THE FAMILY OF LOPE DE OLMEDO. TWO CERTAINTIES, A HYPOTHESIS AND A CONTRADICTION

Abstract

The life of diplomat and monastic reformer Lope de Olmedo has been extensively researched, but almost nothing has been said about his family and lineage, since his origins have been glossed over by biographers and researchers alike. In the following article, we will try to extract the data available about his family and relatives from the original documents, and we will try to link the family members mentioned (and, thus, Lope himself) with a prominent noble family from his native village of Olmedo, the González de Cotes. Moreover, we will conjecture that the first documented member of said lineage, Garci González de Cotes, is, in fact, Lope’s father, mentioned in the documents as “García González”.