He was the eldest son of the well known literary man of the 15th century, Íñigo López de Mendoza y Lasso de la Vega, (1398–1458), 1st marquis of Santillana since 1447.
Fernán gathered under his control a strong military force composed of troops from the counties of Burgos, Asturias, Santillana, Lantaron, Álava, Castile, and Lara.
He inherited the literary taste of his uncle Iñigo López de Mendoza y de la Vega, Marquis of Santillana, and was greatly esteemed in his own age; but his reputation was afterwards eclipsed by that of his nephew Jorge Manrique (died 1478), the son of his eldest brother Rodrigo Manrique de Lara, (died 1476), and whose Coplas por la muerte de su padre were continually reproduced.
The cardinal's and the 1st duke of Infantado father, Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st marquis of Santillana-- to use the title he was awarded in the last years of his life --, was a poet, and was conspicuous during the troubled reign of John II of Castile, deceased 1453.
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he was the partisan of the Princess Isabella, afterwards queen, while his eldest brother Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 2nd marquis of Santillana, remained however faithful to king Henry IV of Castile, till his rather controverted death in December 1474.
In 1943 he gained his doctorate at the University of Buenos Aires with a dissertation on aesthetics and language in Santillana.
In 2012, Twig partnered with Santillana to distribute its products in institutions across Spain and Latin America.
As a school textbook illustrator he has worked for many publishers, both Spanish (Edelvives, Santillana, Anaya, Bruño, ESC, Almadraba, Richmond...) and international (Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, Kumon, Disney...).
Consequently, de Santillana and Dechend prefer to rely on the work of "meticulous scholars such as Ideler, Lepsius, Chwolson, Boll and, to go farther back, of Athanasius Kircher and Petavius...".
As a politician, Don Íñigo remained loyal to Juan II throughout his life, for which he was richly rewarded with land and the title of Marquis of Santillana in 1445, after the First Battle of Olmedo.
He then married Doña Rosa Juliana Sánchez de Tagle; who was also a member of an important Cantabrian aristocratic family originated from Santillana del Mar, which apparently beloned to the Marquis of Altamira and shared a common ancestor with the Marquis of Torre Tagle.
He also moved Pirri from his midfield role into the sweeper defensive role while the offensive movement usually converged with crosses for target forwards Santillana and new signing from Espanyol Roberto Martínez.
This book, with several autobiographical details, was printed in France the same year and inspired later Lesage's Gil Blas de Santillana.