Pedro Fernández de Castro (

Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...

, 1342), nicknamed ''el de la Guerra'' ('of the War'), was a powerful Galician noble and military figure of the

House of Castro The House of Castro is an Iberian noble lineage present in the since the Middle Ages in the kingdoms of Castile, Galicia, and Portugal. Though its exact origins are disputed, the House of Castro became one of the most powerful families of the S ...

, descended by illegitimate lines from the kings of Castile-

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

- Galicia. Pedro Fernandez de Castro was Lord (''Señor'') of

Lemos Lemos is a Portuguese-language surname. It can be also Greek (Λεμός). Notable people by that name include: Portuguese surname * Álvaro Lemos (born 1993), Spanish professional footballer. * Amanda Lemos (born 1987), Brazilian mixed martia ...

and

Sarria Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Sarria is the most populous town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13,700 inhabitants. It is head of the region and the most popular ...

and served as ''

mayordomo mayor {{short description, High Steward of Spain The Mayordomo mayor (High Steward) was the Officer of the Royal Household and Heritage of the Crown of Spain in charge of the person and rooms of the King of Spain. The Office of “Mayordomo mayor” w ...

'' (lord steward) of Alfonso XI of Castile, ''

adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17th cen ...

de la frontera'' (governor) of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

, Galicia and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

and ''pertiguero mayor'' (a title similar to the French

Vidame Vidame () was a feudal title in France, a term descended from mediaeval Latin . Like the ''avoué'' or ''advocatus'', the ''vidame'' was originally a secular official chosen by the bishop of the diocese—with the consent of the count—to ...

) of the lands of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

. He was the father of

Fernando Ruiz de Castro Fernando Ruiz de Castro (d. Bayonne, 1377), was a Galician nobleman of the House of Castro and prominent military figure. He was the third Count of Lemos, Trastámara and Sarria. He is often referred to by the appellation "''Toda la lealtad d ...

(''toda la lealtad de España''), Queen Juana de Castro (wife of

Peter of Castile Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for ...

), the controversial

Inês de Castro Inês de Castro (; in Castilian: Inés; 1325 – 7 January 1355) was a Galician noblewoman and courtier, best known as lover and posthumously-recognized wife of King Peter I of Portugal. The dramatic circumstances of her relationship with Peter ...

(consort King

Peter I of Portugal Peter I (Portuguese: ''Pedro I'', ; 8 April 1320 – 18 January 1367), called the Just (''o Justiceiro'') or the Cruel (''o Cruel''), was King of Portugal from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portug ...

) and

Álvaro Pires de Castro Álvaro Pires de Castro (c. 1310 – 11 June 1384 in Lisbon) was a powerful Galician- Portuguese nobleman, stem of the Portuguese branch of the House of Castro. He was the first Count of Viana (da Foz do Lima), the first Count of Arraiolos and ...

Family Origins

Pedro Fernandez de Castro (''el de la Guerra'') was the son of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro and his wife

Violante Sánchez of Castile Violante Sánchez of Castile (before 1281 — after January 1330), was a Castilian noblewoman and by marriage Lady of Lemos, Sarria, Cabrera and Ribera. In her own right, she was Lady of Ucero, Oímbra and Vilamartín de Valdeorras, among other ...

, an illegitimate daughter of Sancho IV,

King of Castile and Leon The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

. He was the paternal grandson of Esteban Fernández de Castro, Lord of Lemos and Sarria, and his wife, Aldonza Rodríguez de León, granddaughter of Alfonso IX of Leon. On his mother's side, he was a grandson of Sancho IV of Castile, King of Castile and León, and his mistress María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses.

Biography

His father, Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, was killed in battle in 1304, while fighting against ''Infante'' Philip of Castile, son of Sancho IV of Castile. On the death of his father, Pedro was sent by his mother to the Kingdom of Portugal, where he was raised and educated along with Infante D. Pedro,

Count of Barcelos Count of Barcelos (in Portuguese ''Conde de Barcelos'') is a title of nobility, the first to be granted in Portugal. It was created in 1298 by king Denis I and initially it was a non hereditary title, although most of the holders belonged to the ...

, an illegitimate son of King Denis of Portugal. Around the year 1319, Pedro Fernandez de Castro returned to Galicia and Alfonso XI of Castile gave him his ancestral manor of

and

and appointed him Lord Steward of the realm. In 1330, Pedro accompanied

King Alfonso King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

on his campaign into Granada and led the Christian attack at the

Battle of Teba The Battle of Teba took place in August 1330, in the valley below the fortress of Teba, now a town in the province of Málaga in Andalusia, southern Spain. The encounter occurred during the frontier campaign waged between 1327 and 1333 by Alfons ...

