Medrano (España)

Medrano is a Spanish surname of Basque origin that means "abundance, to grow, to prosper, or to improve." It is a surname of high nobility established in the old Kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, Castile, France, etc. They are all descendants of their progenitor, Prince Andrés Vélaz de Medrano.Caro Baroja, Julio. ''Etnografía Histórica de Navarra''. Vol. 2. Editorial Aranzadi, 1972, pp. 380–381 https://www.fundacioncajanavarra.es/cultura-y-educacion/archivo/etnografia-historica-de-navarra-volumen-II.pdf

Medrano may refer to:

People

Notable people with the surname include:

Medieval and early modern nobility

* María Ramírez de Medrano, Lady of Fuenmayor, wealthy noblewoman in the 12th century, founder of the Commandery, hospital and convent of San Juan de Acre in Navarrete to protect pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, donated some of her lands to the Order of Saint John.
* Juan Martínez de Medrano 'The Elder', regent of the Kingdom of Navarre in 1328 AD, Baron and Lord of Arroniz, Sartaguda and Villatuerta, ricohombre of Navarre.
* Diego López de Medrano y Hurtado de Mendoza, 14th century royal ambassador, royal steward of the king, lawyer and lord of Agoncillo, Velilla and San Martín de Berberana in the Kingdom of Castile and León.
* Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, a knight and noble, Lord of Fuenmayor, Almarza de Cameros, Azofra and Montalvos in the region of La Rioja, Kingdom of Castile, in the late 14th and early 15th century.
* Juan Vélaz de Medrano IV, lord of Igúzquiza, Orendáin, Learza, knight and royal chamberlain of King Charles III of Navarre in 1412 and King John II of Aragon and Navarre in 1432. Juan was targeted in a rebellion from his domain in Orendáin.
* Diego López de Medrano y Vergara, Lord of San Gregorio and Cavañuelas, knight, ricohombre of Castile and a member of His Majesty's Council and a member of the 12 lineages of Soria, father of Luisa de Medrano.
* Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Mauleon, seventh of the name, 16th century nobleman and knight, descendant of the Kings of Navarre and France.
* Fernando Agustín Vélaz de Medrano y Bracamonte y Dávila, a Spanish nobleman, exile, aristocrat, military officer, and Knight of the Order of Malta, 4th Marquess of Tabuérniga, 15th Marquess of Cañete, 6th Marquess of Fuente el Sol, 8th Marquess of Navamorcuende, 15th Lord of Montalbo, and twice a Grandee of Spain.
* Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Barros, III Marquess of Tabuérniga, conspirator in the court of Philip V of Spain.
*Catalina de Medrano, a wealthy noblewoman and a supplier of fine cloth for the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, a businesswoman, the widow of the Lieutenant Governor of Havana, Pedro Barba, and the wife of the famous maritime explorer Sebastian Cabot.
*Juan de Medrano, a Moorish shoemaker in Ágreda, Soria, known for the extraordinary miracle that occurred during Corpus Christi Day on 20 June 1527 involving a statue of Mary, known as the Virgin of Miracles.

Ecclesiastical leaders

* Diego Ros de Medrano, bishop, governor captain general of the Kingdom of Galicia, a Doctor of Theology, and a professor at the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso. He served as a bishop in the Diocese of Ourense for 20.5 years.
* Juan de Espinosa Medrano, Peruvian author, sacred preacher, professor of theology at the Seminary of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco, playwright, poet, etc. Juan is the most prominent figure of the Literary Baroque of Peru and one of the most important intellectuals from Colonial Spanish America, author of the most famous literary apologetic discourse in the Americas in the 17th century: Apologético en favor de Don Luis de Góngora (1662).
* Juan Fernández de Medrano y Sandoval, born in Madrid, 17th century monk of the Order of Cistercians at the monastery of San Prudencio de Monte Laturce in Clavijo, son of Tomás Fernández de Medrano.
* Diego Fernández de Medrano y Zenizeros, Lord of Sojuela and Valdeosera, was a 17th-century Spanish cleric, priest, nobleman, and author, recognized for his political treatise, panegyric writings and his service to the Spanish Crown.

