Julián Íñiguez de Medrano

In this Basque name, the surname is Íñiguez de Medrano.

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano Lord of Maumusson
1212 AD Shield of the House of Medrano in Navarre "Gules field, Calatrava cross fleurdelisé and voided argent."
Born	Julián Íñiguez de Medrano 1520s Estella, Navarre
Died	1585–1588?
Occupation	Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Knight, Explorer, Courtier
Language	Spanish, French, Latin, Basque, Castilian etc.
Nationality	Navarrese
Period	16th Century
Literary movement	Spanish Golden Age
Notable works	La Silva Curiosa, dedicated to Queen Margaret of Valois
Spouse	Francisca de Luca (first wife) Sérène de Montauban (second wife)
Children	Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, Pierre Íñiguez de Medrano, François Iñiguez de Medrano, Marie Iñiguez de Medrano
Relatives	Pedro Iñiguez de Medrano (father) María de Ocáriz (mother), 4 brothers (Juan Íñiguez de Medrano?)

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano y Ocáriz (Estella, Navarre 1520s–1585-1588?) was an author, knight and courtier of the kings of Navarre, poet, and playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, lord of Maumusson, and became part of the court of Queen Margaret of Valois in Nérac. He is known for his book, La Silva Curiosa (Paris, 1583) dedicated to Queen Margaret de Valois. Before becoming familiar with Margaret de Valois, Julián Íñiguez de Medrano had spent many years travelling the world: Spain, Italy, Sicily, France, Flanders, Portugal, the Indies, and Africa.

Julián Íñiguez de Médrano, a Navarrese gentleman, illustrious for his knowledge and celebrated for his travels throughout almost the entire world. Medrano was a descendant of Iñigo Arista and the first Kings of Navarre. Julián Íñiguez de Medrano started a prolific lineage, Lords of various noble houses in the south of France.

Family and Royal Ancestry

Palace of the Kings of Navarre, Estella

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano was the son of Pedro Íñiguez de Medrano and María de Ocaris (or Ocáriz). Through his father Pedro Íñiguez de Medrano, Julián claimed he was also a descendant of the Navarrese royal house of Íñiguez, also known as the first Kings of Pamplona (Navarre). Julián Íñiguez de Medrano had four brothers. It was first thought that Julián was from Igúzquiza and born in the 1540's, however it is now understood that he was born around the 1520's in Estella.

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano was a relative of Juan Velaz de Medrano y Echauz, the Lord of Igúzquiza and Learza, and his distinguished brother, Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz. These lords lived near Julián's hometown of Estella, where the Medrano family also owned the Palace of the Kings of Navarre—a Romanesque royal residence that served as the seat of the Kings and Queens of Navarre from the late 12th century until the mid-15th century.

10th century

His father Pedro Iñiguez was from the illustrious house of Medrano, ricohombres and ancient Navarrese high nobility from the Kingdom of Navarre. The Medrano family lineally descend from their progenitor, a 10th century Moorish Prince named Andrés Vélaz de Medrano. This Prince came from the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba and settled in Igúzquiza in the year 979.

11th century

65 years after his progenitor prince Andrés Vélaz de Medrano entered Navarre, Julián's ancestor Blas Íñiguez de Medrano is documented on 2 November 1044 in a donation list regarding the properties that belonged to the jurisdiction of the monastery of Santa María la Real de Nájera during the reign of García Ramírez of Navarre. In Viero, below a ford and adjacent to it, a piece of land belonged to Blas Íñiguez de Medrano.

Palace of Íñiguez de Medrano

General interior view of the entrance hall at the Palace of Íñiguez de Medrano in Sangüesa

The Palace of the Íñiguez de Medrano family in Sangüesa is located on Enrique de Labrit street (former Población) nº 31, at the intersection with Calle Caballeros. In the entrance hall, there is a double arch at the mouth of the staircase with a central column, decorated with plasterwork displaying elaborate floral designs and angels holding up the Medrano ancestral tree.

Exterior of the Palace of Íñiguez de Medrano in Sangüesa

The palace was featured in a printed record of the Iconographic Museum of the Kingdom promoted by the Provincial Council. The property is also known as Casa Estudio, for having housed the city's Grammar Study. This 16th-century building has a compact appearance. The ground floor features meticulous ashlar stonework with an lintel doorway and two large windows. The rest of the building is made of brick, adorned with wooden eaves with vegetal motifs, and a gable on the corner.

Relatives

Juan Iñiguez de Medrano, a relative (and possibly brother) of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, was involved in a legal dispute titled Juan Iñiguez de Medrano vs. Pedro Moreno, recorded by the High Court of Navarre. The case, spanning April 7, 1581, to November 17, 1581, concerned Juan Íñiguez de Medrano, a resident of Estella-Lizarra, suing Pedro de Moreno of Olite for failing to pay 562 reales. This payment was owed for the sale of 6 quintals and 1 roba of pepper under their commercial partnership. Juan's involvement in the lucrative spice trade reveals his significant economic status in 16th-century Navarre.

Between October 14, 1580, and February 14, 1581, Julian's relative (and potential brother) Pedro Iñiguez de Medrano and his wife Rosa de Eguia, residents of Estella, filed a lawsuit against Lope de Mendico, guarantor for Francisco Arrastia, also of Estella. The dispute concerned the payment of 9 ducats in interest on a loan of 130 ducats. The case was handled by the Royal Council of Navarre and is documented in 37 folios.

Marriages and issue

Julián was first married to a certain Francisca de Luca, with whom he had three children. With his second wife, he had one child.

