Petrus Gonsalvus

Pedro González or Petrus Gonsalvus (Tenerife, Canary Islands; 1537 – Capodimonte, Viterbo, Italy; 1618) was a gentleman in the court of Henry II of France, who attained a noble rank. He is famous for having suffered from hypertrichosis. For this reason, he is better known by the nickname "The Wild Gentleman of Tenerife" or the "Canary Werewolf."

Biography:
He was born with congenital hypertrichosis universalis in 1537 in Tenerife, shortly after the conquest of the island by Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo. It is known that the young Pedro González was a descendant of Guanche menceyes (kings).

At the age of ten, he was taken, under mysterious circumstances, to the court of King Henry II of France, where he remained for 44 years. The boy's arrival at the Parisian court was quite an event due to the curiosity his illness aroused.

Giulo Alvarotto, an Italian diplomat at the French court at that time, describes it thus:

'Its face and body are covered by a fine layer of hair, about five fingers long [9 cm.] and dark blond in color, finer than that of a sable and with a pleasant smell, although the covering of hair is not very thick, allowing the features of its face to be clearly seen.'

From the very first moment, Henry II considered this gift extremely valuable, as it was a rare and unknown thing in Europe at that time. The French king's knowledge of Spanish allowed him to learn from the boy that his name was Pedro González, that he came from the island of Tenerife, and that his father was a tribal chief of the ancient Guanches. The prevailing mindset in 16th-century Paris linked the boy's appearance to the myth of the "wild man," originating from distant islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which reinforced this concept.

From the outset, the king resolved to eradicate the boy's supposed wild side and instill in him a good education and refined social manners. Pedro González was instructed in the humanities and Latin, a language considered the highest expression of culture, reserved only for the aristocracy, and therefore, speaking it perfectly was synonymous with social prestige. The king granted him the position of sommelier de panneterie bouche du roy (king's cupboard service), a post reserved for the highest-ranking nobles, with a salary of 240 pounds annually. Furthermore, he was granted the right to use the title "Don" before his name, as he was a descendant of a Guanche king.

In 1573, Don Pedro González married a beautiful Parisian woman, Catherine, whose name is all that is known, and who was very possibly a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine de' Medici. Six children were born of this marriage: three boys and three girls: Madeleine, Enrique, Françoise, Antonietta, Horacio, and Ercole. Only two of his children did not suffer from the disease: his daughter Françoise and his son Ercole (who died in his early years). There is also evidence that hypertrichosis affected several of his grandchildren. From this period, there are several paintings and engravings of the family, including the four full-length portraits in Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, Austria, depicting Pedro González, his wife Catherine, and their two children, Madeleine and Enrique, as well as the engravings in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The oil paintings of the family housed in Ambras have lent their name to the condition known as hypertrichosis, also called Ambras syndrome, due to the portraits of Don Pedro and his family located there. These paintings are housed in the so-called Chamber of Art and Curiosities, created by Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria. The famous portrait of Vlad Tepes is also located in this chamber. Others refer to this condition as "werewolf syndrome," contextualizing it within superstitious beliefs.

Upon the death of Queen Catherine de' Medici, the Duke of Mayenne ceded this remarkable family to the Duke of Parma, Ranuccio Farnese, and it was at this point that Don Pedro González and his family began their time in Italy. During this period, Don Pedro and his family enjoyed the same privileges as at the French court, but their lives were more discreet from a courtly perspective.

Don Pedro González died in 1618 in Capodimonte. According to Roberto Zapperi (in Italian), details of his life exist in, among other places, the Vatican Archives and the Archives of Rome and Naples. It is believed that Pedro González and his family represent the oldest documented case of hypertrichosis in Europe.

Personal information
Birth
1537
Tenerife, Canary Islands

Death
1618 (81 years)
Capodimonte, Viterbo, Italy

Nationality
Spanish

Family
Spouse
Catherine

Children
Madeleine, Enrique, Françoise, Antonietta, Horacio and Ercole

Professional information
Occupation
Courtier

Area
Rare disease, congenital disease, hereditary disease, and hirsutism

Known for
suffering from the disease of hypertrichosis and for being a gentleman in the court of Henry II of France.