Alonzo of Aguilar
Preserved but no longer current.
When Fernando, King of Aragon, was laying siege to Granada in 1501, he asked who would undertake to plant his banner on the heights. Alonzo, "the low- most of the dons," undertook the task but was cut down by the Moors. His body was exposed in the wood of Oxijera, and the Moor- ish damsels, struck with its beauty, buried it near the brook of Alpuxarra. The incident is the subject of a number of ballads.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Alonzo of Aguilar” mean?
When Fernando, King of Aragon, was laying siege to Granada in 1501, he asked who would undertake to plant his banner on the heights. Alonzo, "the low- most of the dons," undertook the task but was cut down by the Moors. His body was exposed in the wood of Oxijera, and the Moor- ish damsels, struck with its beauty, buried it near the brook of Alpuxarra. The incident is the subject of a number of ballads.
Is “Alonzo of Aguilar” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.