Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade (1576–1622), better known as the Great Count of Lemos, was a Galician (Spanish) nobleman who was

viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, first for a short time by the King of France and later by Spain and the Hab ...

between 1610-1616, and was also president of the

Council of the Indies A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

and of Italy.

Biography

A member of the

House of Castro The House of Castro is an Iberian noble lineage, beginning mainly 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 Spanish and Portug ...

, he was born at

Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo (province), Lugo, Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km2 and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2017 it had a ...

as son of Fernando Ruiz de Castro Andrade y Portugal, VI Count of Lemos and Catalina de Zúñiga y Sandoval, sister of the

Duke of Lerma Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 5th Marquess of Denia, 1st Count of Ampudia (1552/1553 – 17 May 1625), was a favourite of Philip III of Spain, the first of the '' validos'' ('most worthy') through whom the later H ...

, Valido and "shadow king" of Spain between 1601 and 1618.Geneanet
/ref> King

Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

named him president of the

in 1603. In 1608 he was appointed Viceroy of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. During his tenure in southern Italy, he ordered the reconstruction of the University of Royal Studies in

, and commissioned the reclamation of lands of the

Volturno The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southe ...

plain in the

Terra di Lavoro Terra di Lavoro (Liburia in Latin) is the name of a historical region of Southern Italy.Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...

, the Argensola brothers and others. He married in 1598 his cousin Catalina de Sandoval, daughter of the

, but had no children.Real Academia de la Historia
/ref>
He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1622.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Y Andrade, Pedro Fernandez 1576 births 1622 deaths People from Monforte de Lemos

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...

Viceroys of Naples