1. In the fifteenth century, Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese Prince, Presided over a court in Sagres that became a center for cartographers, instrument-makers, and expeditions he sponsored. Seafarers returning to Sagres from the west coast of Africa reported their discoveries, and new maps were produced, extending the reaches of the known world. These maps became very valuable, owing to their utility in trade, war, and religious expansion, and were jealously guarded as state secrets.