Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1337) Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1337) 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
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent vessels, the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent became celebrated as an outstanding victory and the awards and recognition far outweighed the achievement. The bad news of the evacuation of the Mediterranean, the capitulation of the Spanish and the Italian city-states and the defeat of the Austrian army alongside the increasing threat of a French invasion of Britain had depressed the politicians and general public. A victory, such as that of Cape Saint Vincent, was more important for the morale of the country as a whole than its military ramifications. Both Jervis and Nelson were hailed as heroes and Jervis was