and from this isle, as well as the others, our country drew large supplies of wheat, sugar, wax, honey and wood, and many other things, from which not only our own people but also foreigners have gained and are gaining great profit. Also the Infant Don Henry was with the king Don Affonso his nephew, in that army he collected against the Infant Don Pedro, from which followed the battle of Alfarrobeira, where the aforesaid Don Pedro was killed and the Count of Avranches who was with him, and all their host defeated.^[33] And there, if my understanding suffice for the matter, I may truly say that the loyalty of men of all times was as nothing in comparison of his. Further, although his services^[J] did not occasion him such great labours as those I have mentioned, yet of a certainty the circumstances of the matter gave to them a lustre and a grandeur that exceeded all else: and of these I leave a fuller account to the general history of the Kingdom.

Don Henry also made very great benefactions to the Order of Christ, of which he was ruler and governor by the authority of the Holy Father, for he bestowed upon it all the spiritualties of the islands^[K] and in the kingdom he made purchases of lands (from which he created new commanderies), as well as of houses and estates, which he annexed to the said Order. And in the Mother-Convent of the Order he built two very fair cloisters and one high choir, with many rich ornaments, which he presented for sacred uses.^[34] And for that he had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, he built in her honour a very devout house of prayer, one league from Lisbon, near the sea, at Restello, under the title of St. Mary of Belem. And in Pombal and in Soure, he built two very notable churches. Also, he bequeathed many noble houses to the City of Lisbon, being pleased to give his protection for the greater honour of the holy Scriptures; and he ordained a yearly grant of ten marks of silver to the Chair of Theology for ever. And in the same way he gave to his chapel of St. Mary of Victory seven marks of yearly revenue.^[35] But I know not for the present if there is to be an increase in these grants after his death, for, at the time that King Affonso ordered this book to be written he was yet alive, of an age little less than sixty years, so that I cannot make an end of his benefactions, for, as his mind was great and ever intent on noble actions, I am sure that his members may indeed grow weaker with the lapse of time, but his will can never be too poor both to undertake and to finish a multitude of good deeds, so long as his soul and body are united together. And this may well be understood by those that saw him ready to go to Ceuta^[36] and almost embarked on shipboard with that intent—to end his life there, toiling in arms for the honour of the Kingdom and the exaltation of the Holy Faith. For in this cause he ever had a desire to finish his days: yet he desisted from carrying out his purpose for this time, because the King agreed with his Council in hindering the voyage, though he had previously given him leave. And though the chief cause of this be not known to most men, some wiseacres, who were not members of the Chief Council, perceived that the reason was as follows: the Lord King, like a man of great discretion, considering the great things to be performed at home, ordered him to remain, that he might give him, as his uncle and especial friend and most notable servant, the principal part in searching out the remedies for these troubles. But it mattereth not much, whether this was the cause of his remaining or whether it was some other reason outside our knowledge: let it suffice that by this action you may see what was the chief part of his life's purpose, and this is what I ought in reason to set forth after what I have said. And among those actions of the Prince's^[L] there are many others of no little grandeur, with which another man, who had not attained to the excellency of this hero, might well be content, but in this history I omit them, in order not to depart from what I promised at first to write of. Not that I would keep silence altogether concerning them, for in the general chronicle of the Kingdom I intend to touch on each in its own place. And because I began this chapter with the taking of a city,^[M] I would fain end it with an account of that noble town which our Prince caused them to build on Cape St. Vincent, at the place where both seas meet, to wit, the great Ocean sea and the Mediterranean sea. But of the perfections of that town it is not possible to speak here at large, because when this book was written there were only the walls standing, though of great strength, with a few houses—yet work was going on in it continually. According to the common belief, the Infant purposed to make of it an especial mart town for merchants. And this was to the end that all ships that passed from the East to the West, should be able to take their bearings and to get provisions and pilots there, as at Cadiz—which last is very far from being as good a port as this, for here ships can get shelter against every wind (except one that we in this Kingdom call the cross-wind), and in the same way they can go out with every wind, whenever the seaman willeth it. Moreover, I have heard say that when this city was begun, the Genoese offered a great price for it; and they, as you know, are not men that spend their money without some certain hope of gain. And though some have called the said town by other names, I believe its proper one, according to the intention of its founder, was that of "the Infant's town", for he himself so named it, both by word of mouth and by writing.^[37]

[I] John, Edward and Affonso.

[J] In this battle.

[K] In his jurisdiction.

[L] In home affairs.

[M] Ceuta.

CHAPTER VI.
In which the Author, who setteth in order this history, saith something of what he purposeth concerning the virtues of the Infant Don Henry.

