Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga

Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga (b. La Rioja, 14th century - d. 15th century) was a noble and the lord of Fuenmayor, Agoncillo and Almarza in the Kingdom of Castile during the reign of Henry II of Castile and John I of Castile. Diego was born into the ancient and illustrious House of Medrano, high nobility and ricohombres from the Kingdom of Navarre and Castile; and the powerful House of Zúñiga on his mothers side.

Service to the crown of Castile
Diego López de Medrano was a knight at the service of King Juan I of Castile. In 1386, Juan I of Castile sent Diego López de Medrano, and two others, with his reply to Prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, when the latter arrived in Galicia and sent the king a message claiming the crown of Castile for his wife and himself. In 1390, John's daughter Catherine of Lancaster became Queen of Castile by marriage to King Henry III of Castile.

Lord of Fuenmayor
Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga's lordship of Fuenmayor begins with the ancient lords of Fuenmayor from the House of Medrano in the early 12th century. His ancestor Doña María Ramírez de Medrano is one of the most important residents of Fuenmayor in the year 1185, mentioned as the lady of Fuenmayor in a later manuscript dated 1411 in the Municipal Archive of Fuenmayor. Her husband Fortún de Baztán, lord of Baztán was of Navarrese descent, descended from the early Navarrese kings.

Doña María Ramírez de Medrano was from La Rioja, from the important Medrano family, who were one of the great families of Fuenmayor, and who inherited from Doña María Ramírez de Medrano the title of lords of Fuenmayor, which led to disputes with the council for centuries.

In a lawsuit that was settled in the Royal Chancery of Valladolid over many centuries, the disputed lordship of the Medrano family was settled, although for this, the residents of Fuenmayor had to pay large sums of money to continue maintaining their independence from these lords of Fuenmayor.

Fuenmayor was one of the towns, along with Entrena, Medrano, and the Valle de Baztan (from where Doña María and her husband came), that paid for the maintenance of María's hospital, convent, church and commandery of San Juan de Acre in Navarrete with their tithes, which gave them the right to choose the commander who directed it. The Medrano family were for many years the commanders of the hospital of San Juan de Acre.

Fuenmayor, one of seven Villas de Campo
Queen Estefanía de Nájera, widow of King García Sánchez III of Pamplona, received the privilege of joining the villages of Campo, which together with Navarrete, Hornos, Medrano, Entrena, Velilla and Fuenmayor thus benefited from the joint use of water, pastures and paths. On September 1, 1054, Fuenmayor is documented as one of the seven Villas del Campo, namely: Navarrete, Fuenmayor, Coscujos, Hornos de Moncalvillo, Medrano, Vilella (or Velilla), and Entrena.

Line 119 in a 1378 manuscript states that the towns of Baztán, where Doña María Ramírez de Medrano's husband was from, along with Entrena, Medrano, and Fuenmayor, were all part of the jurisdiction or domain of María's hospital of San Juan de Acre in Navarrete.

Ancestry
The ancient and noble House of Medrano was one of the most powerful in the Sierra de Cameros and in Soria. The House of Medrano married into the Salvadores and Barnuevo lineage, incorporating them into the ancient 12 lineages of Soria [ es]. Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, Lord of Almarza and Fuenmayor, was the son of Don Juan Martínez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza, lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, and Doña Aldonza de Zúñiga.

Juan Martínez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza, Lord of Almarza and Fuenmayor, was the son of Don Álvar Díaz de Medrano and Toda Hurtado de Mendoza.

Don Álvar Díaz de Medrano was the son of Juan Martínez de Medrano and Mencía López de Stúñiga (Zúñiga).

Juan Martínez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza
Diego's father Juan Martínez de Medrano died in the battle of Aljubarrota on August 14, 1385, alongside his brother in-law, Juan Ortiz de Zúñiga. The battle took place at São Jorge, between the towns of Leiria and Alcobaça in central Portugal. The outcome was a decisive victory for the Portuguese and secured John as the undisputed King of Portugal. The memory of Diego's father Juan Martínez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza, lord of Fuenmayor, is in the will and testament of King Don Juan I, where he orders Juan Martínez de Medrano to have the knife of King Don Enrique III.

Alvar Díaz de Medrano y Zúñiga
Diego was the paternal grandson of Don Alvar Díaz de Medrano y Zúñiga, lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, and Lady Toda Hurtado de Mendoza, his wife. Lady Toda Hurtado de Mendoza was the daughter of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, commander of Santiago in Valdericote, and María de Rojas. Álvar Díaz de Medrano y Zúñiga was the son of Juan Martínez de Medrano and Mencía López de Zúñiga. Alvar also had a daughter named María Álvarez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza, Abbess of Santa María la Real de Vileña since September 4, 1374.

