Pedro de Gamboa (died 1550) was a Spanish soldier who fought for

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in France and Scotland. He was from Madrid. In 1545 he commanded a company of Spanish soldiers for the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

Eustace Chapuys Eustace Chapuys (; c. 1490/92 – 21 January 1556), the son of Louis Chapuys and Guigonne Dupuys, was a Savoyard diplomat who served Charles V as Imperial ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545 and is best known for his extensive and detaile ...

describes him as a ''Maestre de Campo'', a Colonel, and places him at the battle of Ancrum. In June 1545 Gamboa came to the Earl of Hertford to discuss a quarrel between two of his men. One had punched the other in the face, apparently unforgiveable dishonour amongst Spanish people. They wanted to "campe", to fight a duel. Hertford said he would proclaim fighting, or accusations of lying amongst the Spaniards that might lead to duels, to be hanging offences. Gamboa fought at the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crow ...

, leading a troop of cavalry with firearms. Gamboa and 70 of his men joined an attack on

Dalkeith Castle Dalkeith Palace is a country house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. It was the seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch from 1642 until 1914, and is owned by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The present palace was built 1701–1711 on the site of t ...

on 3 June 1548 in attempt to capture

George Douglas of Pittendreich George Douglas of Pittendreich (died 1552) was a member of the powerful Red Douglas family who struggled for control of the young James V of Scotland in 1528. His second son became James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Regent of Scotland. Initi ...

. In July 1548 Gamboa's mounted

arquebusiers An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

, commanded by another Spanish captain,

Pedro de Negro Pedro de Negro or Pedro Negro (died 1551) was a Spanish soldier who fought for Henry VIII of England and Edward VI of England in France and Scotland. Career and knighthood Pedro de Negro commanded calvalrymen armed with muskets during the war betw ...

, rode through French lines to relieve the

siege of Haddington The sieges of Haddington were a series of sieges staged at the Royal Burgh of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, as part of the War of the Rough Wooing, one of the last Anglo-Scottish Wars. Following Regent Arran's defeat at the battle of P ...

, as an English soldier

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Ma ...

noted. Negro's exploit was described in a Spanish chronicle now known as the ''Chronicle of Henry VIII''. The chronicle relates that Spanish and English cavalrymen rode into Haddington carrying bags of gunpowder. They slaughtered their own horses outside the town gates, and after the French and Scottish had withdrawn, Negro buried them in three pits. Gamboa lost his command and blamed a junior officer, Carlos de Guevara. He recruited two Spaniards to kill him. Instead they joined Guevara's company and told him of Gamboa's enmity. They decided to come to London and kill Gamboa. Gamboa was murdered near the churchyard of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, London, on 19 January 1550. His killer, Charles de Gavaro or Carlos de Guevara, had travelled from Scotland to assassinate him.

Susan Brigden Susan Elizabeth Brigden, FRHistS, FBA (born 26 June 1951) is a historian and academic specialising in the English Renaissance and Reformation. She was Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Lincoln College, b ...

, 'Letters of Richard Scudamore to Sir Philip Hoby', ''Camden Miscellany, XXX'' (London, 1990), pp. 112-3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamboa, Pedro de Spanish soldiers 1550 deaths People of the Rough Wooing Spanish people of the Rough Wooing