Juan de la Cámara can trace his family tree beyond the thirteenth century, to the Spanish nobility of the Kingdom of Castille. His ancestors had fought for the Crown in the many of the battles of the Iberian Reconquista. During the Siege of Málaga (1487), the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, knighted Alfonso Ruiz de la Cámara, don Juan's great-grandfather, inducting him into the Order of the Golden Spur. In this act, the Monarchs recognized the ancestral coat of arms of the House of Cámara. Juan de la Cámara was one of the few "conquistadores" that enjoyed the privilege of having the authenticated use of coat of arms in Castille.