Academic and cultural pioneers

* Luisa de Medrano, poet, philosopher, writer, and the first female professor in Europe and Spain at the University of Salamanca in 1508.
* Cristóbal de Medrano, composer, organist of the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada in Llerena, and Maestro de capillo of the Badajoz Cathedral and Church of San Juan Bautista in Marchena. Author of the ''Missa voce mea cum sex vocibus'' manuscript, published by Antonio Baciero in 1594.
* José Velázquez de Medrano, a Navarrese noble and artist in Logroño and the most significant silversmith of his time during the Spanish Golden Age.
* Julián Iñiguez de Medrano, poet, playwright, novelist, knight, explorer, author of La Silva Curiosa, courtier of the Kings of Navarre and Queen Marguerite de Valois during the Spanish Golden Age.
* Pedro de Mena y Medrano, the most prominent sculptor in the Iberian Peninsula in the 17th century, and the owner of the most important sculpting workshop in Granada.
* Diego Alfonso de Medrano, prominent alchemist tried by the Spanish inquisition. He practiced alchemical medicine in Madrid. He was the tutor of the Duke of Infantado.
* Antonio Fernando de Medrano, 17th-century Spanish barber-surgeon who practiced in Madrid during the reign of Philip IV, provided medical and surgical services, including bloodletting and minor operations, at a time when barber-surgeons played a crucial role in healthcare, particularly in rural areas.
* Francisco Medrano (poet), Spanish lyric poet from Seville, considered one of the best of the Spanish imitators of Horace.
* Sebastian Francisco de Medrano, president and founder of the Medrano Academy (Poetic Academy of Madrid), Spanish Golden Age poet, playwright, priest, treasurer and chaplain of Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria.
* Giovanni Antonio de Medrano, Major Royal Governor of Mathematics for the Kingdom of Naples, royal architect, General of Battle and teacher of King Charles III and his brothers, the infantes of Spain.
* Andrés López de Medrano, nobleman, educator, doctor, lawyer, journalist, poet, politician and the first enlightened philosopher of the Dominican Republic. Author of the Treaty of ''Logic, Elements of Modern Philosophy (1814).''

Military leaders

* Garcí Bravo de Medrano, nobleman and knight, heir to the maternal estate in Atienza, perpetual alcaide of Atienza castle in the late 15th and early 16th century.
* Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz, captain of the standing army of the king, royal guard of the king, alcaide and mayor of Amaiur-Maya, knight in the 15th and 16th century.
* Diego de Medrano, knight of the Order of Santiago and naval commander, served in major 16th-century campaigns including Lepanto, Cyprus, and the Spanish Armada. He was a key figure in Mediterranean warfare and innovations in galley design.
* Pedro Velaz de Medrano y Manso de Zúñiga, II Lord of Tabuerniga, captain general of the Armada de Barlovento and custodian of the Fleet of New Spain, father of the I Marquess of Tabuerniga.
* Sebastián Fernández de Medrano, General of Battle, chief engineer of the kingdom, maestro de campo, president and sole-director of the first modern Royal Military and Mathematics Academy of Brussels in Europe during the reign of Charles II of Spain and briefly Philip V of Spain.
* Martín Juan de Castejón y Medrano, V lord of Velamazán, Riotuerto, Los Olmillos, of the Strong House of Arias and La Serna, Gentleman of the Chamber of His Majesty, Perpetual Councilman of Soria and Almazán. He was Captain of Infantry in the militias of Agreda, leading them during the siege of Fuenterrabia in 1638.
* Lorenzo de Medrano y Treviño, Chief of Engineers, artilleryman, brigade sergeant major of the coast of Granada and Spanish Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers, notable for his extensive military service during the Peninsular War.
* José de Elío y Ayanz de Navarra de Esparza Artieda y Velaz de Medrano, I Marquess of Vessolla, served as the equerry and royal steward to Queen Mariana de Austria, maestre de campo in the Tercios de Navarra, captain of infantry in the valley of Urraúl, nobleman of Navarra, mayor of Pamplona, and a representative of the military estate in the Kingdom of Navarre in 1685.
* José Joaquín Vélaz de Medrano y Gante, 1st Marquess of Fontellas, 7th Viscount of Azpa, Lieutenant of the Royal Spanish Guards, lord of Autol, Knight of the Order of Malta and representative to the General Courts for the military arm.

