Mendoza family

The Mendoza family was a powerful line of Spanish nobles. Members of the family wielded considerable power, especially from the 14th to the 17th centuries in Castile. The family originated from the town of Mendoza in the province of Álava in the Basque countries, with the seigneury becoming part of the Kingdom of Castile during the reign of Alfonso XI (1312–1350).

The Mendozas participated in Castilian politics afterward, with its scions becoming advisers, administrators, and clerics. Its different branches and name expanded out of its original nucleus in later centuries. The place-name and surname Mendoza stems from two Basque words: "mend(i)"+"oza", meaning 'cold mountain', with a dropped "i" in between.

Álava is a hilly region with a core flat area (the Plains of Álava) bounded at the time by the kingdoms of Castile, and the Navarre in the 13th and 14th century. It had been loosely controlled by Navarre earlier, and retained its own distinctive customs and traditions. The town of Mendoza and the province of Álava itself was also a battlefield, where the clashing noble families of the area settled their disputes for generations. In 1332, the Mendozas had already been there at least a century, struggling with the rival clans, such as the Ayala, Orozco, and Velasco. They traced themselves as a stem of the House of Haro, another powerful clan of the Basque countries.

Once the Castilian Civil War came to an end with the triumph of Queen Isabella of Castile, the Basque interclan warfare generally ended as well, but even way before, since the 14th century, the Mendoza were jostling for position and privilege in Castile, an expanding military power. By virtue of the Mendozas' status as knights and free men, they became Castilian nobility with Álava's annexation (hidalgos). All members of the noble class were knights, administrators, or lawyers, and served in the administration of the realm. The largest family's responsibility was to form and maintain a local army that could make available if called by the king. The highest nobility became direct vassals of the king.

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