Simon Fernandes time and piracy was an offence punishable by hanging, but in practice Fernandes was engaged in exactly the sort of behaviour to which Queen Elizabeth I of England was inclined to turn a blind eye. However, the Portuguese ambassador Francisco Giraldi vigorously protested Fernandes's activities to the Queen's ministers, after the alleged murder of seven Portuguese sailors, and in 1577 the 39-year-old Fernandes was arrested in Cardiff and taken to London to face trial. However, far from being hanged for his crimes, Fernandes was released, apparently with the connivance of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, who appears to have
Spymaster (comics) found out his secret identity, but that Spymaster kept it to himself. The first Spymaster last appeared after coming into conflict with fellow Iron Man villain the Ghost, who has technology enabling him to become intangible. After Spymaster attempted to assassinate the Ghost in Los Angeles under orders from Roxxon, Iron Man arrived, causing the two villains to attempt an escape. The Ghost offered Spymaster one of his intangibility devices, and Spymaster used the device to pass through a wall. The Ghost removed the device from Spymaster's chest while he was still phasing halfway through a wall, causing him to