Last modified: 2016-06-04 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-m-dag.gif)
Flag of Corpa - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015
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The municipality of Daganzo de Arriba (9,841 inhabitants in 2014; 4,380 ha; municipal website) is located in the east of the Community of Madrid, 30 km of Madrid and 10 km of Alcalá de Henares.
Daganzo de Arriba originates in a village established near river Torote on the today's site of the Nuestra Señora del Espino chapel; the settlement was crossed by the old Talamanca road, then the main way to reach Alcalá de Henares. After the Christian reconquest, a new village was established on the site of the modern town, while the old village was abandoned; the land nearby, known as Almazanejo, was, however, of great importance for the development of the new settlement.
Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, lord of Daganzo, was made in 1469 Count of Coruña by King Henry IV; the privileges were confirmed in 1480 by the Catholic Monarchs to his son, Bernardino de Mendoza y Borbón, 2nd Count of Coruña. In 1542, Alonso Suárez de Mendoza y Sotomayor, 3rd Count of Coruña, granted an emphyteutic lease to the villagers. Arable land, the Almazanejo included, was divided in plots of equal area shared by drawn lots among the villagers for a duration of 10 years; the system is still in use in Daganzo.
Daganzo de Arriba was the place of landing of the first aerostat that completed a flight in Spain. On 12 August 1792, the Italian diplomat Vicenzo Lunardi took off from the Buen Retiro garden in Madrid, in the presence of Charles III and the Court. A first attempt made in Aranjuez had failed. The aerostat was carried five leagues away by north-eastern winds, to Daganzo, where its landing caused quite a panic among the peasants. Since then, the place has been known as El Globo.
Daganzo owes literary fame to Miguel de Cervantes, who published in 1615 the entremés La elección de los alcaldes de Daganzo. (The Election of the Magistrates of Daganzo): "A local election in a small town brings together the ignorant, bigoted townsfolk to choose from a poor selection of potential magistrates. The election is thwarted by an elderly sexton and the arrival of some singing and dancing gypsies."
[Pitch by Kathleen Jeffs]
Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015
The flag (photos) of Daganzo de Arriba is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 18 March 1992 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 14 May 1992 in the official gazette of the Community of Madrid, No. 114, p. 12 (text) and on 13 July 1992 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 167, p. 24,091 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: In proportions 2:3. White panel charged in the center with the municipal coat of arms
The coat of arms of Daganzo de Arriba is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 4 April 1991 by the Government of the Community of Madrid and published on 29 May 1991 in the official gazette of the Community of Madrid, No. 126, pp. 21-22 (text) and on 1 July 1991 in the Spanish official gazette, No. 156, p. 21,891 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Quarterly per saltire, 1. and 4. Vert a bend gules fimbriated or, 2. and 3. Gules the motto "Ave María" or (Mendoza), 2. Vert a fess gules masoned sable in chief two daggers argent hilted or in base a dagger hilted or. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.
The dexter quarter of the shield refers to the two possible origins of the name of the municipality:
- the Arab word taqa, "a row of bricks", as used to build an oven;
- the Latin word daca, in Spanish, daga, "a dagger".
[Municipal website]
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Figueroa (1415/1417-1479), the elder son of
Íñigo López de Mendoza, First Marquis of Santillana, was made Duke of the Infantado (full title, "Duque de las Cinco Villas del Estado del Infantado") in 1475; subsequently, the Dukes of the Infantado were made first-rank Grandees of Spain, and were therefore allowed to wear
their hat in the presence of the king. Íñigo de Arteaga y Martín (b. 1941) is the 19th Duke of the Infantado.
"Vert a bend gules fimbriated or" are the oldest known arms of
Mendoza; subsequently modified several times, the arms always included
a red bend on a green field. The arms quartered per saltire were
introduced by the first Marquis of Santillana and appear on a seal
dated 1440; the marquis quartered his father's arms (Mendoza) with his
mother's arms (de la Vega). His descendants were known as Mendoza de
Guadalajara or Mendoza de l'Ave María. In the representations of these
arms, the first quarter is inscribed with "AVE MARÍA" while the third
quarter is inscribed with "PLENA GRATIA" (or, at least "GRATIA").
[José Luis García de Paz (UAM), Los poderosos Mendoza website]
Ivan Sache, 6 July 2015