El Cid

Compeador

Ronel Banaag Jr.

Marcom Banaag
Grade 12 ABM Block 1

Ms. Justine Mae Perez

 El Cid, English The Cid, also called El Campeador (“the Champion”), byname of
Rodrigo, or Ruy, Díaz de Vivar, (born c. 1043, Vivar, near Burgos, Castile [Spain]—died July
10, 1099, Valencia), Castilian military leader and national hero. His popular name, El Cid (from
Spanish Arabic al-sīd, “lord”), dates from his lifetime.

Early Life
Rodrigo Díaz’s father, Diego Laínez, was a member of the minor nobility (infanzones) of
Castile. But the Cid’s social background was less unprivileged than later popular tradition liked
to suppose, for he was directly connected on his mother’s side to the great landed aristocracy,
and he was brought up at the court of Ferdinand I in the household of that king’s eldest son, the
future Sancho II of Castile. When Sancho succeeded to the Castilian throne (1065), he nominated
the 22-year-old Cid as his standard-bearer (armiger regis), or commander of the royal troops.
This early promotion to important office suggests that the young Cid had already won a
reputation for military prowess. In 1067 he accompanied Sancho on a campaign against the
important Moorish kingdom of Zaragoza (Saragossa) and played a leading role in the
negotiations that made its king, al-Muqtadir, a tributary of the Castilian crown.
 The literature on El Cid contained in the chronicles and ballads were passed on by these
sources to Golden Age literature. In the mid 16th century, the plot of the story of El Cid was
developed in an extensive epic work, a narrative stanza consisting of eight lines in the typical
style of the Renaissance epic poem, but with a strongly moralising tone: the famed, heroic deeds
of El Cid Ruy Díaz de Vivar, Diego Ximénez de Ayllón, published in Antwerp in 1568 and
reprinted in Alcalá in 1579.
However, the type of literature in which the heroic deeds of El Cid reached their apogee
in terms of development and literary greatness was drama. Juan de la Cueva was the first to adapt
the old Spanish epic poems to the stage, and composed a drama about El Cid entitled “La muerte
del rey don Sancho” (The death of King Sancho) which was first staged in Seville in 1579.
This drama recreates the siege of Zamora and is true to the ballads sung about this
event, sometimes almost literally, which would later become habitual in dramatic works of that
time. In the 17th century, during the period when the new comedy reached its peak, the subject
of the wars between King Sancho and his brothers is dealt with in the “Comedia segunda de las
Mocedades del Cid” (Second comedy of the Tales of the Young Cid), also known as “Las
Hazañas del Cid” (The deeds of El Cid), printed in 161, by Guillén de Castro (which focuses on
the siege of Zamora) or “En las almenas de Toro” (On the battements of Toro), published in
1620 by Lope de Vega, among others.
The subject of Valencia was also converted into a dramatic work in “Las hazañas del
Cid anónimas” (Anonymous deeds of El Cid) published in 1603 and “El cobarde más valiente”
(The bravest coward) by Tirso de Molina, which, in turn, is inspired by “El amor hace valientes”
(Love brings courage), written in 1658 by Juan de Matos Fragoso and “El Cid Campeador” (EL
Cid the Battler) and “El noble siempre es valiente” (Nobles are always brave (1660), by
Fernando de Zárate (pen name of Antonio Enríquez Gómez, a converted man pursued by the
Inquisition).
However, the central motif of these works is not the conquest of the city, but an episode
that is taken from “Crónica de Castilla”, that of Martín Peláez, a timorous knight and supporter
of El Cid who is inspired with courage by his master. On the contrary, the central conflict of the
second part of “el Cantar de mio Cid” is the offence suffered by his daughters, through the work
“El honrador de sus hijas” (The man who restored his daughters’ honour), written in 1665 by
Francisco Polo.

What is El Cid Known For?

El Cid, who lived in the 11th century, is known as the national hero of Spain. He is
remembered as a fierce champion of Christian Spain against Muslim and particularly Almoravid
forces during the early years of the Reconquista and as the embodiment of knightly honour.

What made El Cid Famous?

 The 12th century epic poem Cantar de mio Cid ( “Song Of my Cid”) is the primary source
of the legend of El Cid. The play Le Cid by Pierre Corneille, first published and performed in
1637, further burnished the legend.

What were el Cid’s accomplished?

El Cid was a formidable military leader who won several famous battles. He was also an
astute politician. His most significant accomplishment was his conquest of Muslim-ruled
Valencia in spite of strong Almoravid resistance. He ruled Valencia from 1094 until his death in
1099.

What el Cid the champion that he was portrayed as?

El Cid was portrayed as being loyal to Alfonso VI, king of Castile and Leon, but he first
became prominent fighting against Alfonso and was never a fully trustworthy champiom for
Alfonso. When Alfonso exiled him, he served the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza for almost a decade
before conquering Valencia.

How did El Cid get his name?

El Cid’s name was Rodrigo (or Ruy) Diaz de Vivar. El cid comes from the Spanish
Arabic al-sid , meaning “ the lord” or “the master”, and he earned that name during his lifetime
because of his military prowess.

EL CID, LEGEND AND MITH

It is quite extraordinary that we are able to know so much about the life of Rodrigo the
Battler, and the success of El Cid as a literary figure is no less extraordinary. From the times
during which he lived to the present day, his figure has constantly inspired all kinds of artistic
expressions (mostly literary but also plastic and musical) and been depicted onscreen, through
the famous film El Cid, and on TV, in the form of a series of cartoons broadcast at the beginning
of the nineteen-eighties, “Ruy, el pequeño Cid”. But for now, we will continue with our analysis.

El Cid in the Arabic sources

It may seem a paradox, but the oldest texts about the figure of Rodrigo the Battler are Arabic,
which (in yet another paradox) never refer to him using the title Sidi in the twenty works in
which his name is mentioned. This should come as no surprise.  During the Middle Ages,
literature in the Iberian Peninsula was usually written more often in Arabic than in the Romance
languages. In particular, the 11th century is one of the most flourishing periods of Al- andalus,
both with respect to poetry and with respect to history.
 Concerning the title Sidi, there are two reasons that explain why it is not used in the
Arabic texts: it was a term traditionally reserved for Muslim governors and the references made
to El Cid in them are extremely negative.
Despite acknowledging some of his great qualities, for the Moors the Battler was a tagiya
«tyrant»,  «accursed» la‘in and even a kalb ala‘du «enemy dog», and if they wrote about him, it
was due to the impact that the loss of Valencia caused at that time.
In these circumstances, it is quite amazing that in the third part of the Dajira or Treasure
(circa 1110), Ben Bassam referred to him as «that wretch [i.e., Rodrigo] during his time, due to
his skill, firm resolution and extreme bravery, one of the great prodigies of God», although
«prodigy» used in this case is not taken entirely as a positive trait. This author is one of those
who wrote extensively about El Cid in Arabic, and tells many tales that were related by
witnesses.
This latter category includes authors of the oldest Works on the Battler, which are, today,
only known through indirect channels: theElegy of Valencia of the Alfaqui and
poetAlwaqqashí (who died in 1096), composed during the most difficult phase of the siege of the
city (very likely at the beginning of 1094), the Eloquent Manifesto about the terrible incident, a
history of the rule of the Battler written between 1094 and 1107 by the author from Valencia Ben
Alqama (1037-1115) and another work on the same subject, whose title is unknown, written
by Ben Alfaray, visir of king Alqadir of Valencia on the eve of the conquest of El Cid. These
two Works, which are quoted or summarised by different authors at a later date, are the basis of
practically all the Arabic references made to El Cid, up to the 17th century.

El Cid in the Christian sources. Mediaeval texts

There is much speculation about the possible existence of songs bearing tides of the
Battler; these would be short poems handed down from his times by people who were eager to
learn news and the deeds of the gentleman from Burgos. The truth is that there is no firm support
in this respect, and the only thing that is certain is that the oldest Christian texts about Rodrigo
date from the 12th century and are in written in Latin.
The first, which we have already quoted, is thePoem of Almería (1147-1148), which tells
of the conquest of that city by Alfonso VII and also briefly praises our hero, saying, as has
already been seen, that he had never been defeated. This allusion has given rise to the idea
that the Cantar de mio Cid already existed at that time, or at least one of his ancestors but (as I
have already explained) that expression appears only to say “legend has it he was never
defeated”.
As opposed to this isolated testimony from the mid -12th century, a great many examples
of literature about El Cid existed at the end of that same century. The detonator to this appears to
have been the composing of the work Historia Roderici, (circa 1180), which was perhaps written
in the Rioja region.  This is a Latin biography about the Battler in which all the available
information about the life of the hero is included and put into some kind of order (most certainly
based on oral literature). Based partly on this work, but allowing for more legendary components
about the role played by Rodrigo in the battle of Golpejera and the siege of Zamora, we have
the Crónica Najerense (Chronicle of Najera) written in Nájera (as its name indicates) between
1185 and 1194.
Shortly afterwards, the first Romance work was composed, the Linaje de Rodrigo
Díaz(Lineage of Rodrigo Díaz”, a brief text from Navarre (circa 1094) that described the family
tree of the hero and a short biography based on the “Historia” and the “Crónica”. At about the
same time, based on the same works, a Latin poem was composed that describes the main battles
fought by Rodrigo, in the form of a hymn, the Carmen Campidoctoris.
In the 13th century, the Latin historians Lucas de Tuy, in his Chronicon mundi (1236),
andRodrigo Jiménez de Rada, in his Historia de rebus Hispanie (1243), made brief allusions to
the main deeds of the Battler and in particular the conquest of Valencia, whereas (during the
second half of the century) Juan Gil de Zamora dedicated several chapters to the life of Rodrigo
Díaz in his works Liber illustrium personarum and De Preconiis Hispanie, just as the Bishop of
Burgos, Gonzalo de Hinojosa, did at the start of the 14th century, in hisChronice ab origine
mundi.

