Lanzarote Pessanha

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Lanzarote Pessanha (* 14th century ; † 1384 in Beja , Portugal ), also known as Lanzarote Pessanha I , was commander in chief of the Portuguese fleet and as such he had the rank of admiral. It is not known where Admiral Pessanha was born.

biography

He was the son of Manuel Pessanha , 1st Admiral of the Portuguese Navy, and Leonor Afonso. He belonged to the Pessanha family, a sailor family of Genoese origin, who founded Portugal's navy on royal orders in 1317 and held this rank in the Portuguese fleet for the most part until 1453. Lanzarote Pessanha became admiral of the Portuguese fleet in 1356. He became the fourth admiral in this fleet since the creation of Portugal's navy.

During the war of the two Peter (1356-1375) Portugal was an ally of Peter I and as such, Lanzarote Pessanha helped the Castilians in 1358 as admiral with a fleet in their attempt to conquer Barcelona by sea. This attempt failed. During the First Ferdinandic War (1369-1371) he blocked the most important port of Castile , Seville (1369-1370) with the Portuguese fleet , for which he obtained the support of Genoa. But he had to lift the successful blockade because the scurvy decimated his fleet over time. This decimation made it possible, to be more precise, Ambrosio Boccanegra to lift this blockade with the help of the Castilian fleet without any problems, without Pessanha being able to do anything about it later after this event, which forced him to sail home with the remaining fleet. During the Second Ferdinandic War (1372-1373) Admiral Pessanha had to face the Castilian fleet under the command of Ambrosio Boccanegra before Lisbon . In the subsequent naval battle , his fleet was decisively defeated there because of his hesitant attitude, which led to the end of the war and the defeat of Portugal in the war.

Due to its position in the naval battle, Lanzarote Pessanha was removed from his post and exiled after the war, after he was temporarily hostage of Henry II as a guarantee for the implementation of the peace on the part of Ferdinand I of Portugal . His successor was Juan Alfonso Tello . After the devastating defeat of his successor in the naval battle of Saltés (1381) during the Third Ferdinandean War (1381-1382), in which he was captured, Pessanha was rehabilitated again, albeit slowly, (1381-1383) and Alfonso Tello had to resign after the war after his return from captivity in his favor because of his defeat in the sea battle.

During the Portuguese Revolution of 1383 , Lanzarote Pessanha in Beja sided with Castile. He was brutally murdered there in 1384 by supporters of Johann von Avis . His son, Manuel Pessanha, also known as Manuel Pessanha II , succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief (Admiral) of the Portuguese fleet.

Admiral Lanzarote Pessanha was married to Catarina Vaz and had 3 sons and a daughter with her. Two of his sons, Manuel and Carlos, whom he had with her, also became admirals. He also had a relationship with Aldonza Mateus and with her he had another son.

See also

literature

  • Bailey Diffie: Foundations of the Portuguese Empire , 1415-1580. University of Minnesota Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8166-0782-6 (English) .
  • Edward McMurdo: The history of Portugal . Volume 2, 1888. (English) .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Año 1369 Cronología histórica . Retrieved August 30, 2018 (Spanish) .
  2. ↑ McMurdo p. 220
  3. ↑ McMurdo p. 271
personal data
SURNAME Lanzarote Pessanha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lanzarote Pessanha I
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese sailor and admiral
DATE OF BIRTH 14th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1384
Place of death Beja , Portugal