Fernán Pérez de Andrade (? – 1397) Galician knight born in unknown date, but presumably before 1330, died between 28 July and 21 August 1397.[1] Fourth son of Ruy Freyre de Andrade and Inés Rodriguez de Sotomayor, belonged to a family associated to the knights of the Orden de la Banda (Order of the Sash) since its founding by Alfonso XI of Castile in 1332. Married to Doña Sancha Rodríguez[2] daughter of Aras Pardo and Tareyga Affonso, and with whom he was known to have two daughters, Maria e Inés Fernández, nuns of the Order of Saint Clare, and a son (whose name is unconfirmed, even if some sources mention Nuño) who died at an early age, leaving the family without direct male heir, and therefore had his nephew Don Pedro Fernández, son of his brother Don Juan Freyre de Andrade inheriting the notorious family state, Knight ready for battle and prone to hunting, poetry and chivalric books, as befitted the tastes of those days, was a sponsor and protector of the Catholic Church, even if it is well documented how he also usurped Church's properties, and abused his power in his domains when it so suited him. After several years of doubts and ambiguous double plays, he sided for Henry II of Castile {Enrique de Trastámara} in his confrontation against his half-brother Peter in the last years of their fight that ended with Peter´s assassination in Montiel.
After the king's death, and the raising of the new king, Henry II, to the throne, Fernán Pérez de Andrade played an important role by the monarch and reached the status of a great lord in Galicia.
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"Andrade" seems to be an old toponym of Celtic origin, according to D. Isidro Millán, but it is unknown if it referred to a village or a parish. The name of the place was incorporated into the family name, and it can be found already in the 12th century in several documents. The first Andrade to be documented show as vassals of the Traba family, together with some other hidalgo family, they held a discrete position in the social scene until the 14th century, when their influence in the areas of El Ferrol, Villalba and Pontedeume increased until becoming one of the most powerful Galician family of the time.
With the figure of Don Fernán Pérez de Andrade o Bóo (o Boo meaning "the Good" in Galician language) - the fourth to have that name - the family reached great heights of relevance during the reign of Henry II and their successors continued with the "winning strike" of the family, being Fernando de Andrade (1477–1540) the one to finally reach Count status, as the first Conde de Andrade, and second count of Villalba (Count of Andrade nobiliary title is currently in possession of the House of Alba) Most of the genealogies compiled during the 19th and 20th century, relating the Andrades to the most important families as Froilaz-Traba only have very weak connections, contradictions, or are relationships difficult to explain, and never confirmed so far. Not to mention legendary stories relating the Andrades to the knights that reached the Iberian Peninsula in the retinue of Mendo de Rausona, brother of the last Lombard king, around the 8th century.
Fernán Perez de Andrade (the fourth) descended from a family of hidalgos and knights, vassals of a lord whom they served with arms. This family environment certainly influenced the warrior temperament of Fernán Pérez de Andrade, always ready for battle, but also was meant to influence his cautious and observing character in tumultuous times. The fact that two of his grandfather brothers, Pedro and Fernan (the third) Perez de Andrade, were put to death in the Castillo de la Rocha in 1320, illustrated for young Fernán how those were not times to ignore some good thinking over certain issues, but on the contrary it had to be put fast into work to be - with a little luck - in the winning side as often as possible.
Therefore, the Andrades were lords of a small feud, and as most of the lords in the peninsula aspired to broaden their domains, and promote their lineage, at the service -as was the case of the Andrades- of their natural overlord, Don Pedro Fernández de Castro. Alfonso XI an enthusiast of chivalric code, fostered knights and chivalry as pillars of society, considering it necessary to bring order to his realm, and honour (and praise) to his subjects, created the Orden de la Banda -first non-religious order of the West-, and reinstated the practice of crossing Knights, proclaiming himself a knight and crossing some vassals of his kingdom. Therefore, Pedro Fernández de Castro invested 13 of his vassals as Knights of the Orden de la Banda on September 10, 1332. Among them were Nuño and Rui Freyre de Andrade, uncle and father of Fernán Pérez de Andrade (IV). (Libro de Ordenamiento de Banda-Crónica de Alfonso XI). Fernán Pérez de Andrade, listed as squire in several documents around those dates, obtained his first concessions in 1356 from the hands of Henry, by then Count of Trastámara. He was married to Sancha Rodríguez, only legitimate daughter of Aras Pardo, also knight of the Orden de la Banda, which added to his social status. Here started his way up, which was surely hindered by his taking sides in the fight between Peter I and his half brother Henry, aspiring to the throne.
