Contrato de Vassalagem Celebrado Entre o Rei D

Manuel Pessanha (Portuguese translation of Italian Emanuele Pessagno) was a

Genoese Genoese may refer to: * a person from Genoa * Genoese dialect, a dialect of the Ligurian language * Republic of Genoa (–1805), a former state in Liguria See also * Genovese, a surname * Genovesi, a surname * * * * * Genova (disambiguati ...

merchant sailor who served in Portugal in the 14th century as the first

admiral of Portugal The high office of Admiral of the Kingdom of Portugal (Portuguese: ''Almirante do Reino de Portugal'') as the head of the Portuguese navy was created by King Denis of Portugal in 1317 (or 1322) for the Genoese nobleman and naval officer Manuel Pess ...

at the time of King

Denis of Portugal Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325 in Santarém), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, an ...

. His brother was

Antonio Pessagno Sir Antonio (di) Pessagno (c. 1280 – aft. 1334) was a Genoese merchant and administrator. He is known mainly from his activities in England and France. He was the chief financier of King Edward II of England from 1312 until 1319. Pessagno belon ...

. Manuel Pessanha was the son of Simone, lord of the Castle di Passagne. In 1316–17 he made an agreement with king Denis of Portugal, appointing him to rearrange the incipient

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Por ...

(for which he would bring twenty men from Genoa to exercise as mayors of vessels). In a royal charter of 1 February 1317, he was appointed with the title of

Admiral of Portugal The high office of Admiral of the Kingdom of Portugal (Portuguese: ''Almirante do Reino de Portugal'') as the head of the Portuguese navy was created by King Denis of Portugal in 1317 (or 1322) for the Genoese nobleman and naval officer Manuel Pess ...

Diffie 1960, p. 54 (which would become hereditary in his family), entitled to a pension of 3,000 pounds, divided into three equal payments due in the months of January, May and September, and from rural incomes from several land possessions in Portugal. This contract was subsequently confirmed to him in 1317, 14 April 1321 and 21 April 1327. He participated in the naval battles that opposed the Crown of Castile to Portugal during the reign of king Afonso IV of Portugal and was made prisoner by the Castilians in 1337, after the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and released in 1339. On 30 October 1340 he commanded the Portuguese fleet that helped Castile in the Battle of Río Salado, fighting off

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, while the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct o ...

' ships blocked

Tarifa Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...

. In 1341, he participated in an attack on

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territo ...

, considered a nest of Moroccan pirates who regularly attacked the coasts of

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

. His performance in this confrontation led to the

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful ...

praising him in a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species '' Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, incl ...

consigned to the Portuguese king. From his first marriage to Genebra Pereira, was born Carlos Pessanha and Bartolomeu Pessanha, both of which would succeed him in turn as

, and from a second marriage to Leonor Afonso, Lançarote Pessanha yet another Admiral of Portugal, who was murdered at the Castle of Beja during the 1383–85 Portuguese interregnum. Carlos and Bartolomeu having no heirs, the admiralty title would pass through both of Lançarote's sons, Manuel II and Carlos II, until the 1430s, when lacking male heirs, the Admiral title would pass via female lines through several Portuguese noble houses, ending up in the house of Azevedo in 1485 and in the house of Castro ( Counts of Resende) after 1660.

References

Bibliography

* *Diffie, Bailey (1977), Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580, p. 210, University of Minnesota Press. *FERREIRA, João Pedro Rosa. Manuel Pessanha. in: ALBUQUERQUE, Luís de (dir.); DOMINGUES, Francisco Contente (coord). ''Dicionário de História dos Descobrimentos Portugueses (v. II).'' Lisboa: Editorial Caminho, 1994. pp. 896–898. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pessanha, Manuel Portuguese Navy Portuguese admirals 14th-century Genoese people Maritime history of Portugal People of the Reconquista 14th-century Portuguese people