El Cid

El Cid was a medieval knight and military leader who lived during the 11th century, a period also known as the Reconquista. El Cid is considered one of Spain's greatest national heroes.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (b. 1043/45 in Vivar, Kingdom of Castile; d. 10 July 1099 in Valencia) was a Castilian knight and ruler of Visigothic descent in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve into "El Çid", and the Spanish honorific "El Campeador" ("the master of the Battlefield"; "the one who 'campaigns'"; "duel fighter").

Life

A monument in Burgos glorifies El Cid as the ideal of Gothic-Spanish chivalry

American actor Charlton Heston (1923–2008) as El Cid

He was born in Vivar, a village near the city of Burgos. His real name was "Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar", as per the old Visigothic custom, meaning "Rodrigo son of Diego of the town of Vivar". "Rodrigo" comes from the Germanic name Roderich, famous King of the Visigoths from 710 to 711. He refers to himself in Vulgar Latin as “Rudericus” as attested in a 1098 document which he signed "Ego Rudericus Campidoctor". He lived in a time, when the Christian realms of Castile, Navarre, Aragon, León and Barcelona were by no means united, but also fought each other, which opened up numerous opportunities for active military leaders.

His 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 of León 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 c. 20-year-old Cid as his standard-bearer (armiger regis), or commander of the royal troops.

He became the right-hand man of the new King Sancho II of Castile, he fought and defeated the army of the Kingdom of Leon (to join both Kingdoms), Kingdom of Navarre, Kingdom (Moorish) of Zaragoza making it a vassal of Castile, and then the Kingdom of Aragon that attacked Zaragoza; he even was sent to the Kingdom (Moorish) of Seville (vassal of Castile) to protect it from a Granade attack. Exiled by the new King of Castile Alfonso VI, he fought as a mercenary for the Kingdom (Moorish) of Zaragoza and defeated attacks from the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon.

In 1086 there began the great Almoravid invasion of Spain from North Africa. Alfonso VI, crushingly defeated by the invaders at Sagrajas (October 23, 1086), suppressed his antagonism to the Cid and recalled from exile the Christians’ best general. The Cid’s presence at Alfonso’s court in July 1087 is documented. But shortly afterward, he was back in Zaragoza, and he was not a participant in the subsequent desperate battles against the Almoravids in the strategic regions where their attacks threatened the whole existence of Christian Spain. The Cid, for his part, now embarked on the lengthy and immensely complicated political maneuvering that was aimed at making him master of the rich Moorish kingdom of Valencia. The Cid’s first step was to eliminate the influence of the counts of Barcelona in that area. This was done when Berenguer Ramón II was humiliatingly defeated at Tébar, near Teruel (May 1090). During the next years the Cid gradually tightened his control over Valencia and its ruler, al-Qādir, now his tributary. His moment of destiny came in October 1092 when the qāḍī (chief magistrate), Ibn Jaḥḥāf, with Almoravid political support rebelled and killed al-Qādir. The Cid responded by closely besieging the rebel city. The siege lasted for many months; an Almoravid attempt to break it failed miserably (December 1093). In May 1094 Ibn Jaḥḥāf at last surrendered, and the Cid finally entered Valencia as its conqueror. To facilitate his takeover he characteristically first made a pact with Ibn Jaḥḥāf that led the latter to believe that his acts of rebellion and regicide were forgiven; but when the pact had served its purpose, the Cid arrested the former qāḍī and ordered him to be burnt alive. The Cid now ruled Valencia directly, himself acting as chief magistrate of the Muslims as well as the Christians. Nominally he held Valencia for Alfonso VI, but in fact he was its independent ruler in all but name. The city’s chief mosque was Christianized in 1096; a French bishop, Jerome, was appointed to the new see; and there was a considerable influx of Christian colonists. The Cid’s princely status was emphasized when his daughter Cristina married a prince of Aragon, Ramiro, lord of Monzón, and his other daughter, María, married Ramón Berenguer III, count of Barcelona. The Cid continued to rule Valencia until his death in 1099.

He played a crucial role in several military campaigns, leading armies to victory against both Muslim and Christian enemies. His most significant triumph came in 1094 when he captured the city of Valencia from the Muslim Almoravids, establishing an independent principality that he ruled until his death in 1099. To consolidate his rule, Rodrigo married his daughters (Cristina and Maria)) to noblemen from Barcelona and Navarre. The legend turned them into cowards who failed in the fight against Muslims and wild animals, mistreating their wives and leaving them naked and exposed. The Cid then took revenge by challenging his sons-in-law to a duel and defeating them. Son Diego Rodríguez was ⚔ during the Battle of Consuegra in 1097.

King Alfonso VI, ruler of the northern Spanish kingdoms of Leon and Castile, valued his vassal as a comrade-in-arms on campaigns, used him as a judge in disputes, and helped him find a well-off wife. In short, Rodrigo was an important man at court, respected and wealthy. But he wanted more. In 1081, he gathered an army on his own authority and attacked the Muslim kingdom of Toledo – a serious mistake, because Alfonso VI was the patron of Toledo and collected tribute from the Muslims for it. As punishment, he sent Rodrigo into exile. The now began an interplay of alliances. First, he offered his services to the Muslim ruler of Zaragoza, where he quickly proved himself as an army commander. For more than five years he defended the kingdom against attacks from other princes. When Alfonso VI also laid siege to Zaragoza in the early summer of 1086, Rodrigo stood on the other side of the walls – and held his own. [...] When Alfonso VI approached with a punitive expedition, Rodrigo invaded the latter's realm and devastated entire regions. The king had to retreat. In 1094, El Cid appointed himself Lord of Valencia. There he ruled with a hard hand [...] In the eyes of more and more Spanish Christians, the swashbuckler, who against all odds held a city deep in enemy territory, now became a warrior of God, fighting Islam in the name of the cross. On July 10, 1099, he dies without male descendants. According to a legend, his followers strap the corpse onto a horse to continue marching into battle behind their master. His widow Jimena was able to defend Valencia against the Almoravids for two more years. Although King Alfonso VI came to her aid, the enemy superiority was too great in the long run. Therefore, the monarch preferred to set the city on fire so as not to abandon it to the enemy before returning to Castile with Jimena and his retinue. And even as clouds still were rising from the ashes of Valencia, the myth of "El Cid" - the loyal subject and hero of Christianity - was already spreading from the scriptoria of the Iberian monasteries.

The verse epic “Cantar de Mio Cid” celebrated him as early as 1200, thereby setting an early monument to the Castilian language. The following works continued to weave new layers around “El Cid,” as “The Lord” lived on in the memory of Muslims. The fact that the hero of the Reconquista has an Arabic title once again points to his eventful path between worlds. The Cid was buried in his Castilian homeland in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña near Burgos; Today the tomb is in the Gothic cathedral of Burgos. According to tradition, the sword Tizona he used, which was on display for many years in the Army Museum in Madrid, was acquired by the city of Burgos in May 2007 and can now also be viewed in the city's cathedral along with other relics related to the national hero.

Popular culture

El Cid remains an iconic figure in popular culture as evidenced by Charlton Heston starring as El Cid in the 1961 movie of the same name, and by Medieval Total War video games.

External links

• El Cid, Encyclopædia Britannica