3-069-985 - LTL/Heritage Images

Alonso Pérez de Guzmán throwing his dagger during the siege of Tarifa, 1296, (1852). Guzmán el Bueno throwing his dagger for the kidnappers to kill his son who was being held hostage. Guzmán, called Guzmán el Bueno (Guzman the Good) (1256-1309), was a Leonese military and nobleman, and founder of the house of Medina Sidonia. According to legend, Guzmán rebuffed the demand to surrender the city of Tarifa with dramatic words: 'I did not beget a son to be made use of against my country, but that he should serve her against her foes. Should Don Juan put him to death, he will but confer honour on me, true life on my son, and on himself eternal shame in this world and everlasting wrath after death'. Guzmán reportedly threw down his knife for the besiegers to use in killing his son. From "Historia General de España" by Father Mariana, Madrid, 1852.