● Julián Íñiguez de Medrano y Luca

● Pierre Íñiguez de Medrano y Montauban

● François Iñiguez de Medrano y Luca

● Marie Iñiguez de Medrano y Luca

One of them, Julián Íñiguez de Medrano y Luca, named after his father, was ordained a priest, and, thanks to the surviving ordination letter, dated 1573. It is known that both de Medrano, father of the ordained, like his mother, Francisca, were originally from Estella.

Sérène de Montauban

When his first wife died, Julián Iñiguez de Medrano went to France, where he was part of the court of the kings of Navarre, Enrique II and Margarita de Angoulême. There is a marriage contract between Julián Íñiguez de Medrano and Sérène de Montauban, dated July 18, 1550; but it seems that Sérène was his second wife. It was precisely because of his place at court, thanks to the intercession of the queen, that Medrano managed to marry Sérène de Montauban, daughter of Bertrand de Montauban, lord of Flourès, Marciac, Riscle and Maumusson.

Lords of Maumusson

Through this marriage, Julián Íñiguez de Medrano became lord of Maumusson, a title that passed to his son Pierre Íñiguez de Medrano y Montauban.

This would mark the beginning of Julian Íñiguez de Medrano's lineage in Gascony. In southern France, they would become abundant and remain loyal to the Kings of France and Navarre, particularly during the 16th century Spanish Conquest of Navarre.

Courtier in the Kingdom of Navarre

In red, the lands of Navarre occupied by Ferdinand. In pink, the remaining Kingdom of Navarre which survived until Louis XIII of France, II of Navarre.

Everything indicates that, indeed, Medrano participated actively in the attempts of Henry II to recover the part of Navarre occupied by Fernando el Catolico in 1546. In fact, there is a letter from Juan de Vega, ambassador of Carlos V before the Holy See, dated June 9, 1546, in which he mentions a conversation with Pedro de Albret y Navarra, bishop of Cominges, illegitimate son of Juan III of Navarra —stepbrother, therefore, of Enrique II—, and spy imperial in the court of the kings of Navarre, in which he informed him that Enrique II was trying to gain support in Upper Navarre to recover it. To achieve this, he had sent three neighbors from Estella: Tomás de Ubago, Juan Iturmendi and Julián Íñiguez de Medrano.

Coat of arms of the Vélaz de Medrano family in Igúzquiza

Julian's relatives, the alcaides Juan Velaz de Medrano y Echauz, Lord of Igúzquiza and Learza, and Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz, Mayor of Amaiur-Maya, fought for the independent Kingdom of Navarre against the Spanish conquest until it was completed by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1522 after his army besieged Jaime Vélaz de Medrano in the town and royal castle of Amaiur-Maya.

After the death of Henry II of Navarre in 1555, it seems that Julián Iñiguez de Medrano went into the service of Prince Antoine de Borbón, and Juana III de Albret, Queen of Navarre. It may be that he accompanied Antonio de Borbón on his travels around the country during the first war of religion. It is even possible that he fought as a soldier alongside his lord. Medrano, in fact, saw himself as a soldier, rather than as a man of letters:

"Some of those who will read this book (La Silva Curiosa) will passionately say that being a soldier, naked and ethereal of the letters and sciences that are necessary to the one who composes some work, why do I get so far ahead and deep into the discourse of women?"

After the demise of Navarre's king consort, Antonie de Borbón, in 1562, there is a gap in information about Julián Íñiguez de Medrano until the 1580s. It's plausible that his journeys around the world occurred during this period, potentially prompted by the changes in the court dynamics following Antonio de Borbón's death. Antonio, after initial uncertainty, eventually aligned with the Catholic side during the first war of religion, meeting his demise in the Siege of Rouen (1591–1592). Medrano likely distanced himself from the Navarre court as Calvinism appeared.

Poetic tributes for the travels of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano

In 1583, Julián wrote about his journey to Finisterre, Spain, anciently famous as the "end of the world, " during his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In medieval times, pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela often continued to Finisterre, linking it to the arrival of Apostle James' remains.

Famous for his travels all around the world, the memory of Don Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, lord of Maumusson, was preserved in testimonies, allegory, prophecies and lyrical poetry:

An Ode to Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, Knight of Navarre

An ode to Monsieur Julian Íñiguez de Medrano:

Sic bellicosa Cantabria decus, Medrana, tot tantisque laboribiLSy defuncte, recludas fidelis ingenii monimenta cunetas. Expande merces quas tibi Iberia Ferax novorum, aut praebuit Aphrica monstrosa mater, vel dederunt, Italid Siculique campi. Quaecumque tándem mille periculis, gentes et urbes tot peragrans, redux scrutata docté, tecum Jule incolumis patriae reportas. Quod si mihi sors patria, non furor civilis, et vis demeret otium: si quid meae cantu valeret barbitos et numerosa Musae, Hos tot labores non paterer tuos oblivioni cederé: nec tuum nomen vel ulla aetas veneno, invidiae pósito taceret. Non quod tibi sit aut ebur indicum, aut concha rubri gemmea littoris, aut secta telluris profundo vena sinu fugientis auri.Charusque vivas principibus viris, sanguis parentum nobilium, genus Medraneum (sat nota virtus quos domus illa tulit virorum.) Non ista, fortunae utpote ludicris exposta, nostra inquam caneret chelys. Verum tuae quod sancta mentís, nobilitet penétrate virtus. Namque haec supremum sola fugit rogum omnes in annos posthuma, caeteris, finem vetustas, imber, ignis, et violens minitatur Eurus. Haec illa verae est laiidis adorea, condigna merces ingeniis bonis, Cosíos supra quae postmodum ala te vehet haud metuente solui.

