Changes

(For before 1460, see [[Henry the Navigator]]).

(For before 1460, see [[Henry the Navigator]]).

At the time of Henry the Navigator’s death in 1460 his captains had reached [[Sierra Leone]]. They now faced a difficult coast, shoals and small islands, very few safe harbours and little opportunity for trade. They “were content to develop their modest but prospering trade at the mouths of the [[Senegal]] and the [[Gambia]].”  (J. H. Parry)  

At the time of Henry the Navigator’s death in 1460, his captains had reached [[Sierra Leone]]. They now faced a difficult coast, shoals and small islands, very few safe harbours and little opportunity for trade. They “were content to develop their modest but prospering trade at the mouths of the [[Senegal]] and the [[Gambia]].”  (J. H. Parry)  

In 1469, [[King Alfonso V]] of [[Portugal]], who had taken over the organisation of his late uncle, Henry’s, push down [[Africa]]'s west coast, turned the venture into a commercial enterprise. In an effort to reinvigorate the exploration he granted a lease to one Fernao Gomes, a [[Lisbon merchant]], who bought the rights to all trade along the “[[Guinea]] Coast”. By the time his lease expired, (and he had retired; a very wealthy man) about 1474, his ships had reached 2 degrees south – well below where the coastline resumes its southerly direction.  

In 1469, [[King Alfonso V]] of [[Portugal]], who had taken over the organisation of his late uncle, Henry’s, push down [[Africa]]'s west coast, turned the venture into a commercial enterprise. In an effort to reinvigorate the exploration he granted a lease to one Fernao Gomes, a [[Lisbon merchant]], who bought the rights to all trade along the “[[Guinea]] Coast”. By the time his lease expired, (and he had retired; a very wealthy man) about 1474, his ships had reached 2 degrees south – well below where the coastline resumes its southerly direction.