Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa

Don Juan Bravo de Medrano^[8] was the son of Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Acuña^[9] and Catalina de Medrano y Oñate.^[10]

Juan's mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate was the daughter of Captain Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez^[11][12] and Catalina Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate Rivadeneira.^[13][14]

Captain Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez was the son of Diego de Medrano, born in either Penacerrada, Alava or Soria, and Catalina de Velazquez.^[15]

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal grandmother Catalina Temiño-Bañuelos y Oñate y Rivadeneira was the daughter of Diego Ruiz Temiño de Bañuelos Zaldívar (born 1562, Zacatecas, Mexico)^[16] Councilor and General Depositary of Zacatecas, and Catalina de Oñate y Rivadeneira, the latter was a direct descendant of Cristóbal de Oñate.^[17]

Juan Bravo de Medrano's maternal great-grandfather was Diego de Temiño-Banuelos-Saldivar and Catalina de Oñate y Rivadeneira. Their daughter Catalina de Oñate y Bañuelos was born in 1609, Zacatecas and married Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez (b. 1609, Santo Domingo) on 20 August 1629 in Madrid, Spain.^[18] Catalina de Oñate y Bañuelos and Juan de Medrano y Ulloa y Velazquez were the parents of Catalina de Medrano y Oñate, mother of the first count of Santa Rosa.^[19]

Juan Bravo de Medrano is the maternal great-great-grandson of Baltasar Temiño de Banuelos [es], Lieutenant Captain General of Neuva Galicia, prominent founder and miner of Zacatecas, Mexico. In 1572, he married María de Zaldivar y Mendoza, with whom he had six children. In memory of him there is a lagoon in Zacatecas called Bañuelos.^[20]

Juan Bravo de Medrano was born in Pánuco, Zacatecas, around 1650, son of Bartolomé Bravo de Acuña and Catalina de Medrano y Oñate.^[2]

Juan Bravo de Medrano became the first Zacatecan to purchase a noble title,^[1] becoming the first Count of Santa Rosa on February 8, 1691, thanks to his mining success and due to his pacification of Colotlán and the Sierra del Nayarit [es].^[21] He was also the Lieutenant Capitán General of Nueva Galicia.^[5] This lineage of counts bestowed significant nobility upon Zacatecas, engaging in a competition of honor and wealth throughout the Enlightenment century and the so-called Bourbon reforms.^[21]

Prominent Zacatecan miners maintained a private army, often consisting of two or three hundred men, whether to defend their own territories or the interests of the Crown. Don Juan Bravo de Medrano was also the Maestre de campo in Zacatecas, and therefore maintained a tercio and a personal guard consisting of eight German halberdiers, paid by the king, who accompanied him everywhere.^[21]

A manuscript written by Gaspar de Sandoval Cerda Silva y Mendoza, 8th Count of Galve, records news concerning Juan Bravo de Medrano, 1st Count of Santa Rosa.^[22]

Juan Bravo de Medrano owned the Santa Rosa de Malpaso hacienda from 1691, the year his mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate bequeathed it to him, until his death in 1710.^[2] The community of Malpaso has its origins in a land grant on February 8, 1561. Throughout its history, Malpaso has had various owners. In the 17th century, it belonged to the family of Juan Bravo de Medrano, the first Count of Santa Rosa, hence its name: Santa Rosa de Malpaso, named after its first patron, Santa Rosa de Lima.^[23]

The construction of the Santa Rosa hacienda was of strong craftsmanship, as can still be seen in the walls of the Fort (known as El Caracol) that was built back in the distant last years of the 16th century, and as can be seen in the very thick walls of the barns and big house.^[23] Juan and his mother Catalina de Medrano y Oñate built a temple with a beautiful façade in honor of Saint Rose of Lima. Currently, the Patron Saint is the Lord of Malpaso or the Ascension, and its façade looks very different.^[2]

The father of the Count of Santa Rosa, General Bartolomé Bravo de Acuña, an enterprising miner from Vetagrande, began acquiring lands (centered around the Santa Rosa hacienda situated between Jerez and Juchipila) in the mid-17th century. These properties were added to his wife Catalina de Medrano y Oñate's dowry, descended from majorat founder Cristóbal de Oñate. The first Count of Santa Rosa, Juan Bravo de Medrano, continued acquiring lands, ranging from medium-value estates to large domains and mines mostly in Vetagrande.^[24]

