Upon entering this museum you will see a large statue of Henry the Navigator (aka Infante Dom Henrique, 1394-1460) who was a Portuguese prince who famously helped capture the North African city of Ceuta in Morocco, sponsored voyages of exploration with the aim of building colonies in the North Atlantic and West Africa, and began the Portuguese involvement in the African slave trade.
"Slavery existed since ancient times. Yet, the Portuguese with their maritime expertise, were able to transport enslaved people to Europe, the Atlantic Islands and Brazil." This was written on one display at this museum.
Prince Henry financed numerous expeditions along the western coast of Africa, aimed at spreading Christianity and making Portugal rich with profits from gold, spices and slaves.
Prince Henry earned his title 'the Navigator' because he assembled a "learned group of designers and maritime experts" - this is the part of historical significance clearly left out by this museum that I have issue with. WHO were these learned group of people that made Henry such a distinguished navigator??
Read here for the full picture and true history that should be told: Portugal (and Spain) had extended contact with Islam, and the Moors (Muslims who inhabited and ruled much of Iberia for some 700 years). It is specifically from these Moors- ie brown-skinned peoples, the Portuguese (and Spanish) sailors learned superior mathematical knowledge, mapmaking skills, navigational instruments and sailing technologies, including sail shapes, hull designs, and maritime weaponry. It is THESE Moorish teachings that resulted in a Portuguese fleet capable of negotiating the high Atlantic seas. This is where this maritime history museum failed. If it was not for the Moorish period in Iberia, both Spain and Portugal would have been in the Dark Ages like the rest of Europe.
Think: if the Moors could build palaces such as the famous Alhambra with such artistry, skill and precision on land, could they not at sea do similarly in ship-building and navigation? And coincidentally just when the Moors were finally expelled from rule in Iberia by the White Christians in the late 1400s, these famous Portuguese sailed to distant islands and continents and took full credit for their discoveries?
It was good information to see replicas of ships from the past and rich paintings of famous Portuguese sailors n this museum. Yet, there was little mention regarding the negative effects of maritime domination -- deculturalization, massacre, and slavery of the indigenous peoples. "White-washing" history and not giving credit where it's due is promoting a false narrative.
Portugal was largely responsible for introducing the slave trade to the Americas through colonies on previously uninhabited Atlantic African islands that served as collection points for captives and commodities. Again, I felt only one display showing "shekels of slavery" was just not a fair or full representation of Portuguese maritime history. This is the ugly side of history that should be given more mention.
Another famous Portuguese sailor, Vasco de Gama, was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India. He three made voyages to India and was appointed as Portuguese viceroy in India in 1524. There are displays of subsequent viceroys to India after Vasco de Gama to read about.
I was with a tour group so I did not directly pay to enter this museum. It's a reasonable fee from what I understand. These is a small cafe and gift shop. One can expect to spend an hour or two normally to see all the displays.
I would encourage you to visit this museum in Lisbon. But go in knowing this museum is not surprisingly giving a full history of Portuguese maritime history in its origins and its effects. read more