It is very large the historical background and family of the BNE, especially with regard to Media and modern age. Given the international presence of the spanish realms at the moment it is a collection very important, not only for peninsular history, but also for europe's history of the moment.

As an example, the chronicle of Juan fernández de Heredia, an important testimony to the expansion of the aragón crown for the mediterranean in the late middle ages.

It is also very important family fund: armoriales, nobility, genealogical Trees, and, above all, a large collection of letters of chivalry, enforceable documents certifying the status of hidalgo of its owner, and thus were often rich decor illuminated with religious themes or portraits of the monarch. Much of them comes from the library of Juan Alfonso War, king of weapons of Felipe V.