Song of El Cid

El Cid was the most famous medieval Spanish hero, a historical figure who became a national hero to Castile. Such elevation made him also a legendary figure, due to the epic poem written in the 12th century, and several versions that followed. It was for this reason that I put his legend here.

The poem is divided into three cantars.

• The Lord (background)

• Exile

• Lord of Valencia

• Treachery and Justice

The Lord (background)

El Cid or The Cid, is actually a Spanish Arabic title or honour, because it means "The Lord". His real name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar or simply as Ruy Díaz de Vivar. Vivar being a village near Burgos in Castile, Spain; a place where he was born around 1043 to Diego Laínez, a minor nobleman. But his mother came from a greater aristocratic family than her husband.

El Cid was raised in the court of Ferdinand I, where he was promoted to armiger regis (standard bearer) at age 22. He also received the title of "The Champion", which in Spanish is El Campeador. He was a follower of Sancho, Ferdinand's elder son, not Alfonso. When Ferdinand died, Christian Spain was divided between his two sons, Sancho received Castile, and Alfonso became king of Leon. There was a rivalry between the two brothers, and El Cid supported Sancho. But Sancho died in 1072 while besieging Zamora, leaving Alfonso as sole ruler of Christian Spain. El Cid lost his rank as armiger regis.

His wife was named Jimena, daughter of the Count de Oviedo, whom he married in 1074. Jimena was also King Alfonso's niece. His children included a son named Diego Rodríguez, and two daughters, Cristina and Maria. In the poem, his daughters were called Elvira and Sol.

His loss of regal favour continued when he supported the Moorish king of Seville against García Ordóñez, who supported the King of Garanda. El Cid might have won the battle, but his decline in Castile's court was dealt a further blow when he attacked and defeated Toledo, a Moorish kingdom under Alfonso's protection, in 1081.

It was for this reason that El Cid was exiled, and where the poem of El Cid begins. See Exile for the beginning of the Cid's tale. The poem included the capture of Valencia and the regaining of Alfonso's favour. The poem didn't end with El Cid's death, but after the marriages of his two daughters to the princes of Navarre and Aragon.

For at least ten years, he served the Moorish kings in Saragossa under al-Mu'tamin and his successor, al-Musta'in II, where he won greater reputation as a warrior and a general, defeating enemies of Saragossa.

In 1094, El Cid captured Valencia after a protracted siege that began in 1092. He became Lord of Valencia, governing a large part of the surrounding region.

He died in Valencia in 1099, at the age of 56. Valencia fell to the Moors not long after his death, because King Alfonso didn't think he could control the region of Valencia.

Exile

The epic of the Cid actually began with his exile, which was around 1081.

The king Alfonso VI of Leon banished him, because the Cid was a strong supporter of the king's rival, Sancho II of Castile, Alfonso's brother.

The poem began with El Cid leaving Vivar with his followers (vassals); Vivar was his village near Burgos. He shed tears because of his departure from his home.

He entered Burgos, hoping to find lodging and buy supplies, but in Burgos, people closed their doors, refusing to offer him lodging and sell him supplies because they feared the king. The Cid would have broken down one of the locked doors, but a nine-year-old girl told him courteously why no one would offer him hospitality. If the king found out that anyone had offered help to him, they would lose their home, money and their eyes. The Cid realised the extent of the king's wrath and the lengths King Alfonso VI would go to punish him. He had a six-day grace to leave Castille.

So he rode to the church (of Santa Maria), prayed there, and then rode away from the town, camping on the other side of the river Arlanzon, opposite of Burgos.

But one citizen named Martin Antolinez came to El Cid's camp, bearing food and wine for El Cid and his followers. They arranged to secretly get money, a loan from two money lenders, so El Cid could pay his followers.

El Cid decided to pay a visit to his wife Jimena in San Pedro de Cardeña. She was staying with five other noble ladies at the Abbey, under the abbot Don Sancho. El Cid gave some money to the abbot to allow his wife to stay at the monastery during his absence. It was revealed by his wife that other lords serving the king were responsible for his banishment, but the poem gave no reason, other than to make El Cid blameless.

While the Abbot Don Sancho prepared a feast, the church bell rang, indicating that Castile's favourite son was leaving the kingdom. Hearing the bell toll, one hundred and fifteen knights rode out to the bridge at Arlanzon to join him. El Cid welcomed them. El Cid and his followers stayed at the monastery for a few days, before the king's grace expired, and then left San Pedro after one final morning mass (matins).

