Suero de Quiñones (c. 1409 – 11 July 1456), called ("he of the pass"), was a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and author born in the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

(then part of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

). He gained fame by staging a ''

pas d'armes __NOTOC__ The () or passage of arms was a type of chivalric hastilude that evolved in the late 14th century and remained popular through the 15th century. It involved a knight or group of knights (' or "holders") who would stake out a traveled ...

'' at the river

Órbigo , name_etymology = , image = Union del Rio Omaña y Rio Luna.JPG , image_size = 250px , image_caption = The union of the rivers Luna and Omaña at this point form the Órbigo river , map = Órbigo ...

. Suero was the son of Diego Fernández de Quiñones, called ''el Afortunado'', who was

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

d by his uncle Pedro Suárez and named sole heir of his possessions. Diego married María de Toledo, who bore him ten children, Suero being the second. Suero fasted in honour of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

every Tuesday, wore an iron necklet every Thursday as a sign of devotion to his lady, and attended

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

daily. From 10 July to 9 August 1434, Suero and ten of his companions encamped in a field beside the bridge over the

, in the northwest of Castile. They challenged each knight who wished to cross the bridge to a

joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponent w ...

. This road was used by pilgrims from all over Europe on the way to the shrine at

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

, and at this time of the summer, many thousands would cross the bridge. Suero and his men swore to "break 300

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

s" before moving onthe very definition of a ''pas d'armes''. The men fought for over a month, an account of which is left to us in great detail by town notary Don Luis Alonso Luengo who kept a detailed first-hand chronicle, later published as ("Book of the Passage of Honor"), bringing Suero and his men even wider fame in Europe.Pedro Rodríguez de Lena (1930),
A Critical Annotated Edition of El Passo Honroso de Suero de Quiñones
', 1977 edition After 166 battles Suero and his men were so injured they could not continue and declared the mission complete. Suero de Quiñones became legendary in Spanish history and was mentioned in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', the 1605 satire on the sort of romantic chivalry out of touch with reality.

Notes

References

* Riquer, Martín de (1967). ''Caballeros andantes españoles''. Madrid: Editorial Espasa-Calpe. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinones, Suero de 1456 deaths Spanish knights Pas d'armes Year of birth uncertain Spanish duellists 1400s births