{{Infobox noble, type , name = Pedro Álvarez de Soutomaior , title = Count of Caminha
Viscount of Tuy , image = Castelo de Soutomaior, San Salvador de Soutomaior.jpg , caption = Soutomaior Castle, the ancestral home of Pedro Madruga , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reign = , reign-type = , predecessor = , successor = , suc-type = , spouse = Teresa de Távora , spouse-type = , issue = , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , full name = Pedro Álvarez de Soutomaior , styles = , titles = , noble family = , house-type = , father = Fernán Eanes de Sotomaior , mother = Constança Gonçalves (?) , birth_date = c. 1430 , birth_place =

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, Galicia , christening_date = , christening_place = , death_date = 1486 , death_place =

Alba de Tormes Alba de Tormes is a municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The town is on the River Tormes upstream from the city of Salamanca. Alba gave its name to one of Spain's most ...

, Castile , burial_date = , burial_place = , religion = , occupation = , memorials = , url = , module = , residence=Soutomaior Castle, wars_and_battles= Irmandiño revolts

War of the Castilian Succession The War of the Castilian Succession was the military conflict contested from 1475 to 1479 for the succession of the Crown of Castile fought between the supporters of Joanna 'la Beltraneja', reputed daughter of the late monarch Henry IV of Castil ...

Pedro Álvarez de Soutomaior (c. 1430 – 1486), known by the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

Pedro Madruga, was a Galician

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. He was a notable figure in Galicia where he exerted certain influence in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

court, as well as spending time in that of Castile. He was one of the leading lords who suppressed the Irmandiño peasant revolts in the 1460s, and also fought in favor of the Portuguese-backed claimant to the Castilian throne,

Joanna la Beltraneja Joanna of Castile, known as ''la Beltraneja'' (28 February 1462 – 12 April 1530), was a claimant to the throne of Castile, and Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Afonso V, her uncle. Early life King Henry IV of Castile married Joan o ...

, in the

Family

Pedro was the illegitimate son of Fernán Eanes de Soutomaior; his mother has never been identified for certain.{{Cite book, last=Tejada, first=Luis Monreal, title=Medieval Castles of Spain, year=1999, page=298, publisher=Könemann, isbn=3829022212 When Fernán died, his estates passed to his legitimate son, Alvaro. However, Alvaro died whilst still unmarried, and although the next legal heir was Alvaro's aunt, provision was made with her agreement to allow Pedro to inherit the estates instead. He was subsequently legitimized by the sovereigns of Castile and Portugal, and became Don Pedro Alvarez de Sotomayor. He married Teresa de Távora, who came from a noble Portuguese family. His children included Cristóbal de Sotomayor, who would sail with

Diego Columbus Diego Columbus (; ; ; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies and 4th Governor of the Indies as a vassal to the K ...

(eldest son of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

) to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

.{{Cite book, last=Marley, first=David, title=Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere, volume=2, year=2008, page=13, publisher=ABC-CLIO, isbn=1598841009 Cristóbal would become governor of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Pedro's ancestral home was Soutomaior Castle, although he also resided for periods of his life in the courts of Castile and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Nickname

Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor acquired the

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

"Madruga" because he would "rise early" ({{langx, es, madrugar) in the morning.{{Cite book, last=Anderson, first=Ruth Matilda, title=Gallegan provinces of Spain: Pontevedra and La Coruña, year=1939, page=43 According to legend he first gained the nickname as a result of a dispute with the Count of

Ribadavia Ribadavia is a town and municipality located in the southwest of the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of O Ribeiro. The urban area lies on the right bank of the Miño river and the la ...

concerning the boundaries of their respective lands. To settle the dispute the two men agreed to rise at the first cockcrow, mount their horses, and ride toward each other's castle. Their meeting point would mark the new boundary. Instead of waiting until dawn Pedro Alvarez decided that first cockcrow was at midnight, and so rode through the night until he reached his rival's castle. When the Count emerged on hearing the dawn cockcrow, he found don Pedro standing at his door, and exclaimed “''Madrugas Pedro, madrugas!”'' (You’re an early riser, Pedro; An early riser){{Cite book, last=Tejada, first=Luis Monreal, title=Medieval Castles of Spain, year=1999, page=299, publisher=Könemann, isbn=3829022212

Career

Pedro Madruga was a figure in the court of

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile (Spanish language, Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Ca ...

, and the king entrusted him with the role of keeping the powerful Bishop of Santiago, Alonso de Fonseca, under control. In the 1460s the second Irmandiño revolt erupted in Galicia when the peasantry rebelled against the regional nobility. Pedro Madruga had already sought refuge in Portugal. At the request of the nobles, he raised an army and confronted the irmandiños on several occasions until he finally managed to subdue them. During the

in the 1470s he was a supporter of

(daughter of Henry IV) against the claims of

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

and

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

Reputation

Pedro Madruga's reputation is that of "a turbulent magnate who plowed a deep furrow in Galicia's troubled fifteenth century". Nevertheless, he was a popular figure in Galicia and was commemorated with the following lines: {{quote, Long live the palm, long live the flower
Long live Pedro Madruga
Pedro Madruga de Sotomaior.

Columbus-Madruga theory

In the late 19th century the Spanish writer

García de la Riega García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pampl ...

{{Circular reference, date=May 2019 proposed the theory that

was of Galician origin.{{Cite book, last=Taviani, first=Paolo Emilio, title=Christopher Columbus: The Grand Design, year=1985, page=31, publisher=Orbis Although briefly popular, the theory had fallen out of favour by the late 20th century.{{Cite book, last=Taviani, first=Paolo Emilio, title=Christopher Columbus: The Grand Design, year=1985, page=224, publisher=Orbis However, in recent years it has been proposed that Pedro Madruga and Christopher Columbus were the same person. According to this theory, Madruga did not die in 1486 but changed his identity to disguise a pact between his former enemies, the Catholic Monarchs, and himself. This thesis is based on several lines of evidence: such as Columbus naming coastal features of the West Indies with the names of more than 100 localities of the

estuary (near

Soutomaior Soutomaior is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pont ...

in Galicia); and the similarity of the handwriting of Columbus and Pedro Madruga. One argument against is a will drafted in 1491 by Alvaro de Sotomayor, eldest son of Pedro Madruga. In this document, Alvaro stipulates that "the bones of my parents ... be brought to be interred in the chapel of S. Obispo D. Juan in the Cathedral Church of Tuy," although this document implies that Pedro Madruga was dead in 1491 rather than 1486.{{Cite book, pages = 269–293, editor1= David González Cruz , last = López, first = Roberto J., title = Descubridores de América. Colón, los marinos y los puertos, chapter = "Así pasan las glorias de este mundo": Baiona, villa y puerto del Descubrimiento en la Época Moderna, language=Spanish, publisher = Sílex Ediciones, isbn = 978-8-4773-7739-9, location = Madrid, date = 2012

Titles

* 1st Count of Caminha * Viscount of Tuy * Marshall of Baiona * Lord of

Crecente Crecente is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and ...

* Lord of Fornelos

References

{{reflist

External links

Bibliografía de Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor (Pedro Madruga)
{{in lang, es {{DEFAULTSORT:Madruga, Pedro 15th-century Castilians Galician nobility 1486 deaths Year of birth uncertain