- (??-1384) Lord of Astudillo and Gelves, Admiral (Almirante Mayor de la Mar, 1374) and Chief Provincial Governor of Castile, Lord of the Marches of Murcia.
- Father of Juan Fernández de Tovar, who succeeded him as Admiral, but who died at the Batlle of Aljubarrota one year later (1385). Father also of Elvira and Mencía Ruiz de Tovar. See: Alfonso Franco Silva, La fortuna y el poder: estudios sobre las bases económicas de la aristocracia castellana (s. XIV-XV) (Salamanca: Universidad de Cádiz Servicio de Publicaciones, 1996), p. 358.
- In 1359 he was already patron of one of Pedro I of Castile's galleys in the war against the king of Aragon.
- Evetually becomes disenchanted with Pedro I, and gives his support to Enrique of Trastámara.
- Brother of Juan Fernández de Tovar (same name as his nephew?), who was executed by order of Pedro of Castile on Palm Sunday, 1366, as an act of revenge for not being able to capture Fernán Sánchez for defecting his party. [Pedro, ch. 36: 41-44]
- Becomes adviser to Enrique II of Castile, and occupies several high offices.
- Advises Enrique II on Castile on what measures to take in order to force King Fernando of Portugal to observe the terms of the peace treaty of Santarém, 1373.
- High admiral of the Castilian fleet in the reigns of Enrique II and Juan I of Castile.
- Blockades the Tagus River during the third Fernandine War to impede the arrival of English reinforcements (1381).
- Died from the plague at the siege of Lisbon (1384).
Fernam Sanchez de Thoar