Gil Eanes (or Eannes, in the old Portuguese spelling; ) was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Biography

Gil Eanes was born in Lagos in 1395. Little is known about his personal life prior to his role in the Portuguese

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafa ...

, and was considered a household servant and shield-bearer of the

Infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

. He was a native of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

on which he based his sea voyages, in the southern

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

.Robert Kerr (1844), p.183 He joined the service of Prince Henry's expeditions in 1433, when the Infante entrusted him with a vessel and crew, in order to attempt to round

Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...

, a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

impassable with their level of knowledge and equipment. Sailing from

Lagos, Portugal Lagos (; literally "lakes"; cel-x-proto, Lacobriga) is a city and municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 201 ...

, Eanes made an unknown number of voyages along the west coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, before being driven west towards the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

.Alan Viliers (1956), p.30 In the islands he captured some natives and returned with them as captives to Sagres, excusing his failure by recounting the dangers of the trip. His return was greeted with reserve and coldness in the court of Prince Henry, who had expected the navigator to succeed in rounding the Cape. Eanes hoped to return to favour in the following year, if the Prince would favour him with a second expedition. In 1434, his

barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...

caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...

and crew was able to sail beyond

and return to Sagres via a

volta do mar , , or (the phrase in Portuguese means literally 'turn of the sea' but also 'return from the sea') is a navigational technique perfected by Portuguese navigators during the Age of Discovery in the late fifteenth century, using the dependable ...

, reporting the conditions of the water, land and ease of navigation beyond the Cape, and bringing with him some wild roses to prove that they had succeeded in their expedition. The discovery of a passable route around Cape Bojador marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Eanes made another voyage, with

Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia was a 15th-century Portuguese nautical explorer. He explored much of the coast of Western Sahara in 1435–1436 on behalf of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. He would later become one of the first colonists ...

, in 1435. They sailed about 30 leagues (144 km), or even 50 leagues (240 km) south of Cape Bojador and reached the African coast. Although they did not discover any inhabitants immediately, they did find traces of a human presence, during a voyage that was considered favourable. They named the bay in which they anchored ''Angra dos Ruivos'' (''Cove of Reds''), for the abundance of fish (resembling gurnets) that they caught in the waters.

Namesakes

A city square is named in his native city of Lagos, Portugal. An old lyceum in

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook ...

on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde, was named for him. In the 1930s, it had the best education on the island and the archipelago. Today it is known as

Escola Jorge Barbosa Liceu Velho is a building in the eastern part of the city centre of Mindelo, Cape Verde. It is situated on Praça Dr. Duarte Silva,University of Cape Verde The University of Cape Verde ( pt, Universidade de Cabo Verde, abbreviated "Uni-CVV") is the only public university of Cape Verde. The main campus is in Palmarejo, Praia, but there are also institutes in Mindelo, Assomada and São Jorge dos Ór ...

.University of Cape Verde
Liceu Gil Eanes A Portuguese Navy ship built in 1955 was named after him.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eanes, Gil 15th-century explorers of Africa Portuguese explorers Maritime history of Portugal 15th-century Portuguese people 15th-century deaths Year of birth unknown People from Lagos, Portugal

Biography

Namesakes

See also

Notes

Sources