"Thus, Medrano, warlike glory of Cantabria, you who have completed so many and such great labors, reveal to all the monuments of your faithful genius. Unfurl the treasures that fertile Iberia has offered you, or that monstrous mother Africa has bestowed, or those granted by the fields of Italy and Sicily. Whatever knowledge you have gathered, having journeyed wisely through a thousand dangers, across so many peoples and cities, you bring back with you, unharmed, O Julio, to your homeland. If only fate, not civil madness and violence, could grant me peace; if my lyre and the Muses' measured verses held any power, I would not let your great labors fall to oblivion, nor would any age, with envy’s poison laid aside, be silent of your name: Not because you possess ivory from India, the jeweled shells of the Red Sea coast, or veins of gold hewn from deep-hidden veins of earth. Nor because you live among noble princes, blood of noble ancestors, from the Medrano lineage (whose famed virtue is well known from the men it produced). Not for such fleeting games of fortune would my lyre sing. Rather, because of the noble virtue that penetrates the sanctity of your mind. For this alone escapes the supreme funeral pyre, surviving the ages to come. While other things are threatened by age, rain, fire, and the violent blasts of the East wind. This is the true prize of praise, a fitting reward for genius, which on the wings of Pegasus will carry you, unafraid of dissolution."

—— N. L. B., "An Ode to Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, Knight of Navarre," La Silva Curiosa (1583)

Allegory by Jean Daurat, the Royal Poet of the king

"That he had seen various peoples and cities, was once the great praise of the hero from Ithaca. Yet he brought nothing of value back to his homeland, as the sea carried off the riches he seized from others, until he reached the welcoming land of Alcinous at last, where he, a guest, brought home various treasures. Behold, Julio de Medrano, a new Ulysses of sorts, returns from different peoples and from a diverse sea, bearing every kind of gem and all kinds of gold: a treasure never as great as that of Ulysses."

— Jo. Auratus, the Poet of Royalty. La Silva Curiosa (1583)

Testimony of Benito Selyagio, Hermit of Salamanca

"To senor Medrano: You, who, giving your life to glory, have seen Africa, India, and Italy, and without paling in the midst of dangers, practiced among foreign peoples; You, who have been able to see, over the waters of the Nabataean River, fair Aurora rise in her chariot, and sailing against the North wind, have seen the shore where the sun sets, always inhaling, according to Fortune's whims, the misty air of Neptune's waves; You have not in vain deserved the honor that one wishes to give to immortality, this empty honor, this confused glory that deceives the common people for a time, but by labor elevating your renown, you have engraved your name throughout the world, teaching it to remote islands, giving it to sandy fields, to sea gods, to the inhabitants of the waves, and work, the true father of your destiny, has brought it back to the safe shore where your virtue withdraws from the storm. You have not limited the desire of the beautiful season within the confines of your house in Vendo, your sweet homeland, But as one sees a bee that sifts from meadow to meadow, from garden to garden, from rose to rose, from violet to thyme, a thousand sweetnesses, then returning lightly to its hive, bringing homemaker the sweet gifts of the honeycomb to preserve, and the wax, and the honey; Thus, running, hungry to know the rarities that nature brings forth, you were the first to see the Spanish people, the Portuguese, and both poles; wisely making your profit and glory from what the eye of your soul made you believe: and bringing back labor to our eyes of a hundred treasures, drawn from a thousand places, But what use is it that my pen honors you? you, known to both Auroras, have recognized so many diverse peoples, and surpassed the course of my verses. Your eye, first, discussed things that your learned mind had skillfully unfolded; in seeing them, your eye had pleasure, and your soul chose the most beautiful: which today presents to us the work in this tableau, which we have as a pledge of a longer work, where you outline the features in six discourses, of a hundred thousand secrets."

— Benito Selyagio, Hermit of Salamanca, To Julio Íñiguez de Medrano. La Silva Curiosa (1583)

Prophecy of the Hermit of Salamanca

"After Julio has crossed land and sea with toil and suffering, Weary of seeing foreign lands, he will return and find rest, And he shall be acclaimed."

— Benito Selyagio, Hermit of Salamanca, To Julio Íñiguez de Medrano. La Silva Curiosa (1583)

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano in the Nérac Court of Queen Margaret of Valois

Nérac Court (Château de Nérac)

Medrano returned from his travels and flourished in the time of Queen Margaret of Valois, and this Princess, who knew how to value people of wit, believed she gained much by having him at her Nérac Court, where he was for several years both an ornament and a delight. In the list of members of the court corresponding to the year 1584 there appears an «escuyer tranchant», equivalent to a gentleman, named «Medranna», who is, without a doubt, Julián Íñiguez de Medrano. Inexplicably, his name does not appear in the lists of previous years, nor in those of subsequent years, hence historians are unsure what capacity he was part of in the court before that date. Medrano resided in France because he belonged to the court of the kings of Navarre.

It can be deduced that Julián Íñiguez de Medrano was around sixty-three years old and occupied a position within the Nérac court. Julián Íñiguez de Medrano also wrote another rare and nearly forgotten work titled "Historia singular de seis animales, d'el Can, d'el Cavallo, d'el Lobo, d'el Osso, d'el Ciervo y d'el Elefante," also printed by Nicolás Chesneau in 1583. Most likely, Medrano shared the humanistic spirit that radiated from the court of his former benefactor, Queen Margaret Angoulême: very critical of the vices of the Roman Church, open to new forms of spirituality, but faithful to orthodoxy.

He had been in Nérac with Queen Margaret of Valois, wife of the future Henry IV: “to the most serene Reyna su Señora etando en Nerac,” is the title of one of his sonnets. Whether he accompanied the queen on her journey from Paris during the second half of 1578, or whether Medrano was already in Nérac upon her arrival, has still been a matter of debate. The fact is that there he became part of her court, although historians are unsure in what capacity; at least until 1584.

