Tom and Jerry Game? António Eanes Pinteado and the Bargaining of Nautical Expertise Between Maritime Rivals

In April 1553, António Eanes Pinteado, a skilled Portuguese oceanic pilot and captain from Oporto, signed from London a letter to King John III of Portugal, preserved today at the Portuguese National Archives of Lisbon (ANTT, Corpo Cronológico I-89-120). The missive was the pilot’s reply to the Portuguese King’s request to return to Portugal to serve him.

In the letter [see both illustrations], he explained his reasons for not coming back to Portuguese service. He argued that he had been mistreated despite having personally fought at sea, on Portuguese service, against the Scots and the French. He claimed that due to a complaint from a Spaniard, he had been jailed in Lisbon in 1547. Since his arrival to England in 1552, London merchants had been tempting him with proposals to pilot English overseas voyages, all of which he had refused because he still wished to serve his king. Thus, he replied to King John III that he would only return to Portugal if his goods were restored and he was granted a reward. The Portuguese King quickly issued a pardon letter to Pinteado and promoted him to knight with a corresponding pension.

Nevertheless, in this missive, Pinteado was misleading King John III about his true intentions. After receiving the Portuguese King’s response, he proposed to Thomas Wyndham that he could captain an English voyage to West Africa. He offered to teach Wyndham the nautical route from England to West Africa, the secrets of astronomical navigation in the Atlantic, the best places to trade, and the best methods to evade Portuguese vigilance. Pinteado also used King John III’s pardon letter and promises of a knight’s pension to bolster his reputation with Privy Council members, as Simon Renard, Charles V’s ambassador in England, quickly warned.

While misleading King John III and his agents in England—who had previously failed to jail him—about his true intentions, Pinteado also confused ambassador Renard. Renard became uncertain whether Pinteado would join the English voyage to West Africa with Thomas Wyndham or the expedition to Russia with Richard Chancellor. Pinteado’s strategic moves between the English, the Imperial ambassador, and the Portuguese agents was highly effective. He successfully piloted Wyndham’s voyage, although he died on the return journey to England. Additionally, he provided Richard Eden with Pietro Martyr d’Anghiera’s famous chronicle on the Spanish Americas, which was soon translated into English. Upon his death, all of Pinteado’s papers, likely including Portuguese nautical charts and rutters, also came into Eden’s possession.

Therefore, the little yet cunning “Jerry” (pilot Pinteado) successfully eluded the formidable and angered “Tom” (Portugal). In doing so, Pinteado decisively influenced the English maritime and overseas resurgence in the 1550s, with significant consequences: from then onwards, Portugal was destined to fail in steering the English away from West Africa. Pinteado’s story illuminates perfectly well the mechanisms employed by early modern pilots to circulate freely between maritime rivals and shift their allegiances. Despite the numerous obstacles they faced, it was often possible to cross borders and make substantial contributions.

[Nuno Vila-Santa]