144 GABRIEL PITA DA VEIGA y JOAQUÍN PITA DA VEIGA
qué manera se llevó a cabo la captura del rey de Francia, si fue por azar o no,
quiénes participaron realmente y cuáles fueron las prendas y el reconocimiento
que obtuvo cada uno de ellos. De este modo, se concluye fundamentalmente
que los protagonistas de los hechos debidamente documentados son sólo tres:
Alonso Pita da Veiga, Diego de Ávila y Juan de Urbieta; que no eran soldados
de infantería ni arcabuceros como se ha dicho; que eran hombres de armas, de
caballería pesada; que la captura no fue pie a tierra ni fue algo fortuito, lo hicieron
a caballo y fueron intencionadamente a por él; que fueron ellos quienes
lo derribaron matándole el caballo; y que no se debe de otorgar a ninguno de
los tres mayor protagonismo que a sus compañeros en el hecho de la captura.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Batalla de Pavía, Pavía, prisión, captura, Francisco
I, Pita da Veiga, de Ávila, Urbieta.
ABSTRACT
Regarding the capture of King Francis I of France at the Battle of
Pavia, different versions have been published over the years, generally inaccurate
and even contradictory, which has caused some confusion regarding:
how the event happened in itself, what were its main protagonists and what
was their degree of participation in the capture. All this has been due mainly
to a lack of information and even, in some cases, to interests unrelated to
historical rigour. The purpose of this paper is to try to clarify this event with
the maximum information currently available. For this purpose, an analysis
of the most widespread chronicles and versions is carried out, contrasting
them with the information obtained in decrees, charters and letters. Moreover,
it is given the importance that corresponds to the only existing account
of one of the protagonists of the facts, which narrates in the first person. The
result of all this is that it can be established, with acceptable certainty, how
the capture of the King of France was carried out, whether by chance or not,
who actually participated, and what were the objects and the recognition got
by each of them. Thus, it is fundamentally concluded that the protagonists
of the events duly documented are only three: Alonso Pita da Veiga, Diego
de Avila and Juan de Urbieta; that they were not infantrymen or arquebusiers,
as it has been said; that they were gendarmes (heavy cavalry); that the
capture was not on foot, nor was it fortuitous, they did it on horseback and
intentionally went for him; that it was they who brought him down by killing
his horse; and that none of the three should be given more prominence
than their companions in the fact of the capture.
Revista de Historia Militar, 127 (2020), pp. 144-192. ISSN: 0482-5748