Everything about Cid Campeador totally explained
For the 1961 film of this name see El Cid (film)
Rodrigo (or
Ruy)
Díaz de Vivar (
Vivar (
Burgos) c.
1044–
Valencia,
10 July 1099), known as
El Cid Campeador, was a
Castilian nobleman, military leader and gifted diplomat, who after being exiled, conquered and governed the city of
Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of
Castile and became the
alférez, or chief general, of
Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the
Moors.
The nickname "El Cid" comes from the Spanish article "El", which means "The" and the dialectal Arab word سيد "sïdi" or
sayyid, which means "Lord". So "El Cid" could be translated as "The Lord". The title "Campeador" is a vulgar Latin word that could be translated as "master of military arts".
Early life
The exact date of El Cid's birth is unknown, however, most historians believe that El Cid was born in the year of 1040, in
Vivar also known as Bivar, a small town about six miles north of
Burgos, the capital of
Castile. Historical records show that El Cid's father was Diego Laínez, who was part of the minor nobility (
infanzones) of Castile. Diego Laínez was a
courtier,
bureaucrat, and
cavalryman who had fought in several battles. Despite the fact that El Cid's mother's family was
aristocratic, in later years the peasants would consider him one of their own. However, his relatives were not major court officials; documents show that El Cid's paternal grandfather, Lain Calvo, only confirmed five documents of
Ferdinand I's, his maternal grandfather, Rodrigo Alvarez, certified only two of
Sancho II's, and the Cid's own father confirmed only one. This seems to indicate that El Cid's family wasn't composed of
major court officials.
Education and early adulthood
El Cid was educated in the Castilian royal court, serving the prince and future king
Sancho II, the son of
King Ferdinand I (the Great). When Ferdinand died in 1065, Sancho continued to enlarge his territory, conquering both
Christian and the
Moorish cities of
Zamora and
Badajoz.
El Cid, the Champion
By this time, the Cid was an amazing adult. In 1067, he fought against the Moorish stronghold of
Zaragoza, making its
emir al-Muqtadir a vassal of Sancho. In the spring of 1063, he fought in the
Battle of Graus, where Ferdinand's half-brother,
Ramiro I of Aragon, was laying siege to the Moorish town of
Graus which was in Zaragozan lands. Al-Muqtadir, accompanied by Castilian troops including the Cid, fought against the Aragonese. The party would emerge victorious; Ramiro I was killed and the Aragonese fled the field. One legend has said that during the conflict El Cid killed an Aragonese
knight in
single combat, giving him the honorific title of "El Cid Campeador".
Service under Alfonso
Much speculation abounds about Sancho's death. Most say that the assassination was a result of a pact between his brother Alfonso and his sister
Urraca ; some even say they (Alfonso and Urraca) had an incestuous relationship. In any case, since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his power passed to his brother Alfonso—the very person he'd fought against.
Almost immediately, Alfonso was recalled from exile in Toledo and took his seat as king of Leon and Castile. While he was deeply suspected in Castile (probably correctly) for being involved in Sancho's murder, according to the epic of El Cid the Castilian nobility, led by the Cid and a dozen "oath-helpers", forced Alfonso to
swear publicly in front of
Santa Gadea (
Saint Agatha) Church in
Burgos on holy relics multiple times that he didn't participate in the plot to kill his brother. This is widely reported as truth but contemporary documents on the lives of both Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon and Rodrigo Diaz don't mention any such event. This legend is believed because it adds to accounts of the Cid's bravery. The Cid's position as
armiger regis was taken away, however, and it was given to the Cid's enemy, Count
García Ordóñez. Later in the year Alfonso's younger brother García returned to Galicia under the false pretenses of a conference.
Battle tactics
During his campaigns, the Cid often ordered books by classic
Roman and
Greek authors on military themes be read in loud voices to him and his troops, both for entertainment and inspiration during battle. El Cid's army had a novel approach to planning strategy as well, holding what might be called
brainstorming sessions before each battle to discuss tactics. They frequently used unexpected strategies, engaging in what modern generals would call
psychological warfare; waiting for the enemy to be paralyzed with terror and then attacking them suddenly, distracting the enemy with a small group of soldiers, etc. El Cid had a humble personality and frequently accepted or included suggestions from his troops. He remained open to input from his soldiers and to the possibility that he himself was capable of error. The man who served him as his closest adviser was his nephew,
Alvar Fáñez de Minaya.