Even more knights joined as he was leaving Castile, riding towards the border, making several stops. He slept and had a vision of Gabriel, telling him that his future would be successful despite being exiled by his king. So on the last day of grace, he rode off with his followers. By this time, he had three-hundred horsemen and an unknown number of foot-soldiers. His second-in-command was Minaya Álvar Fáñez, a very competent knight, as well as being a nephew of El Cid.

He passed through the mountains at night until he reached the valley, where they intended to capture the Moorish town of Castejon de Henares. He did so in an ambush. His soldiers captured men and women in the field, and then he killed fifteen men who were supposed to guard the gate.

They shared the plunder from Castejon, but El Cid thought that it was too close to his king's realm for him to stay, thinking that Alfonso might come after him. So El Cid decided not to stay in Castejon. When he left, he didn't take any of the citizens in Castejon, but the plunder he took didn't impoverish Castejon.

With his followers, he moved to lay siege to Alcocer. He was camped outside of Alcocer for fifteen weeks before El Cid realised that they would not surrender to him, so he feinted a retreat to draw the Moorish warriors out of Alcocer. Seeing the Castilian forces leave the camp, they thought that if they attacked then, they could reap the wealth from plunder. So the army of Alcocer left the city and pursued El Cid's fleeing forces. El Cid, seeing that the Moors had taken his bait, turned his knights around to attack the men of Alcocer. Alcocer lost 300 men in this clever trap, so they surrendered to the Spaniards. Alcocer was forced to pay tribute to their conqueror.

Ateca, Terrer and Calatayud, hearing the news of Alcocer's capture, dispatched missives pleading to the king of Valencia, Mu'taman, asking for aid. Mu'taman gathered 3000 Moorish warriors under the leadership of two kings, Fariz and Galve.

The Moorish army arrived and managed to cut off the water supply to Alcocer, which El Cid then held. He prevented his troops from fighting a pitched battle for three weeks, but realised that the city was running short on water.

So he led his knights and infantry out to fight the pitched battle. El Cid wanted to draw the Moors out of formation before his men attacked at his order, but his standard bearer, Pedro Bermúda, the Cid's nephew, couldn't restrain himself and charged forward. El Cid had no choice but to go after Pedro, to prevent his standard from falling into the enemy's hands. Despite being outnumbered, El Cid achieved another victory. 1300 Moors lay dead on the battlefield. Minaya's horse was killed in the fighting; El Cid rescued Minaya and gave his lieutenant a new horse, formerly owned by Moorish leader, whom the hero had killed. The tide of the battle turned in their favour when he struck King Fariz several times; Fariz, seeing that he was wounded after the third blow, turned his horse around and fled. Galve also fled when he was wounded by the Castilian knight, Martin Antolinez. The Spaniards pursued their enemies, and Fariz sought refuge in the city of Terrer and Galve in Calatayud. The Moors' camp was taken, and they found themselves rich with gold, shields, swords and horses.

The Castilian army returned to Alcocer, where El Cid even generously allowed the Moorish citizens a share of the spoil from the Cid's latest victory.

El Cid decided to share his wealth with the king who had exiled him. He sent Minaya with a huge gift of thirty horses, each horse with a Moorish saddle, harness and sheathed sword.

King Alfonso was pleasantly surprised at El Cid's generosity, but not enough to pardon El Cid, so the hero had to remain in exile. However, Minaya was then free to move about freely in Castile. The king also made further concessions - any Castilian knight wanting to join El Cid's growing army might do so freely, without fear of prosecution from him. Two hundred knights (and an unknown number of infantry) decided to join Minaya when he returned to El Cid.

El Cid left Alcocer, conquering more land, reaching all the way to Huesa and Montalban. He even gained tribute from Saragossa by the time Minaya returned to him. The Moor residents were actually sad that El Cid was leaving Alcocer.

However, Ramon Berenguer, in the Frankish Count of Barcelona, was angry that El Cid had laid waste to his nephew's territory, so he gathered an army which consisted of both Christian and Moor warriors to confront El Cid. El Cid had no quarrel with Ramon, and asked the count not to fight him; the Count of Barcelona foolishly refused to listen. So a battle was fought, and El Cid's army defeated the Count's army. Ramon was taken captive. El Cid also won a fine sword, Colada, which was worth more than a thousand silver marks.

Count Ramon sulked at having lost the battle, and wouldn't eat for several days, even though El Cid treated him well. El Cid offered the Count freedom along with two other gentlemen, if Ramon would eat with him. At this offer, Ramon finally agreed. Ramon left El Cid in good terms.

