Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1337)
| Battle of Cape St. Vincent | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Luso-Castillian War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Portugal
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 Crown of Castile
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Manuel Pessanha (POW) | Alfonso Jofre Tenorio | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 20 galleys | 30 galleys | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 14 galleys lost (8 captured, 6 sunk) |
uncertain | ||||||
The Battle of Cape St Vincent of 1337 took place on 21 July 1337 between a Castilian fleet commanded by Alfonso Jofre Tenorio and a Portuguese fleet led by the Luso-Genoese admiral Emanuele Pessagno (Manuel Pessanha). The fledgling Portuguese fleet was defeated, bringing a quick end to the brief Luso-Castilian war that begun in 1336.
In 1328, the Alfonso XI of Castile married his cousin, Maria of Portugal, a daughter of his maternal uncle King Afonso IV of Portugal. But the marriage soon turned to scandal, when, shortly after, Alfonso XI dispatched Mary to a convent and took up openly with his mistress, Leonor Núnez de Guzmán.
Hoping to avail himself of disaffection among the Castilian nobility, Afonso IV of Portugal declared war on Afonso XI Castile in 1336, citing the mistreatment of his daughter.
The Genoese captain Emanuele Pessagno (Manuel Pessanha) had been hired by King Denis of Portugal in 1314 to develop a permanent navy. Pessanha, who was made the first admiral of Portugal in 1317, was eager to try out his new fleet. Soon after the declaration of war, the fledgling Portuguese fleet of 20 galleys, commanded by Pessanha, was dispatched to the coasts of Andalusia, intending to disembark a Portuguese amphibian force to seize Seville. However, the fleet was fended off and the landing prevented. Pessanha's fleet spent much of the remainder of 1336 off the coasts of northern Castile, supporting Afonso IV's invasion of Galicia. The Castilians responded with counter-invasions in the regions of Minho (led by Fernando de Castro) and the Alentejo (led by Alfonso XI himself).
In the Spring of 1337, Pessanha set out from Lisbon with a fleet of 30 galleys, to once again attempt a landing on the Andalusian coast. But simultaneously, a Castilian fleet of 40 galleys sailed out of Seville, under the Galician captain Alfonso Jofre Tenório (Señor de Mogue), probably intending a similar landing on the Portuguese coast. Violent tempests prevented an encounter, and both fleets, damaged by the storms, were forced to return to port for repairs. Both fleets set out once again in early July, Pessanha's Portuguese fleet now reduced to 20 galleys and Tenorio's Castilian fleet reduced to 30.
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