He and his son, Jorge Reinel, were among the most renowned cartographers of their era, a period when European knowledge of geography and cartography were expanding rapidly.

Historian Rafael Moreira believes Reinel's father was an ivory carver brought from West Africa to serve in the royal workshops.

[5] His Atlantic Chart (c. 1504) is one of the first to include a scale of latitudes and also contains an early depiction of North America based on the explorations of Gaspar Corte-Real.

[8] Although Reinel and his son worked almost exclusively in Lisbon, they traveled briefly to Seville in 1519 to collaborate on a globe and charts in preparation for the upcoming Magellan expedition sponsored by Spain.

In 1524, Reidel participated on the Badajoz-Elvas Junta, a conference organized to discuss whether the Molucca Islands were on the Spanish or Portuguese side of the line of demarcation established by the Treaty of Tordesillas.