Juan Bravo de Medrano owned large mining and agricultural estates, including the haciendas of Real de Pánuco, Vetagrande, Malpaso, Palomas, San Nicolás in Pinos, Santa Rosa in Juchipila, and Santa Rosa in Tlaltenango.^[2] In 1699, Don Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa purchased the Palomas hacienda from the clergyman Francisco de Arratia for 5,362 pesos.^[24] By 1695, he had acquired lands from the Querétaro convent of Santa Clara de Jesús: La Quemada, Los Edificios, El Cericillo, and El Arenal, southwest of Zacatecas, not far from the lands associated with the Santa Rosa hacienda, also known as Santa Rosa de Malpaso.^[25] Estimated in 1777 after an owner's death, Joseph Martinez de Bustamante, the hacienda had a total value of 57,736 pesos 2 reales.^[24]

This included 1,000 pesos for El Fuerte, 4,000 pesos for Malpaso, 1,500 pesos for El Eje, 2,500 pesos for Santa Rosa, with the main residence valued at 1,800 pesos. The property also included 20 sitios of livestock and nearly 180 caballerías of land, equivalent to 14,144.4 hectares (34,988 acres or 141.444 km).^[24] Adding tools, seeds, and livestock (247 mules, 248 oxen, 161 donkeys, and nearly 2,500 horses), its value reached 69,851 pesos 5 reales. However, the hacienda had mortgages and numerous debts, some dating back 40 years, exceeding a third of its value. It was consequently sold by Captain Bustamante's widow, Gertrudis Díaz de la Campa, a relative of the Count of San Mateo, to Ventura de Arteaga, then the general administrator for José de la Borda.^[24]

Silver production in Mexico—of which Zacatecas accounted for roughly one-third—grew steadily from the 1570s, reaching its highest levels in the 1620s.^[26]

In the mid-17th century, Medrano's father Bartolome Bravo de Acuna purchased the Real de Pánuco mines in Zacatecas. Between 1620 and 1630, Zacatecas experienced prosperity in silver production unmatched until the early 18th century. However, setbacks such as the Vetagrande mine flooding in 1619-1620, epidemics, and migration occurred.^[5] His mines would have utilized Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont's steam-powered pump system to drain water and gas out of the mines.^[27]

In the 17th century, the Real de Pánuco mine was prosperous; 27 grinding mills, 41 smelting mills, 14 amalgamation mills, 39 owners of mines and mills, one blacksmith, among others.^[5] Despite Pánuco's thriving economy in the mid-17th century, the descendants of its discoverers, among the wealthiest individuals in Spanish America, inherited illustrious names but faced more debts.^[5]

Bartolome Bravo de Acuna was succeeded by his son and heir Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa. His son Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano, II Count of Santa Rosa, inherited flooded mines and debts, leading to the inability to sustain the family business. When the II Count of Santa Rosa died, notorial records indicate his properties which included the Pánuco smelters and the amalgamation facilities.^[5][28]

Zacatecas did not exceed its earlier peak in silver output until after 1710, though its fiscal revenues rebounded sooner thanks to a silver boom in nearby Sombrerete. The region's recovery was driven in part by the establishment of a new credit system, funded by Mexico City's silver merchants and channeled through local intermediaries such as traders, refiners, and magistrates. Additionally, a shift back to smelting—though the reasons remain unclear—helped reduce reliance on mercury, easing one of the major constraints on production.^[26]

Juan Bravo de Medrano married Doña Juana Altamirano Castilla y Aguayo. His wife was the daughter of José Altamirano y Castilla^[29] and Juana de Soto Agredano y Carbajal Aguayo.^[30]

Don Juan Bravo de Medrano and Doña Juana Altamirano Castilla y Aguayo had two children:

• Don Felipe Bartolome Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano, II Count of Santa Rosa,^[31] (b. between 1669 and 1729, Zacatecas) husband of Dolores de Navarrete y Argote. He is the father of Ana Josefa Bravo de Medrano y Acuña y Navarrete Argote;^[32] and the grandfather of Don Jose Vicente Beltran y Bravo de Medrano y Acuña, III Count of Santa Rosa, Priest^[33]
• Manuela Bravo de Medrano y Acuña Altamirano y Castilla^[34] (b. between 1669 and 1729, Zacatecas)