Pedro Fernández de Castro (Grand Master of the Order of Santiago)

[1][a] Pedro fought in the army of Alfonso VII of León and Castile in the conquest of Aurelia and Alharilla in the present day area of Santa Cruz de la Zarza.

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.

Later that year, at the age of 50, Pedro Fernández officially founded the Order of Santiago in the city of Cáceres.

The spirit of the order was born in the times of the Almohad invasion and is influenced by the Knights Templar, to which Pedro had become acquainted with in the Holy Land.

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.

King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Queen Eleonor Plantagenet delivering the city and the village of Uclés to the master of the Order of Santiago Pedro Fernandez de Castro v. Tumbo menor de Castilla , f. 1. (ancient codex from 13th century)