La Silva Curiosa ("The Curious Forest") by Julián Íñiguez de Medrano

La Silva Curiosa by Julián Íñiguez de Medrano 1583

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano descends from a noble House well versed in the academic world; many of the nobility from the Medrano family produced important books of their own. The full title of his book is "La Sylva Curiosa de Julián de Medrano, Caballero Navarrese, which deals with various very subtle and curious things, very appropriate for Ladies and Gentlemen in all virtuous and honest conversations. Addressed to the very high and most serene Queen of Navarre su Sennora, in Paris, Printed at the House of Nicolas Chesneav, MDLXXXIII." published in 1583 by Nicolas Chesneau and edited by Mercedes Alcalá Galán. Julián Íñiguez de Medrano would have been around sixty-three years old at the time of publishing La Silva Curiosa. Furthermore: Nicolas Chesneau, a well-known Catholic and anti-Huguenot propaganda printer, published La silva curiosa.

Already in 1582 he was in the vicinity of the capital, in Fontainebleau, where the queen asked him to compose his work; later, in the Bois de Vincennes, where he finished it. This information is confirmed by the documents relating to the court of Marguerite de Valois collected by Philippe Lauzun. According to what is said verbatim in the work, rather than to teach the language, Medrano wrote it because the queen had "commanded him to compose a book on Spanish companies and currencies, and some other work in Spanish," of diverse and curious subjects; because she "gets very upset reading the Spanish language."

Medrano wrote it for the amusement of a queen who already knew Spanish and who liked to read it. Pierre de Bourdeille, Lord of Brantôme, stated this when he said that Queen Margaret understood and spoke Spanish and Italian "as if she had been born, raised and raised all her life in Italy and Spain."

Testimony of de la Morinière

"ABOUT THE CURIOUS FOREST OF DE MEDRANO: Let whoever wishes boast about Apelles, Zeuxis, Lisippus, and those closer to our time, Raphael, Michelangelo, and so many experts in their proportions, shading, and variegation. As for me, I value more the tableau of nature, of manners, of teachings, and of the entire universe, which MEDRANO encloses in his beautiful verses, taking the name and figure from a forest. Their portraits only affect our eyes, and hold our idle minds suspended, perishable otherwise and of no memory. But this speaking tableau is much better adorned and cannot be stifled by time in this way, engraving its beautiful art and glory in minds". - Mr. de la Morinière

Republished in 1608 by Cesar Oudin

La Silva Curiosa by Julian Iniguez de Medrano (republished in 1608 by César Oudin)

In the "Rares" room of the Biblioteca Nacional, in Madrid, there are two copies of the two editions of La Silva Curiosa. The second edition of La Silva Curiosa by Julian Iniguez de Medrano (1583) republished in Paris in the year 1608, "corrected in this new edition and improved for readability by César Oudin," whose main novelty was the inclusion of Cervantes's Novel of the Curious Impertinent. The main novelty here lies in the inclusion of Cervantes' "Novela del curioso impertinente" (Novel of the Inquisitive Impertinent) without any indication of authorship, which led some to believe that this short story was written by Medrano.

This edition is of interest to Cervantes collectors and scholars as it contains an early printing of his Novela del Curioso Impertinente, a story told in Don Quixote, and first published in 1605. It is the final story to appear in this volume of La Silva Curiosa, beginning at page 274. Don Quixote was written when Don Miguel de Cervantes ended up imprisoned in the Cueva de Medrano, located in the centre of the town of Argamasilla de Alba. The place can still be visited nowadays, and it is where, undoubtedly, Don Quixote de la Mancha started to be written.

Poems of Praise dedicated to Queen Margaret de Valois

Marguerite de Valois

It was Queen Marguerite de Valois, eager to read texts in Spanish that commissioned Medrano to write La silva curiosa, the work that she would pass on to posterity. The well-known sonnets or poems of praise by Julian Iñiguez de Medrano, both in Latin and in French, and two octaves, are dedicated to Queen Marguerite de Valois:

"I, Most High and Serene Lady (being a native of Navarre and recognizing that the greater part of the honor, being, and fortune I possess, next to God, springs and proceeds from Your Majesty as the true source of my happiness and life), have found this first and tender flower of my labors among the thorns of my sorrows and toils. I removed it from among them, and not knowing anyone who deserves it as much, nor to whom I owe it, I present it to Your Majesty (...) If in this first book Your Majesty enjoys the flowers, in the subsequent ones, you will savor the delicious fruit of the rarest and most curious secrets of nature that I have been able to learn and gather from Spain, the Indies, and my interactions with Italians and Portuguese. Since I have discovered and acquired them with curiosity and labor, I have no doubt that Your Majesty, recognizing my goodwill, will favor them with your attention (...) From this Hermitage in the Bois de Vincennes, on this day of Saint Paul, the twenty-fifth of January, in the year 1583. I kiss the Royal feet of Your Majesty, your most obedient servant, vassal, and subject, Julio Iñiguez de Medrano."

The Works in La Silva Curiosa by Julián Íñiguez de Medrano

Summary of La Silva Curiosa

La Silva Curiosa is a heteroclite miscellany, in which Medrano manifests his penchant for epitaphs, more or less pastoral poetry, proverbs and tales of necromancers and ghosts, and builds a repertoire of entertaining curiosities. The Curious Silva includes very heterogeneous materials within it: sayings, sentences, stories, phrases, nicknames, proverbs, epitaphs, various anecdotes, famous quotes from authorities on various subjects; also poetic compositions and love stories and exotic adventures. Everything is mixed in a motley disorder, already suggested by Silva 's own title.