Taken together, these practices imply an educated and intelligent commander who was able to attract and inspire good subordinates, and who would have attracted considerable loyalty from his followers. Notwithstanding the legends of martial valor, El Cid appears to have been an outstanding battlefield commander by the standards of any time.
Marriage and family life
El Cid was married in July 1075 to Alfonso's kinswoman
Jimena of Oviedo (spelled Ximena in
Old Spanish). The
Historia Roderici calls her daughter of a Count Diego of
Oviedo, a person unknown to contemporary records, while later poetic sources name her father as an otherwise unknown Count Gomez de Gormaz. The marriage was probably on Alfonso's suggestion, a move that he probably hoped would improve relations between him and El Cid; although we're told that when the Cid laid eyes on her he was enamored by her beauty. Together El Cid and Jimena had three children. Their daughters Cristina and María both married high nobility; Cristina to
Ramiro, Lord of
Monzón, grandson of
García Sánchez III of Navarre via an illegitimate son; María, first (it is said) to a prince of Aragon (presumably the son of
Peter I) and second to
Ramón Berenguer III, count of
Barcelona. El Cid's son Diego Rodríguez was killed while fighting against the invading Muslim Almoravids from
North Africa at the
Battle of Consuegra (1097).
His own marriage and that of his daughters increased his status by connecting El Cid to royalty; even today, living monarchs descend from El Cid, through the lines of Navarre and Foix. El Cid is an ancestor to the monarchies of France and Britain, as well as every other monarchy in Europe, through his daughter Cristina's son, king
García Ramírez of Navarre.
Service as administrator
He was a cultivated man, having served Alfonso as a judge. He kept in life a personal archive with copies of the letters he mailed and important diplomas he signed as part of his co-operation in the king's administration.
Exile
In the
Battle of Cabra (1079), El Cid rallied his troops and turned the battle into a rout of Emir Abd Allah of
Granada and his ally García Ordóñez. However, El Cid's unauthorized expedition into Granada greatly angered Alfonso, and
May 8,
1080, was the last time El Cid confirmed a document in King Alfonso's court. This is the generally given reason for El Cid's exile, although several others are plausible and may have been contributing factors: jealous nobles turning Alfonso against El Cid, Alfonso's own animosity towards El Cid, an accusation of pocketing some of the tribute from Seville, and what one source describes as El Cid's "penchant" towards insulting powerful men.
However, the exile wasn't the end of El Cid, either physically or as an important figure. In 1081, El Cid, now a mercenary, offered his services to the Moorish king of the northeast
Al-Andaluz city of
Zaragoza,
Yusuf al-Mutamin, and served both him and his successor,
Al-Mustain II. O'Callaghan writes:
» At first he went to Barcelona where
Ramón Berenguer II (1076-1082) and
Berenguer Ramón II (1076-1097) refused his offer of service. Then he journeyed to Zaragoza where he received a warmer welcome. That kingdom was divided between
al-Mutamin (1081-1085) who ruled
Zaragoza proper, and his brother al-Mundhir, who ruled
Lérida and
Tortosa. El Cid entered al-Mutamin's service and successfully defended Zaragoza against the assaults of al-Mutamdhir, Sancho I of Aragón, and Ramón Berenguer II, whom he held captive briefly in 1082.
In 1086, the great
Almoravid invasion of the
Iberian Peninsula through and around
Gibraltar began. The Almoravids,
Berber residents of present-day Morocco and Algeria, led by
Yusef I (not the same person as al-Mutamin), also called Yusef ibn Tushafin or Yusef ibn Tashfin, were asked to help defend the Moors from Alfonso. A great
battle took place on Friday,
October 23,
1086, at
Sagrajas (in Arabic, Zallaqa). The Moorish Andalusians, including the armies of
Badajoz,
Málaga,
Granada and
Seville, defeated a combined army of León, Aragón and Castile. According to Thomas:
» The Andalusians encamped separately from the Murabitun. The Christian vanguard (Alvar Fañez) surprised the Andalusian camp before dawn; the men of Seville (
Al-Mutamid) held firm but the remaining Andalusians were chased off by the Aragonese cavalry. The Christian main body then attacked the Murabitun, but were held in check by the Lamtuma, and then withdrew to their own camp in response to an outflanking move by ibn Tashufin. The Aragonese returned to the field, didn't like what they saw, and started a withdrawal that became a rout. The Andalusians rallied, and the Muslims drove Alfonso to a small hill. Alfonso and 500 knights escaped in the night to Toledo.
