Garcí Méndez II de Sotomayor

was a Castilian noble and head of the Méndez branch of the House of Sotomayor who founded the Lordship del Castillo de Carpio.

The family was originally landed with title over Soutomaior, Province of Pontevedra, Galicia founded by Mendo Páez de Sorred, the Ricohombre of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile.

In the mid 1200s, Ferdinand III of Castile was involved in a series of Reconquista campaigns against the Caliphate of Córdoba and other minor Christian and Moorish territories in the area around El Carpio, Andalucía, Province of Córdoba as a part of his campaign for Alcocer (Al-Qusayr).

Heavily involved in the fighting, the House of Sotomayor was awarded much of the land principally in the area around El Carpio.

The tower and its surrounding fortifications would serve as the center of administration for the Señorio and the Marquesado of Carpio until the title became associated with the Dukes of Alba.