Lord of Valencia

El Cid turned his attention toward the sea, leaving Saragossa behind and capturing Jerica, Onda and Almenara in rapid succession, as he moved his men closer to Valencia. The people of Valencia, fearing that El Cid would take more land away from them, sent an army to meet the Castilians.

El Cid attacked the Valencians with the main body of his forces, while Minaya harried their flanks with only a hundred knights. This strategy defeated the Valencians; two Moorish leaders were killed in the rout. The campaign towards Valencia took three years, capturing even more towns including Benicadell. Then he began the siege on Valencia.

The Valencians had learned the lesson of not confronting El Cid on the battlefield. Yusuf, a king of Morocco, fearing the capture of Valencia, sent a large army to relieve the city.

During the siege of Valencia, more men from all over Spain joined the ever-victorious El Cid. His fame had spread all over Spain. The ten-month siege saw the dwindling food supply reducing the city into starvation. They had no choice but to surrender because the army from Morocco failed to arrive in time; the gates of Valencia opened to El Cid. El Cid became even wealthier than he was ever before.

Hearing of Valencia's capture, the King of Seville sent an army of 30,000 Moors into a battle against El Cid near Huerta. The Moors were decisively defeated, and fleeing Moors were forced to cross the swallowing water of the river Júcar. The King of Seville escaped with three wounds.

El Cid was now the Lord of Valencia. El Cid reaped even more wealth from the siege of Valencia and the battle against the men of Seville.

El Cid decided to send Minaya back to Castile with more gifts to King Alfonso - three thousand horses, already equipped with saddles and harnesses. Only the nobleman Count Garcia Ordonez wasn't pleased with El Cid's successes, as the king quickly rebuked him, saying that the Campeador had served him better in exile than Garcia had in his court. Apparently Garcia Ordonez was one of those responsible for the falling out between the king and El Cid. This count was the Cid's mortal enemy.

Minaya also pleaded on El Cid's behalf to allow the Cid's wife and two daughters to join him in Valencia. This request, the king granted. Alfonso also restored the properties of El Cid's vassals, which he had earlier confiscated, as well as releasing all who wished to join El Cid in Valencia. The king sent a royal courier with Minaya, as well as an armed escort to ensure the safety of the Cid's wife and daughters as they left Castile.

Two young noblemen in the king's court, known as the Infantes of Carrión - Deigo Gonzólez and Fernando Gonzólez - saw that they could gain a lot by marrying El Cid's daughters. So the Infantes of Carrion asked Minaya to speak on their behalf about marriage proposals to the Cid's two daughters. The Infantes were sons of Don Gonzalo, and brothers of Ansur Gonzólez.

Minaya then went to San Pedro to fetch Dona Jimena and her daughters. Jimena was happy to rejoin her husband. After making preparations for departure, paying the Abbot for his kindness to El Cid's family and the creditors Rachel and Vidas, clearing the interest that El Cid owed them, they finally left the Burgos. Another sixty knights joined Minaya's escort.

They stopped by Molina, a town whose Moorish governor, Abengalbón, was friendly towards El Cid. He was host to the Campeador's family. Abengalbón also joined Minaya's company, all the way to Valencia.

The moment news arrived that Minaya had arrived in Valencia; El Cid rode out on Babieca to greet his wife and daughters.

The joyous occasion was disrupted by the arrival of the army of Morocco that had come by sea. 50,000 troops were disembarked from the ships.

Jimena and her daughters were alarmed by the size of the Moorish army, but her husband was very confident that his army would defeat the invaders from Morocco.

The two armies fought in a battle outside of the city walls of Valencia. Even the Bishop Jerome took part in the battle. King Yusuf fled after El Cid struck him three times with his sword. The Moorish army was decisively defeated, with only 104 men escaping out of the original 50,000.

The amount of booty left on the battlefield was staggering, and the number of horses amounted to 1500 in this latest victory.

The next day, the Campeador sent Minaya back to Castile with Pedro Bermúda to give a gift to his king of 200 horses and King Yusuf's beautiful tent. Alfonso was impressed by both his victory and the rich, new gifts, which he accepted. Count Garcia Ordonez was again displeased at the Cid's new success.

The Infantes of Carrión again brought up the marriage proposals to El Cid's two daughters, but this time they had brought their petition before their king. The Alfonso thought this would be a fine arrangement, but he would leave the matter to El Cid for approval. The king proposed that he should meet with El Cid, and the king told Minaya and Pedro Bermúda that El Cid should make the arrangements of where and when. The meeting was to give a pardon to El Cid.

