Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones , ( 1440 – 20 July 1515 ) was the first Marqués de Mondéjar , and second Conde de Tendilla . He was known as " El Gran Tendilla " , and was a Spanish noble of the House of Mendoza . He was the son of Íñigo López de Mendoza y Figueroa , the first Conde de Tendilla , and the grandson of the poet Íñigo López de Mendoza , 1st Marquis of Santillana . Early life . Íñigo was born in Guadalajara , Kingdom of Castile , and was educated along with his brother , Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Quiñones ) ( who would later become a cardinal ) , in the palatial house of his grandfather . He would also receive instruction in political and military matters from his father , the ambassador to Pope Pius II in the council of Mantua and from his uncle , the powerful cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza . Biography . Succeeding his father in 1479 as Conde de Tendilla , he entered the Royal Court at Toledo in 1480 to show his loyalty to the Catholic Monarchs and offered his services for the ongoing conquest of Granada . It was in the Granada War that he first showed his military prowess . His nephew , Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza , the son of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza , who educated Íñigo , served under him during this time . He was there named Alcaide de Alhama de Granada and was made , at his own expense , to defend those lands against the armies of Muley Hacén from 1484 – 85 . In 1486 , the Catholic Monarchs named Íñigo ambassador to Pope Innocent VIII . During his tenure , he accomplished a very ambitious agenda which included : pushing for a peace treaty between the Pope and the Kingdom of Naples , renewing the Papal Bull favoring the Crusade of 1482 , reforming the church , and giving the power to appoint Bishops to the King . He was also able to get the pope to recognize the illegitimate children of his uncle , the cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza . Pope Innocent VIII gifted the Conde with a sword which can still be seen on display today at the Museum of Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid . While in Rome , Conde Íñigo befriended the humanist Peter Martyr d ' Anghiera , with whom he would have a lifelong friendship , bringing him to Spain as a tutor for his children . In August 1487 , he returned to military campaigning , this time against the Nazarí Kingdom of Granada after being named the High Adelantado of Andalucía . He fought in many actions here under the command of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba . After the defeat of Boabdil and conquest of Granada in winter of 1492 , King Ferdinand named Íñigo Governor of Alhambra and Captain General of Granada . During his tenure as governor , Conde Íñigo subdued the first Moorish uprising in Granada ( 1500 – 1502 ) , which was brought about by the forced mass conversions enacted by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros . He later would command troops against further uprisings in Alpujarras along with King Ferdinand and the " Gran Capitan " , Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba . After the death of Isabella I of Castile in 1504 , Íñigo was one of the only nobles , along with the future Duke of Alba who controlled Castile , who remained faithful to King Ferdinand . Infighting against the supporters of Philip I of Castile broke out . Conde Íñigo also fell our of favor with his cousin Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza , the Marquesado del Venete and with the " Gran Capitan " . In September 1512 , Íñigo obtained the title of Marqués de Mondéjar from Ferdinand II of Aragon . The title was later nominally ratified by the queen , Juanna la Loca . Marriage and descendants . Íñigo ' s first wife was Maria Lasso de la Vega y Mendoza . Maria was from the House of Lasso de la Vega and brought as her dowry , part of the village of Mondéjar . Maria died childless in 1477 and Íñigo took up his second wife , Francisca de Pacheco y Portocarrero , daughter of Juan Pacheco , the first . The couple had seven children together : Death . Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones died in Granada on 20 July 1515 having a few days before given his final testament to Juan de Luz , son of an artillery man and resident of the Alhambra Gonzalo de Luz .