In the first moments of the war between the brothers, and due to the diverse and difficult circumstances, many knights sided for the mutinous, and Fernán Pérez seems to be one of them, following the allegiances of his natural overlord, Don Fernando Ruíz de Castro, which sided himself against Peter since the early stages of the confrontation.
Some time later, Fernando Ruíz de Castro returned his loyalty to king Peter to never turn his back on him again. Nonetheless it is not clear what happened to Fernán Pérez de Andrade. Considering that Henry was in exile during 1356 and 1366 it does not look very likely, due to the obvious risk, that he sided for Henry. It is also known that Fernán Pérez fought beside king Peter in his campaign against Aragon in 1357, and therefore it seems that his siding for Peter during those years is clear, despite some authors citing his support for Henry during certain events like Henry's fleeing to Asturias from Ferrol in 1356.
During these years, and until 1362, Fernán Pérez achieved a remarkable endowments which yielded good benefits, mainly due to inheritances from his family, lands and other mercies received from Henry, Count of Trastámara, and his marriage with doña Sancha. He also obtained from king Peter an important privilege[3] in 1364, which increased his estates considerably, therefore strengthening his feudal power.
After these years, Fernán Pérez definitely ended up siding for Enrique, Peter seeming to have the war lost. Fernan probably fought by Henry's side already in the Battle of Nájera in 1367 but without much accounts of his achievements in it, nor about the battle's aftermaths.
Two years later, in the night of 22 or 23 March 1369, king Peter died in Montiel, in an act of treachery, in the hands of his half-brother Henry. In these events there were several knights involved, and it seems that Fernán Pérez de Andrade was one of those involved, even if it cannot be demonstrated.
The troops of Henry marched alongside the ones of Bertrand du Guesclin, French knight and leader of the free companies (Compañías Blancas) arrived from France - which was very convenient for the French king, who got rid of violent hosts used to war and pillage, and with whose he wouldn't know what to in the new period of peace in France. Being king Peter under siege, he tried to negotiate his escape with Bertrand du Guesclin, and escorted by two of his men, went to the tent of the Frenchman, where Henry happened to be. It is not certain whether it was Bertrand himself who called Henry, or it was another knight that got hold of the news that Peter was trying to seek help to flee from the siege. Whatever the reason for Henry being in Bertrand's tent, it caused that Henry and Peter engaged in hand to hand combat. Some authors say one of the knights present helped Henry by restraining Peter, so he could be killed, but it does not seem very logic to think that Bertrand du Guesclin was involved in this murder beyond the fact that it happened in his tent, as he was a reputable knight of bravery and honour well proved over the years, and being involved in this murder is not consistent with his past conduct.
Several say[4] that this treacherous act, the restraining of Peter, meant to be involved in one to one fight, and the still famous in Spain quote of "Ni quito ni pongo rey, pero ayudo a mi señor" ("I'm not deposing nor proposing a King, but I am helping my lord") said to the utter disbelief of Peter, is more in line with Fernán Pérez's attitude, than with that of Bertrand du Guesclin -whose "my lord" wouldn't be the helped Henry, but the King of France. All the copious endowments and benefits enjoyed by Fernán after the death of king Peter, could very well be in payment for the well timed help inside the tent.
Regardless of the level of involvement of Fernán in the death of king Peter, and of the lack of irrefutable proofs if the behaviour of Fernan, documents of the time consistently demonstrate guilty remorse that lead us into thinking that the involvement in the previously described incident was a fact.