In 1334,

Afonso IV of Portugal Afonso IVEnglish: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin). (; 8 February 129128 May 1357), called the Brave ( pt, o Bravo, links=no), was King ...

invaded the kingdom of Castile and León, entering through the lands of Galicia. However, Pedro Fernandez de Castro refused to fight against him, due to the favors he received in the past at the court of Portugal.

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

gave him the

County of Trastámara The County of Trastámara (Spanish ''Condado de Trastámara'') was a tenancy of the crown in the Kingdom of Galicia in the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the Latin ''tra(n)s Tamar(is)'', meaning "beyond orth ofthe Tambre", a river which runs t ...

, which the sovereign had intended to give his son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. Due to his military skills, Alfonso XI sent Pedro Fernandez to fight Muslims in

, where he fought at the Battle of Salado in 1340, where tradition refers to Pedro Fernandez de Castro grabbed his spurs of gold from the

Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

sultan of Morocco,

Abu Al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman Abu Al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Othman (c. 1297 – 24 May 1351), () was a sultan of the Marinid dynasty who reigned in Morocco between 1331 and 1348. In 1333 he captured Gibraltar from the Castilians, although a later attempt to take Tarifa in 1339 en ...

. He participated in the siege of Algeciras in 1342, which he led his retinue in the company of Martín Fernández de Gres,

Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela The Metropolitan Archdiocese of (Santiago de) Compostela ( la, Archidioecesis Compostellana), is the senior of the five districts in which the Catholic Church divides Galicia in North-western Spain.siege of Algeciras.

Marriage and offspring

His first wife was, Beatrice of Portugal, Lady of Lemos, youngest daughter of

Afonso of Portugal, Lord of Portalegre Infante Afonso of Portugal (8 February 1263, in Lisbon – 2 November 1312, in Lisbon; ; or ''Alphonse'') was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince), son of King Afonso III of Portugal and his second wife Beatrice of Castile. He was titled Lord of ...

and

Violante Manuel Violante Manuel of Castile (c. 1265 – Lisbon, 1314) was a Castilian noble, daughter of Manuel of Castile and his first wife Constance of Aragon. She was Lady of Elche, Elda, Novelda, Medellín and half of Peñafiel in her own right. T ...

, granddaughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile and León. There were no children from this marriage. His second wife was, Isabel Ponce de Leon, daughter of Pedro Ponce de Leon, Lord of Cangas and Tineo, and his wife, Sancha Gil de Braganza. Their children were: *

''toda la lealtad de España'' ("all the loyalty of Spain")(1377), Count of Lemos, Sarria and Trastamara, standard-bearer and steward of King

. * Juana de Castro (died 1374), first married Diego López de Haro, Lord of Orduña and Valmaseda, son of Fernando Díaz de Haro and Maria of Portugal and, after her husband's death, married King

in 1354. She is buried in the

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica (Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The c ...

. From his mistress, Aldonza Lorenzo de Valladares were born: *

Ines de Castro Ines or INES may refer to: People * Ines (name), a feminine given name, also written as Inés or Inês * Saint Ines or Agnes (), Roman virgin–martyr * Eda-Ines Etti (stage name: ''Ines''; born 1981), Estonian singer Places * Doña Ines, a volca ...

, mistress and posthumous wife of

. She is buried beside her husband at the

Monastery of Alcobaça A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. Count of

Arraiolos Arraiolos () is a municipality in Évora District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,363, in an area of 683.75 km2. The town of Arraiolos has 3,351 inhabitants. The present Mayor is Silvia Pinto, elected by the Unitary Democratic Coalit ...

. Lord of

Cadaval Cadaval () is a municipality in the Oeste region and Lisbon District of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 14,228,Ferreira and

Constable of Portugal {{Short description, Defunct office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal Constable of Portugal ( pt, Condestável de Portugal) was an office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in 1382, to substitute the High Standard-bearer ('' Alferes-Mor'' ...

. He married Maria Ponce de Leon.

Burial

At his death, the body of Pedro Fernandez de Castro was taken to Galicia and buried in the

. His remains were buried in the choir of the Cathedral. During 19th century his tomb was examined and found next to his remains were some pieces of silk, a brooch and gold spurs, which are supposedly those of Sultan of Morocco

, of which Pedro Fernandez de Castro had seized during the Battle of Salado.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez de Castro, Pedro 1290 births 1342 deaths House of Castro