Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa

Don Juan Bravo de Medrano (1650, Pánuco, Zacatecas – May 15, 1710) was the I Count of Santa Rosa and a noble from the Bravo de Medrano family in Zacatecas. Juan Bravo de Medrano was the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, Maestre de Campo of his tercio, and held the first noble title in Zacatecas, granted by King Charles II of Spain on February 8, 1691. The title of Conde de Santa Rosa is linked to an immense estate, centered around the Santa Rosa hacienda situated between Jerez and Juchipila. The Count of Santa Rosa is a descendant of the founder of Zacatecas, Baltasar Temiño de Bañuelos, and the founder of Guadalajara, Cristóbal de Oñate. Juan married Doña Juana de Altamirano Castilla y Aguayo.

Family
Don Juan Bravo de Medrano was the son of Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Acuña and Catalina de Medrano y Oñate.

Ancestry
Doña Catalina de Medrano y Oñate was the daughter of Captain Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez and Catalina Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate Rivadeneira.

Captain Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez was the son of Don Diego de Medrano, born in either Penacerrada, Alava or Soria, and Doña Catalina de Velazquez.

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal grandmother Catalina Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate y Rivadeneira was the daughter of Diego Ruiz Temiño de Bañuelos Zaldívar (born 1562, Zacatecas, Mexico) Councilor and General Depositary of Zacatecas, and Catalina de Oñate y Rivadeneira.

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal great-grandfather was Diego de Temiño-Banuelos-Saldivar and Catalina de Oñate y Rivadeneira. Their daughter Catalina de Oñate y Bañuelos was born in 1609, Zacatecas and married Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez (b. 1609, Santo Domingo) on 20 August 1629 in Madrid, Spain. Catalina de Oñate y Bañuelos and Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez were the parents of Catalina de Medrano y Oñate, mother of the first count of Santa Rosa.

Descendant of the founder of Zacatecas
Juan Bravo de Medrano is the maternal great-great-grandson of Baltasar Temiño de Banuelos [ es], Lieutenant Captain General of Neuva Galicia, prominent founder and miner of Zacatecas, Mexico. In 1572, he married María de Zaldivar y Mendoza, with whom he had six children. In memory of him there is a lagoon in Zacatecas called Bañuelos.

Early life
Juan Bravo de Medrano was born in Pánuco, Zacatecas, around 1650. Juan Bravo de Medrano became the first Zacatecan to purchase a noble title, becoming the first Count of Santa Rosa on February 8, 1691, thanks to his mining success and due to his pacification of Colotlán and the Sierra del Nayarit [ es]. He was also the Lieutenant Capitán General of Nueva Galicia. This lineage of counts bestowed significant nobility upon Zacatecas, engaging in a competition of honor and wealth throughout the Enlightenment century and the so-called Bourbon reforms. Prominent Zacatecan miners maintained a private army, often consisting of two or three hundred men, whether to defend their own territories or the interests of the Crown. Don Juan Bravo de Medrano was also the Maestre de campo in Zacatecas, and therefore maintained a tercio and a personal guard consisting of eight German halberdiers, paid by the king, who accompanied him everywhere.

Don Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa, owned the Santa Rosa de Malpaso hacienda from 1691, the year his mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate bequeathed it to him, until his death in 1710. The community of Malpaso has its origins in a land grant on February 8, 1561. Throughout its history, Malpaso has had various owners. In the 17th century, it belonged to the family of Juan Bravo de Medrano, the first Count of Santa Rosa, hence its name: Santa Rosa de Malpaso, named after its first patron, Santa Rosa de Lima. The construction of the Santa Rosa hacienda was of strong craftsmanship, as can still be seen in the walls of the Fort (known as El Caracol) that was built back in the distant last years of the 16th century, and as can be seen in the very thick walls of the barns and big house. Juan and his mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate built a temple with a beautiful façade in honor of Saint Rose of Lima. Currently, the Patron Saint is the Lord of Malpaso or the Ascension, and its façade looks very different. The father of the Count of Santa Rosa, General Bartolomé Bravo de Acuña, an enterprising miner from Vetagrande, began acquiring lands (centered around the Santa Rosa hacienda situated between Jerez and Juchipila) in the mid-17th century. These properties were added to his wife Catalina de Medrano y Oñate's dowry, descended from majorat founder Cristóbal de Oñate. The first Count of Santa Rosa, Juan Bravo de Medrano, continued acquiring lands, ranging from medium-value estates to large domains and mines mostly in Vetagrande.

