He is also recognised for his key role in negotiating Carlist access to the coup of July 1936 and in emergence of carlo-francoism, the branch of Carlism which actively engaged in the Francoist regime.

It is during his academic years that Domínguez came to know Jaime Chicharro and Luis Hernando de Larramendi, active in Juventud Jaimista but also in literary and artistic circles.

Urbane and gregarious,[35] in 1917[36] Domínguez married Asunción López-Montenegro y García Pelayo,[37] descendant to a wealthy aristocratic terrateniente family from Cáceres, with its representatives holding prestigious posts in the city and in the province.

[49] Domínguez's entry into politics was facilitated by memory of his late maternal grandfather and especially by standing of his father, one of the most distinguished politicians of Navarre;[note 14] his position is dubbed as "cacicato" and the Aoiz district was considered his personal fiefdom.

[58] At that time Carlism was increasingly paralyzed by tension between its top theorist Vazquez de Mella and the claimant Don Jaime; Domínguez was counted among supporters of the former.

[note 20] He shared de Mella's vision of a grand extreme-right coalition, which would be new possibilist reincarnation of Traditionalism;[61] he also considered sort of transfer of legitimist rights to the Alfonsine dynasty.

[67] In 1920 the same two hopefuls competed in the same district;[68] this time Domínguez, already conde de Rodezno, lost more decisively,[note 23] the visible sign of increasingly loose Carlist grip on Navarre.

[71] As indirect elections to the upper chamber were more about behind-the-stage party dealings rather than about seeking popular vote, the Jaimistas managed to negotiate Rodezno's success.

A member of the Catholic aristocracy, Rodezno was active in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and remained on good terms with Spanish hierarchy and the papal nuncio.

In June 1930 the new Navarrese junta with Rodezno its member was set up, an attempt to enforce more cautious policy towards Basque nationalism and to shift focus from foral to religious issues.

[107][108] The move might have backfired following declaration of the Republic, as the Carlists decided to forge electoral coalition with PNV; when concluded as "lista católico-fuerista"[108] it enabled Rodezno, elected from Navarre, to resume his parliamentary career in 1931.

[127] Rodezno's term as the leader emphasized politics and propaganda rather than organization and militancy;[128] some scholars claim that obsolete structures of Communión, favoring "placentera y anárquica autonomia",[129] could not bear the weight of dynamically growing movement.

[132] As Don Alfonso Carlos at that time decided to abandon plans of dynastic reconciliation,[note 36] in April 1934 Rodezno agreed to step down from leadership.

[149][150] Bypassing Fal and ready to confront him if needed,[note 42] they suggested that Navarrese issues are discussed locally and offered requeté support in return for usage of monarchist flag and assurance that Navarre would be left as Carlist political fiefdom.

[note 47] Following death of the claimant and assumption of regent duties by his successor Don Javier, the so-called Rodeznistas[165] were visibly disappointed with Fal's confirmation as political leader in October 1936.

[166][note 48] The Carlists, who initially imagined their position as equals of the military, within few months acknowledged that they were being reduced to junior role, especially that despite mobilization of their supporters, Falange attracted far more recruits.

[note 49] Their attempt to safeguard autonomous standing crashed in December 1936, when following Fal's decision to set up a Carlist military academy he was summoned to Franco's headquarters and presented with the choice between firing squad and exile abroad.

[170][171][172] At the Carlist emergency meeting the Rodeznistas enforced the decision to comply with the exile alternative,[173][note 51] though later Rodezno himself visited Franco trying to get Jefe Delegado re-admitted.

[200] During the next few months he presided over absorption into Falange rather than a fusion,[note 63] bombarded with queries and protests from Carlist rank-and-file about total predomination and arrogance of camisas azules.

[218] Finally, there are authors who believe that he realized neither gravity of the moment nor totalitarian nature of the new party; Rodezno – the theory goes – imagined the structure either as a new incarnation of Unión Patriotica or as a loose alliance, both permitting Carlism to maintain its proper identity;[219] immediately following announcement of the FET programme, largely a copy-paste from the original Falange 27 points, Rodezno visited Franco to voice his disgust;[220] following three months he ceased to attend sittings of the FET secretariat, considering it pointless.

Though the task was completed by his successor, it was Rodezno who ensured that the Church re-took a key role in a number of areas, especially education, and that intimate Church-state relations were restored.

[222][223] When setting the direction he had to overcome the Falangist resistance and outmaneuver its key exponents, Jordana and Yanguas;[224] in 1942 Rodezno managed to defeat "serranistas" drafting the future legislation.

Wartime purges rested on most tortured juridical basis and produced some 72,000 executions;[226] it is difficult to tell to what extent Rodezno might be held liable, especially that most of them were carried out under military jurisdiction and before he assumed office.

[235] Already in early 1938 heavily disappointed with the new party, in April 1938 Rodezno complained to Franco about marginalisation of Carlism and apparently managed to extract from caudillo a fairly frank opinion; the generalissimo valued the Carlists higher than the Falangists, yet noted that they were "pocos y sin atractivo pasa los masas", while Falange enjoyed "capacidad proselitista y captadora",[236] and the emering regime in general.

Auto of judge Garzón raises charges based on Rodezno's role in FET between April 20, 1937 (coincides with the day of his nomination to Secretariado) and 1951 (no daily date).

[260] In the early 1940s Rodezno turned into an open advocate of Don Juan as a future Carlist king, especially once the latter inherited the Alfonsist title after his late father in 1941.

Theoretically this support did not breach the rules of Don Javier's regency, which permitted forming factions around prospective candidates; in practice this mattered little, as Rodezno was already expulsed from the Comunión.

Named Rodeznistas, Juancarlistas, Juanistas or Estorilos they officially declared Don Juan the legitimate Carlist heir in 1957, the act considered climax of the earlier Rodezno's policy.

In 2008 Audiencia Nacional, the Spanish high tribunal, launched formal bid to acknowledge Rodezno as guilty of crimes against humanity during his tenure as Minister of Justice and afterwards, but the motion bore no fruit due to procedural reasons.

[note 83] None of the currently existing organizations claiming Carlist identity, be it either those pursuing a socialist path (javierocarlistas, Partido Carlista) or those attached to Traditionalist values (tronovacantista CTC, sixtinos, carloctavistas) admits deference to his name.