Governance and administration

* Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz, head of the ancient House of Medrano in Navarre and the Vélaz de Medrano mayorazgo, hereditary baron and lord of Igúzquiza, Aguinano, Orendain, Zabala, Arróniz, the 4th lord of Learza, merino of the merindad of Estella, the governor of the castles of Del Castillo, Santacara, Monjardin, and major knight of King John III of Navarre and Henry II of Navarre.
* Tomás Fernández de Medrano, divisero, mayor, high magistrate and Lord of Valdeosera in La Rioja, 16th century author of the Mixed Republic (1602), the Secretary of State and War of the Dukes of Savoy, knight in the Order of Saint John, secretary of the Holy Chapters and Assemblies of Castile, Manager of the Grand Prior of Castilla San Juan and The Most Reverend patron and master of the convent of Saint John of Acre in the town of Salinas de Añana.
* Juan Bravo de Medrano, I Count of Santa Rosa, Maestre de campo, Lieutenant Capitán General of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, and the first noble to obtain a title in Zacatecas, Mexico in 1691. He owned large mining and agriculture lands and haciendas in and around Zacatecas. He is the great-great-grandson of Baltasar Temiño de Bañuelos, one of the founders of the mines and city of Zacatecas, and Cristóbal de Oñate, founder of the city of Guadalajara in 1531.
* Francisco de Medrano y Bazán, knight of the Order of Calatrava, rector and professor at Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, judge and magistrate of Granada, prosecutor and councilor of the Royal Council of Castile.
* Alonso Molina de Medrano, judge and advisor of the Kingdom of Castile in the 17th century, inquisitor of Córdoba and Zaragoza, professor at the University of Seville, Councilor of the Indies, the first counselor and chamberlain in the Chamber of the Indies.
* Juan Antonio Molina de Medrano, prosecutor of the Royal Court of Seville in the 17th century, counselor of the Royal Council of Navarre in Plaza de Castilian, magistrate of the Audiencia of Galicia and magistrate of Crime of the Chancery of Granada in the Empire of Spain.
* Antonio Vélaz de Medrano y Altamirano, I Marquess of Tabuérniga, governor of the strategic city of Nieuwpoort in Flanders and Sergeant General of Battle, knight of the Order of Santiago, granted the Marquessate of Tabuérniga.
* García de Medrano y Castejón, Lord of San Gregorio, a Knight of the Order of Santiago, lawyer, criminal judge in the Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Granada, prosecutor and minister of the Council of Orders, a member of the Royal Council of Castile and the Royal Council of Justice, and procurator in the Cortes for the city of Soria.
* Garcia de Medrano y Alvarez de los Rios, minister of Castile and auditor of the Council of the Indies, minister of the Treasury, professor at the university of Salamanca, knight of the Order of Santiago, regent of Navarre and Seville in the 17th century.
* Garcia de Medrano y Mendizábal, I Count of Torrubia, Lord of San Gregorio, rector of the University of Salamanca, alcalde, oider, alderman, and a member of the Council of Orders, son of García de Medrano y Alvarez de los Rios.
