[13] (p. 8). Wisdom of the Italians ... labyrinth.—Here we have another original MS. note. [Labyrinth is so much as to say anything into which a man having entered cannot go out again (so Prince Henry, in Azurara, vol. i, p. 8 (ch. ii), has "entered a labyrinth of Glory"). And therefore, saith Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, that Pasiphaë, wife of Minos, king of Crete, conceived the Minotaur, who was half man and half bull. The which was imprisoned by Daedalus in the Labyrinth into which whatsoever entered knew not how to come out, and whosoever was without knew not how to enter. And of this Labyrinth speaketh Seneca in the Tragedy, where he treated of the matter of Hippolytus and Phedra].
Azurara's reference to the distinctive virtues of the four great peoples here noticed is interesting, especially from the fact that Prince Henry's mother was an Englishwoman; that the Emperor (now a purely German sovereign, though still in name "holy and Roman"), invited him to enter his service (see ch. vi); that the Pope (like Henry VI (?) King of England) made him similar offers; that his scientific and practical connections with Italy were very important; and that his sister Isabel was married to the Duke of Burgundy. "The wisdom of the Italians" was nowhere more conspicuous at that time than in geography. Italians initiated the great mediæval and renaissance movement of discovery both by land and sea (cf. John de Plano Carpini, Marco, Nicolo, and Matteo Polo, Malocello, Tedisio Dorio, the Vivaldi, the Genoese captains and pilots of 1341, precursors of Varthema, the Cabots, Verrazano, and Columbus). Italians also constructed the first scientific maps or Portolani (existing specimens from 1300 show out of 498 examples 413 of Italian origin, including all the more famous and perfect). Lastly, Italians probably brought the use of the magnet to higher efficiency; though they did not "invent" the same, it is likely that they were the first to fit the magnet into a box and connect it with a compass-card. "Prima dedit nautis usum magnetis Amalphis."
Also, we may recall that the Infant Don Pedro, Henry's brother, brought home from Venice in 1428 a map illustrating a copy of Marco Polo (see p. liv of the Introduction to this volume), and that the most important map-draughtsmen of the Prince's lifetime were Andrea Bianco, Fra Mauro, and Gratiosus Benincasa. From 1317, when King Diniz appointed the Genoese Emmanuele Pesagno Admiral of Portugal, and contracted for a regular supply of Genoese pilots and captains, down to the Infant's earlier years, when the Genoese tried to secure a "lease" of Sagres promontory as a naval station, and even to the time when the Venetian Cadamosto sailed in his service (1455-6), and Antoniotto Uso di Mare and Antonio de Noli were to be found in the same employment, the connection between Portuguese and Italian seamanship was very close—a relationship almost of daughter and mother.
[14] (p. 9). From the islands thou didst people in the Ocean, etc. ... wood from those parts.
Here Azurara gives some references to the products raised in the newly-colonised groups of "African Islands"—corn, honey, wax, and especially wood, on which Santarem remarks:—
[This interesting detail shows that the wood (Madeira) transported to Portugal from the islands newly discovered by the Infant D. Henrique, chiefly from the isle of Madeira, was in such quantity as to cause a change in the system of construction of houses in towns, by increasing the number of storeys, and raising the height of the houses, thus bringing in a new style of building instead of the Roman and Arabic systems then probably followed. This probability acquires more weight in view of the system of lighting at Lisbon ordered by King Ferdinand, as appears from a document in the Archives of the Municipality of Lisbon. So this detail related by Azurara is a very curious one for the history of our architecture.]—S.
[15] (p. 9). Dwellers in the Algarve (Alfagher), i.e., the extreme southern portion of Portugal, including Cape St. Vincent, the cities of Lagos, Faro and Tavira, and Sagres (off C. St. V.), the special residence of the Prince himself. Later, the plural title "Algarves" was applied to this Province, in conjunction with the possessions of Portugal on the North African coast immediately fronting the Spanish peninsula, viz., Ceuta, "Alcacer Seguer," Anafe, Tangier, Arzila, etc.
[16] (p. 10). Moors ... on this side the Straits and also beyond.—Moors who on "this side the Straits" had "died" from Prince Henry's lance might be difficult to find; but of "those beyond" the reference is more particularly to the conquest of Ceuta, 1415; the relief of the same, 1418; the abortive attempt on Tangier, 1437; and the raids upon the Azanegue Moors between Cape Bojador and the Senegal, c. 1441-1450. The African campaign of 1458, which resulted in the capture of Alcacer the Little, cannot, of course, be included here.
[17] (p. 10). That false schismatic Mohammed.—In the ordinary style of mediæval reference, as followed by Father Maracci and the older European school of Arabic learning. The progress of the Moslem faith in North Africa was rapid in the Mediterranean coast zone, but comparatively slow in the Sahara and Sudan. See Introduction to vol. ii, pp. xliii-lix, and W. T. Arnold, Missions of Islam.
[18] (p. 11). Duchess of Burgundy.—The Infanta Isabel, Prince Henry's sister, was niece of a King of England, viz., as Santarem says, of Henry IV, son of John, Duke of Lancaster. [By this connection our Infant was a great-grandson of Edward III, and at the same time a descendant of the last kings of the Capetian house, and likewise allied to the family of Valois. The Infanta Donna Philippa was married to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, on January 10th, 1429. She was not only endowed with very eminent qualities, but was also of rare beauty. She had great influence on public affairs. The Duke, her husband, instituted the celebrated order of the Golden Fleece to celebrate this marriage. This princess died at Dijon, December 17th, 1472. From this alliance came many descendants. She was equally beloved by her brothers, and especially by King D. Edward (Duarte), who, in his Leal Conselheiro (ch. xliv, "Da Amizade"), speaks of the great affection and regret which he felt for her. The festivities which took place at Bruges on her arrival were among the most sumptuous of the Middle Ages].—S.