“ MENDOZA, PEDRO GONZALEZ DE (1428–1495) , Spanish cardinal and statesman, was the fourth son of Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquess of Santillana, and duke of Infantado. He was born at Guadalajara in New Castile, the chief lordship of his family, on the 3rd of May 1428. The house of Mendoza claimed to descend from the lords of Llodio in Alava, and to have been settled in Old Castile, in the 11th century. One chief of the house had been greatly distinguished at the battle of the Navas de Tolosa in 1212. Another had been Admiral of Castile in the reign of Alphonso the Wise. ”

“ The cardinal’s father, the marquis of Santillana—to use the title he bore for the greater part of his life—was a poet, and was conspicuous during the troubled reign of John II. Loyalty to the Crown was the traditional and prevailing policy of the family. Pedro Gonzalez, the future cardinal, was sent into the Church mainly because he was a younger son and that he might be handsomely provided for. ”

“ Peter the Cruel had endowed them with the lordships of Hita and Buitrago. The greatness of the Mendozas was completed by Pedro Gonzalez, who sacrificed his life to save King John I. at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. ”