Suero de Quiñones

Suero de Quiñones (c. 1409 – c. 1458), called "el del Passo", was a Leonese knight and author. He gained fame by staging a "pas d'armes", the "Passo Honroso", at the river Órbigo and describing it in his "Libro del Passo honroso".

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

From 10 July to 9 August 1434 at the Órbigo Suero and ten of his companions encamped in a field beside the bridge and challenged each knight who wished to cross it to a joust. They swore to "break 300 lances" before moving on. Suero fasted in honour of the Virgin Mary every Tuesday, wore an iron necklet every Thursday as a sign of devotion to his lady, and heard Mass daily. He remained undefeated against sixty-eight of knights in over seven hundred battles before he was forced to abandon his place after a month by the royal minister Álvaro de Luna. Suero and all his companions had sustained injuries before the "Passo" closed.

References

*Riquer, Martín de (1967). "Caballeros andantes españoles". Madrid: Editorial Espasa-Calpe.