Who is Pedro de Vargas in the novel, Captain from Castile?

Pedro de Vargas is an eminently likable young man, who gets by through quick thinking and a deft hand. He moves through a fast succession of scenes — from imprisonment in the dungeons of the Inquisition to the invasion and conquest of Mexico to intrigues in the court of Emperor Charles V — leaving him little time to reflect on the consequences of his actions. Manly and noble, Pedro is also depicted as ingenuous.