Julián's stated purpose, as explained in the "Table of the Seven Books of the Silva by Julio Iñiguez de Medrano," was to write seven treatises on different subjects, but Julián only gave the first one to the press, the content of which is summarised in these words: "The first deals with the following subjects: different from many recreational and beneficial things, such as the so-called meanings, letters and short words of Love, and it also contains the most beautiful proverbs, sayings and delicate sentiments that the author has been able to draw and learn among Spaniards, along with many others that the same author has written. Compound. And thou shalt find in him many gentle and funny tales, and some curious epitaphs, found in various lands by Julius himself"

After the epistle of "Julio Iñiguez de Medrano, Navarrese, the Serenísima Reina y Señora," follows a "Table Two of the names of the authors that Julio alleges, with whose authority, together with his experience, he confirms and proves that his work is most true and clean of all suspicion in all things that deal with the hidden secrets of nature." The secrets of nature have a significant presence in the work. Medrano intends to record these secrets in the seventh book.

Furthermore, for the remaining six books, all of them in some way deal with the properties or secrets of nature. The Matter of the remaining projected books:

• The second book deals with the nature of herbs and plants and their rarest, proven, and true virtues.
• The third book discusses the properties and virtues of precious stones and the benefits that can be derived from them, chosen through experience.
• The fourth book teaches the properties, nature, and virtues of many terrestrial animals and reveals many proven secrets obtained from them.
• The fifth book focuses on the properties and nature of fish and the benefits derived from them.
• The sixth book delves into the nature, virtues, and benefits of celestial and terrestrial birds, along with many proven and miraculous secrets.
• The seventh book deals with the secrets of nature.

The first book of La Silva Curiosa

"Potemus. Oh, very powerful, oh mightiest Bacchus... Through the same Bacchus who drinks and quenches through cups of cups." - Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, the prayer addressed to Bacchus

Enigmas, proverbs and games, natural observations of the ancients, curious and true ("for the most part", but not all) accumulate in these pages, where the reader will find examples of palindromes ("To the only Rome, Love to los solos sola"), enigmas ("Vidi hominem non hominem, qui percussit et non percussit avem non avem in arbore non arbore lapide non lapide": he sees a eunuch who strikes a bat perched on an elder tree —tree not quite tree— with a rough stone —limestone, porous, stone that is hardly stone...), goliardic parodies such as the prayer addressed to Bacchus ("Potemus. Oh valde potens, oh fortissime Bacche... Per eundem Bachum qui bibit et potat per pocula poculorum") , or short stories largely copied from Timoneda or Juan Aragonés. Julian Iñiguez de Medrano has a special fondness for epitaphs, of which he collects a good number of all varieties, in Spanish, French and Latin, many of them burlesque, such as that of poor Joan Vitulli, a seventeen-year-old boy, written reluctantly.

The first book of La Silva Curiosa ("The Curious Forest"), the only one still readable, is a set of letters, mottoes, sayings, proverbs, moral sentences, verses... Within this, is the "curious vergel" - this is how Medrano defines his work – various "such senses, sharp answers and very funny and recreational tales, with some curious epitaphs". These stories to which Medrano refers are called anecdotes, jokes, or chascarrillos (stories of few lines; some take up, exceptionally, a little more than a page or a page and a half).

One of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano's short-length narrative pieces in La Silva Curiosa had inspired Lope de Vega, as has been highlighted by critics: Julián Íñiguez de Medrano's comedy "Lo que ha de ser" is about two men who speak ill of women and promise never to marry; however, one of them falls in love and marries a widow, despite rumours about his bad reputation; at the end, the account ends with the indication that he too falls in love with a widow. He was deceived.

The book ends with some laudatory poems and other postliminary texts: "To the most invincible and powerful Caesar Henry III, King of France and Poland, Julius Medrano, Navarrese"; a few verses in Latin: "Ivlius de Medrano, in Lectorem Zoïlum"; the "Prophecy of the Cave of Salamanca for the present year, and then usque ad finem seculi," etc. The colophon is: "Deo volente, navigabo vimine. / O. DE. EC. SE. AS. ME. /End of this Silva's first book."

Medrano's Greek Manuscript: A Translation by De Castera

Julian Iñiguez de Medrano's Greek Manuscript is revealed through the discovery of what is presented as a translation into French of a manuscript found by Louis Adrien Du Perron De Castera in the Abbey of Châtillon (sister-house of Trois-Fontaines Abbey). Indeed, the National Library of Paris holds a small work in whose exact title is as follows: "RELATION OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE TOMB OF THE ENCHANTRESS ORCAVELLE WITH THE TRAGIC HISTORY OF HER LOVES. Translated from the Spanish of Jule Iniguez de Médrane. IN PARIS, Rue de la Harpe, At the Widow HOURY's, opposite Rue S. Severin, at St. Esprit. MDCCXXIX With Approval & Permission. pp.7".

According to Eva Lara Alberola, in 1729, Relation de la découverte du tombeau de l'enchanteresse Orcavelle was published in Paris, attributed to Julián Íñiguez de Medrano and translated by Louis Adrien Du Perron De Castera. However, the text diverges from Medrano’s Silva Curiosa (1583), and it is likely that De Castera himself authored it, drawing on Medrano’s work as well as Luis Barahona de Soto's Las lágrimas de Angélica (1586). Alberola—at the Catholic University of Valencia—questions De Castera's originality of the Relation and its connections to earlier Spanish sources, particularly in its portrayal of witches and ogresses.

Lara Alberola argues that De Castera's Relation transforms Orcavella into a Gothic antihero and heightens horror elements, making her a supernatural figure depicted through her own voice. Alberola believes that the adaptation shifts from Medrano’s detached storytelling in the Silva Curiosa, where Orcavella’s tale was relayed by a Galician shepherd, to an introspective Gothic style. She asserts that by claiming to translate a “lost manuscript,” De Castera may have used a narrative device to add mystery and authenticity, positioning the Relation as a precursor to Gothic fiction.

