[4/4] -- ZORRO -- Anti-Hero of The SouthWest -- The Masked Crusader - Part IV
In Part III, our Hero deprived the Spanish Inquisition of his death, instead his will for self determination was his last act. Guillen Lampart inspired many who would carry his burning torch for freedom and sovereignty. (Part I & Part II)
The Curse of Capistrano - 1919 by Johnston McCulley
Source: Wikimedia
Part IV
Luis Inclan published his book about Mexican Cowboys, called Charros, in 1865. Inclan's book helped define the identity of Mexico and its customs, but within that book was also the story of freedom and self determination, themes that were inspired and carried on by those that were moved by Guillen Lampart and his ideals. These cowboys or charros, in Inclan's book, were the defenders of the down trodden and poor, and crusaders for the call of independence. Their acts of civil disobedience are acts of malcontent rebels seeking dominion of their lands and lives rather than the rule of an absentee government.
Author Vicente Riva Palacio
Source: Wikimedia
Vicente Riva Palacios, a studied General, lawyer, historian and writer among other things had for many years heard the story of an Irishman who wanted to become King in order to liberate Mexico from Spain, and give everyone equal rights. By this time in the 1800's, the legend and myth of Guillen Lampart were no longer whispers but rather faint wisps of a man who many no longer remembered. Author's like Luis Inclan kept his legend alive through his narratives, but at the time, they were not tied to the life of Guillen Lampart. It would not be until many years later that Vicente Riva Palacios would come across the archives to this legendary story he had heard as a child.
Guillen Lampart's story remained in some obscurity in the Historical Archives of Mexico. Guillen Lampart's story had been overlooked in those archives for many years because there is another Lampart that appears in historical documents of the Spanish (Mexican) Inquisition. It would not be until Vicente Riva Palacios began to study the history and historical documents of the Inquisition, that his childhood memories of legend and myth would converge in the historical archives of Guillen Lampart's writings and life. In 1872, Rivas Palacios published Memorias de un impostor: Don Guillén de Lampart, rey de México ( translation: Memories of an Imposter: Don Guillen de Lampart, King of Mexico). His narrative, written in the style of The Three Musketeers by Dumas, uses the archives of the Inquisition to write the novel of Guillen's life.
Source: Wikimedia
Then in 1919, Johnston McCulley wrote his novel, The Curse of Capistrano, a novel about the adventures of a young man born in colonial times Mexico but now living in Alta California (today's Southern California). The young man, Diego de la Vega, fights the injustices of Spain against it people in Mexico. It is believed that McCulley was heavily influenced by the writings of Inclan and Riva Palacios. The following year in 1920, Douglas Fairbanks starred in the silent film,"The Mark of Zorro" and the Zorro of Hollywood was born.
Miguel Hidalgo, Father of Mexican Independence
Source: Wikimedia
Zorro is an amalgam of real life characters sensationalized by fictional protagonists. Guillen left an indelible mark on Mexico's quest for freedom and independence. His fight against the social injustices of the time spilled over across time. In the years following his demise, others would secretly take up Guillen's cause, some not knowing that it was Guillen who opened the door to Mexico's sovereignty. On May 8, 1753, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. Miguel Hidalgo was nick named "El Zorro" and he also happened to be a member of the Scottish Rite Freemasons, a fraternity that Guillen Lampart would most definitely be acquainted with, and they with him. On September 16, 1810 Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell of the his church, and screamed "El Grito de Dolores", (the Scream of Dolores), to initiate Mexican Independence from Spain. Mexican Independence was achieved, after Hidalgo's death, on September 28, 1821, after the ratification of the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire, Mexico was finally a free and independent nation.
In Part I, I mention how this series on the Anti-Heroes of the Southwest got started. So I did try to find historical information to verify the story of Diego de la Vega and his birth place of El Fuerte, Sinaloa. The town does have a statue claiming the birthplace of Diego de la Vega being the small town of El Fuerte, but I was not able to find any historical evidence. I did locate a "De la Vega" that lived in the area and that had built the local town church, but I could not physically connect this person to the Diego de la Vega of McCulley's narrative.
This was the last one of the Series on Anti-Heroes of the SouthWest. Thank you to all who supported, and to all who commented. I hope you all enjoyed it and learned something new, I know I sure learned a lot about the history that helped forge the World I live in today. I may periodically revive this series, we shall see. Thank you.
Statue of Zorro with plaque stating that it is the Birthplace of Diego de la Vega
Source: hotelposadadelhidalgo
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Sources:
wikipedia.org
wikimedia.org
google.com(translate)
http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_lamportw.htm
http://www.wexfordzorrofest.com/history.html
http://www.canaldelmisterio.com/tag/william-lamport/
http://familylambert.net/History/bios/william.html
https://visitwexford.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/wexford-celebrates-roots-of-zorro-with-mexican-festival-2/
https://archive.org/details/LamportZorro2
http://www.coppercanyontours.com.mx/los_mochis.html
https://www.taringa.net/post/apuntes-y-monografias/12997883/La-historia-real-y-verdadera-del-zorro.html
http://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/the-man-behind-the-mask-of-zorro/
The Human Tradition in the Atlantic World, 1500–1850 - Cline
http://bdmx.mx/detalle/?id_cod=25
https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/mexico/news-and-events/2015/400-years-since-the-birth-of-william-lampart/
http://elpais.com/diario/2005/11/27/eps/1133076411_850215.html
http://thesis.haverford.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10066/1192/20?sequence=1
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masons/Misc/SRdegrees.html
http://www.mexicoarmado.com/historia-de-mexico-arte-y-cultura/99262-guillen-de-lampart-el-verdadero-zorro.html
*Historia del tribunal del Santo oficio de la inquisición en México - pgs 322/323 - Medina
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnlgdt;view=1up;seq=11;size=75
Astucia, el jefe de los Hermanos de la Hoja: o Los charros contrabandistas de la rama - Inclan
Thanks again. I had no clue about there being a true inspiration for the legend.
Most are aware of how lopsided Mexico is today, so it would seem that nothing really changed. Do you know if it was really better for a few years after independence, or did a new batch of tyrants simply pick up where the old ones left off?
@anotherjoe It has never really recovered down there since Spain ruled. Most if not all Mexican Presidents since their Independence have been Freemasons, which to me means that those Presidents were all puppets, and thus the situation of today, that really goes many of the places that were colonized by the imperialists.
Thanks Joe and glad you enjoyed. I know I learned a whole lot more than I ever imagined. I actually found Guillen Lampart's actual documents online, which I had not found before, so that was awesome, and everyone who read this series saw that.
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ps, when I was doing a little more research for this last post, I ran into my own article on google, so that too was pretty cool. It makes me realize how important google source content can really be for Steemit.
Interesting. One has to wonder how many countries have really been "independent", even when they've declared to be so.
It seems like the US was an independent republic for a while, before becoming an independent democracy, then spiraling into an oligarchy.
Yeah, sometimes the study is more reward than the actual divulging of the information. I find myself on rabbit trails and digging into all sorts of things sometimes, just because it's so interesting. The encouragement of finding your own source is pretty awesome. Others will benefit from your labors too. It would be nice if the "clicks" resulted in additional Steem.
Thanks again for your research. It was a great series.