* Andrés de Medrano y Mendizábal, 2nd Count of Torrubia, a graduate in Canon Law, Councilor and Dean of the Royal Council of Castile, oider, knight of Calatrava, Chief Judge of Biscay, Associate Justice of the Tribunal of Biscay, and Fiscal of the Council of Finance.
* Baltasar Francisco Álvarez de Medrano, graduate of the Colegio Mayor de Santa Cruz at the University of Valladolid and former rector, was appointed Alcalde del Crimen of the Chancery of Valladolid in 1690. He later served in Granada, Madrid, and Barcelona, holding positions as ''Oidor'', ''Alcalde de Casa y Corte'', Minister of the Council of Finance, and Corregidor of Cuenca.
* Juan Rodríguez de Medrano y Mesía, 23rd governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México between 1668 and 1671 during the reign of King Charles II of Spain.
* Francisco Antonio de Agurto y Salcedo Medrano, 1st Marquess of Gastañaga, Knight of the Order of Alcantara, of His Majesty's Supreme War Council, General Field Marshal of the Netherlands, Governor and Captain General of the Spanish Netherlands and Viceroy of Catalonia.
* Diego Fernández de Medrano y Zapata, born in Sojuela, La Rioja, lord and divisero of the manor and Divisa de Regajal, a knight of the Order of Calatrava, governor of the province of Carrión in the valley of Atlixco, located in Puebla, Mexico, from 1693 to 1706.
* Pedro Antonio de Medrano y Albelda, regent of Navarre in 1702, knight in the Order of Santiago, professor in Valladolid, judge of Vizcaya and its lordship, oidor of the Valladolid Chancery and the Council of Orders.
* Sebastián de la Cuadra Medrano y Llarena y Llano, 1st Marquess of Villarías, Chief Prime Minister (First Secretary of State) of Spain between 1736 and 1746 during the reign of Philip V of Spain, prominent co-founder of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1744, and obtained royal protection in 1738 for the foundation of the Royal Academy of History.
* Fernando Vélaz de Medrano y Álava, 2nd Marquess of Fontellas, 2nd Viscount of Amaláin, 8th Viscount of Azpa, and 15th Lord of Fontellas, was a Navarrese nobleman, aristocrat, and politician. He served as a provincial deputy and parliamentary representative for Tudela, contributing to infrastructure and border legislation. As heir to the Vélaz de Medrano family, he managed extensive estates in Navarre and Castile, playing a key role in regional development, including the Tudela-Bilbao railway, despite electoral controversies.
* Diego de Medrano y Treviño, Spanish military officer, a liberal politician during the reign of Ferdinand VII, and a technical essayist reformer. Medrano was the Minister of the Interior of Spain (1822 and 1835), Senator of Spain during the reign of Isabel II, founder of the first Royal Basque Economic Societies of Friends of the Country (1834), and the founder of the Savings Banks of Spain.
* Pedro Medrano, Argentine statesman and lawyer
* Gabino Gainza Fernandez de Medrano, Captain General of Chile and the Kingdom of Guatemala, he declared Independence for the Kingdom of Guatemala on September 15, 1821 and became the first ruler of an independent and United Central America, extending from Soconusco (in Chiapas) through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Modern figures