The agreement for the meeting took place on the bank of the river Tagus, in three weeks. Lots of preparation took place. El Cid left behind two knights, Álvar Salvaórez and Galindo Garcíaz, in charge of the city's defence. Valencia's gates would remain closed for the duration of his absence; Ruy Díaz was concerned about the safety of his wife and daughters.

When the king approached Cid and his retinue, the hero dismounted with 15 other knights. The were on their knees, and the king granted pardon to Cid and his followers. Alfonso also restored Cid to the royal favour that he had lost. The king was Cid's host for that day, but the next day it was Cid who was host and the king was his guest.

The king brought up the petition of marriage from the Infantes of Carrion to Cid. The champion was reluctant because of their young age (and was not truly happy with this arrangement), but agreed to any decision of the king. So the king said they would be married, and the Infantes were now vassals to the Cid. Alfonso also approved that the Cid would remain as Lord of Valencia.

When El Cid left the king, more nobles and knights followed the hero back to Valencia to attend the wedding. Reunited with his wife and daughters, he gave them permission to marry the Infantes. The ceremony took place the following day, and performed by Bishop Jerome. The celebration afterward lasted for 15 days, with El Cid giving away many gifts to guests.

Treachery and Justice

The Infantes proved not to be fearless knights. One morning, a lion escaped from a net. While the Cid's men tried to protect their sleeping lord, Fernado hid under a couch, while his equally frightened brother Deigo hid in a wine cellar. When El Cid woke from the commotion, he went to the lion, unarmed, and dragged the beast back into the net, which surprised his men. The Infantes felt ashamed of their cowardice because their father-in-law's men had mocked them, but they also resented their father-in-law's boldness.

It was around this time that King Bucar arrived with 50,000 Moorish warriors from Morocco, with the intention of capturing Valencia.

But as the men in Valencia prepared for battle, El Cid heard from one of his men that the Infantes had no desire to fight in a war, and wished to return home. The Cid informed his sons-in-law that they need not fight....

Unfortunately, around this point, 50 lines are missing from the poem, but it would seem that the Infantes would take to the field and fight anyway.

Cid asked his nephew, Pedro Bermúda, to protect the Infantes in battle, but Pedro refused. Bishop Jerome asked to strike the first blow against the Moors, and did so, by killing two with his lance and five with his sword. El Cid and his men then fought and drove away the Moors.

During the pursuit, El Cid killed King Bucar and won the Moorish king's sword, Tizon. Another new victory, and it also seemed that his sons-in-law proved themselves in the battlefield. The Cid shared his wealth among his men and his sons-in-law. El Cid and Minaya Álvar Fáñez praised the Infantes, but some of the men still mocked them.

So secretly they decided to take all their new wealth and their young wives back to Carrion, but they would not return to Valencia.

Back home, they would discard their wives and marry other daughters. When the Infantes asked for leave to return home, the father-in-law had no suspicion of treachery from Fernado and Deigo, so he readily agreed to their departure. The Cid gave them more wealth as a dowry. He had even gave them the swords that he had won in battle - Colada and Tizón.

El Cid sent his nephew Félez Muñoz with his daughters, so that he could bring any news from his daughters in Carrion.

They stopped by Molina, ruled by Abengalbon, a Moorish governor and a good friend of El Cid. Abengalbon welcomed the Infantes and the daughters of El Cid, but the visit soured when Abengalbon's attendant overheard a conspiracy from the Infantes to murder the governor and rob him of his treasure. Abengalbon would have arrested the Infantes were they not sons-in-law of El Cid, so the governor sent them away. Because they had bragged about what they were going to do to Cid's daughters, the news reached the king's ears, which distressed Alfonso greatly.

As the company arrived at the forest of Corpes, the Infantes sent their retinues ahead (including Félez Muñoz), while the Infantes stayed with their young wives. Deigo and Fernado revealed their intention, and began beating the sisters senseless with their belts and spurs, leaving them for dead. The treacherous brothers headed back towards Carrion, thinking they could escape the consequences of their actions - be rich for the rest of their lives and free to marry.

Félez Muñoz was concerned for his young cousins. He retraced his steps back into the forest, finding his cousins unconscious and physically abused. He took care of them until they regained conscious, and then escorted them the Tower of Dona Urraca. Diego Tellez, a vassal of Alvar Fanez, was a leader of the Tower, and he sent a message to El Cid. They moved to San Esterban, where the young women could stay in comfort and regain their strength before returning to Valencia, to their parents. El Cid sent Minaya, Pedro Bermúda and Martín Antolínez to escort his daughters home.

