Pedro Fernández de Castro, also known as Pedro Fernández de Fuentecalada (b. 1184), was the first Grand Master of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...

and the founder of the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Valcárcel. He was a Spanish nobleman and a member of the

House of Castro The House of Castro is an Iberian Nobility, noble lineage present in the since the Middle Ages in the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile, Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia, and Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal. Though its exact origins are disputed, t ...

Family origins

He was the son of

Fernando García de Hita Fernando García de Hita (or de Fita; ''floruit'' 1097–1125) was a Kingdom of Castile, Castilian nobleman, traditionally considered the founder of the noble House of Castro. He governed the lordships of Hita, Guadalajara, Hita and Guadalajara, Ca ...

, founder of the powerful Castro family, by his wife Estefanía Ermengol, daughter of

Ermengol V, Count of Urgell Ermengol (or Armengol) V (1078 — 1102), called ''El de Mollerussa'' ("He of Mollerussa"), was the Count of Urgell from 1092 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol IV and his first wife, Lucy (''Lucía'') of Pallars. He spent most of his life in ...

Biography

Pedro fought in the army of

Alfonso VII of León and Castile Alfonso VII (1 March 110521 August 1157), called the Emperor (''el Emperador''), became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso, born Alfonso Raimúndez, first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside hi ...

in the conquest of Aurelia and Alharilla in the present day area of Santa Cruz de la Zarza. Later in 1146, he participated in further military campaigns, assisting in the occupation of Baeza and the landings in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

. These actions were an important part of the overall military campaign because they devastated the Moorish navy and largely removed them from the war at large. Later, while

crusading The First Crusade inspired the crusading movement, which became an important part of late medieval western culture. The movement influenced the Church, politics, the economy, society and created a distinct ideology that described, regulated, a ...

in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, he decided to create a new military order dedicated to protecting the sepulcher of

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

the Apostle and to protecting the

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

. On 4 August 1165, Pedro, together with his wife, his sister Urraca, and his children, donated a house to abbot Miguel in Santa Cruz de Valcárcel for the purpose of founding a monastery dedicated to the principles of the order. The donation was confirmed by his wife's brothers,

Nuño (Spanish) or (Catalan) is a masculine given name of Latin origin (, , , and so on). Its Portuguese form is . Its patronymic is (). Already in the Middle Ages the name was being confused with the similar but distinct name Munio. The meaning of t ...

and Álvaro Pérez de Lara, in addition to

Gómez González de Manzanedo Gómez González de Manzanedo (died 12 October 1182) was a Castilian magnate who governed Calahorra and defended the border with Navarre in the 1150s and 1160s. He spent three periods in the neighbouring Kingdom of León. Gómez's parentage is u ...

, the husband of Pedro's sister-in-law, Milia Pérez de Lara, as well as his brothers and other members of the Castro family. Later in that year, at the age of 50, Pedro Fernández officially founded the

in the city of Cáceres. The spirit of the order was born in the times of the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

invasion and is influenced by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, to which Pedro had become acquainted with in the Holy Land. His wife and daughter would later become nuns at the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Valcárcel. Francisco de Rades y Andrada, in his chronicles of military orders, records Pedro's death in 1184, being buried in the main chapel of the

Convent of San Marcos, León The Convento de San Marcos was a convent in León, Spain, that is today an operating luxury parador hotel. It also contains a consecrated church and museum, and is one of the most important monuments of the Renaissance in Spain. It is one of the ...

Marriage and descendants

Pedro Fernández married María Pérez de Lara, daughter of count

Pedro González de Lara Pedro González de Lara (died 16 October 1130) was a Castilian magnate. He served Alfonso VI as a young man, and later became the lover of Alfonso's heiress, Queen Urraca. He may have joined the First Crusade in the following of Raymond IV of Tou ...

, with whom he had the following children: * Fernando Pérez de Castro: known as "Potestad". Married Teresa Bermúdez, with children. * Gómez Pérez de Castro, ''tenente'' of the territory of Santullán. * Elo Pérez de Castro, first abbess at the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Valcárcel. * María Pérez de Castro, also known as María de Aragón. * Milia Pérez de Castro

Notes

References

Biography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedro Fernandez De Castro 1110s births 1184 deaths Spanish untitled nobility Grand Masters of the Order of Santiago