Maternal ancestry
Diego's mother Doña Aldonza de Zúñiga y Pavia was the daughter of Iñigo Ortiz de Stúñiga y Medrano, Lord of Azofra since 1355, married to Doña Sancha Núñez de Pavia, daughter of Gonzalo Fernández de Pavia and Constanza Fernández de Párraga. Iñigo Ortiz de Stúñiga y Medrano was the son of Lope Díaz de Stúñiga and Doña Constanza de Medrano, daughter of Don Fernando de Medrano, lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, and Elvira Ramírez.

Diego's maternal great-grandfather was called Iñigo Ortiz de Estúñiga, Lord of las Cuevas and Chief Justice of Castile in 1317. He married Doña Mencía Álvarez de Haro, daughter of Alvar Díaz de Haro and María Alonso Potocarrero, lords of los Cameros. He died in the plains of Granada in 1319 and was buried in the monastery of Santa María de Herrera.

Diego's maternal great-great-grandfather was called Íñigo Ortiz de Estúñiga or de las Cuevas, son of Ortún Ortiz de Zúñiga. He is the first to leave the Kingdom of Navarre to settle in the Kingdom of Castile in 1274. He married Doña Inés Alfonso de los Cameros, daughter of Juan Alfonso de Haro, the elder, and Doña Constanza Alfonso de Meneses. Íñigo died in Seville in 1315. Íñigo Ortiz de Estúñiga was the son of Ortún Ortiz de Zúñiga and Doña Teresa de Rada, daughter of Gil de Rada and Doña Teresa de Beaumont. Diego's maternal great-great-great-grandfather was named Fortún Ortiz de Stúñiga, lord de Stúñiga and Mendavia.

Family
Diego's mother Aldonza de Zúñiga was the daughter of the noble Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga y Medrano, son of Lope Díaz de Stúñiga and Doña Constanza de Medrano, daughter of Fernando de Medrano, lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, and Elvira Ramírez. Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga was the lord of las Cuevas and Montalvos, and to whom King Don Pedro granted the place of Azofra. Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga married Lady Sancha Núñez de Pavía, who was the daughter of Gómez Fernández de Pavía, and his wife Lady Constanza de Párraga. Diego's maternal grandparents married in the year 1383. From this marriage was born Diego's mother, Lady Aldonza de Zúñiga, wife of Juan Martínez de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza.

Lady Aldonza de Zúñiga and Juan Martínez de Medrano had a son and heir, Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, called to the entail of the lordships of Azofra and Montalvos, linked to him by his maternal grandfather Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga y Medrano.

In the document detailing the entail founded in 1434 by Bishop Don Diego de Zúñiga, Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga is recognized as the successor to a significant estate that included various properties and jurisdictions across notable locations. This entail outlined a succession plan that included female heirs in the absence of male ones, Íñigo's attempt to ensure the continuity of the Zúñiga lineage.

Diego López de Medrano, coming from Fuenmayor, is mentioned in this document as a subsequent heir, positioned after the lines of Doña Leonor and Doña Constanza de Zúñiga, the sisters of the founder, Bishop Don Diego de Zúñiga. His role in this arrangement was significant as a contingency beneficiary, representing the broader family network and its integration into the entail's provisions. Specifically, Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, as the nephew of Bishop Don Diego de Zúñiga through his sister Doña Aldonza de Zúñiga, was recognized as part of the inheritance plan, which stipulated that in the absence of direct descendants from Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga and the named female lines, the estate would pass to him or to the nearest relative from the father's side of the Zúñiga lineage.

Castle of Aguas Mansas
In 1337, Diego's uncle Don Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano, chief crossbowman of King Alfonso XI of Castile, and founder of the chapel of Santa Engracia in the Imperial Church of Santa María de Palacio, in the city of Logroño, bought the village of Agoncillo, La Rioja and its Moorish castle of Aguas Mansas. Medrano started carrying out several remodelling works, adapting it to the style of the 14th century. In Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano's testament in 1345, he noted having spent big amounts of money in "...building the castle and the village" (in Old Castilian: "...fazer el castillo e la villa").

During the battles between Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastámara, the castle passed onto the hands of Charles II of Navarre, although for a short period. In 1392, it was once again owned by Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano, lord of Agoncillo, who bequeathed it to his nephew Don Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga.

Alliances
In the early 15th century, Diego's father Juan Martínez de Medrano was part of the house of the Bishop of Calahorra, Don Diego López de Zúñiga. Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga, lord of Agoncillo, Almarza and Fuenmayor, was part of the political clientele of Diego de Zuñiga, Bishop of Calahorra in the first half of the 15th century. Several references to esquires of Bishop Don Diego López de Zúñiga can be found. It is documented that Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, lord of Almarza and Fuenmayor, who made a will in 1449, was the Bishop's nephew, being the son of his sister Aldonza de Zúñiga, married to the lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, Juan Martínez de Medrano.

Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga helped his maternal nephews with strong financial donations and lands in many La Rioja towns. The house of Medrano later alternately aligned themselves with The first Count of Aguilar, son of the first Count of Arellano from the house of Arellano and the first Duke of Nájera from the house of Manrique de Lara.

Marriage and children
Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga married Doña Aldonza Ramírez de Ulloque, and they had a very illustrious offspring, including Juan Lopez de Medrano y Ulloque, Pedro Gómez de Medrano and Doña Aldonza Diaz de Medrano y Ulloque, Señora of Agoncillo.

Juan López de Medrano
Later, Diego's son Don Juan López de Medrano joined the house of the Lord of Cameros, Juan Ramírez de Arellano. There is a well-documented case regarding the lifetime grant of the place of Cocera (a village in the municipality of Almarza de Cameros) by Juan Ramírez de Arellano to Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga. Despite receiving it as a lifetime grant, Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga passed it down to his son Pedro Gómez de Medrano, who, in turn, conveyed it to the council of Nieva de Cameros. The first Count of Aguilar, son of the first Count of Arellano, after litigating in the Chancery of Valladolid, succeeded in compelling the council of Nieva to restore the said place.

For reasons unknown, Don Juan López de Medrano shifted to the house of the Duke of Nájera, Don Pedro Manrique de Lara, where his son Hernando de Medrano began serving as a page at the age of thirteen. In 1552, a bitter conflict arose between Hernando de Medrano and his lord, the duke of Nájera, over jurisdiction and control of the lordship of Fuenmayor and over certain vassals and tenants of the place of Fuenmayor. As a result, Hernando de Medrano decided to serve in the house of the Count of Aguilar, who welcomed him despite the duke's objections.

Aldonza Diaz de Medrano
Aldonza Díaz de Medrano's ancestry can be traced through her paternal lineage. Doña Aldonza Diaz de Medrano married Don Lope Garcia de Porres and had one son, also lord of Agoncillo, Pedro Gomez de Porres y Medrano, Knight of the Order of Calatrava, a member of His Majesty's Council, and the Alcalde of Hijosdalgo of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid. Aldonza and Lope also had two daughters, Doña Isabel González de Porres y Medrano and Doña Maria González de Porres y Medrano.

Descendants
Doña Aldonza Díaz de Medrano's descendant Doña Ana Maria de Porres y Medrano married Don Cristóbal de Velasco y Zúñiga (died 1623), VI Count of Siruela, V Lord and IV holder of the mayorazgo of the town of Roa, lord of the valleys of Pernía and Cervera de Río Pisuerga, granted powers to make a will jointly with his wife before Domingo Fernández de Heredia on March 1, 1623.

Doña Ana María de Porres y Medrano was the Lady of Agoncillo and the Medrano estate, patroness of the convent of the Order of San Francisco in Logroño, founded by the Medrano lords, initially established by Saint Francis himself in the Kingdoms of Castile. She was the eldest daughter of Lope de Porres y Medrano, lord of the estate of Agoncillo and the Extremiana house, and María de Castejón.

The title of Siruela was granted the Greatness of Spain by archduke Charles VI in 1711, and later confirmed by Philip V. Aldonza Diaz de Medrano is the ancestor of María Isabella Spínola y Spínola (1737-1801), who inherited the titles of XVI Countess of Siruela, VII Countess of Valverde, IV Marchioness of Santa Clara, VI Duchess of San Pietro in Galatina, and Princess of Molfetta. She married Martín Fernández de Velasco, who held numerous titles including XII Duke of Frías, IV Duke of Arión, XVI Count of Alba de Liste, XVI Count of Haro, and others. Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Martínez de Irujo, the son of the late 18th Duchess of Alba Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, and known as Jacobo Siruela, currently holds the title as the 24th count of Siruela.

Diego's great-grandson Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Salcedo, 20th descendant, XIV lord de Salcedo y de la Villa de Legarda, who made his will in 1512, married Doña María de Torres Salcedo, daughter of Don Lope de Salazar Buitrón and Doña Hurtada Salcedo de Torres. Doña Hurtada was the daughter of Diego Lopez de Salcedo y Medrano, and María de Torres, who was the daughter of Juan de Torres, from Soria.

He was also the paternal grandson of Diego Lopez de Salcedo Hurtado de Mendoza (1366-1420), Alcaide of Deza, and Doña N. Lopez de Medrano, daughter of Diego Lopez de Medrano, lord of Agoncillo; second paternal grandson of Juan Sanchez de Salcedo, Chief Lender of Vizcaya, who died in 1369, and Doña Mayor de Leon Hurtado de Mendoza; third grandson of Lope Garcia de Salazar and Garcia Calderón, "El de los Muchos Hijos", XV Señor de Salazar, Barcena, La Cerca, Losa, Mena, Ayala, etc., Chief Lender of Vizcaya and Ambassador of Sancho IV, who died in the siege of Algeciras in 1344, and his wife, Doña Berenguela Hurtado de Salcedo.