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Álvaro Yáñez de Lugo y Monterroso was a 15th-century Spanish nobleman from the house of Lugo in Galicia. He was a doncel in the royal court, later a knight and señor in Medina del Campo, royal chamberlain in Castile and royal scribe in Galicia. In his later years, he forged official documents with the help of a scribe, whom he killed. Despite his pleas, he was sentenced to die by Isabella I of Castile, an event which has been widely reported as idiosyncratic of the Queen's personality.[1][2] In that context, Yáñez has been described as "a member of the petty nobility whose ancient responsibility for local justice the Monarchs sough to suppress".[2] His illegitimate son was conquistador Francisco de Lugo.
Born and raised in Lugo, he was son of Lope Alfonso Yáñez de Lugo y Ocampo and Teresa García de Baamonde. During his youth he was doncel in the court of John II of Castile.[3] He was granted lands in Medina del Campo and made Lord of Villalba de Adaja and Foncastín in 1450.[3] He later became camarero real of Henry IV of Castile and royal scribe of the Kingdom of Galicia.[3]
In his later years, he was discovered to have committed forgery by asking a scribe to falsify official documents. He had then murdered the scribe and buried him in his house.[2] For his crimes, he was sentenced to death by the Queen of Castile, Isabella I. He offered 40,000 doblas in exchange for a commutation of his sentence. Although her counsellors advised her to accept the plea, Isabella did not.[1] De Lugo was executed and his lands, titles and possessions were inherited by his legitimate children. The event is described in Hernando del Pulgar's Crónica de los Reyes Católicos.[1][2]
He was married to Juana Gutiérrez de Montalvo y Bobadilla and had several children. His official successor was Antonio de Lugo Rivera y Guzmán.[3] Yáñez de Lugo's illegitimate son was Francisco de Lugo, a conquistador who fought alongside Hernán Cortés and died in Veracruz in 1532.[4]
His brother, Pedro Fernández de Lugo y Monterroso, relocated to Seville, Andalusia, and had two children, both from Sanlúcar de Barrameda: Alonso and Pedro Fernández de Lugo y Escalante. The latter's second child was Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de las Casas, who conquered the last of the Canary Islands: La Palma and Tenerife. Alonso's son and successor was Pedro Fernández de Lugo, who died in Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1536. A descendant of Alonso's sister was Francisco Bahamonde de Lugo, Governor of Puerto Rico and Cartagena, who died in office in 1574.
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