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GALERÍA
HISPÁNICA:
Tales and Images from the
Spanish-Speaking World
Volume 7: The Life and Death of
El Cid
The morphology of the Spanish
term, el Cid, evolved in the
following fashion from the
Arabic: “al sayyid”, “seid”, “sidi”,
and finally “el cid” or the
“lord”, as in regal leader of
men. Rodrigo Díaz de Vívar,
champion knight of Castilla
under King Sancho II and King
Alfonso VI, served his monarchs
as a fighter of Moors in the
reconquest of Spain durng the 11th
century. Rodrigo was a wise man
of counsel and a fierce soldier
in battle. So much so was he
that his musulmán enemies
called him out of respect “al
sayyid”, or “lord”. His legend
was sung by the troubadours in
medieval Spain via the epic poem,
El Cantar De Mío Cid.
In the service of King Sancho II,
El Cid was given the title and
position of “alferez”, or
commander-in-chief of the armies
of Castilla. However, under
King Alfonso, the title
“alferez” went to García
Ordóñez, the Count of Nájera.
Alfonso and the Cid had a
strained relationship because
the Cid had been the one who
forced Alfonso to repeat an oath
in Burgos, declaring his
innocence of wrongdoing in the
death of Sancho II, former king
of Castilla. The Cid would
later serve Alfonso nobly as his
knight, but Alfonso certainly
carried a grudge against the Cid
throughout his life.
Alfonso needed the services of
the Cid and his armies in order
to protect his fragile kingdom
against those of the nobility
who remained loyal to his
brothers, Garcia and Sancho. In
1074, Alfonso arranged a
marriage between the Cid and a
niece of Alfonso, Ximena
Díaz-Gómez, the daughter of the
Count of Oviedo, and the
granddaughter of Alfonso V. Together
they had two daughters and one
son. The daughters were married
into noble families but his son,
Diego, was killed in battle
fighting against musulmán
soldiers in 1097. Diego was the
tax collector of Consuegra in La
Mancha
Image 16
Consuegra is a famous town in
Castilla-La Mancha directly
south of Madrid. La Mancha is
well-known for its legendary
windmills of Don Quixote.
Windmills were strategically
placed on promontories to
utilize the winds flowing over
the flat plains of La Mancha
below. Castles were also
strategically placed on these
promontories to provide easier
defense. The castle here at
Consuegra was the castle where
Diego, son of El Cid, managed
the affairs of the region.
The Cid and his daughters were
all married into noble families.
The legendary deeds of the Cid,
along with the presence of his
then noble family at Court,
enhanced his stature in the eyes
of his contemporaries and of
historians. To this very day in
Spain, the descendants of El Cid
are known. They are the royal
family members of the ancient
houses of Navarra and Cataluña
(Barcelona), the families into
which El Cid married his two
daughters. It is also
interesting to note that the Cid
gained the title of Campeador
because he killed the
alferez of Navarra in
hand-to-hand combat at the age
of 23.
In 1079, el Cid was sent by
Alfonso to collect tribute
monies from the Sultán of
Sevilla. He was accused by
García Ordónez of taking monies
for himself and was attacked by
the Sultán of Granada and García
Ordónez himself. The Cid
repelled those attackers and in
the process humiliated his arch
enemy, García Ordóñez. Upon his
return to Court, the Cid was
accused of taking tributes for
himself and of ursurping his
authority. As a result, Alfonso
banished the Cid from Castilla.
El Cid left his wife and
daughters behind, lodging them
safely in the Convent of San
Pedro de Cardeña, gathered his
most loyal soldiers, and then
departed Castilla. From that
moment on El Cid fought on
behalf of a variety of lesser
rulers, both Christian and Moor,
and even for himself. His
successes on the battlefield
continued and he gained even
greater fame and fortune as a
result. In 1086, the armies of
Alfonso VI were defeated in the
battle of Sagrajas The defeat
precipitated the reconciliation
of Alfonso and El Cid, who would
defend Alfonso’s territories for
three more years. King Yusuf,
the musulmán King of
Morrocco, entered Spain from
Africa and attacked Alfonso’s
troops at Aledo in 1089 and
because of some alleged
miscommunication, the Cid
arrived late with his armies.
An annoyed Alfonso took the
advice of the court enemies of
the Cid and banished him for a
second time. Between 1090 and
1094, El Cid and his army fought
as soldiers of fortune. El Cid
had heard that the Christian
stronghold of Valencia had been
captured by mulsulmán
troops and, weary of the life
fighting for others, decided to
take Valencia from the Moors for
himself, which he did in 1094.
The Cid lived there with his
wife, Ximena, for five more
years until his death on the 10th
of July, 1099 at the age of 56.
Image 17
This is an image of the chest,
or “cofre”, that belonged to El
Cid.
It is located in the cathedral
of Burgos. It is said that the
Cid filled this very chest with
sand and bargained it to money
lenders for spendable coins to
pay his troops and finance his
campaigns upon his exile from
Castilla. The word of the Cid
was as good as the gold coins he
needed. He told the money
lenders that the chest was full
of valuables which he would
redeem at a later date.
Supposedly, they never opened
the chest to check on its
contents, because in reality,
they were lending the money to
El Cid on his honor and that
would be collateral enough. I
have even heard that after the
Cid died, his remains were
transported back to Burgos
inside this very chest.
Image 18
El Cid owned two famous swords,
La Tizona and La Colada. La
Tizona has survived to this day
and is on display at the Army
Museum in Madrid. It will soon
be transferred to El
Alcázar de Toledo along
with all other relics and
artifacts from the Army Museum.
This sword has survived over 900
years and a recent metalurgical
examination dated it accurately
from the 11th century
and determined it to be of
Damascus steel. It is truly,
one of the world’s great
historic treasures.
Image 19
El Cid was tutored by his
godfather, a monk and trainer of
horseflesh near Burgos. When the
Cid came of age, the godfather
allowed young Rodrigo to choose
a horse of his liking. Rodrigo
chose a young white Andalusian
stallion that, in the eyes of
his godfather, showed little
value as horseflesh. He scolded
young Rodrigo for choosing such
a stupid horse, a “babieca”.
Rodrigo then selected
Babieca for its name and
rode the white stallion
throughout his military
campaigns. The image above
portrays El Cid mounted on
Babieca and pointing in the
direction outward from Burgos,
the direction he would ride in
his exile from Castilla. After
the death of El Cid, Babieca was
never again mounted and died two
years later at the age of 40.
Before his death, Rodrigo Díaz
de Vívar, El Cid, Campeador de
Castilla, made his wishes known
that his wife and his faithful
Babieca were to be buried at his
side at the Convent of San Pedro
de Cardeña. Their tombs
remained there until they were
transferred permanently to the
Cathedral of Burgos in 1921.
Image 20
This image is of the tomb of
Rodrigo Díaz de Vívar and his
wife Dóna Ximena in the chapel
of the Cathedral of Burgos,
Castilla-León, Spain.
Before the discovery of the
written Jarcha manuscripts of
the 10th century,
El Cantar De Mío Cid,
(The Song of The Cid)
was considered to be the oldest
literary manuscript (1140)
written in the Spanish language.
It is the epic poem sung by the
troubadours on the Camino
de Santiago. The poem
sings an eternal eulogy to the
life and times of Rodrigo Díaz
de Vívar, El Cid, Campeador de
Castilla. Witness the following
lines:
“One who fills them with dread,
Grown much larger than ever,
Who rides on a white horse,
A crimson cross on his breast,
In his hand a white banner,
His sword looks like a flame
To torment the Moors,
---------El Cid Campeador!”
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