The history of the Fernández de Córdova/ba—its participation in imperial affairs and the changes it underwent—introduces a larger history of the nobility in the construction of the Spanish empire.
About the Family
The Fernández de Córdova/ba Lineage: An Introduction to Its Origins
Although our family members never achieved the fame of Queen Isabella, King Ferdinand, and Emperor Charles V nor the notoriety of Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, and Francisco Pizarro, we were local señores who transformed into imperial officers laboring in an international setting.
The origins of our family lineage can be traced back to the era of the thirteenth-century "Reconquest," when King Fernando III and his Christian forces captured much of the heartland of Muslim Andalusia. Among the warriors who served with distinction at the conquest of Córdoba in 1236 were two middle-ranking noblemen named Fernán Núñez de Témez and Domingo Muñoz. The first was a Leonese who was awarded the castles of Dos Hermanas and Abentojiel in the Cordovan countryside as well as houses in the city's parish of San Nicolás de la Villa. Fernán Núñez married Ora Muñoz, the daughter of the second nobleman, Domingo. Ora brought to her marriage the cognomen "de Córdoba," which the king had granted her father in recognition of his deeds. Over the ensuing 250 years, their offspring accumulated vast and well-populated landholdings and constituted what is now the aristocratic Fernández de Córdova/ba lineage.