| In 1420 the master of the Order of Christ, Dom Lopo Dias de Sousa, died. On 25 May 1420, Pope Martin V issued a bull "In Apostolice dignitatis specula", in response to a petition from King João, naming Prince Henry the administrator of the Order of Christ. He was 26 at the time. | About Prince Henry |
| The Order of Christ was involved with Henry's expeditions of discovery. Henry invested a considerable part of the Order's revenue in the Discoveries. The implications are that brothers of the Order colonised Madeira and the Canaries in 1425, and then the Azores in 1445. | MoW p.183,184 MRW p.319 |
| After the first profitable expeditions - from 1441 onwards - African goods filled Lisbon's markets and swelled the coffers of the order of Christ. Trading posts were established, defended by the brethren, while the Templar's red cross continued to sail south. The Order of Christ grew steadily richer. Henry obtained the Cape Verde islands, and his brethren introduced sugar to their Madeira estates. | MoW p.185 |
| In 1449 Prince Henry reformed the order's rule. | pp.67 |
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In 1454 Pope Nicholas V recognised the claims of Afonso V to all newly discovered lands on or near the west coast of Africa and forbade all Christians to visit them without the permission of the King of Portugal. In 1456, Calixtus III confirmed this in the bull Inter Caetera, and granted to the Order of Christ spiritual jurisdiction over all the 'islands, towns, ports, countries and states, from the Capes of Bojador and Nao, throughout all Guinea, and beyond that southern region as far as the Indies.' The Grand Prior of the Order would be empowered to nominate incumbents to all benefices both of secular and of regular clergy, to impose censures and other ecclesiastical penalties, and to exercise the powers of an Ordinary within the limits of his jurisdiction. All these regions were declared nullius diocesis (belonging to no diocese). |
PQI p.98-111 PSE p.23 |
| In 1460, the year of Henry's death, King Afonso V granted the Knights of Christ a 5% levy on all merchandise from the new African lands. | MoW p.185 |
| Henry extended the Convento de Cristo at Tomar, adding two courtyards to the Templar chapel. | Tomar
p.6
CdC |
| Prince Henry died at Sagres on 13th November 1460. His principal heir was D. Fernão, King Afonso's younger brother, who became the governor of the Order of Christ. Henry granted two of the Azores to D. Fernão, and handed over the spiritual jurisdiction of these islands to the Order of Christ. | PQI p.115 |
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The First 100 Years of the Order |
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The Order after Prince Henry |