María Ramírez de Medrano (b.

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

, 12th century) was a wealthy noblewoman from the illustrious Medrano family, high nobility in the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...

, originally from the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre ( ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), between present-day Spain and France. The me ...

. She was the

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

(''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'') of

Fuenmayor Fuenmayor is a town located in the province of La Rioja, Spain. It is located ten kilometers from Logroño, the capital of La Rioja. The town borders the Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the ...

, and founder of the

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of San Juan de Acre in Navarrete, La Rioja in 1185 for the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (religious society), military order. It was founded in the Crusader states, crusader K ...

; and to provide assistance and protection to

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s on the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

. María Ramírez de Medrano was the wife of Fortún de Baztán, lord of Baztán, descendant of the early Navarrese kings. María's son Don Martín de Baztán y Medrano was the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Osma Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250. It is made up of two parts: *the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

.María Ramírez de Medrano and the Hospital and Convent of San Juan de Acre https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/8373680.pdf

Lords of Fuenmayor (12th Century)

The House of Medrano are one of the great families of

, who inherited from María Ramírez de Medrano the title of ''lords of Fuenmayor'', leading to centuries-long disputes with the municipality. In 1076, a serious dispute between the Kingdoms of Castile and

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

(Navarre) over the lands of

occurred. Castile claimed La Rioja and other Navarrese lands. As a result, this early branch of the House of Medrano in La Rioja became vassals of King

Alfonso VI of León and Castile Alfonso VI (1 July 1109), nicknamed the Brave (''El Bravo'') or the Valiant, was king of Kingdom of León, León (10651109), Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia (10711109), and Kingdom of Castile, Castile (10721109). After the conquest of Toledo, Spai ...

, while the main lineage of the Medrano family, residing closer to the capital of Pamplona, in

Igúzquiza Igúzquiza () is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Igúzquiza is 4 km from Estella and 50.03 km from the capital of the community, Pamplona. It covers an area of 18.02 km² (rough ...

, remained vassals of King Sancho Ramírez of Aragon and Navarre.

The foundation of Fuenmayor

The establishment of María's hospital affiliated with the

of Acre closely coincided with the founding of

Navarrete, La Rioja Navarrete is a municipality of the autonomous community of La Rioja. Named a '' Conjunto Histórico-Artístico'' of Spain, due to its historical and monumental character. Navarrete is located between Logroño and Nájera on the French Way, the mo ...

. Historical accounts state that Fuenmayor was founded by three captains of King Ramiro I's troops, who settled in the valley after defeating the Moslems in the

Battle of Clavijo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(844). Most likely one of those captains are related to the

ricohombre The ricohombre (a magnate, literally, a Spanish word for "richman") or ricahombría, was a high ranking nobility title in mediaeval kingdoms on the territories of modern Spain and Portugal, replaced by a title of grandee in the late 14th-early 15th ...

Fortún de Baztán, Lord of Bazán, her husband. María is documented as the

lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

of Fuenmayor in a later manuscript dated 1411, preserved in the archive of Fuenmayor. This early

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor