# García de Medrano y Castejón

García de Medrano y Castejón (El Burgo de Osma, c. 1550 – Valladolid, 1604) was a nobleman and aristocrat from the House of Medrano, a historian and knight of the Order of Santiago. He served as a lawyer and licenciate, Alcalde del Crimen (Magistrate of Crime) in the Real Audiencia and Chancery of Granada, a prosecutor and a Minister of the Council of Orders. He was also a Councilor of the Royal Council of Castile and the Royal Council of Justice, and procurator in the Cortes for the city of Soria.

## Early life

García de Medrano y Castejón was born around 1550 in El Burgo de Osma, Soria, to García de Medrano y Vinuesa and Catalina de Castejón, residents of San Gregorio, in the Diocese of Osma-Soria. He spent the first six years of his life under the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and subsequently Kings Philip II and Philip III of Spain.
His father García de Medrano y Vinuesa played a significant political role, he served as a member of the Cortes of Segovia from 1592 to 1593, and the speeches he delivered are preserved in the protocols of those Cortes. In the trial against Rodrigo Calderón, Marquess of the Seven Churches, judge Garcia de Medrano y Vinuesa was one of the few who voted against the Marquesses death.

### Relatives

His paternal uncle, Diego López de Medrano y Vinuesa, served as Mayordomo Mayor to Empress Isabella of Portugal, wife of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Diego’s son, García’s paternal cousin, was the chief equerry to Prince Philip, the future Philip II of Spain. Diego's second son, Francisco de Medrano, held the position of royal accountant and treasurer for Charles, Prince of Asturias.

### Nobility and Lordship of San Gregorio

On 1 September 1552, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issued the Carta Ejecutoria de Hidalguía to confirm the noble status of the Medrano family.
García's family were linked to the Lordship and Castle of San Gregorio, built by his great-grandfather Diego López de Medrano y Vergara, Lord of San Gregorio, a member of His Majesty's Council, in 1461. The House of Medrano managed their lordships and maintained their main resources, maize cultivation and especially sheep farming. According to genealogical proofs provided by García de Medrano y Castejón, this branch of the family not only owned the entailed estate and fortress of San Gregorio but also possessed 15,000 sheep. Their livestock grazed in those lands, and hundreds of times they walked to the pastures of Extremadura or the royal valley of Alcudia, in La Mancha.

## Education

García de Medrano y Castejón began his formal education in law at an early age. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Law and was subsequently admitted to the prestigious Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé of Salamanca on March 1, 1573. During his time at the college, he demonstrated exceptional academic skill, quickly obtaining a licentiate degree and a PhD in Law. He remained at the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé until 1584, when he was appointed to a judicial position.
According to The History of the Old College of San Bartolomé, as noted by Ruiz y Vergara in Volume II, page 407:
   Don García de Medrano, a native of San Gregorio..., son of Don García de Medrano and Doña Cathalina Castejón, was received on March 1, 1573. He graduated from the College with a degree in Law.

## Career

On February 17, 1584, García de Medrano y Castejón was appointed as a Magistrate, also known as a criminal judge (alcalde del Crimen) in the Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Granada, taking over the position from Licentiate Escobar, who had moved to the Contaduría Mayor de Hacienda on December 23, 1583. However, during an inspection of the Chancery of Granada in 1591, he was suspended from his duties and exiled to Soria.