El Cid in Golden Age literature. The new comedy

The literature on El Cid contained in the chronicles and ballads were passed on by these
sources to Golden Age literature. In the mid16th century, the plot of the story of El Cid was
developed in an extensive epic work, a narrative stanza consisting of eight lines in the typical
style of the Renaissance epic poem, but with a strongly moralising tone: the famed, heroic deeds
of El Cid Ruy Díaz de Vivar, Diego Ximénez de Ayllón, published in Antwerp in 1568 and
reprinted in Alcalá in 1579.
However, the type of literature in which the heroic deeds of El Cid reached their apogee
in terms of development and literary greatness was drama. Juan de la Cueva was the first to adapt
the old Spanish epic poems to the stage, and composed a drama about El Cid entitled “La muerte
del rey don Sancho” (The death of King Sancho) which was first staged in Seville in 1579.
This drama recreates the siege of Zamora and is true to the ballads sung about this event,
sometimes almost literally, which would later become habitual in dramatic works of that time. In
the 17th century, during the period when the new comedy reached its peak, the subject of the
wars between King Sancho and his brothers is dealt with in the “Comedia segunda de las
Mocedades del Cid” (Second comedy of the Tales of the Young Cid), also known as “Las
Hazañas del Cid” (The deeds of El Cid), printed in 161, by Guillén de Castro(which focuses on
the siege of  Zamora) or “En las almenas de Toro” (On the battements of Toro), published in
1620 by Lope de Vega, among others.
The subject of Valencia was also converted into a dramatic work in “Las hazañas del Cid
anónimas” (Anonymous deeds of El Cid) published in 1603 and “El cobarde más valiente” (The
bravest coward) by Tirso de Molina, which, in turn, is inspired by “El amor hace valientes”
(Love brings courage), written in 1658 by Juan de Matos Fragoso and “El Cid Campeador” (EL
Cid the Battler) and “El noble siempre es valiente” (Nobles are always brave  (1660),
by Fernando de Zárate (pen name ofAntonio Enríquez Gómez, a converted man pursued by the
Inquisition).
However, the central motif of these works is not the conquest of the city, but an episode
that is taken from “Crónica de Castilla”, that of Martín Peláez, a timorous knight and supporter
of El Cid who is inspired with courage by his master. On the contrary, the central conflict of the
second part of “el Cantar de mio Cid” is the offence suffered by his daughters, through the work
“El honrador de sus hijas” (The man who restored his daughters’ honour), written in 1665
byFrancisco Polo.

SUMMARY
By royal edict, the Cid is banished from Christian Spain by King Alfonso VI of Castile.
The royal edict allows him nine days in which to leave the kingdom but forbids him from taking
with him any of his wealth and goods. Any man in the kingdom who offers aid to the Cid will
forfeit his estate. Nevertheless, the Cid enlists the aid of Martín Antolinez in swindling two
moneylenders, Raquel and Vidas, in exchange for two large sealed coffers, supposedly loaded
with the Cid’s riches but containing only sand. The Cid and a small force of vassals then ride
away and make a secret camp. On the morning of the Cid’s actual departure from the country,
with a fair-sized group of loyal vassals, Mass is said for all at the abbey where Doña Ximena, the
Cid’s wife, and his two infant daughters, Doña Elvira and Doña Sol, have been ordered to
remain.
Becoming a soldier of fortune, the knight leads his host in conquest of one Moorish
territory after another, each time generously sharing the spoils and booty among his knights and
vassals, even the lowliest. Thus he builds up a larger and stronger force with every foray, and
after each victory Mass is said in thanksgiving. The Cid fights his way to the eastern side of the
peninsula, where he fights his most crucial battle and wins his greatest victory when he takes as
his prisoner Count Ramón of Barcelona. After Count Ramón has been humbled and forced to
give up all his property, he is granted his liberty.
Although Minaya Alvar Fáñez returns to King Alfonso with gifts and a glowing report of
the Cid’s successes, the king does not revoke his decree of banishment. Minaya’s estates are
restored, however, and he was granted freedom to come and go without fear of attack. The Cid
continues his campaigns against the Moorish territories in order to increase his favor with King
Alfonso. After he has conquered the provinces of Valencia and Seville, however, his men grow
tired of fighting, and many wish to return to Castile. The Cid, although still generous and
understanding, proves himself master by threatening all deserters with death.

Again the Cid sends Minaya to King Alfonso, this time with a gift of one hundred horse.