Terrified after his crushing defeat, Alfonso recalled the best Christian general from exile – El Cid. It has been shown that the Cid was at court on July 1087; however, what happened after that's unclear.
Conquest of Valencia
Around this time, the Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish
Mediterranean coastal city of
Valencia. Several obstacles lay in his way. First was Ramón Berenguer II, who ruled nearby
Barcelona. In May 1090, the Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle of
Lébar. Berenguer was later ransomed and his son Ramón Berenguer III married the Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts.
The Cid gradually came to have more influence on
Valencia, then ruled by
al-Qadir. In October 1092 an uprising occurred in Valencia inspired by the city's chief judge
Ibn Jahhaf and the
Almoravids. The Cid began a siege of Valencia. A December 1093 attempt to break failed. By the time the siege ended in May 1094 the Cid had carved out his own kingdom on the coast of the Mediterranean. Officially the Cid ruled in the name of Alfonso; in reality, the Cid was fully independent. The city was both Christian and Muslim, and both Moors and Christians served in the army and as administrators. In 1096 Valencia's nine mosques were converted into
churches; Jérôme, a
French bishop, was appointed archbishop of the city.
El Cid died of natural causes on
July 10,
1099. His wife, Jimena ruled in his place for 3 years until the Amoravids once again beseiged the city. Unable to hold it, she abandoned the city. Alfonso ordered the city burned to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Moors. Valencia was captured by
Masdali on
May 5,
1102 and wouldn't become a Christian city again for over 125 years. Jimena fled to Burgos with the Cid's body. Originally buried in Castile in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, his body now lies at the center of the
Burgos Cathedral.
Legend
In the 1961 production of El Cid, featuring Charlton Heston, the wife of El Cid is depicted as strapping his body to his horse and sending it back into battle, fearing that his troops would become demoralized upon learning of his death. The soldiers, thinking that their leader was riding to fight beside them, rallied once more. The opposing army was so afraid of what looked to be an invincible fighter that they retreated to their boats. Thus, El Cid is said to have won his final battle even after his death.
In fact, El Cid died peacefully at Valencia years after its conquest (conquest: June 1094, death: 1099). The story of his body being strapped to a horse after his death has some basis in other legends regarding his death and burial, which may be found in the Estoria de Cardena.
Babieca
Babieca was El Cid's
warhorse. Several stories exist about the Cid and Babieca. One well-known legend about the Cid describes how he acquired the white
stallion. According to this story, Rodrigo's godfather, Pedro El Grande, was a monk at a
Carthusian monastery. Pedro's coming-of-age gift to El Cid was his pick of a horse from an
Andalusian herd. El Cid picked a horse that his godfather thought was a weak, poor choice, causing the monk to exclaim "
Babieca!" (stupid!) Hence, it became the name of El Cid's horse. Another legend states that in a competition of battle to become King Sancho's "Campeador", or champion, a knight on horseback wished to challenge the Cid. The King wished a fair fight and gave the Cid his finest horse, Babieca, or Bavieca. This version says Babieca was raised in the royal stables of Seville and was a highly trained and loyal war horse, not a foolish stallion. The name in this instance could suggest that the horse came from the Babia region in
León, Spain.
In either case, Babieca became a great warhorse, famous to the
Christians, feared by El Cid's enemies, and loved by the Cid, who allegedly requested that Babieca be buried with him in the monastery of
San Pedro de Cardeña (he wasn't). His name is mentioned in several tales and historical documents about
El Cid, including "Cantar de Mío Cid" ("Song of the Cid"). Some say that after the Cid's death in combat, Babieca was never mounted again and died two years later at the age of forty.
Tizona
A weapon traditionally identified as El Cid's
sword,
Tizona, can still be seen in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in
Madrid. In 1999, a small sample of the blade underwent metallurgical analysis which confirmed that the blade was made in Moorish
Córdoba in the eleventh century and contained amounts of
Damascus steel.
In 2007 the
Autonomous Community of Castile and León bought the sword for 1.6 million
Euros, and it's currently on display at the Museum of
Burgos.
El Cid also had a sword called
Colada.
