In 1212 C. E., after Alfonso VIII of Castile and the Order of Calatrava drove the Moors from Central Iberia, the townspeople relocated and established around the Good Well (situated in front of what was then a convent, but is now the barracks of the Civil Guard) the town center that exists today.

More reliable sources suggest that the "Santa Cruz" in actuality refers to the crossroads located in the Meadow of Mudela (so called for its proximity to the pass of Muradal, one of the entrances to the Central Meseta through the Andalusian Plain).

On January 30, 1538, Don Álvaro the Elder bought off from Carlos I the towns of Santa Cruz de Mudela and Viso del Puerto (Muradal), under his own terms and along with civil and criminal jurisdiction, for 26,208,626 maravedíes (approx.

Later his son, Don Álvaro de Bazán the Younger, became the first Marquis of Santa Cruz and built the palace and the Franciscanos Capuchinos convent, still constituted, as said above, in authentic benefactors of the town.

The illustrious Granadian, celebrated admiral of Felipe II, was named 'first marqués of Santa Cruz of Mudela, leader of the towns Viso and Valdepeñas, major commander of León, his majesty's advisor and general captain of the ocean sea and of the people during the war of the kingdom of Portugal.