Pedro Fernández de Lugo

Pedro Fernández de Lugo (Seville, 1475 – Santa Marta, Colombia, 13 October 1536) was the second adelantado of the Canary Islands, governor of Tenerife and La Palma, and governor of Santa Marta in Colombia.

Biography

Canary Islands Pedro Fernández de Lugo was the son of Alonso Fernández de Lugo and Beatriz de Fonseca. Born in Seville, Pedro arrived at Gran Canaria as a young child and later accompanied his father to expeditions to Barbary. In 1509, his father gave him some of the rights and powers over the coast of Africa that he had acquired in 1499. Pedro commanded the tower of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña in Morocco and participated in expeditions against the Berbers alongside the Portuguese.

At the request of his father, he became the second adelantado of the Canary Islands and governor of Tenerife and La Palma, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on 17 August 1519. The expedition ended up discovering and conquering the Muisca. Fernández de Lugo died in November 1536, before receiving news of the newly discovered Muisca.