When they returned, the two young ladies rejoiced at being reunited with their parents. El Cid was also angry at the treatment of his daughters, and sent a vassal, Muno Gustioz, to King Alfonso with a message about the treachery of the Infantes and what had happened to his daughters.

The king agreed that a trial would be held in Toledo, because he felt partly responsible for insisting and arranging the marriages of Cid's daughters to the Infantes. He believed that these treacherous noblemen should be held accountable for their crimes.

The Infantes didn't want to go to Toledo, but feared the wrath of their king, who threatened to strip them of their noble titles and exile them. Even Count Garcia Ordonez was there, an enemy of El Cid and supporter of Carrion.

In the court of Toledo, before other noblemen, Cid brought his case before the king. El Cid first demanded the return of his swords that he had given to his sons-in-law. Since the Infantes had admitted that they no longer wanted Cid's daughters as their wives, they had no right to keep the swords; so they returned the swords. El Cid gave one sword, Colada, to Martín Antolínez, and the other sword, Tizón, to Pedro Bermúda.

The Infantes and the other noblemen of Carrion were hoping that that was the end of El Cid's demands, but they were sadly mistaken. El Cid then demanded the return of the dowry, 3000 marks in gold and silver. They were no longer entitled to the money, since they were no longer sons-in-law of the Cid. But the Infantes could not pay the money back since they had already spent it. So the king offered the money, and the king would take it out of Carrion at his leisure. The Infantes had no choice in the matter, since the court held them accountable for their actions.

Finally, El Cid then demanded satisfaction for the ill-treatment of his daughters. Fernado Gonzólez tried to defend his action toward his wife, claiming that he had the right to marry a queen or empress, and not just a petty noble. Pedro Bermúda challenged Fernado of being not only a traitor who had abused Cid's daughter, seeing that the daughter was in the king's charge, but also for being a coward who hid under a couch when a lion was loose in the palace in Valencia. Fernado Gonzólez had no choice but to accept the challenge. Martín Antolínez also charged and challenged Deigo Gonzólez in combat, for being a traitor and coward too.

The Infantes' other brother, Ansur Gonzólez, challenged the court's verdict, and Muño Gustioz challenged Ansur in trial of combat. El Cid was satisfied by three single combats, but the noblemen and supporters of the Carrion, including Count Garcia Ordonez, asked that the combats to be held in Carrion, because they were hoping to assassinate the challengers before the combats could take place. Alfonso agreed, but offered his personal escort and protection to the champions of El Cid.

El Cid didn't want to go to Carrion, so he decided to return home, but he was very confident that his champions could defeat the Infantes. But before he left, since his daughters' marriages had been annulled by the king and the court, they were single again, so the Princes of Aragon and Navarre, named Íñigo Jiménez and Ojarra respectively, wished to marry the Cid's daughters. Both the hero and the king approved of these arrangements; these were marriages that El Cid could accept. The two princes accompanied El Cid back to Valencia.

The single combats involved jousting and the use of a sword. Mercy would be granted to the loser. Any combatant leaving the field would forfeit their combat to their opponent. The three Infantes brothers were no match for the three champions, despite having expensive armour.

Pedro Bermúda and Fernado Gonzólez jousted first. Pedro managed to pierce Fernado's shield and armour with his lance, and unhorsed Fernado. Fernado conceded that he was defeated, when he saw Pedro approach him with a drawn sword.

In the clash between Martín and Deigo, they broke their lances and attacked each other with swords while still mounted on chargers. Martín cut through Deigo's straps, thereby loosing his helmet. Fearing death, Deigo rode off of the field, which signified that he had lost his contest.

Muño pierced Ansur's armour in the second charge, and unhorsed the third Infantes. On his back, Ansur cried out for mercy, which was granted.

So the Infantes of Carrión were branded traitors, by trials by combat. They lost their titles and were exiled. With the king's blessings, the three victors were given permission to return to Valencia with the news that their lord's daughters had been avenged. The news reached Valencia with great rejoicing of the three victories, and El Cid and his wife enjoyed a celebration of a double wedding of their daughters to the princes.

So ended the poem of El Cid.

(It should be noted that in history, Cristina married Ramiro, Prince of Aragon, but in the poem he was called Íñigo Jiménez, while Maria married Ramón Berenguer III, count of Barcelona, and not of Navarre.)