Both swords have been misrepresented in popular culture. La Tizona was actually a one-handed sword, in the late roman style, whereas La Colada was a two-handed sword, greater in length.
Origin of the Campeador title
Campeador is the Romance or
Vulgar Latin version of the
Latin campi doctor or
campi doctus; the term can be found in writings of late Latinity (4th–5th century) and can be found in some inscriptions of that era. After that period it became rare, although still sometimes found in the writings of the less educated writers of the Middle Ages. The literal significance of the expression
campi doctor is "master of the military arts", and its use in the period of the late Roman Empire appears to have signified only one who instructed new military recruits. But it was in current usage when El Cid was still alive, and was applied to Rodrigo by a member of his circle in an official document promulgated in his name in
1098.
El Cid in literature, film, and other media
Many works have been written about El Cid. The oldest of the preserved manuscripts is the three-part Castilian
cantar de gesta Cantar de Mio Cid, also called
The Lay of the Cid,
The Song of My Cid, or
El Poema del Cid.
It keeps a realistic tone while not exactly following the historical truth. The exploits of El Cid are the topic of the
Carmen Campidoctoris, a Latin text that precedes the
Cantar de Mio Cid.
The Spanish old
Romancero, the anonymous short poems based upon the epic poetry, preserved in the late Middle Ages the memory of El Cid and created new literary episodes on the topic. The prowesses of El Cid are one of the many sources for
Don Quixote's early inspiration: though his steed
Rocinante is less than capable, Don Quixote believes him to be better than Babieca. The French playwright
Pierre Corneille wrote the tragicomedy
Le Cid in 1636, based on the play of
Guillén de Castro,
Las Mocedades del Cid. El Cid is mentioned in Canto III of
The Cantos of
Ezra Pound as he arrives at Burgos Cathedral and later, alluding to his capture of Valencia. Jules (Émile Frédéric)
Massenet's 1885 opera
Le Cid is a favorite of
Plácido Domingo, who has sung the role of Rodrigue (Rodrigo) many times since first performing it at
Carnegie Hall in 1976.
Starting in the 14th century the legend of El Cid has been perpetuated in chronicles and above all in El Cid romances of the Spanish romances. Until the 14th century his life was told in the form of epic poems, each time with more attention to his youth imagined with much creative liberty, as can be observed in the late
Mocedades de Rodrigo, in which are mentioned how in his youth he ventures to invade France, so eclipsing the exploits of the French
chansons de geste. The new compositions presented a conceited nature much to the liking of the times but were contradictory with the moderate and prudent style of
Cantar de mio Cid. His youth and his love of Jimena were also subjects in the Spanish
Romancero.
There have been modern-day films about El Cid, such as
El Cid (1961, starring
Charlton Heston and
Sophia Loren) and the animated (2003). In the early 80s there was an animated series called
Ruy, el Pequeño Cid, portraying the fictional adventures of El Cid as a child.
Computer games set in medieval Europe sometimes feature El Cid. featured a six-level campaign based on the exploits of El Cid, including his exile from Castile, his conquest of Valencia and his legendary posthumous battle. He also appears as a warrior in the
Anachronism card game and as the rebel leader of Valencia in and
. In the latter case, his appearance is also an
in-joke homage to
Sid Meier, creator of the legendary
Civilization series. Also in the game Crusader Kings, he appears as Rodrigo de Vivar at the court of King Sancho II of Castile.
The
El Cid Statue overlooks the
Plaza de Panama, facing south toward the
Spreckels Organ Pavilion in
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. This 23-ft (7-m) tall bronze equestrian sculpture was dedicated in 1930 as a symbolic guardian of Balboa Park. Two other statues were made from the same mold -- one stands in the court of the Museum of the Hispanic Society in New York City; the other is in Seville, Spain. The statue is attributed to
Anna Hyatt Huntington and dated 1927.
Robert Southey, English poet, historian and biographer of Nelson, wrote "The Chronicle of the Cid" in English. This work, written in 1808, is a translated blend of three Spanish sources: Chronica del famoso cavallero Cid Ruydiez Campeador, Poema del Cid, and Romances del Cid.
Cid Harbour, in the Whitsunday Islands, on Australia's Barrier Reef was named in his honour. It is overlooked by Bavieca Hill
Isabel Allende made El Cid one of the ancestors of the De La Vega family and thus a direct ancestor to El Zorro in her Novel Zorro.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cid Campeador'.
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