This book offers us the stories of some bizarre men and women from Jerez or who came to Jerez, but some of the stories are just fictitious and very funny.
Alfresvinda was the daughter of a Visigothic King Suintila. She and her sister were twins and had the characteristic of having a prominent moustache. When the man promised to her sister saw his fiancée, he turned her down and the sister died. Alfresvida swore revenge and found the king in the area of Jerez.
Suintila (588 – 633/635) was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 621 to 631. He was a son of Reccared I. Under Suintila there was an unprecedented peace and unity across the Kingdom of the Visigoths.
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca is a well-known explorer from Jerez. His grandfather was Pedro de Vera, who conquered the Carnary Islands.
Pedro de Vera Mendoza (Jerez de la Frontera, c. 1430 - Jerez de la Frontera, July 1505) was a Castilian nobleman and Conquistador who completed the conquest of the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for the Crown of Castile and who brutally put down the rebellion in La Gomera at the end of the 15th century.
In 1527, Cabeza de Vaca appeared at the royal court in Valladolid and received an appointment as royal treasurer for an expedition to be led by conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez to explore and conquer La Florida.
In 1540, Cabeza de Vaca was appointed adelantado of the Río de la Plata in South America. The colony comprised parts of what is now Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Cabeza de Vaca was assigned to find a usable route from this colony to the riches of the former Incan Empire in Peru and Bolivia now controlled by the Spanish.
Cabeza de Vaca is thought to have been the first European to see the Iguaçu Falls.
Scholars widely agree that Cabeza de Vaca had an unusually sympathetic attitude towards the Native Americans for his time. The elite settlers generally did not agree with his enlightened conduct toward the Natives; they wanted to use them for labor. Because he lost elite support, Martínez de Irala arrested Cabeza de Vaca in 1544 for poor administration. The former explorer was returned to Spain in 1545 for trial. Although he was eventually exonerated, Cabeza de Vaca never returned to South America.
Antoñito Bazán tells the story of a young boy who became obsessed with a book Los Consejos by Manolo Yélamo, in which there were advice for everyday problems. Antoñito gathered all the elements that the book demanded for the remedies, but unluckily, the conjunction of these elements resulted in an explosion that was seen in many parts of the city, and Antoñito died.
"Los Consejos" was a popular and historic radio program broadcast on Radio Popular de Jerez (COPE) and directed by journalist Manuel Yélamo Crespillo. It covered the world of brotherhoods, Holy Week processions, and local religious news, having a deep popular impact in the province.
Juan Martínez Roldan was a young man, brother of Amargura Brotherhood. He helped in his brotherhood and even though he felt drawn to those men who carried the floats, he felt he was too sensitive. His teacher suggested he write stories, and Juan wrote under the pseudony of Azucena de Pasión. His book were launched during lent and they were a great success. Juan ended up emigrating to America.
Benedetto Boliza was born Benito. As he was fond of recreation and jokes, his father was desperate as the young man was arrested more often than not. His father volunteered him to go to the Conquest of Tunis. The Conquest of Tunis (called Jornada de Túnez in Spanish sources) in 1535 occurred when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his allies captured the city of Tunis from the control of the Ottoman Empire.
Benito was a good teller of stories and jokes, so Admiral Andrea Doria took him to see Emperor Charles V, who was very sad, and he told a popular joke, and the king cracked up.
Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (30 November 1466 – 25 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, condottiero and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. Doria was considered the foremost naval leader in Europe at his time.
Benito was sent to Venice as a spy adn was called Benedeto, and he was a success there. Years later when Charles V decided to abdicate and retired to the Monastery of Yuste, Benito went there and told his jokes again. At the end of his life Benito became a monk in the monastery.
The Monastery of Yuste is a monastery in the small village now called Cuacos de Yuste in the province of Cáceres in the autonomous community of Extremadura. The monastery was founded by the Hieronymite order of monks in 1402.It is the monastery and palace house in which Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain resided from after his abdication until his death. Charles died there on September 21, 1558. He was buried in the monastery church, though his remains were later transferred to the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial.
Caridad de Los Lagos s a woman who was said to have been drifted away from the roof of San Miguel Church by a strong wind. Caridad grew up in a household where the study of history was promoted. She was allowed to see the archives of old churches. During the Lisbon Earthquake many churches in the city were damaged.
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, hit the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In Jerez the earthquake damaged many buildings, and the most notable case was the San Mateo Church.
Clara sneaked into the Church of San Mateo, and a stone fell and she was injured. She had to stay in the Blood Hospital for many days, and when she was discharged, she was not the same and showed signs of fury and madness. The only person who was fond of her was Historian Mesa Ximénez. With the help of the sexton in San Miguel, she accessed the roof and that is the last time she was seen.
Cesar Vazquez de Arrieta e Istúriz, Cesare Watry, was a man who grew to love magic. In Jerez he married and went to live in Cuartillos. With some of his neighbours he did a show in Eslava Theatre. There was an incident involving a beheaded head which was thrown aloft, and the spectators tried to run, and many were injured.
The old Eslava Theater of Jerez de la Frontera was a historic cultural space in the city inaugurated at the end of the 19th century.
Currito Núñez is the name given to some small lyzards. According to the book, the name comes from Francisco de Asís Núñez de Villavicencio, who developed a great interest in lizards. When his mother heard that José Celestino Mustis was studying the flora and fauna of America, she sent him there.
José Celestino Bruno Mutis y Bosio (6 April 1732 – 11 September 1808) was a Spanish priest, botanist and mathematician. He was a significant figure in the Spanish American Enlightenment, whom Alexander von Humboldt met on his expedition to Spanish America.
Francisco lost an arm when a lizard bit him, and then he also lost a leg. He never returned to Jerez as he died when a crocodile attacked him.
Erik el Gordo was a Scandinavian warrior, who came to the south of Spain, as there was so little to eat in his land. He came to stay in los Llanos de La Ina where he discovered wonderful things to eat, and he fell for Zoraida, who he married, so he decided to stay and open a blacksmith's.
Flora Loles was born Antonia Ruiz Flores in 1943. She was a great admirer of Lola Flores and wanted to succeed like her. Yet, she was told that she had no talent, but she persevered. She tried to get a part in the casting of Venta de Vargas, but she failed. But from then on she took part in bad-quality reviews, and she invented stories about being a good friend of Lola Flores'.
Guidobaldo Monaldo was born in Ancona. He fell for the daughter of a rich man, who did not want him as a son-in-law. So he told him that he would agree for him to marry his daughter if he proved his courage. So he went south, and took place in the Siege of Ronda. He climbed the rock, but he did not succeed and died in the attempt.
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