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El Cid
Author unknown (written c. 12th century)

Type of Work:

Heroic epic poem

Setting

Spain; late eleventh century

Principle Characters

El Cid (Rity Diaz) , a spirited knight
King Alfonso, King of Leon and Castile(Christian Spain)
Minaya Fanez, The Cid's chief lieutenant and companion
Dona Ximena, The Cid's faithful wife
Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, The Cid's two daughters
Diego and Fernando Gonzalez, villainous princes of Carrion
Martin Antolinex, a nobleman of Burgos, and ally of The Cid

Poem Overveiw

Alfonso, the Christian King of Leon and Castile, sent his knight, El Cid, to collect the annual tribute owed to him by the Moorish King of Seville. In Seville, El Cid learned that soldiers governed by the King of Granada, along with certain Christian Leonese allies, were at that moment warring against the local King. Being a trustworthy and obedient knight, and inasmuch as Seville was a protectorate of King Alfonso, he led an expedition to meet this army. After emerging victorious, El Cid seized a traitorous Leonese count, Ordonez, and subjected him to the ultimate insult - he plucked the count's beard. But when this vengeful count returned home to Leon, he convinced King Alfonso that El Cid had become dangerously powerful and must be banished from the kingdom.

During the days before Cid was to be expelled, he gathered together a small band of troops loyal to him and traveled to Burgos. When the townfolk there, out of fear of punishment, refused to provide his rebels with any goods, his men pitched their camp outside of town and began devising plots to obtain the needed supplies. Finally they settled on the idea of sending an envoy, Martin Antolinez, to strike a deal with two pawnbrokers in the city' Antolinez would exchange two coffers - supposedly filled with gold and jewels but actually filled with sand - for the sum of six hundred marks, on the condition that the coffers would not be opened until El Cid had returned to buy them back. By this ploy, the group procured enough money to journey into the hostile lands of the Moors. Before finally departing from his beloved Christian kingdom, Cid paid a visit to the abbey where his wife and daughters had sought sanctuary. He bade farewell to his wife,

Dona Ximena:I love you as I love my soul! We must part in life; I go and you remain. May it please God and St. Mary that I may yet give these daughters in marriage and that I have the good fortune to live yet a little while in which to serve you, my wife.

El Cid then paid the abbot for his family's keep and marched out of the city with his troops.

Along the way, the numbers in El Cid's band increased. He promised all who joined him that they would be rewarded twofold for their sacrifice. On their last night in Christendom, El Cid was visited in a dream by the Angel Gabriel. "Ride, O Cid," the angel exhorted, "for never did a knight ride so luckily! Things will go well with you so long as you shall live." The knigbt-captain took this message as an omen of good fortune, and entered the wilderness unafraid.

El Cid's knights met with early success. They easily conquered the city of Castejon, then marched deeper into the Moorish province, sacking villages and exacting tribute along the way. El Cid soon laid siege to the great metropolis of Alcocer. The city's citizens chose to pay tribute so they would not have to fight; but after accepting the tribute, Cid, stung by greed, moved in and took the city as well.

It was quickly noised throughout the land that My Cid has left Christendom and is now settled amon the Moors, who hardly d re to York their fields.

One day word of El Cid's exploits reached the ear of King Mutamin of Moorish Valencia. Angered by the Christian's boldness, he dispatched a sizable army to retake Alcocer. These forces surrounded the city, cutting off the water supply, in hopes of driving El Cid out. Sure enough, sallying forth to do battle with Mutamin's waves of soldiers soon became the only choice. But, incited by their captain's courageous deeds and words, El Cid's men managed to drive the Moors away. Afterward, El Cid decided that some of the booty taken from the rout should go to King Alfonso as a peace offering. A nobleman, Minaya Fanez, was selected to deliver this gift - "thirty horses, all saddled and bridled, with swords hanging from their saddlebows."

King Alfonso was most pleased with Cid's generosity, and he opened the way for many of his men to go and serve in the rebel knight's army.

Bolstered by new recruits, El Cid next turned his attention to Valencia. Looting towns and defeating all forces gathered against them as they marched, El Cid's marauding troops at last surrounded the great city. The populace was given nine months to either hire mercenaries to fight for them or else surrender...... At the tenth [month] they yielded," and El Cid settled down to enjoy his spoils. Again he presented King Alfonso with one hundred of the finest Moorish horses. But this time he also instructed Minaya to make a special plea to the king: " . . . Kiss his hands for me, and beg him, if he will, to let me have my wife Dona Ximena and my dear daughters." The king not only gladly complied with this request, but also restored the property confiscated from El Cid when he was exiled.