Such were the virtues and habits of this great and glorious Prince, even as you have heard in the past few chapters, in which I have spoken as well as I was able, but certainly not as the matter deserved of me, for as St. Jerome layeth it down, small wits cannot handle great subjects. And if it be true, as Sallust saith, that great praise was given to those who performed the famous actions in the history of Athens, as far as the brilliant and glorious talents of her subtle authors were able by words to praise and exalt them, it was great boldness in me, who am only worthy to name myself a disciple of each one of these ancients, to undertake so high a charge.^[38]

But whereas it is said, that obedience is better than sacrifice, it seemeth to me that I do not deserve so great a blame, since I have only fulfilled what was commanded me. But I neither demand nor desire that my work should be placed before the public, for it is not of so precious a nature as to merit that it be preserved in a tower or temple, as the Athenians preserved the Minerva of Phidias, the figure to wit of the goddess Pallas, which for the excellency of its beauty was placed on high for the better view of all men, as saith the Philosopher in the sixth book of his Ethics, in the Chapter on Wisdom.^[39] Rather I wish that this book of mine may be profitable as to its form, in order that in the future another work more adequate to the subject may be constructed out of it, and one that may suffice for the merits of so great a prince; for certainly shame will descend on all the masters, all the doctors, all the lawyers that have received instruction through his beneficence, if among so many there should not be found one willing to perpetuate his admirable deeds in a loftier and nobler style.

But as it may happen that the recompense of gratitude, as I often perceive, may not be swift to follow or may very quickly cease altogether, let it please you to receive what in the past chapters of this work I have said of the Prince's habits and virtuous acts, and what more in the future I shall have to say—not according to that which the excellence of the work requireth, but according to the rudeness and ignorance of the Author. And these matters you may well believe are more truthfully written than easily collected together.

But before entering fully upon the substance of my history, I wish to say a little of my intention to amend somewhat in the things where aforetime I was found wanting, to the praise of this great and glorious duke. And thou, great Valerius,^[40] who with such constant study, didst occupy thyself in gathering and putting together in a history the powers and virtues of the noble and excellent lords of thy city, of a surety I dare say that among so many renowned men, thou couldst not, in the highest degree, speak of another like him, for although thou wast able to assign certain grades of virtue to each one of thy heroes, yet thou wast not able to unite all these merits in one single body, as I am able to gather and join them together in the life of this Prince.

Where couldst thou find one so religious, one so catholic, one so prudent, one of so good counsel, one so temperate in all his actions? Where couldst thou light on such magnanimity, such frankness, such humanity, such courage, to support so great and so many toils as his?—for of a surety there was not a man of his time who would have dared to continue in the practice of such severity of life. Oh how often did the sun find him on its rising seated in the same place where it had left him the day before, watching throughout the circle of the night season without taking any rest, surrounded by people of various nations, not without profit to every one of them that stood by. For he took no small delight in finding the means to profit all. Where could you find another human body that would endure the toil he underwent in arms, a toil that was but scantly diminished in the time of peace? Certainly I believe that if fortitude could be depicted, it would encounter its true form in his face and members, for he did not prove himself strong in some matters only, but in all. And what courage, what endurance, could be greater than that of the man who is victor over himself? Yet he endured hunger and thirst as well, a matter almost past belief.

But what Romulus, or Manlius Torquatus, or Horatius Coclês couldst thou prefer to the might of this Prince? Perchance thou wouldst bring hither thy Cæsar, whom by thy words thou hast set up as a god, and an example of good morals and honest life: what then wilt thou do with Marcus Tullius and with Lucan, who in so many places confess that he corrupted himself by carnal desires and other vices, to the great diminishing of his praise?^[41] Who would not fear to compare himself with this our prince, seeing how that the Sovereign Pontiff, vicar-general of the Holy Church, and the Emperor of Germany, as well as the Kings of Castille and England, when informed of his great virtues, begged him to be captain of their armies?^[42] And to what shall we assign more justly the name of felicity and good fortune than to his virtues and habits, or to what empires and riches can be given greater honour than to his great and excellent deeds?

O fortunate prince, honour of our kingdom, what single thing was there in thy life which they who praise thee ought to pass by in silence: what moment of thy time was barren of good deeds or empty of praise? I consider how thou didst welcome all, how thou didst listen to all; how thou didst pass the greater part of thy days and nights among such great cares, that many might be profited. Wherefore I know that lands and seas are full of those that praise thee, for by thy continual voyagings thou hast joined the East with the West, in order that the nations might learn to exchange their riches. And in truth, though I have said many things about thee, many more remain for me to say.