Lands and mines owned
Juan Bravo de Medrano owned large mining and agricultural estates, including the haciendas of Real de Pánuco, Vetagrande, Malpaso, Palomas, San Nicolás in Pinos, Santa Rosa in Juchipila, and Santa Rosa in Tlaltenango. In 1699, Don Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa purchased the Palomas hacienda from the clergyman Francisco de Arratia for 5,362 pesos. By 1695, he had acquired lands from the Querétaro convent of Santa Clara de Jesús: La Quemada, Los Edificios, El Cericillo, and El Arenal, southwest of Zacatecas, not far from the lands associated with the Santa Rosa hacienda, also known as Santa Rosa de Malpaso. Estimated in 1777 after an owner's death, Joseph Martinez de Bustamante, the hacienda had a total value of 57,736 pesos 2 reales.

This included 1,000 pesos for El Fuerte, 4,000 pesos for Malpaso, 1,500 pesos for El Eje, 2,500 pesos for Santa Rosa, with the main residence valued at 1,800 pesos. The property also included 20 sitios of livestock and nearly 180 caballerías of land, equivalent to 14,144.4 hectares (34,988 acres or 141.444 km). Adding tools, seeds, and livestock (247 mules, 248 oxen, 161 donkeys, and nearly 2,500 horses), its value reached 69,851 pesos 5 reales. However, the hacienda had mortgages and numerous debts, some dating back 40 years, exceeding a third of its value. It was consequently sold by Captain Bustamante's widow, Gertrudis Díaz de la Campa, a relative of the Count of San Mateo, to Ventura de Arteaga, then the general administrator for José de la Borda.

Real de Pánuco Mine in Zacatecas
In the mid-17th century, Medrano's father Bartolome Bravo de Acuna purchased the Real de Pánuco mines in Zacatecas. Between 1620 and 1630, Zacatecas experienced prosperity in silver production unmatched until the early 18th century. However, setbacks such as the Vetagrande mine flooding in 1619-1620, epidemics, and migration occurred.

In the 17th century, the Real de Pánuco mine was prosperous; 27 grinding mills, 41 smelting mills, 14 amalgamation mills, 39 owners of mines and mills, one blacksmith, among others. Despite Pánuco's thriving economy in the mid-17th century, the descendants of its discoverers, among the wealthiest individuals in Spanish America, inherited illustrious names but faced more debts.

Bartolome Bravo de Acuna was succeeded by his son and heir Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa. His son Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano, II Count of Santa Rosa, inherited flooded mines and debts, leading to the inability to sustain the family business. When the II Count of Santa Rosa died, notorial records indicate his properties which included the Pánuco smelters and the amalgamation facilities.

Baltasar Temiño de Bañuelos in Zacatecas
Don Juan Bravo de Medrano's mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate was the maternal great-granddaughter of Baltasar Temiño de Banuelos (Sevilla, 1530 – Zacatecas, 1600), the "discoverer" and one of the founders of Zacatecas. Baltasar moved to Guadalajara, capital of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, where he made contact with Cristóbal de Oñate, who proposed him to Juan de Tolosa and Diego de Ibarra as captain of the expedition that would culminate in the founding of the mines of Zacatecas around 1548, discovered by Juan de Tolosa two years earlier, and which would become the largest silver producers in New Spain during the 16th century.

Juan Bravo de Medrano's great-great-grandfather Baltasar Temino de Bañuelos arrived in Zacatecas around 1546 or 1548, the year of its foundation, which would mean that he was only present at the formal act of foundation, although historians refer to him as one of the four conquerors of the mines. In 1550, Baltasar was one of the main miners of Zacatecas, either individually or in company. In 1557, he was named deputy of mines when Gaspar de Tapia was mayor of Zacatecas. Baltasar, in 1562, was the owner of one of the thirty-five haciendas "de beneficio de azogue" that existed in the province of Zacatecas. In the war against the Chichimeca Natives, he was named lieutenant captain general of Nueva Galicia in 1572 by Viceroy Enriquez.

