Origin of Caraza

He comes from the place of Carasa (whose name he took), council of the Voting Board, judicial district of Laredo (Santander).

Lope García de Salazar says in his "Bienandanzas e fortunas" that the progenitor of the lineage was Rui Martínez de Solórzano (son of another Rui, founder of the house and surname of Solórzano), who had two sons named Diego Ruiz and Juan Sánchez, who settled in Carasa's place, taking his name as a surname. Diego Ruiz procreated, in turn, two other children; but since the eldest of them only left one daughter at his death, the second, who was named Rui Martínez de Carasa, became the eldest relative of the lineage, leaving offspring that continued the surname.

The Carasa manor house in said place "was an old stone building, with a fence, also made of stone, around it", according to what is recorded in the nobility evidence file of a Knight of Alcántara, who we will name later , descendant of that site.

In addition to said house, those of this lineage had their own chapel with burial, next to the Epistle, in the church of the town of Carasa.

Branches of the aforementioned lot passed to Castro Urdiales, to Ramales, to the Ruesga valley, to the places of Padiérniga and Rada, of the Voting Board; to the place of San Román, of the Santander City Council; to Cicero, Junta de Cesto and Merindad de Trasmiera, and to the towns of Colindres and Laredo. Other branches spread through Burgos, La Rioja, Navarra and Valladolid. They went to Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, the United States, Mexico and Peru.

The following proved their nobility before the Hall of the Hijosdalgo of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid, in the years indicated: Diego de Carasa y del Río, a resident of Padiérniga, of the Voting and Merindad Board of Trasmiera (Cantabria ), in 1619; Manuel de Carasa Vernales, a resident of Laredo (Cantabria), in 1816; Gonzalo de Carasa, a resident of San Román (Cantabria), in 1543; Antonio, Juan and Luis Carasa, residents of Villegas (Burgos) and Villamorón (Burgos), in 1571; Pedro Carasa, a resident of Quintanarrio (Burgos), in 1762; Andrés Carasa, a resident of Nestares (La Rioja), in 1803; Juan Carasa de Medrano, a resident of Nestares, in 1546; Francisco de Carasa, a resident of Murillo de Río Leza (La Rioja), in 1602; Juan de Carasa, a resident of San Leonardo (Soria), in 1533; Juan de Carasa, a resident of Sigüenza (Guadalajara), in 1530; Pedro de Carasa, a resident of Urueña (Valladolid), in 1585, and Juan de Carasa, a resident of Cedillo (Toledo), in 1621; Pedro de Carasa y Gallo, a resident of Quintanarrio, in 1764; Manuel Antonio Zacarías de Carasa y Bernales, a resident of Laredo (Cantabria), in 1816.

The following proved their nobility before the Royal Chancery of Granada: Juan Antonio Carasa, a resident of Baeza (Jaén), in 1767, and Rodrigo Carasa, a native of Montalbán and originally from Carasa, in 1503.

The following were religious of the Order of San Juan de Jerusalén: Francisco de Carasa y Pando, a native of Campijo, from the City Council of Arceniega (Álava), Obedience Chaplain by title of the priory of San Martín de Suarna, of the Commandery of Puertomarín , entered in 1630; Francisco de Carasa, a native of Castro Heredia, Capellán, entered in 1588.

Fulgencio de Carasa, General, obtained the Carlist title of Count of Villaverde de Trucíos granted by Don Carlos VII.

María de Carasa Rojas, a native of Noves (Toledo), and her husband Andrés de Vargas y Hernández de Vargas, a native of Noves, proved their purity of blood to hold positions in the Holy Office of the Toledo Inquisition in 1585 .

Pablo and Pedro de Carasa, natives of Noves, from the Convent of San Marcos de León, proved their purity of blood to enter the Order of Santiago as a religious in 1575. Lorenzo de Carasa y Valle, a native of the Ruesga valley and Knight of the Order of Santiago, which he entered in 1695.

Martín de Carasa y Mioño, born in Castro Urdiales in 1609, and Knight of the Order of Alcántara, which he entered in 1634.

José María de Carasa y Figueroa, Navy Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, and Knight of the Order of Carlos III, which he entered in 1794.