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

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

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 (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

, 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 the ...

Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...

. He was a native of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

on which he based his sea voyages, in the southern

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

.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 (, Arabic transliteration, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; , ''Bujdur''; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this ...

, a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

impassable with their level of knowledge and equipment. Sailing from

Lagos, Portugal Lagos (; ) is a city and concelho, 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 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 ...

, 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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, before being driven west towards the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

.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 language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...

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, 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 2 ...

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, and forms a campus of the

University of Cape Verde The University of Cape Verde (, abbreviated "Uni-CV") is the only public university of Cape Verde. The main campus is in Palmarejo, Cape Verde, Palmarejo, Praia, but there are also institutes in Mindelo, Assomada and São Jorge dos Órgãos. It ha ...

.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 of Africa 15th-century Portuguese explorers Maritime history of Portugal 15th-century deaths Year of birth unknown People from Lagos, Portugal

Biography

Namesakes

See also

Notes

Sources