Pedro Urdemales is a character from Latin American (especially Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an and Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

n) folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

 that typifies the rogue, rascal or trickster.

The origin of this character is present in the medieval Spanish legends. The oldest documented reference was found in late 12th century . In an Aragonese paper, in which a character is found as "Pedro de Urdemalas."

The first literary mention is located in the book Libro del paso honroso, by Suero de Quiñones

Suero de Quiñones

Suero de Quiñones , called el del Passo, was a Leonese knight and author. He gained fame by staging a pas d'armes, the Passo Honroso, at the river Órbigo and describing it in his Libro del Passo honroso....

, possibly written in 1440. Shortly after, new references are found in theatrical authors about this character, where he becomes a prototype of a ruffian in entremeses

Entremés

Entremés, is a short, comic theatrical performance of one act, usually played during the interlude of a performance of a long dramatic work, in the 16th and 17th centuries in Spain. Later it became the sainete....

. Thus, Pedro de Urdemales takes part in works of Juan del Encina

Juan del Encina

Juan del Enzina – the spelling he used – or Juan del Encina – modern Spanish spelling – was a composer, poet and playwright, often called the founder of Spanish drama...

, Lucas Fernández

Lucas Fernández

Lucas Fernández was a Spanish dramatist and musician, writer in Leonese language.He was born and educated at Salamanca, and was a professor of music there from 1522.Lucas Fernández surviving work consists of six plays...

, Lope de Rueda

Lope de Rueda

Lope de Rueda was a Spanish dramatist and author, regarded by some as the best of his era. A very versatile writer, he also wrote comedies, farces, and pasos...

 and Juan de Timoneda.

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...

, author of Don Quixote, wrote a full-length comedy in verse based on the character, and entitled Pedro de Urdemalas. In 1615, it was published in the collection Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and Eight Interludes), can be read online, and has been translated into English several times. It has, however, rarely been produced. http://w3.coh.arizona.edu/projects/comedia/cervantes/pedurd.html