The Mendez Family

This web page is a work in progress. Please send any additions, corrections, or additional information to me at: mike@mikemendez.org

The origin of the Mendez family can be traced back to the Visigoth people, who were a Germanic tribe that eventually settled in what is now Spain. As far as I can ascertain, the Mendez line started in the principality of Asturias, in the far North-Western part of Spain. The Visigoths were one of the two major branches of the Goths, the other being the Ostrogoths. The origin of the Goths is disputed, but the ancient Roman maps show them located, along with the other Germanic tribes, on the Russian Steppes. This vast "sea of grass" is most probably where they formed into a coherent and distinct tribe.

Spain was the very first Empire with global reach. In the 1500s and 1600s, Spain had colonies all over the globe, from the Philippine Islands in the Pacific ocean, to the "New World" in the Western Hemisphere. The Mendez family was very involved in the exploration and colonization of these new lands.

Our branch of the family settled on the Western side of Puerto Rico very early in the colonization of this island by the Spaniards. So far, we have not been able to determine exactly who and when was the Patriarch of our line. The best efforts of family members have determined that there were at least four different Mendez families that immigrated to Puerto Rico. Hurricanes, Fires, and disasters have destroyed records which might have given us solid answers. I can go back by name for the previous five generations. If you are a member of this branch of our family and are not listed in the family tree, please contact me so that we can include you.

A complete story of the history of the Mendez family can be found here: http://www.mikemendez.org/family.htm

A flow chart of family members can be found here: http://www.mikemendez.org/tree.html

Very soon, a contact page will be established here. If you would like your contact information listed, please let me know. I will not list your contact information without specific authorization from you, so if you prefer not to be listed for the entire world to see, I will keep it off of the web page.

This site is the compilation of the work of many family members, and not just myself. Many thanks to all of you for helping to make this site happen.

This is a picture of the Mendez "Coat of Arms." This plate hung on the wall of Americo Jr. Mendez Mendez. I remember when I was a very small boy, my father took us to visit Americo and his family in Fairfax, Virginia. Thank you very much to George Mendez and Ileana Mendez for providing this picture, and the information that Americo gathered on our family. Click on the picture to see a larger version of it.

There is some intriguing information contained on this plate. First, let me state that Americo Jr. Mendez Mendez researched extensively our branch of the Mendez family. Unfortunately, some of that information was not passed down, but may yet resurface. In my research, I have run across several "coats of arms" which are said to be that of the Mendez families. Some of these claimed that they were from different parts of Spain, and or the true Mendez lineage and the Sephardic Mendez families. The Sephardim were the Jews who lived in Spain and adopted Spanish surnames in order to remain in Spain after they were all evicted by the Decree of Alhambra (1492). This was a very dark period of time, when the infamous Spanish Inquisition was purging the Kingdom of those who did not swear loyalty to the Roman Catholic Pope. This was the political payback of the support lent from Rome in the Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula, the expulsion of the Muslim Emirate (The Moors). This was truly the dark ages, when the light of Christ was hidden by a repressive regime of superstitious people. But not to dwell on darkness. This plate of Americo's has two things which I have not found repeated anywhere to date. First, there are Crowns above the fleur-de-lis. Secondly, there are references to another Germanic tribe, the Suevi. In the banner above the coat of arms, Godo on the left side is for Goths (Visigoths), and Suevo on the right side is for Suevi, who were another Germanic people who settled in Spain -- namely in Galicia. The Suevi were wiped out by the Visigoths, but lived side by side with them for years before they fought. The text states that Doña Hercueriudo Arias was a descendant of the Suevi (or Suevic) king Arios Miro. Here are a couple of references to the Suevi people:  http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/regents/iberian/suevi.htm and

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.Miro.html I can only speculate that the crowns were added to the coat of arms to show intermarriage of this other royal line.

The imagery contained in coats of arms was normally kept very basic, so that they could be readily identified on the field of battle. In Spain, the Castile represented the Kingdom of Castile, and the Lion likewise the Kingdom of Leon. These symbols are present in various patterns in many Spanish coats of arms, including the official coat of arms for the country of Spain. The Fleur-de-lis is a very ancient symbol, going back to ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and the Roman Empire. In medieval Europe, especially in Heraldry, it is first seen with Clovis, king of the Franks (481-511) and then into the various royal French lines. It was also adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, and also as a representation of the Trinity. So, on the surface, this coat of arms shows that the bearer is from the Visigoth-Spanish kingdoms and is Christian (with loyalty to the Pope in Rome).

Este retrato es el escudo de los Mendez. Este escudo estuvo 
colgado en casa de Americo Mendez Mendez hijo.  Recuerdo que siendo un
chico de corta edad mi padre nos llevo a visitar  a Americo y familia en
Fairfax, Virginia.  Muchas gracias a George e Ileana Mendez por
proporcionarnos este retrato asi como informacion sobre la familia que
Americo recopilo.  "click" en retrato para ver una imagen mas grande.

Existe una informacion intrigante contenida en dicha placa.  Primero
deseo hacerles saber que Americo investigo extensamente nuestra rama de
la familia Mendez.  Desgraciadamente parte de esta investigacion  no
llego a nosotros pero es posible que resurja.  En mi investigacion he
visto varios escudos que supuestamente son de familias Mendez.  Algunos
alegan que son de diferentes partes de Espana y pertenecen realmente al
verdadero linaje de los Mendez asi como de las familias sefarditas
Mendez.  Los sefarditas fueron los judios espanoles que adoptaron
apellidos espanoles para de este modo poder permanecer en Espana despues
de que fueron expulsados de acuerdo con la ley de Alhambra (1492). Esta
fue una epoca oscura cuando la terrible inquisicion espanola purgo del
reino a todos los que no juraban lealtad al sumo pontifice de la iglesia
Catolica Romana. Esto fue considerado como cobro por el apoyo que presto
Roma en la reconquista de la peninsula iberica despues de la expulsion
del emirato musulman, (los moros).  Esta fue una verdadera epoca oscura
cuando la luz de Cristo estuvo escondida tras un regimen represivo de
gente supersticiosa.  Pero basta de oscuridades.  Esta placa de Americo
tiene dos cosas que hasta el presente  no he podido descifrar.  Primero,
hay coronas sobre la flor de lis.  Segundo, hay referencia
sobre otra tribu germanica, los Suevos. La bandera sobre el escudo godo
a la izquierda representa a los godos (visigodos) y a la derecha
representa a los suevos que eran tambien germanicos que llegaron a
Espana y se establecieron en la zona de Galicia.  Los visigodos
exterminaron a los suevos pero por muchos anos y por supuesto, previo a
las guerras vivieron contiguamente.  El texto indica que Dona
Hercueriudo Arias era descendiente del rey Arios Miro.  Aqui hay algunas
referencias sobre el pueblo Suevo:
http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/regents/iberian/suevi.htm y
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.Miro.html Yo solo puedo especular
que las coronas fueron anadidas al escudo para indicar que se mezclaron
(casandose) con esta otra linea real.