Travellers in Disguise : Narratives of Eastern Travel (Rev ed)

In a letter written presumably in 1448 and addressed to Prince Henry the navigator, Poggio Bracciolini expressed his sense of excitement about the first great advances down the west coast of Africa.

Poggio then exalts Prince Henry above both Alexander and Caesar and goes on to exhort him to spread the faith among the pagan peoples that live in these wondrous new-found lands, for such was the duty of a Christian prince, according to Poggio.