* Valentin Medrano Pérez, Dominican Republic politician
* Maria Esperanza Medrano de Bianchini, Venezuelan mystic
* Diego Medrano, Spanish poet, narrator and columnist
* Orlando Montenegro Medrano, Nicaraguan president
* Enric Casadevall Medrano, Andorran politician
* José Alberto Medrano, Salvadoran general
* Carlos Monge Medrano, Peruvian physician
* Jose Domingo Medrano, Salvadoran doctor

Sports and entertainment figures

* Medrano Tamen, Cameroonian footballer
* Francisco Medrano (footballer), Salvadoran football player
* Héctor Medrano, Mexican football manager
* Hugo Medrano, director, actor, playwright
* Íngrid Medrano, Salvadoran wrestler
* Kain Medrano (born 2001), American football player
* Rosa Medrano, Dominican volleyball player
* Vivienne Medrano, American animator and voice actress

Etymology and meaning

The surname Medrano is widely believed to derive from the Spanish verb '' medrar'', meaning "to improve," "advance," or "prosper." This interpretation is rooted in several classical linguistic sources. The 15th-century Spanish grammarian Antonio de Nebrija defines ''medrar'' simply as: "Medrar: to improve. Proficio, is," linking it directly to the Latin proficio, meaning "to make progress."Antonio de Nebrija, ''Diccionario Latino-Español'', 1492. The connection to the verb ''medrar'' is confirmed in Pedro Pineda’s 18th-century bilingual dictionary, where it appears immediately after the entry on the Medrano family.

Pedro Felipe Monlau es">:es:Pedro_Felipe_Monlau">esexpands on this, describing ''medrar'' as a corruption of '' meliorar'', which comes from Latin '' melior'' ("better, best"), stating that it conveys the sense of "improve, advance, prosper."

Further linguistic evidence is provided by Joan Corominas, who, in ''Diccionario Crítico Etimológico de la Lengua Castellana'' (Vol. IV, p. 19), identifies the early form ''medranza'', meaning "improvement in heredity." This appears in a 1076 document, with the spelling ''metranza'', indicating historical usage tied to lineage and social advancement. Ramón Menéndez Pidal is credited as the first to cite this historical documentation of the word, reinforcing the interpretation of Medrano as a name associated with "improvement, advancement, prosperity."

This etymological meaning aligns with tenth-century origin accounts preserved by Julio Caro Baroja in ''Etnografía Histórica de Navarra'', by Licentiate Francisco Mosquera de Barnuevo, and in the ''Boletín de la Comisión de Monumentos Históricos y Artísticos de Navarra''. These sources recount that in around 979 the Caliph of Córdoba once asked about Prince Andrés Vélaz de Medrano, considered the progenitor of the Medrano lineage: "¿''Medra o no''?" ("Does he improve his position—does he prosper, or not?"), to which Andrés responded by claiming the surname Medrano. The question reflects the exact meaning documented by Antonio de Nebrija and affirmed by later philologists: ''medrar'' as a verb denoting growth, improvement, and advancement—both socially and genealogically.

Medrar and the courtly politics of ascent

This etymological interpretation of medrar as noble advancement has recently been reaffirmed in modern scholarship. Àngel Campos-Perales, in a 2024 peer-reviewed article on the ''valimiento'' of the Duke of Lerma, constructs his narrative around the life of Vice-Chancellor Andrés Roig using a tripartite framework: "''medrar, vivir, morir''". He presents the ''grammar of'' medrar as a courtly mechanism of ascent under Lerma's protection, wherein nobles and officials advanced by symbolic proximity to the ''valido'', who in turn channeled the king's favor.

This framework, deeply indebted to Norbert Elias's theory of court society, is visualized in the era's iconography—for example, the 1600 frontispiece of ''El Prado de Valencia'', which depicts the king as a sun and Lerma as a star shining by his light, accompanied by the inscription: "''La que cerca de su dueño resplandece, mucho alcança y más merece''." In this system, medrar was more than a verb, it was a social and political act. Campos-Perales thus provides a rare contemporary analysis of medrar as a concept of lineage and legitimacy under the Habsburg monarchy, directly aligning with the noble ethos behind the Medrano surname.Campos-Perales, Àngel. “Los validos valencianos del valido: arte y legitimación social en tiempos del Duque de Lerma (1599–1625).” Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie VII: Historia del Arte, no. 12 (2024): 275–296. https://doi.org/10.5944/etfvii.12.2024.38583.