Testimony from Louis Adrien Du Perron De Castera

The author of this translation, Louis Adrien Du Perron De Castera, after dedicating it "To His Highness Monseigneur de Bouillon de la Tour d'Auvergne, Grand Chamberlain of France, Governor, and Lieutenant General of the Upper and Lower Regions and the Province of Auvergne, Commander of the Turenne Regiment," then goes on to explain the reasons justifying his translation work:

"It is not the itch to be seen as an author that compels me to bring this little work to light; I have merely faithfully translated it from the Spanish of Julian Iniguez de Médrano. If there are some noteworthy features found in it, the glory is solely due to him. He flourished in the time of Queen Marguerite of Navarre, and this Princess, who knew how to value people of wit, believed she gained much by having him at her Court, where he was for several years both an ornament and a delight".

Furthermore, he provides interesting but difficult-to-verify information about Medrano's works: "He has two books to his name, with the titles 'Verger fertile' and 'Fóret curieuse,' both of which have had various editions, followed by general acclaim both in France and Spain". With this, it appears to confirm that Medrano carried out his project of writing his "Vergel curioso," to which he might have given the title "Vergel fértil," if at least De Castera's translation is faithful. The following clarification by de Castera states: "The latter has never been printed; I found the manuscript written by Médrane himself in the illustrious Abbey of Châtillon, where, in the intervals of leisure that more serious studies allowed me, I amused myself by adapting it in a French manner."

Adrien Du Perron De Castera supposedly relied on nothing less than an autographed manuscript by Medrano. the translator's remarks leave no doubt about his sincerity, as he emphasizes his role as a translator, even expressing doubts about the truth of Medrano's account after comparing this new story of Orcavella with the one already featured in Medrano's original. Médrano himself presents his original work as an absolute truth and asserts that in Colchis, presently called Mingrelia, he actually discovered the Tomb of the Enchantress Orcavella.

Colchis was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi

Discovery of Medrano's Greek Manuscript: Tomb of the Enchantress Orcavella

Indeed, there is a text where de Castera becomes the narrator of the events that happened to Medrano, who is thus described in the third person:

"Jule Iniguez de Médrano, a Navarrese gentleman, illustrious for his knowledge and celebrated for his travels throughout almost the entire world, recounts that one day, while sitting near Mount Caucasus on a grassy hill, he felt that the grass beneath him was sinking. He moved it aside and saw that it covered a hole the width of a man's body. This hole led to a staircase carved into the rock. Naturally curious, Médrano imagined that it might be an underground passage that perhaps contained some rarity or treasure, and he resolved to descend. To do so, he went to fetch a lantern and, accompanied by a faithful servant, he soon returned to the exact spot he had noticed."

This type of narration continues until the account of Medrano's discovery of a Greek manuscript. This manuscript, which according to De Castera, Medrano claims to have found in a tomb, and contains a confession, in the first person, of a witch named Orcavella, who, after briefly evoking her life as a fat collector, ogress, and vampire, relates the sad story of her love. From there, it could be a faithful translation of Medrano's text, as what precedes clearly corresponds to an account attributable to De Castera, drawing inspiration from the manuscript found in the Abbey of Châtillon and elements from the second part of the Silva Curiosa. Historians compared this introductory narrative with the data contained in the miscellany, and found that it coincides with some elements in the introductory sections of the Silva and in the account of the journey to Santiago.

For example, Medrano's reputation as a great traveler: "Iniguez de Médrano, a Navarrese gentleman, illustrious for his knowledge and celebrated for his travels throughout almost the entire world..." His natural curiosity and his fondness for the secret and the rare: "... Médrano, naturally curious... Médrano wondered if he should push his curiosity further..."

Also, in the continuation of this introductory narrative, there is a reference to the nocturnal birds that Medrano encountered on his journey to Santiago de Compostela when entering the cave of a necromancer, a servant of a holy hermit: "Scarcely had the light he was carrying dissipated the profound darkness that reigned in this cavern when a prodigious quantity of bats, owls, and other nocturnal birds, frightened by his presence, seemed to want to knock him down as they flew tumultuously around him..."

Regarding the discovery of drawings on the columns supporting the spacious hall that Medrano reveals, it directly connects to the Navarrese gentleman's fondness for inscriptions, which he eagerly collects in the Silva Curiosa.

Death

Julián Íñiguez de Medrano must have died not long after giving his work to print, perhaps before 1588. Almost certainly, his death occurred before the publication of the second edition of La silva in 1608 - which would explain to some extent why Cesar Oudin took the liberty of reducing the original text and adding Cervantes's Curious impertinent. Some indications would point in this direction. In the first place, there is a marriage contract of Medrano's son, Pierre, with Jeanne de Durban, dated August 3, 1588, in which his brothers Julien and François accompany the groom, and his mother Sérène is present, but not so his father. In the second place, there is also an arbitration sentence and partition of assets, dated May 1589, between Pierre de Medrano, Lord of Maumusson, and his brothers, with the authority of Sérène de Montauban. Again, the father is absent, and it seems that the firstborn has already inherited the paternal lordship.

Everything indicates that by then he had died. Guy de Monsembernard even goes so far as to point out that he would have died before 1585, since from that date there is a document in which a daughter of Medrano, Marie, is called the daughter of the "inate Julián de Medrano.” For this very reason, this author flatly denies that, as Carsalade du Pont suggests, Julián de Medrano could be the same Medrano who was involved in a certain conspiracy in 1595 to deliver Bayonne to the Spanish, and who would also appear mentioned in a letter from King Henry IV dated 1602. Perhaps that "Mederano [sic] du Royaume de Navare, et marié en Gasgogne" mentioned in the Histoire du Márechal de Matignon, that "Medrane" mentioned by Henry IV, was one of the children of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano. The Gascon Rolls provides a French variation of Medrano: "Moderano (Mederano)".

