García de Medrano y Castejón

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.^[3][2][4][5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

On 1 September 1552, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issued the Carta Ejecutoria de Hidalguía to re-affirm the ancient and noble status of the Medrano family.^[8] 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.^[1]

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.^[9] 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.^[10][11]

García de Medrano y Castejón was born into a network of distinguished Castilian noble houses. His father, García de Medrano, was from the lords of San Gregorio, in the bishopric of Osma, and belonged to the Medrano family, a lineage long associated with judicial and royal service, and whose members included knights of the Order of Santiago, Calatrava, and counselors of state.^[12]

His mother, Catalina de Castejón, was the daughter of Juan González de Castejón, alférez mayor (chief standard-bearer) of Ágreda and founder of the house that would become the Marquesado de Camarena la Real, and Isabel de Armendáriz Díez de Aux. Through this maternal line, García de Medrano was connected to the houses of Castejón, Armendáriz, and Díez de Aux, all of which held hereditary titles and produced members of the Order of Calatrava, senior officers of the Council of Castile, and bishops of Tarazona and Lugo.^[12]

These alliances tied García de Medrano to the broader aristocratic web of the houses of Mendoza, Manrique, Fonseca, and Ovando, placing his family among the most prominent and politically integrated noble lineages of 16th and 17th-century Spain. This noble heritage underpinned his later career in royal service and council governance.^[12]

García de Medrano y Castejón was the son of Garcia de Medrano y Vinuesa, born in Soria, and Catalina de Castejon.^[3][13] He was also the paternal grandson of Diego López de Medrano y Bravo de Lagunas, Lord of San Gregorio, and Francisca de Vinuesa.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[15] García de Medrano y Castejón was the paternal great-great-grandson of Diego López de Medrano, Alcaide of Medinaceli, and Juana de Vergara.^[14]

The ancient and noble House of Medrano is recognized as one of the most powerful in the Sierra de Cameros and in Soria.^[16] 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.^[17] The House of Medrano are listed under the Salvadores and Barnuevo lineages, incorporating them into the ancient 12 lineages of Soria [es].^[1]

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 namesake son Diego López de Medrano (García’s paternal cousin) traveled to Rosas and Genoa aboard a galley, as the chief equerry to Prince Philip, the future Philip II of Spain.^[18] Diego's second son, Francisco de Medrano, held the position of royal accountant and treasurer for Charles, Prince of Asturias.^[19] His other relative Juan de Medrano served as King of Arms (Rey de Armas) of Castile and England during the reigns of Charles V and his son Philip II of Spain.^[20][21]

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.^[3] During his time at the college, he demonstrated exceptional academic skill, quickly obtaining a licentiate degree and a PhD in Law.^[2] He remained at the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé until 1584, when he was appointed to a judicial position.^[3]

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.^[22] He graduated from the College with a degree in Law.^[15]

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 Chancellery of Granada, taking over the position from Licentiate Escobar, who had moved to the Contaduría Mayor de Hacienda on December 23, 1583.^[3]

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).^[23][24] 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.^[25]

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.^[26] 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.^[27]

Alonso de Granada y Venegas filed a lawsuit against García de Medrano and prevailed when the case reached the Royal Council of Castile.^[25] Medrano was condemned,^[28] and Alonso de Granada y Venegas was given a habit of Santiago as compensation.^[29] Despite this, García's 1601 doctrinal treatise 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.^[30]

This confrontation marked a foundational moment in the consolidation of the Medrano doctrine into public law. García de Medrano y Castejón's decision to challenge the hereditary display of princely symbols by the Granada y Venegas family represented a defense of lawful virtue over inherited privilege. Acting in his role as magistrate of the Royal Audiencia of Granada, García upheld a legal and moral order based on merit, dignity, and codified legitimacy. His actions anticipated the institutional reforms he would later implement in the Rules and Establishment of the Knights of Santiago (1601) and aligned with the principles articulated by Tomás Fernández de Medrano in the República Mista (1602).^[31]

Although the Royal Council of Castile ultimately ruled against him, García's intervention reflected the Medrano family's broader view that nobility must be grounded in service to the monarchy and the common good. The dispute revealed a central tenet of the Medrano doctrine: that true nobility is determined by lawful authority, virtuous action, and institutional responsibility, rather than ancestry alone.^[31]

In 1591, a royal inspection of the Chancellery of Granada resulted in the suspension of García de Medrano y Castejón from his post as magistrate and his reassignment to Soria.^[3] Although the action was not officially labeled as punitive, its proximity to the 1588 dispute with the Granada y Venegas family suggests it may have served as a political maneuver to ease tensions in the region. García had directly challenged the public display of royal insignia by a powerful noble house of Nasrid descent, an act that sparked legal retaliation.^[27]

The reassignment removed García from Granada but did not end his influence. By 1599, he was fully restored to royal favor. This trajectory confirms that the crown continued to support his legal and doctrinal authority. The 1591 suspension, rather than a fall from grace, marked a temporary withdrawal that preserved political stability while allowing Medrano to advance through institutional channels.^[3]

Eight years later, in 1599, García de Medrano y Castejón was made a Knight of Santiago and appointed as the prosecutor of the Council of Orders. He was sworn into this position at the court on 4 May 1599. His tenure as prosecutor was brief, as he soon took office as a minister of the Council of Orders on 3 March 1600.^[3] In recognition of his service and merit, he was granted the habit of the Order of Santiago in the same year.^[3]

On 18 August 1604, he left his position in the Council of Orders for a position in the Council of Castile.^[32] On 21 February 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 23 August 1604, while already ill, he requested to be granted the encomienda of Ocaña, belonging to the Order of Santiago.^[3]