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Video: Zorro without a mask: the famous robber was a Don Juan and a warlock
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Probably, there is no such person who would not have seen at least one film about the legendary and mysterious Zorro - the master of the blade, the noble protector of the disadvantaged and offended, the elusive and successful hero-lover. Could such a person really exist? It turns out, yes!
Few people know that in real history there was a person who served as the prototype for the legendary masked hero - Zorro. His name was William Lamport. True, unlike Zorro, the enemies eventually overtook him, and the hero-lover ended his life on the scaffold.
Student, pirate, duelist
William Lamport was born in 1615 in Ireland to a wealthy and distinguished noble family. He received a good education at home, after which he continued his studies at the Jesuit College in Dublin. Then William improved his knowledge within the walls of the University of London.
But there a handsome young man spent most of his time not studying Latin and philosophy, but winning the hearts of young ladies. On this basis, he had several duels. One of them ended with the murder of an opponent. Unfortunately for William, the murdered man ended up with influential relatives. To avoid serious trouble, Lamport had to leave the shores of Foggy Albion for a while.
William on the ship "Black Prince" went to the shores of the New World. However, this ship turned out to be pirate, and thus the young Irish dandy became a "gentleman of fortune". I must say that the young man liked the pirate life. He famously took on board merchant ships (mostly Spanish), plundered coastal cities. Having saved up a decent amount, William decided to end up with a lucrative, but too risky craft. He went to the Canary Islands, where he bought from a wealthy merchant - an acquaintance of his father - new documents in the name of the Spanish hidalgo Julio Lombarde.
In Spain, Lombardo was engaged in what he loved most in this life - amorous adventures. The irresistible Don Juan won the hearts of many beautiful ladies. In addition, Lombardo met with the all-powerful favorite of King Philip IV, Count-Duke Olivares. He appreciated the young hidalgo's skill in wielding a sword. In addition, the former pirate was not very squeamish and willingly took on the dirtiest assignments of his patron. For example, he killed a certain lord Almagro Tor-relief, who had the imprudence to anger the king's favorite with something.
One such assignment, the victim of which was a nobleman from a noble and influential Spanish family, nearly cost Lombardo's life. Even the almighty Olivares could not hush up this case. The only thing he helped was to send his "killer" to Mexico, which in those years was a colony of Spain. In Julio Lombardo's pocket was a letter of recommendation from the Count-Duke, which helped the Irishman get a good job in a new place.
Sorcerer with a sword
In Mexico, Lombardo continued to do what he did in Spain. By order of the vice-governor, he killed those who had the imprudence to get into the black lists of the ruler of Mexico. And, of course, he won the hearts of hot Mexican beauties.
In addition, Lombardo met the local Indians, learned their language and managed to gain confidence in the Aztec priests. They taught the Irishman the ancient art of healing, the secrets of astrology and everything that was called black magic in Europe at that time.
Lombardo attended the secret human sacrifices of Indian priests. They looked creepy - a man was thrown onto the stone altar of a pagan temple, the priests with sharp obsidian knives opened his chest and tore out his still trembling heart, which was then burned on fire.
What Lombardo managed to learn from the priests of the Aztecs later almost ruined him. The Holy Inquisition found out about the strange hobbies of the Irishman. Julio was facing charges of witchcraft and black magic. A person suspected of such matters was usually sent to the fire.
In addition, in 1645, a powerful patron of Lombardo, Olivares, died in Spain. The new Viceroy of Mexico ordered the arrest of the Irishman on charges of preparing for a mutiny and of practicing black magic. Lombardo was arrested and thrown into prison, where he remained for a long eight years.
The investigation into the case of the warlock and the conspirator lasted a long time. The holy fathers and noble dons finally decided that the troublemaker and womanizer Julio Lombardo, languishing in shackles in one of the prisons in Mexico City, was no longer dangerous for them. But it was not there! They were very wrong. Taking advantage of the fact that his regime in prison became more liberal, Lombardo, with the help of his Indian friends, escaped from custody.
The birth of a legend
From that moment, his adventures began, which over time were overgrown with the most incredible details. They told, for example, how at night a horseman in a black mask rode through the streets of Mexico City and pasted outrageous proclamations on the walls of houses, ridiculing the local authorities and the most holy Inquisition itself. This is how the legend of the elusive and noble Zorro was born!
Along the way, Lombardo, who had never lost the habit of his Don Juan habits during his eight-year imprisonment, was having fun with local seniors and senorites, who simply went crazy with love for a noble and mysterious hero. These amorous adventures ultimately ruined Julio Lombardo.
In a letter from the Bishop of Mexico City to the Spanish king, some juicy details of the capture of the fugitive troublemaker are reported. From this letter it follows that Lombardo was detained … in the bed of the Viceroy of Mexico's wife. Julio seduced the wife of the very viceroy of the Spanish king in the New World!
For this alone, he was threatened with the death penalty. But for another seven years, Lombardo languished in chains in prison. Finally, in 1659, the court of the Most Holy Inquisition, to which the Viceroy had transferred the Irishman's case, sentenced him as a heretic and warlock to be burnt at the stake. The execution was to take place in the main square of Mexico City.
Even standing on the edge of the grave, Lombardo managed to avoid a painful death at the stake. At that moment, when the executioner was about to bring his torch to the firewood, generously watered with olive oil, Julio jerked with his whole body and strangled himself with a rope, with which he was tied to a pole in the center of the fire.
William Lamport, aka Julio Lombardo, died, but his Indian friends retained their faith in the black masked rider, elusive and invulnerable, protector of the poor and fighter against injustice. Stories about him were passed from mouth to mouth, acquiring the most incredible details.
In 1919, the American journalist Johnston McCully, who became acquainted with the Mexican legends about the incredible adventures of Lamport-Lombardo, wrote a book about him. This is how the superhero Zorro was born. McCully's book was later filmed several times. The role of Zorro was played by such wonderful actors as Douglas Fairbanks and Antonio Banderas.
And none of the viewers who watched these films remembered the daring and loving Irishman William Lamport - the prototype of their favorite hero.
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