House of Mendoza in the context of Mendoza (Álava)

Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, (1440– 20 July 1515) was the 1st Marquis of Mondéjar (Spanish: Marqués de Mondéjar) and 2nd Count of Tendilla (Conde de Tendilla). He was known as El Gran Tendilla ("The Great Tendilla") and was a Spanish noble of the House of Mendoza. He was the son of Íñigo López de Mendoza y Figueroa, 1st Count of Tendilla, and the grandson of the poet Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana.

Spanish Renaissance architecture emerged in the late 15th century as Renaissance ideals reached Spain, blending with existing Gothic forms. Rooted in Renaissance humanism and a renewed interest in Classical architecture, the style became distinguished by a synthesis of Gothic and Italian Renaissance elements. The style is a creation of uniquely Spanish phases notable because of both rich ornamentation and restrained minimalism. The period saw contributions from the patronage of noble families, notably the House of Mendoza, and architects like Lorenzo Vázquez de Segovia, whose works in places like the Colegio Mayor Santa Cruz [es] in Valladolid, incorporated Tuscan-Roman motifs alongside Gothic forms.

In the northern regions, Italian influences expanded, while local architectural styles (or schools) combined French, Flemish and Lombard styles in highly ornamental designs, seen in landmarks such as the façade of the Universidad de Salamanca. The distinctive Plateresque style also emerged, with decorative forms mimicking silversmith techniques. Meanwhile, the integration of Islamic decorative methods with Gothic structures developed into the Mudéjar style, particularly in Andalusia, Aragón, and Castile.

Íñigo López de Mendoza (1419 – 17 February 1479 in Tendilla, province of Guadalajara, Spain) was the second son of famous Spanish Poet and nobleman Íñigo López de Mendoza y Lasso de la Vega, marquis of Santillana, (1398–1458), and the cadet brother of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1. duque of l'Infantado, (1417 - title awarded 22 July 1475 - 1479), the brother also of Archbishop and Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, (May 3, 1428 – January 11, 1495), named by his contemporaries "the third king of Spain".

He married Leonese lady Elvira de Quiñones, fighting in 1438, aged 19, in the conquest of Huelma, in the Nasri kingdom of Granada, near the border with the Jaén Christian territories and in 1445 in the First Battle of Olmedo, May 1445. When his father, Íñigo, 1st marquis of Santillana died in 1458, he received the village of Tendilla as well as Aranzueque, Armuña de Tajuña and Fuentelviejo being awarded in 1470 the title of Señor, (Sieur) of Huete, buying in 1475 Loranca de Tajuña to the count of Medinaceli, Luis de la Cerda, 1st duke of Medinaceli, dukedom awarded to his neighbor by ruling Queen Isabel I of Castile and her ruling husband Fernando II de Aragón on 31 October 1479.