Subsequently, Fernán Pérez acted as a great lord, and is likely that he was already knighted instead of a squire, having been crossed perhaps between 1369 and 1371. He started the construction of the Castle of Nogueirosa, confronting the prior of the monastery of Sobrado to whom the lands surrounding the castle belonged. Fernán Pérez acted without scruples, inspiring gear according to the chronicles, and letting his violent character show. He finally abandoned for good the old family castle to come to inhabit the new Castle of Nogueirosa and rule his domains from there.
It doesnt seem that the wars were finished in Galicia. After the rise to the throne of Henry (Henry II of Castile), several "petristas" {in favour of Peter} knights offered the throne to Fernando de Portugal and received him in Galicia as the rightful king. The old petrista Fernando Ruíz de Castro is reported the hand behind this, as his enmity towards Henry continued even after the death of the king Peter.
Henry, hearing of these maneuvers, returned to Galicia together with Bertrand du Guesclin and other knights, Fernán Pérez de Andrade among them, forcing don Fernando to go back to Portugal. The brother of Fernán Pérez, Nuño Freyre, who was Master of the Order of Christ supported the cause of the Portuguese, so on being defeated had to leave Galicia.
Finally the war was ended during 1371 and 1373 with several treaties in which Fernando Ruíz de Castro was exhorted to exile in Bayona. During this period, Fernán Pérez received several more donations, and became lord of the villages of Ferrol, Pontedeume and Villalba, with rights over those villages that until then only were for the king himself. Fernán Pérez was the right hand of king Henry in Galicia, to the point that he was appointed to make all the preparations for the wedding of Henry's son, Don Fadrique with Doña Beatriz de Portugal.
In 1371 he was appointed Governor of La Coruña. In 1384 he took part in the dynastic clash between John I of Castile and John I of Portugal.
In 1386 he fought John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in a new dynastic war in Castile and he defends La Coruña even if his actions are, once more, unclear about if he really defended the city, or he turned it over to the Englishman. After the marriage of Catalina, daughter of the duke of Lancaster and granddaughter of Peter I of Castile, Peter the Cruel, with Henry (to be Henry III) the war ended, and Fernán Pérez regained control of La Coruña.
Fernan reached his "social zenith" around 1391, when he was already remarried after his first wife's decease, with Doña Constanza Moscoso, of an important family of Galician knights, which helped re-affirm his good social standing.
Fernán Pérez de Andrade held several royal commissions in public office until the end of his life, and left behind a bigger patrimony than that received from his ancestors, placing his lineage as one of the most prominent of the Galician landscape.
Don Fernán Pérez de Andrade was an educated man, according to the expectations from a knight of those days, and took his time to worry about his name becoming important among the others of his time, showing his feudal power, planting in his lands several castles. He also worried about his name being important among the lineages among the others later in time, and so he commissioned several civil works and religious buildings that still stand today.
Among the later ones, there were seven bridges, of which still stand the one that crosses the river Tambre, three meters wide and with a single ogival arch, the bridge over the river Eume which spanned 913 meters and was known to have 79 arches (even if today only 15 remain, before it was so big that included in the middle of it a hospital for pilgrims with 12 beds and a chapel devoted to the Holy Ghost), as well as the Castle of Nogueirosa, only surviving partially, the Homage Tower of the old castillo de Andrade which is 12 meters wide and stands 18 meters tall. Fernan was also sponsor of several churches, including the iglesia de San Francisco and the one of Santa María de Azougue in Betanzos, and he sponsored too the foundations of San Pantaleon de Cabanas, Santa Maria de Cabanas and San Paulo de Riobarba
Don Fernán Pérez de Andrade was a knight who lived somehow according to the expectations from a knight of his times: he followed the knightly model adjusting it to his own interests, and even if his name is remembered with the nickname “o Bóo” (Galician for: "The good one"), we must not oversee his abusive behaviour and lack of scruples, being skillful enough to benefit from events, and siding for the wining party most of the times. He is remembered nonetheless as a great sponsor and a loyal knight of Enrique, being the first knight of the family to attain Lord status, promoting a lineage that would later reach Count status, as the Counts of Andrade.