The House of Medina Sidonia

The House of Medina Sidonia is one of the oldest noble titles of the Crown of Castile and one of the most important in terms of wealth and political influence throughout the Spanish Monarchy. It also included the titles of the county of Niebla, seigneury of Sanlúcar, the marquisate of Cazaza, Valverde and Gibraltar and the county of Saltes. The Duchy of Medina Sidonia was awarded for the first time to Juan Alonso Pérez de Guzmán in the late fifteenth century, as a reward for military service to the king. Until the eighteenth century the title was tied to the Pérez de Guzmán family and included the domains in Western Andalusia of San Lúcar de Barrameda, Niebla and Medina Sidonia. During the Early Modern era, the Dukes of Medina Sidonia established themselves as great patrons and had several palaces, convents and churches built in their domains.

Read more:

• L. Salas Almela, MedinaSidonia. El poder de la aristocracia, 1580-1670, Madrid 2008.
• L. Malo Lara, Conflictos de poder: Patronos, retratos y retablos del Barrocco. La genealogía de los Guzmanes de la casa de Medina Sidonia, in F. Lorenzana de la Puente, F.J. Mateos Ascacíbar (eds.), Arte, poder y sociedad y otros estudios sobre Extremadura, Llerena 2007, pp. 95-108.