Help about L éon history ..

[davidson]

A semi response to Izhar's query about the Leon king who preferred to lose his
son than to surrender the kingdom.
At this moment, nothing comes up in my sources about such an event in Leonese
history.
However, something very similar happened in the 1936-39 Spanish civil war in
Toledo. General Moscardo led the Falange group in Toledo, and held the high
part of the city, holed up in the Alcazar (castle).  The Repubicans held the
rest of the town. The Republicans captured Moscardo's son and although the
town was suffering, the telelphone lines were still working. The Republicans
called Moscardo in the castle, sayng that if he did not surrender, they would
kill his son.Moscardo asked to speak to his son and when he did, he told him
to "die like a man for Spain". The Repubicans executed the son.
The Falange held on, General Moscard did not die, and later the Falange took
Toledo.

Curiously, as the whiled away the time in the Alcazar, the Falange put on a
Cervantes play about Numancia in the Alcazar....

Perhaps the Leon taxi driver confused his stories?

Linda Davidson