### García's confrontation with Pedro de Granada y Venegas

García de Medrano y Castejón was the enemy of Pedro de Granada y Venegas, and the greatest enemy of Pedro's father Alonso de Granada y Venegas [es], of the royal Nasrid dynasty (according to Pedro himself). On June 16, 1588, during a Corpus Christi celebration, a significant event unfolded between the magistrate García de Medrano y Castejón and Pedro de Granada y Venegas. The royal Granada Venegas family, of Moorish origin, adorned the Casa de los Tiros in Granada with flags and banners, a privilege granted by the Catholic kings in 1503.
However, Licenciate García de Medrano did not approve of the symbols displayed on these flags and banners. As Magistrate in the Royal Audiencia and Chancellery of Granada, García de Medrano ordered his men to take down the "canopies hanging in front of the dwelling of Pedro de Granada y Venegas, on whose sides were the coats of arms and coronets of this royal house." This caused an incident with Pedro's father Alonso de Granada y Venegas and his men. A contemporary chronicler recounted the incident, stating:
   As is custom, a royal representative was inspecting the streets (in this case it was the Licenciate Don García de Medrano, a member of his Majesty’s council and magistrate to this Royal Chancellery). On the street of the jail, he saw canopies hanging in front of the dwelling of Don Pedro de Granada y Venegas, on whose sides were the coats of arms and coronets of this royal house. The magistrate ordered that they be taken down, and at this, Don Alonso de Venegas de Granada and all his sons and many gentlemen, clients and friends were so enraged that they would have killed the magistrate. After officers of the court and other people had pacified them, that very day Don Alonso went to the bishop to complain to His Majesty of this offense against his nobility and his blood, [recalling] the many honors and favors and privileges that he had received from the Catholic Monarchs and the Emperor Charles V, who used to write to the grandfather of this noble gentleman and call him cousin.
Alonso de Granada y Venegas filed a lawsuit against García de Medrano and ultimately prevailed when the case reached the Royal Council of Castile. Medrano was condemned, and Alonso de Granada y Venegas was given a habit of Santiago as compensation. Despite this, García's 1603 book on the rules and establishment of the Knights of Santiago was among the books owned by Pedro de Granada at the time of his death.

### Late career

Eight years later, in 1599, García de Medrano y Castejón's career saw a revival when he was appointed as the prosecutor of the Council of Orders. He was sworn into this position at the court on May 4, 1599. His tenure as prosecutor was brief, as he soon took office as a minister of the Council of Orders on March 3, 1600. In recognition of his service, he was granted the habit of the Order of Santiago in the same year. On August 18, 1604, he left his position in the Council of Orders for a position in the Council of Castile. On February 21, 1604, he was promoted to an extraordinary position in the Royal Council of Castile, remaining in this position until his death. Shortly before his death, he served as a procurator in the Cortes for the city of Soria. On August 23, 1604, while already ill, he requested to be granted the encomienda of Ocaña of the Order of Santiago.

### Legal dispute

A manuscript is preserved that outlines a legal dispute between García de Medrano and Alonso d'Espinosa concerning a claim of 800,000 maravedís made by María de los Ríos. This document is a formal petition against a Council's ruling that orders Medrano to pay the claimed amount.

## Compilation of the Chapter Laws of the Order of Santiago

In 1599, Don García de Medrano y Castejón became a knight of the Order of Santiago. Don García held a seat in the Council of Orders since March 3, 1600. In 1600, he also received a habit of the Order of Santiago. He authored a book for the Order called "Regla y establecimientos de la Caballería de Santiago de la Espada: Historia y origen de ella," printed in Valladolid, by Juan Sánchez in 1603.
A second edition of the book was made, entitled "La regla de la cavalleria de Santiago del Espada (The rule and establishment of the knighthood of Santiago of the Sword, with the history of its origin and principle thereof)," published in Madrid, 1627. The second edition was accurately and faithfully printed according to its original by Viuda de Luis Sanchez. This certification is affirmed by Gregorio Real de Tapia, Secretary of the Orders, in Madrid. According to the lords of the said Council, each sheet of this book was sold at a fixed price of five maravedíes.