But before I end this chapter I believe that it beseemeth me, of necessity, to show what I think about that matter on which I touched—to wit, distributive justice—so as not to pass it by without some declaration of my mind, as I promised before. And certainly that was a beautiful ordinance that Tully made upon this matter, for it standeth to reason that the verdict of the historian should have greater authority upon that matter of which he treateth than any other person, because he enquireth about the truth of things with greater care: Now this duty^[N] will be either that of martial correction or of humanity and clemency. If it be an affair of correction or martial justice, it is impossible to excuse shortcomings, for we read in the histories of the Romans that the fathers slew their sons for such faults, and made other very bloody executions: but, contrariwise, on the side of clemency and humanity, this must needs be praised as a great virtue, since its third part, according to Seneca, lieth in reconciling familiars to oneself; yet the extreme of both these two things is of doubtful merit, to wit, whether one should prefer discipline to clemency or clemency to discipline.^[43]

But under correction of him who better understandeth it, I say it appeareth to me that the better part of the matter should take precedence of the other part of less value, and considering the particular case and the circumstances of the time and how no correction could bring about amendment,^[O] we ought to give praise rather than blame to the Infant for his conduct, inasmuch as it sheweth a liberal heart to offer kindness to those whom one might with good reason have denied.

And be this as it may, let not these matters, most excellent prince, seem serious unto thee, for it was not so much my intent to praise thy deeds as to praise thee. For the wicked do many deeds worthy of praise, but no man should be praised save he who is truly good in himself. Where is the man whose virtues are not offended by some accretion of vices? Certainly I am not one to write or say it of thee, O Prince, for one who hath a place prepared among the celestial thrones cannot receive offence from the deeds he did on earth, though to some they appear worthy of blame; for one may quote the saying of Saint Chrysostom, that there is nothing so holy, but that an evil-minded interpreter thereof can find something to asperse.^[44]

O how few there be, as said Seneca in his first tragedy,^[45] who turn to good account the time of their life or ever think upon its brevity. But of a surety thou, O prince, wast never of the number of these men, since by thy glorious and lofty deeds and cruel sufferings, thou didst add to thyself, among many princes of most excellent dignity, an eternal and undying memory, and, what is of more value, a heavenly throne, as I piously believe. O fortunate Kings, who after his death shall possess the royal seat of his ancestors, I beg you always to keep the sepulchre of this great and noble duke in your especial remembrance, since the splendour of his virtues doth form a great part of your honour. For verily the exclamations and the praises which I tell you of him, were not invented by my own wit, but are as it were the living voices of his virtues and his great merits, which would be of great profit to every one of you, if you could keep them whole and sound in your thought, not desiring that I had related them more briefly, since it would be a trouble to find his like among the men of our time.

[N] Of shewing distributive justice.

[O] I.e., on that occasion.

CHAPTER VII.
In which five reasons appear why the Lord Infant was moved to command the search for the lands of Guinea.

We imagine that we know a matter when we are acquainted with the doer of it and the end for which he did it. And since in former chapters we have set forth the Lord Infant as the chief actor in these things, giving as clear an understanding of him as we could, it is meet that in this present chapter we should know his purpose in doing them. And you should note well that the noble spirit of this Prince, by a sort of natural constraint, was ever urging him both to begin and to carry out very great deeds. For which reason, after the taking of Ceuta he always kept ships well armed against the Infidel, both for war, and because he had also a wish to know the land that lay beyond the isles of Canary and that Cape called Bojador, for that up to his time, neither by writings, nor by the memory of man, was known with any certainty the nature of the land beyond that Cape. Some said indeed that Saint Brandan had passed that way; and there was another tale of two galleys rounding the Cape, which never returned.^[46] But this doth not appear at all likely to be true, for it is not to be presumed that if the said galleys went there, some other ships would not have endeavoured to learn what voyage they had made. And because the said Lord Infant wished to know the truth of this,—since it seemed to him that if he or some other lord did not endeavour to gain that knowledge, no mariners or merchants would ever dare to attempt it—(for it is clear that none of them ever trouble themselves to sail to a place where there is not a sure and certain hope of profit)—and seeing also that no other prince took any pains in this matter, he sent out his own ships against those parts, to have manifest certainty of them all. And to this he was stirred up by his zeal for the service of God and of the King Edward his Lord and brother, who then reigned. And this was the first reason of his action.

The second reason was that if there chanced to be in those lands some population of Christians, or some havens, into which it would be possible to sail without peril, many kinds of merchandise might be brought to this realm, which would find a ready market, and reasonably so, because no other people of these parts traded with them, nor yet people of any other that were known; and also the products of this realm might be taken there, which traffic would bring great profit to our countrymen.