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal grandfather was Captain Don Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez. He was born in Santo Domingo into the noble house of Medrano. He is the son of Don Diego de Medrano and Doña Catalina de Velazquez. Captain Juan de Medrano is the husband of Catalina Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate Rivadeneira, daughter of Diego Ruiz Temiño de Bañuelos and Catalina de Oñate y Rivadeneira and granddaughter of Don Alonso de Oñate Salazar, brother of the famous conquistador Juan de Oñate y Salazar, both sons of Cristóbal de Oñate, a descendant of the noble house of Haro.

In 1640, Cristóbal's son Don Cristóbal de Oñate and Captain Don Juan de Medrano paid 1,654 pesos, 3 tomines, and 3 grains of 20 quintals of mercury in favor of Philip IV of Spain. The Count of Santa Rosa's maternal grandfather Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez could be the brother of Diego de Medrano, born in Santo Domingo in the 16th century, who died in Guadalajara (Mexico), 1630. Diego was the Oidor in Guadalajara. Diego de Medrano was also the son of Diego de Medrano, from Soria, royal treasurer of Santo Domingo, and Doña Catalina de Velazquez, from Santo Domingo. Diego's paternal grandparents were Diego Alfonso de Medrano, from Soria, and Francisca Rodríguez Barrionueva. His brother Juan de Medrano served as the governor of the province of Chametla, Sinaloa. The Marriage of Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez with Doña Catalina de Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate y Rivadeneira commenced in Zacatecas (Mexico). The wedding ceremony took place on the 24th of January, 1635. Captain Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez is the father of Capitan General Diego de Medrano y Bañuelos Saldívar y Mendoza, maternal uncle, and Catalina de Medrano y Oñate, mother of Don Juan Bravo de Medrano.

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal uncle Capitan General Don Diego de Medrano y Bañuelos, born in Madrid on May 14, 1636, baptized in the parish of San Nicolas, served as Chief Constable of the Holy Inquisition in Zacatecas and Provincial Alcalde of the Holy Brotherhood of Nueva Galicia. In 1666, the Royal Treasury requested 500 liters of salt from Captain Don Diego de Medrano. In 1674, The Count's uncle was the provincial mayor of the Holy Brotherhood; in 1679 he became perpetual provincial mayor. In 1676, Captain Don Diego de Medrano was the corregidor, with a salary of 500 pesos de minas, which is issued to him for said duty. General Diego de Medrano was the husband of Maria Correa de Silva (b. February 21, 1638 Madrid, Spain), married on May 23, 1661, in the Madrid parish of San Juan. He is the father of Margarita de Medrano y Correa de Silva and Nicolás de Medrano y Bañuelos. He passed away in Zacatecas on May 24, 1687, witnessed by Diego Vazquez.

In Zacatecas, on December 17, 1708, the first cousins of Juan Bravo de Medrano are documented as the owners and patrons of the chapel of the Reyes in the church of Santa María, Zacatecas, in favor of Licentiate Nicolás de Medrano, commissioner of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; and his brothers, Captains José de Medrano and Juan de Medrano, and Doña Margarita Magdalena de Medrano, children of Captain General Diego de Medrano y Bañuelos, and his wife Doña María Correa de Silva, founders of the mentioned chapel in Zacatecas.

Marriage and heir
Juan Bravo de Medrano married Doña Juana Altamirano Castilla y Aguayo. His wife was the daughter of José Altamirano y Castilla and Juana de Soto Agredano y Carbajal Aguayo.

Don Juan Bravo de Medrano and Doña Juana Altamirano Castilla y Aguayo had two children:


 * Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano, II Count of Santa Rosa, (b. between 1669 and 1729, Zacatecas) husband of Dolores de Navarrete y Argote. He is the father of Ana Josefa Bravo de Medrano y Acuña y Navarrete Argote; and the grandfather of Don Jose Vicente Beltran y Bravo de Medrano y Acuña, III Count of Santa Rosa, Priest
 * Manuela Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano y Castilla (b. between 1669 and 1729, Zacatecas)

Death
Juan Bravo de Medrano died on May 15, 1710, without leaving a will. His debts, which his wife Juana Altamirano de Castilla and children committed to paying, amounted to 104,330 pesos 6 granos, primarily owed to the aviator Nicolás de Landa, a resident of Mexico.