[2] Pedro Vélaz de Medrano is famous for leading a French corsair flotilla in the Caribbean as Captain, with the intention of capturing the Spanish treasure fleet for King Louis XIV of France.

His son Antonio Velaz de Medrano y Altamirano, Governor of the strategic city of Nieuwpoort became the I Marquis of Tabuerniga, granted by King Carlos II of Spain in 1682.

[2] Pedro's father Antonio Vélaz de Medrano served as a soldier in Naples and Sicily and would later become magistrate in the towns of Malaga (1609–12), Cuenca and Huete (1612–14).

[5] Pedro Vélaz de Medrano entered the direct service of King Philip III of Spain as a royal page in 1615.

[4] His seafaring skills caught the attention of Fadrique de Toledo, Captain General of the Navy of the Atlantic Ocean and of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Portugal, who enlisted him in the journey to Brazil that recovered Bahia from the Dutch in 1625.

For two decades, Pedro Vélaz de Medrano took part in the recovery of Bahia (Brazil), from the Dutch, and fought on the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and wherever his services were required.

[2] In 1631, however, he excused himself from participating in the expedition that attempted to recover Pernambuco because he was ill.[4] In 1638 Pedro Vélaz de Medrano came to the aid of Fuenterrabía commanding his Tercio from Alava in the Franco-Spanish War.

[4] On 7 September, the Spanish army led by Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, 9th Admiral of Castile, relieved the city and defeated the French forces.

In 1639 Pedro Vélaz de Medrano participated in the Battle of the Downs (1639) commanding the ship Orfeo, which pitted Spain and Holland against the English coast of Kent, in the so-called 'Eighty Years' War'.

[4] After receiving several refusals in his requests for grants and appointments, Pedro Vélaz de Medrano decided to go to Portugal in 1648, practically at the same time as the discovery of the Duke of Híjar's conspiracy.

Alternatively, if Pedro did not pursue rebellion in Navarre, he was feared to be planning a campaign in the Americas, with the backing of the Portuguese and English, to seize Santo Domingo or even launch an invasion of Peru.

[4] The Portuguese monarch considered sending him at the head of a fleet to reconquer the Brazilian provinces of Maranhâo and Grâo Pará.

Faced with the hesitations of the Portuguese, Pedro Vélaz de Medrano decided to offer his services to the main enemy of the Spanish crown: the Kingdom of France.

Frustrated by Portuguese procrastination, he offered his services as a corsair to King Louis XIV of France, who granted him a letter of marque and sent him to the Caribbean in command of three ships.

[18] In 1651, Captain Pedro Vélaz de Medrano commanded five warships against Philip IV for France to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet in the Caribbean.

[1][21] Antonio Vélaz de Medrano negotiated with the United Provinces of the Netherlands for the cession of Tobago as his principality, however he was awarded the Marquessate of Tabuérniga instead.

During the Franco-Dutch War (1672), as Governor of Nieuwpoort, he played a key role in defending the city against the French, ordering the flooding of surrounding areas to halt their advance, despite economic damage.