When Cid beheld his wife and children approaching, he mounted his horse and rode out to embrace them, "weeping in his joy."

El Cid's power and influence continued to spread. Soon, many Moorish rulers felt "vexed" by him. One in particular, the King of Morocco, "gathered up all his forces, fifty thousand men," and set forth for Valencia to drive the Christian dog out. El Cid welcomed the attack: "My wife and daughters shall see me fight, and learn how we make our living in this foreign land." So, again shedding much blood, he and his troops met and defeated the Moroccans, who outnumbered them by more than twelvefold, and gathered together their riches, which were "beyond measure."

When this latest news reached Alfonso's court, two brother-princes of Carrion, Diego and Fernando Gonzalez, reasoned together: "My Cid's affairs go well! Let us beg of him his two daughters in marriage, and thus gain in honor and riches." The princes beseeched King Alfonso to act as their intermediary. He agreed and asked the visiting Minaya to convey the marriage proposals to El Cid back in Valencia.

El Cid hesitated to give his daughters in marriage, but because the request was from King Alfonso, he complied. A meeting to finalize the details for the weddings was arranged. When, after so many years, Cid finally once again saw Alfonso, he fell at his feet. Commanded to arise, he next received the Princes of Carrion. Then, after much gift-giving and celebrating, he and his future sons-in-law departed for Valencia.

"Rich was the wedding in the great palace." The feast alone lasted for two weeks- again, many gifts were exchanged. However, although the dual marriage was a joyous occasion, spousal relationships soon turned sour. Both Diego and Fernando proved to be immature and cowardly. A lion, escaped from its cage, caused one of the princes to ]aide beneath a bench while the other took cover behind the wine press, and he, in his terror, "quite defiled his tunic." But El Cid's flagging respect for his sons-in-law was revived when one day a Moroccan army was seen in the distance and the princes went forth to battle, later reporting their great valor in the skirmish. In reality, they had hidden far from the action. After several weeks, the princes proposed to take their wives on a visit to Carrion. But, secretly, they intended to avenge themselves on the young women for their mocking after the episode with the lion. El Cid, sensing trouble, sent along his nephew, Munoz; but once outside of Moorish territory, the princes ordered Munoz back to Valencia. Then the wicked brothers whipped their wives "till they fall senseless, their garments soaked in blood.... They leave them there for dead." The faithful Munoz, however, returning to track the band through the wilderness, found the women's nearly lifeless bodies.

Diego and Fernando continued on their way, thinking their act still a secret. But "in all the land their deed was known, and good King Alfonso grieved in his heart." Likewise, El Cid was both saddened and angered. To preserve his own honor and that of his daughters, lie ordered one of his knights to go to King Alfonso's court in demand of justice. The king complied and set up a trial date for the two brothers.

During this trial, the father demanded that the princes return his daughters' generous dowries. He also challenged them to combat, but they balked at this, claiming that "when we abandoned your daughters we did only what was our right, and did ourselves no dishonor thereby, but honor." The argument closed, King Alfonso made a ruling: El Cid was to select three of his knights to meet the Princes of Carrion ill a duel to the death. Of course, the outcome of this jousting match was a grim one for the princes.

Vengeance satisfied, honor restored, El Cid gave his daughters in marriage to the Prince of Navarre and the Prince of Aragon; "the Kings of Spain were now among his kinsmen."

Commentary

Perhaps the most famous poem to come out of southern Medieval Europe, El Cid contains descriptions of panoramic settings and colorful characters, which have since been adopted in the works of other writers.

The poem's rich storyline is largely based on fact. The knight El Cid in truth did live and accomplish many of the feats attributed to him. On the other hand, the poet telling the tale exaggerates a great deal. For instance' four thousand soldiers - even "Christian" soldiers - conquering fifty thousand Moors at Valencia is quite unbelievable. Nevertheless, the work is highly accurate in its depiction of the difficulties of ordinary life in a region of Spain split between the domination of two rival cultures. Moreover, "El Cid" portrays the struggles, challenges and potential for upward mobility that in reality did exist on the eleventh-century Spanish frontier.

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