The attack succeeded, and Ceuta fell under Portuguese control. In 1415, Henry, his father and his older brothers led an attack on Ceuta, a town in Morocco along the Strait of Gibraltar.

He was the third surviving son of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster. Henry the Navigator was born in 1394 in Porto, Portugal. Henry is regarded as an originator of the Age of Discovery and the Atlantic enslaved people trade. Under his patronage, Portuguese crews founded the country's first colonies and visited regions previously unknown to Europeans. (1394-1460) Who Was Prince Henry the Navigator?Īlthough Prince Henry the Navigator was neither a sailor nor a navigator, he sponsored a great deal of exploration along the west coast of Africa.