Julián's lineage in Southern France

Noble crown of a French Marquis

Marquisate of Medrano

By the time of King Louis XVI of France, the ancient House of Medrano had obtained the illustrious Marquisate de Medrano, the name taken after their family. The Medrano family originates from the Kingdom of Navarre, from where they settled in the County of Armagnac very early. In 1589 the County of Armagnac was definitively reunited with the crown of France following the accession of Henri IV, shortly after Julián Íñiguez de Medrano's death. The Medrano family were confirmed in their nobility on April 2, 1697, by the judgment of Sanson, Intendant of Montauban, after proving their lineage since 1550 in the south of France.

One of Julián's descendants, Jean de Médrano, knight, lord of Baulat, Montlezun, etc., born in 1740 in the diocese of Auch, married in Metz in 1764 to Marie Lefebvre de Ladonchamps, provided proofs of nobility in 1784 to obtain admission to the Military School for his son, Henri-Jacques de Médrano, lord of Baulat, born in Montpardiac in 1772. Jean de Médrano took part in the assemblies of the nobility held in Lectoure in 1789.

Opening of the Estates General in Versailles, 5 May 1789

Minutes of the General Assembly of the three orders of the Senechaussic of Lectoure, March 16, 1789: "de Medrano, Le Marquis de Medrano."

The Marquis of Medrano was listed in a complete list of the nobility of Armagnac, in the senechaussee of Lectoure, which Armagnac embraced almost entirely. Armagnac and Quercy did not form two provinces, but only two sénéchaussées, administered separately at the time of the convocation of the Assemblies of the Nobility in 1789. Armagnac and Quercy were bordering, and located between Auvergne, Guienne, Gascony and Languedoc; they roughly formed the three departments of Lot, Gers and Tarn-et-Garonne.

Record of the Marquis de Medrano at the assembly in Lectoure are kept in the "Minutes of the General Assembly of the three orders of the seneschalsy of Lectoure. March 16, 1789 (Under King Louis XVI)" in the catalog of the Gentlemen of Armagnac and Quercy who took part or sent their proxy to the Assemblies of the Nobility for the election of Deputies to the Estates General of 1789.

Summoned by King Louis XVI, the Estates General of 1789 ended when the Third Estate, along with some members of the other Estates, formed the National Assembly and, against the wishes of the King, invited the other two estates to join. This signaled the outbreak of the French Revolution.

In the 19th century, the main alliances of the noble Médrano family from France were with the du Sart family in 1809, the de Bouland in 1893, and Parent in 1868. The Médrano family made alliances with Moysen de la Laurencie and Perrier in 1847, Patas d'Illiers in 1875, and de la Hamayde in 1906. They also made an alliance with Aubé de Bracquemont in 1851, along with de Narp, and notably the House of d'Ysembourg in 1901, as well as Grundler in 1880, etc.

On January 10, 1757, from the 2nd register of the "Aquitaine" 2nd battalion, a member of the Médrano family branch in France is mentioned alongside other individuals in the Army of France in Montgazin, notably Chevalier de Médrano, Lieutenant Colonel. In 1764 de Médrano was recorded under the "Cies de grenadiers de la Reignerais" division, listed as a leader of a grenadier company associated with the "Aquitaine" 1st, 2nd and 4th battalion in Strasbourg on 22 October 1764, among other battalions.

Julián's descendants in Southern France

Southern France, based on a split along the 45th parallel

A document from the 18th century is preserved, in which the Medrano family provided evidence of their nobility, which includes a family tree. Julián Íñiguez de Medrano started a prolific lineage of Medrano's, lords of various noble houses in the south of France, first located in the region of Gascony since the 16th century. In an 18th century document, a list of six of his descendants is made:

• Antoine de Medrano, Baron de Labassère
• Laurent de Medrano, Lord of Verlus
• Joseph de Medrano, Lord of Coudret
• Jacques de Medrano, Lord of Layan and Coladrey
• Henri de Medrano, Lord of Gouts
• Dominique de Medrano, Lord of Gouts

Coat of arms of Medrano in Languedoc

By the 18th century, the list of lordships in the hands of Julián's descendants in the south of France seems to have been long: "Barons of La Bassère, Lords of Verlus, Mauhic, Guare, Marquefave, Maumusson, Coudret, Laguian, Coladrey, Gouts, Mont-Pardiac" etc., and they had linked with "the Houses of Durban, Cassagnet-Baulat, Sérignac, Mellet, Caissac, and others of good nobility."

The Medrano family are one of those noble houses that were so abundant in the sixteenth century. As a faithful servant of the Kings of Navarre in a convulsive moment, Medrano managed to gain a small lordship in Maumusson that allowed him to link his children with the nobility of the area.

Entrance at the Château de Verlus

On June 2, 1593, in the noble castle of Verlus in the lower county of Armagnac, Vincent de Verlus, lord of that place, made a "donation of each and every one of his possessions, land of Verlus, lodgings, rents, fiefs, seigneurial rights, etc., to the noble Vincent du Mont, seigneur of that place." However, the de Mont family did not keep the seigneury of Verlus, which had already been owned by the noble Pierre Iñiguez de Medrano before 1640, apparently by inheritance, for in the registers of the same notary (Nogaro's study) one finds, on June 26 In 1611, a marriage contract between Antoine de Mont and Françoise de Medrano was signed. The Medrano family kept Verlus until times close to the Revolution, as well as several other lordships in Armagnac and Pardiac. Jean-Marie de Médrano-Mauhic, Lord of Mauhic (municipality of Averon, Gers), was guillotined at Auch by order of representatives of the Darti-Goeyte and Cavignac people.

