Calle del General Ramírez de Madrid

The “general” on the sign simplifies an older title. Francisco Ramírez de Madrid, born around 1445, was captain general of the artillery of Ferdinand and Isabella, a post that in the 15th century meant directing the Crown’s war machines. He himself fixed his link with the city by signing “de Madrid” instead of his father’s surname, Oreña. His fame came from gunpowder. In the War of Granada he planned the bombardments and mines that hastened the surrenders; in the Málaga campaign, Ferdinand the Catholic himself knighted him. But he was also secretary and counselor to the king and alderman of the Council of Madrid. In 1491 Queen Isabella arranged for him a second marriage to Beatriz Galindo, “la Latina,” a humanist and teacher to the sovereign, who would give her name to a whole neighborhood of Madrid. Francisco died in 1501 at Sierra Bermeja, putting down a Mudéjar revolt, with the artillery still under his command.