Francisco de Medrano y Bazán

In 1641, Francisco de Medrano left his college to serve in the army in Catalonia.^[1]

In 1643, Francisco de Medrano was appointed judge of the Audiencia de Grados of Seville to fill the vacancy left by the deceased Gonzalo de la Serna. The title was conferred on him in Madrid on 9 February 1643.^[1]

In 1648, Francisco de Medrano was appointed as a magistrate of the Real Audiencia and Royal Chancery of Granada to fill the vacancy of Gregorio Antonio de Chaves y Mendoza (24 December 1648).^[1]

A member of his Majesty's Council, and during the Franco-Spanish war, he was promoted to the prestigious position of alcalde of Casa y Corte on 29 May 1653, taking office the following month on 8 June 1653, and holding the position until he was granted the title of minister of the Council of Orders in 1664.^[1] Francisco oversaw criminal and civil cases, maintained public order in the royal court, and enforced market regulations. He conducted patrols, supervised urban safety measures, advised the King and Royal Council, and traveled with the king's itinerant court, holding jurisdiction wherever the monarch resided.^[5][6]

On 23 March 1664, Francisco de Medrano became a minister of the Council of Orders, filling the vacancy left by the promoted Juan Golfín. He took the oath and assumed office in Madrid on 28 March 1664. He served in this role for four years before being promoted to a position on the Royal Council of Castile.^[1]

Francisco de Medrano was appointed prosecutor of the Royal Council of Castile on 10 September 1668, where he began to perform his duties almost immediately (13 September 1668).^[1]

Upon the recommendation of the Chamber of Castile (23 December 1669), he was promoted to the position of minister of the Royal Council of Castile. The title was conferred upon him the following year on 6 January 1670, and he served in this capacity from his inauguration on 10 January 1670, until his death on 16 November 1670.^[1]

During Medrano's time as Alcalde of King Philip IV's Casa y Corté, a work titled Part sixteen of new and select comedies by the best minds in Spain was dedicated to him in 1662 by Mateo de la Bastide and published in Madrid by Melchor Sanchez. The dedication reads:

To Don Francisco de Medrano y Bazan, Of His Majesty's Council, and alcalde in His casa y corte; Having given to the press at my expense and translated into new light this book, a pastime for idleness, it seemed to me that I would not fulfill one of the many obligations that Your Excellency advises, unless I placed it under your protection, so that with this refuge and defense, it may have an immortal duration. Because the benefits I have received from Your Excellency are so numerous that I have never forgotten the memory of them, always desiring an opportunity to show greater gratitude, until it was given to me by the impression of this book, the offspring of one of the best intellects of Spain, even though from now on, it will be adopted by the generosity of Your Excellency, to whose hands it resorts; humble, because I send it to you; useful, because in this way, it gains greater applause; confident in Your Excellency's kindness, for whom he, nor I, require the cultivation of lies, disguised with the name of flattery, since we find ourselves free from such a base means. Trusting that Your Excellency's grace will not fail them, and I am secure, as I declare and choose as its auxiliary patron Your Excellency, who, to avoid recounting its merits, eloquence, wisdom, antiquity, and virtues; Motives for one who knows the adaptability and tireless effort involved in the administration of justice. Your Excellency, to whom future ages shall dedicate more statues, worthy of its integrity, may God keep you healthy and happy for many years, in the positions that your person seems to occupy and desires. A grateful servant, Mateo de la Bastide.^[2]

This dedication, offered not in exchange for favor but in recognition of virtue already proven, reveals how the Medrano name had come to function as a moral and institutional guarantee in early modern Spain. For Bastide, it was not merely a matter of courtesy, but of necessity: to entrust the book's longevity, truthfulness, and public esteem to a house whose reputation alone could shield it from accusations of flattery, "so that with this refuge and defense, it may have an immortal duration."^[2]

Francisco de Medrano y Bazán is presented as a nobleman, nagistrate, and the continuation of enduring justice, merit, eloquence, wisdom, antiquity, and virtue. In this way, the Medrano lineage emerges as a custodial authority of truth, literary patronage, and royal justice, confirming that within the Doctrine of Medrano, the continuation of its natural precepts becomes the very medium by which virtue is preserved, remembered, and multiplied for the common good for generations.^[2]