The third reason was that, as it was said that the power of the Moors in that land of Africa was very much greater than was commonly supposed,^[47] and that there were no Christians among them, nor any other race of men; and because every wise man is obliged by natural prudence to wish for a knowledge of the power of his enemy; therefore the said Lord Infant exerted himself to cause this to be fully discovered, and to make it known determinately how far the power of those infidels extended.

The fourth reason was because during the one and thirty years that he had warred against the Moors, he had never found a Christian king, nor a lord outside this land, who for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ would aid him in the said war. Therefore he sought to know if there were in those parts any Christian princes, in whom the charity and the love of Christ was so ingrained that they would aid him against those enemies of the faith.

The fifth reason was his great desire to make increase in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and to bring to him all the souls that should be saved,—understanding that all the mystery of the Incarnation, Death, and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ was for this sole end—namely the salvation of lost souls—whom the said Lord Infant by his travail and spending would fain bring into the true path. For he perceived that no better offering could be made unto the Lord than this; for if God promised to return one hundred goods for one, we may justly believe that for such great benefits, that is to say for so many souls as were saved by the efforts of this Lord, he will have so many hundreds of guerdons in the kingdom of God, by which his spirit may be glorified after this life in the celestial realm. For I that wrote this history saw so many men and women of those parts turned to the holy faith, that even if the Infant had been a heathen, their prayers would have been enough to have obtained his salvation. And not only did I see the first captives, but their children and grandchildren as true Christians as if the Divine grace breathed in them and imparted to them a clear knowledge of itself.

But over and above these five reasons I have a sixth that would seem to be the root from which all the others proceeded: and this is the inclination of the heavenly wheels. For, as I wrote not many days ago in a letter I sent to the Lord King, that although it be written that the wise man shall be Lord of the stars, and that the courses of the planets (according to the true estimate of the holy doctors) cannot cause the good man to stumble; yet it is manifest that they are bodies ordained in the secret counsels of our Lord God and run by a fixed measure, appointed to different ends, which are revealed to men by his grace, through whose influence bodies of the lower order are inclined to certain passions. And if it be a fact, speaking as a Catholic, that the contrary predestinations of the wheels of heaven can be avoided by natural judgment with the aid of a certain divine grace, much more does it stand to reason that those who are predestined to good fortune, by the help of this same grace, will not only follow their course but even add a far greater increase to themselves. But here I wish to tell you how by the constraint of the influence of nature this glorious Prince was inclined to those actions of his. And that was because his ascendent was Aries, which is the house of Mars and exaltation of the sun, and his lord in the XIth house, in company of the sun. And because the said Mars was in Aquarius, which is the house of Saturn, and in the mansion of hope, it signified that this Lord should toil at high and mighty conquests, especially in seeking out things that were hidden from other men and secret, according to the nature of Saturn, in whose house he is. And the fact of his being accompanied by the sun, as I said, and the sun being in the house of Jupiter, signified that all his traffick and his conquests would be loyally carried out, according to the good pleasure of his king and lord.^[48]

CHAPTER VIII.
Why ships had not hitherto dared to pass beyond Cape Bojador.

So the Infant, moved by these reasons, which you have already heard, began to make ready his ships and his people, as the needs of the case required; but this much you may learn, that although he sent out many times, not only ordinary men, but such as by their experience in great deeds of war were of foremost name in the profession of arms, yet there was not one who dared to pass that Cape of Bojador and learn about the land beyond it, as the Infant wished. And to say the truth this was not from cowardice or want of good will, but from the novelty of the thing and the wide-spread and ancient rumour about this Cape, that had been cherished by the mariners of Spain from generation to generation. And although this proved to be deceitful, yet since the hazarding of this attempt seemed to threaten the last evil of all, there was great doubt as to who would be the first to risk his life in such a venture. How are we, men said, to pass the bounds that our fathers set up, or what profit can result to the Infant from the perdition of our souls as well as of our bodies—for of a truth by daring any further we shall become wilful murderers of ourselves? Have there not been in Spain other princes and lords as covetous perchance of this honour as the Infant? For certainly it cannot be presumed that among so many noble men who did such great and lofty deeds for the glory of their memory, there had not been one to dare this deed. But being satisfied of the peril, and seeing no hope of honour or profit, they left off the attempt. For, said the mariners, this much is clear, that beyond this Cape there is no race of men nor place of inhabitants: nor is the land less sandy than the deserts of Libya, where there is no water, no tree, no green herb—and the sea so shallow that a whole league from land it is only a fathom deep, while the currents are so terrible that no ship having once passed the Cape, will ever be able to return.^[49]