### García de Medrano and the Laws of the Order of Santiago

In year 1600, the Council of Orders met in the Chapel of Santa Ana of Madrid to appoint Don García de Medrano y Castejon to make changes to the laws within the Order of Santiago. García made significant changes to the laws within the Order of Santiago, compiled within a book he wrote for the Order. Medrano's work "Compilation of the Chapter Laws of the Order of Knighthood of Santiago of the Sword, Compiled and arranged by Licenciado Don García de Medrano, of the Royal Council of Justice" was published after his death in Madrid, 1605.
On page 14, García de Medrano y Castejon himself explains:
   "In compliance with the order of the Chapter, I reviewed all the laws of this book with great care and diligence, removing those that were no longer necessary, and in others, according to the changing times, increased the penalties for offenders. All the laws of the Kingdom, which say the same thing, were put in place for my temporal governance, and for the spiritual, what was established in the Holy Council of Trent was also included: all of which was seen and approved in the said Chapter. It has been beneficial work for the Order, and I am ready to serve it in whatever capacity I am entrusted with, with great pleasure. Don García de Medrano."
Philip III of Spain himself writes:
   "the obligation We have to order and which pertains to the good governance of our subjects (to which with the help of God we strive to attend in all parts) calls us particularly to comply with much care in what concerns the good state of the Military Orders and to maintain as we do in their administration, care of the spiritual and temporal; and being as they are Religious Orders...it is of greater service to our Lord to preserve them in their good state and strive for them to grow in virtue and religion..."
King Philip III of Spain was the administrator of the Order of Chivalry of Santiago by Apostolic authority, he agreed to make some new establishments, and to smooth and correct some of the old ones, and leave the others as they were, and from all of them, to make a book, entrusted to García de Medrano y Castejon, to compile everything into one book in the form that follows, mandating, as he expressly command, that the said establishments contained in this book be kept, fulfilled, and executed with complete punctuality, according to God and the Order of Santiago.

## Ancestry

García de Medrano y Castejón was the son of Garcia de Medrano y Vinuesa, born in Soria, and Catalina de Castejon. He was also the paternal grandson of Diego López de Medrano y Bravo de Lagunas, Lord of San Gregorio, and Francisca de Vinuesa.
García de Medrano y Castejón was the great–grandson of Diego López de Medrano y Vergara, Lord of San Gregorio, and Magdalena Bravo de Lagunas y Cienfuegos. Through Magdalenda Bravo de Lagunas, García de Medrano y Castejón was the great-great-great-grandson of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, progenitor of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia. García de Medrano y Castejón was the paternal great-great-grandson of Diego López de Medrano, Alcaide of Medinaceli, and Juana de Vergara.
The ancient and noble House of Medrano is recognized as one of the most powerful in the Sierra de Cameros and in Soria. The Medrano family, Lords of Cabanillas, San Gregorio, along with many other entailed estates of the Medrano lineage in Soria and its region, are knights of great antiquity and nobility. The House of Medrano are listed under the Salvadores and Barnuevo lineages, incorporating them into the ancient 12 lineages of Soria [es].

## Marriage and heir

García de Medrano y Castejón married María Álvarez de los Ríos, an Andalusian, in Seville. María was born in Seville and baptized in the parish of Santa María Magdalena on 27 September 1561. According to Barrientos Grandón, this marriage was the root and origin of one of the most extensive families of legal professionals in the service of the Monarchy during the 17th and 18th centuries. Her father Gregorio had obtained a carta ejecutoria of nobility from the Sala de Hijosdalgo of the Chancillería of Granada.

### Heir

García de Medrano y Castejón and María Álvarez de los Ríos had a daughter named Beatriz de Medrano and a namesake son and heir named García de Medrano y Álvarez de los Ríos (1604–1683).
The grandchildren of García de Medrano y Castejón, descendants of García de Medrano y Álvarez de los Ríos and his wife included:
* Domingo de Medrano y Mendizábal (1650–1672): Judge of Grados in Seville (1672), rector of Salamanca University (1668). Domingo was baptized in Madrid on March 15, 1650. He became a Knight of Calatrava at just nine years old and inherited the family estate of San Gregorio, which he left to his younger brother, García, as he had no heirs. He died at a young age. While serving as colegial mayor of Santa Cruz de Valladolid, he started his administrative career, having taken on the role of auditor for the court of Seville on November 11, 1672, when he passed away.
* García de Medrano y Mendizábal (1652–1695): 1st Count of Torrubia, Mayor of hijosdalgo in Valladolid (1675), judge in Valladolid (1680), mayor of Casa y Corte (1684), and member of the Council of Orders (1690), rector of Salamanca University (1669)
* Andrés de Medrano y Mendizábal (1654–1720): Chief judge of Vizcaya (June 2, 1676), judge in Valladolid (1683), counselor of Treasury (1693), counselor of Castile (1697), and member of its Chamber (1720). He married a sister of Catalina de Angulo y Albizu in 1693, who was married to Lorenzo Mateu y Villamayor (1663–1722), counselor of Castile in 1706.