Bernardino Fernández de Velasco, 1st Duke of Frías

Who was Bernardino Fernández de Velasco, 1st Duke of Frías?

Bernardino Fernández de Velasco, 1st Duke of Frías, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish nobleman and military figure of the last stages of the Reconquista.

Fernández de Velasco was born in Burgos, the son of Pedro Fernández de Velasco and of Mencía de Mendoza y Figueroa. He participated in the conquest of Granada, where his father died, and became one of its firsts Viceroys. On 20 March 1492 he was granted the title of Duke of Frías by the Catholic Monarchs.

He married Blanca de Herrera, Lady of Pedraza de la Sierra, with whom he had a daughter, Ana Herrera de Velasco. He married secondly Juana de Aragón, an illegitimate daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon, with whom he had another daughter, Juliana de Velasco y Aragón. He had no legitimate male issue, so his titles passed on to his younger brother Íñigo.