Places

* Medrano, Spain, a municipality in La Rioja, Spain
* Palace of Vélaz de Medrano, in Igúzquiza
* Medrano Academy, a Spanish Golden Age literary academy established by Sebastián Francisco de Medrano on Leganitos street, in Madrid in 1616
* Royal Military and Mathematics Academy of Brussels, a 17th century military academy established by Sebastián Fernández de Medrano in 1675
* Juan Espinoza Medrano District, a district in Peru
* Medrano (Buenos Aires Underground), a metro station in Argentina
* Medrano, a village in Mendoza, a province in the Cuyo region of Argentina
* Palace of Medrano, in the city of Ciudad Real, Spain
* Castle of Aguas Mansas, in the municipality of Agoncillo, La Rioja
* Medrano street in Logroño, La Rioja
* Medrano street in Navarrete, La Rioja
*Medrano street in Navas de Tolosa, Jaén

Noble titles

Some of the noble titles held by the Medrano family, though not limited to, include:
* Marquessate of Fontellas
* Marquessate of Vessolla
* Marquessate of Tabuérniga
* Marquisate of Médrano
* Marquessate of Espinal
* Marquessate of Villamayor es">:es:marquesado de Villamayor">es* Marquessate of Terán es">:es:Marquesado de Terán">es* Count of Torrubia
* Count of Santa Rosa
* Viscounts of Azpa
* Viscounts of Amaláin
* Baron of Mahave
* Baron of Maabe
* Lordship of Learza
* Lordship of Igúzquiza
* Lordship of San Gregorio
* Lordship of Cavañuelas
* Lordship of Cabanillas
* Lordship of Valdeosera
* Lordship of Regajal
* Lordship of Sojuela
* Lordship of Orendáin
* Lordship of Arróniz
* Lordship of Fuenmayor
* Lordship of Agoncillo
* Lordship of Velilla

Entertainment and media

* Cirque Medrano, a French circus
* General Medrano, a character in ''Quantum of Solace''
* '' El Palacio de Medrano'', a play and tragedy set in Guadalajara, Mexico
*
The Treasure Chest of the Medranos
' by Elizabeth Howard Atkins, published at Santa Barbara by Wallace Hebberd, 1927
* Perez Escrich, Enrique.
La Envidia
' (''Historia de los pequeños''). ''Tomo cuarto''. Paris: Librería de Garnier Hermanos, 1890. Features Luis de Medrano, a fictional Spanish colonel and tragic father entangled in political betrayal, paternal sacrifice, and romantic intrigue.
*
Des Teufels Anteil
' ( Carlo Broschi). German comic opera in three acts by Daniel François Esprit Auber, libretto by Eugène Scribe. Leipzig: Carl Friedrich Wittmann. A fictional "Count of Medrano" appears as royal chamberlain and palace governor in this 19th-century opera
French edition (1879)
printed in Paris.

* Julian Iñiguez de Medrano'', La Silva Curiosa'' (The Curious Forest) dedicated to Queen Marguerite de Valois.
*
Sonnets of Francisco de Medrano y Villa
' compiled by the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
* Sebastián Francisco de Medrano'', Favores de las Musas'' (Favors of the Muses) dedicated to His Excellency Theodoro Trivulzio, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Prince of Musocco.
* Phelipe de Medrano,
Quadrados mágicos, que sobre los que figuraban los egypcios, y pygthagoricos, para la superticiosa adoración de sus falsos dioses
' (1744), dedicated to Queen Isabel Farnese.
* Tomás Fernández de Medrano, ''República Mista'' (Mixed Republic, 1602) dedicated to Francisco de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma.
* Diego Fernández de Medrano y Zenizeros,
Mirror of Princes: Crucible of their Virtues, Astonishment of their Failings, Soul of their Government and Government of their Soul
' dedicated to Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias.
* Diego Fernández de Medrano y Zenizeros''
Heroic and Flying Fame of the Most Excellent Lord Don Luis Méndez de Haro, Count-Duke of Olivares
' dedicated to Pedro Coloma, Secretary of State, Knight of Santiago.
* Royal reform of the ''Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso'' (''Reform of García de Medrano'') decreed by Philip IV of Spain in 1665 and implemented by Charles II of Spain in 1666.

References

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