Map of the new region of Occitania with its thirteen departments, coloured according to the historical provinces as they existed until the aftermath of the French Revolution (1790).

Lords of Mauhic

Château de Mauhic (Mauhic Castle)

The Medrano family owned Château de Mauhic in the municipality of Loubédat. The Château de Mauhic is situated in the valleys of the Adour and Arros, and dates back to the 17th century. The Château de Mauhic has a rectangular main building flanked by two square towers. The Château de Mauhic, having belonged to the Médrano family, lords of Mauhic; the last lord Jean-Marie de Médrano-Mauhic was beheaded in 1793, for counter-revolutionary actions. Jean-Marie de Médrano, lord of Mauhic, was guillotined in Auch.

He obtained the title 'lord of Mauhic' a few years after the Abbé de Préchac died in 1732, at Mauhic. In the Kécrologe de Berdoues, the death of the Abbé de Préchac is recorded in November 1732. He had held the title of abbot of Berdoues for thirty-six years. According to the Inventory of the Convent, Jean-Marie de Médrano became his heir. Archives of the Auch Seminary have many papers concerning Medrano, lords of Mauhic, etc. Jean-Marie de Médrano's appointment took place in October 1735. The taking of possession only dates from 1736, the time of the expedition of the Bulls.

Etienne de Médrano, former captain of infantry, residing in Nogaro, was the brother of Jean-Marie Médrano, the former prisoner of Auch, and brother-in-law of Robert Dubernet, resident of Loubédat. The Directory of National Domains in Paris requested payment with the following note: "Confiscation of Médrano-Mauhic property, condemned..." His furniture was made known by Father Camoreyt in his inventory; from "the renowned workshop of Palazo," Father Camoreyt only makes known the most esteemed articles, those which had a greater value, and which were sent first to citizen Tastet, administrator of the district of Nogaro, and then to Paris because of the gold, silver and precious materials that adorned them. It was from Paris or from some large city, which the lord of Mauhic must have brought this furniture, so rich and of great style. It was found at the Château de Mauhic. Jean de Médrano, a knight, Lord of Baulat, Monlezun, etc., born in the diocese of Auch in 1740, married Marie Lefebvre de Ladonchamps in Metz in 1764. In 1784, Jean provided proof of nobility to secure admission to the Military School for his son, Henri-Jacques de Médrano de Baulat, born in Monpardiac in 1772. de Médrano took part in the 1789 assemblies of the nobility held in Lectoure.

Lords of Gauré

Château de Guare

Dona Antionette de Medrano, the mistress of the chateau de Gauré, was born in Spain. Guaré is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Her brother, Duke Ramon de Medrano, had been lord of Mauser, Gauré and other places; this very Château de Guaré had been his. However, the Revolution came, and he was guillotined. In order that she herself might not share the fate of her brother, she had fled to Spain, disguised as a goat herder, where she found refuge with her other brother, who was a Bishop. After the Restoration, she had returned to France to claim the estates inherited from her ill-fated brother, the Duke. She had settled in the Chateau de Gaure and had taken into her service as a shepherdess a little girl twelve years old. There, she would also take in a wolf, and named him Pharamond.

Desrousseaux de Médrano Branch

Coat of arms of Desrousseaux de Médrano in France (1st Quarter, of Desrousseaux; 2nd Quarter, of Medrano)

Shortly before the restoration of the French monarchy, the House of Medrano united with the House of Desrousseaux in France (1809), creating the noble Desrousseaux de Médrano branch. Louis-Philippe Desrousseaux, who died in Paris in 1875, married Charlotte-Louise de Médrano in 1809. In September 1866, Louis-Philippe requested and received, by imperial decree on June 22, 1867, the authorization to regularly add the name of the Médrano family to his own, to which his wife belonged. The Desrousseaux family was authorized to join their name to Médrano, and will be dedicated to them in their place. The Desrousseaux family belonged to the great commerce of Sedan in the 18th century. Information about them is stored in the Titles, Ennoblements, and Peerages of the Restoration by Viscount Révérend. Louis-Philippe Desrousseaux and Charlotte-Louise de Médrano had two sons:

• Charles-Adolphe Desrousseaux de Médrano born in Charleville in 1810, married Me Perrier in 1847, and died in 1876, leaving a son
• François-Henri Desrousseaux de Médrano born in Charleville in 1817, administrator of the Saint-Gobain Glass Company, a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, who married his cousin, Mile Desrousseaux de Vandières, in 1847 and had a son, Édouard, who married Baroness Marthe-Eugénie du Sart de Bouland in 1893 and died without offspring in 1896.

Louis-Philippe Desrousseaux de Medrano's brother Édouard-Charles created the Desrousseaux de Vandières branch when he married his wife and added it to his surname along with the Vandières Estate. His descendant Ange-Alphonse-Edward Desrousseaux de Vandières, born at the Vandières castle in 1866, was a cavalry officer, a knight of honor and devotion of the Order of Malta, and was honored with the title of Roman Duke by a papal brief on February 9, 1909. He made a prestigious connection through his marriage in Lugano in 1901 to Princess Élisabeth d'Ysembourg and Büdingen, a member of one of Germany's most illustrious houses, and the daughter of Bruno, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen.

References

• Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, su Silva curiosa (1583) y una anécdota tudelana by Carlos Mata Indurain Literary Magazine of the Ribera de Navarra Overpass, no. 19, May 1999, p. 53-56.)
• Another enigma surrounding Julián Iñíguez de Medrano: the two Orcavellas By Andrés Gallego Barnes LESO. Toulouse
• Introducción a la Silva Curiosa de Julián de Medrano, por Mercedes Alcalá Galán, New York: Peter Lang, 1998, ISBN 0-8204-3759-X
• La Silva Curiosa by Julian Iniguez de Medrano