First Draft Chapter ONE Our Spanish Heritage--Only for those who like to read PART ONE Chapter One: THE SPANISH HERITAGE: Rodrigo Diaz De Vivar El Cid FIGURE 1 THE COAT OF ARMS OF RODRIGO DIAZ DE VIVAR EL CID A Replica of the Shield of Rodrigo de Vivar John Pierre Biddle Warden CHAPTERS 1. Campeador Rodrigo Diaz DE VIVAR “El Cid”. Our 29th great grandparent 2. Cristina Rodríguez DE VIVAR, daughter of El Cid. Our 29th great grandparent 3. Ramiro Sanchez DE NAVARRE Lord of Monzon Our 29th great grandparent 4. García VI el Restaurador, KING OF NAVARRA Our 29th great grandparent 5. Blanca de Navarra, Queen Consort of Castille Our 29th great grandparent 6. King Alfonso VIII “ The Noble”, KING OF CASTILLE Our 29th great grandparent 7. Berenguela I “The Grand”, QUEEN OF CASTILLE Our 29th great grandparent 8. Fernando III The Saint, KING OF CASTILLE Our 29th great grandparent 9. Eleanor of Castile, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND Our 29th great grandparent 10. Blanche Bourgogne de Castile PRINCESS OF CASTILE Our 29th great grandparent Chapter One El Cid’s Blazon Alfonso and Spain! From the (Southly 1808) , author Southly compiled and wrote about the life and times of Rodrigo el Cid Campeador Díaz de Vivar. Rodrigo is better known to history as “El Cid” . This basic historical rendition was written in 1808 . He has gathered and transcribed events that were written sometime between the years 1252 A.D. and 1284 A.D. Fully some 200 years after the demise of “El Cid” and from the administration of Alfonso VIII, the Wise. I have taken Robert Southey’s account of the Crónica General de España and portions of the Cantar de Mio Cid and rendered my own interpretation based on these accounts. This Chronicle, Crónica General de España, was compiled during the reign of Alfonso the Wise, who was knowledgeable in the studies of his time, and he was also a troubadour. Alfonso reigned between the years 1252 and 1284, and this Chronicle was written by the King himself, or under his immediate direction. Primera crónica general de España, is the most ancient of the Prose Chronicles of Spain, it is the source of the adventures of El Cid. They are fully told in this secondary source concerning the life and times of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar . Robert Southey —was already known as the author of Thalaba, published in 1802, and of Madoc, published in 1805—He produced and published a Chronicle of the Cid”in 1808. The Chronicle tells us that Rodrigo of Bivar was well trained in the military arts and that he had earned the respect of the people of Castile . He accepted the responsibility to protect the land from the Moors. It is said that in every battle he was victorious. Although, many of his enemies were Moors he also befriended many of these same people. He had also made enemies among his own breed. It was for these reasons that Rodrigo earned the epitaph of “ leader and champion” or in Arabic “El Cid”. In the times previous to “El Cid’s” birth the country was without a king. Therefore, the people met and chose two judges, of whom the one was called Nuño Rasuera, and the other Layn Calvo. Layn married Nuños daughter, Elvira Nuñez uniting the two families in blood relationships. From Nuño Rasuera King Don Fernando descended. King Fernando I A quick look at El Cid would not be in context if his mentor King Fernando I was not looked at briefly. He was (1017 – 24 June 1065), called the Great (El Magno), was the son of Sancho III of Navarre and Mayor of Castile, and became Count of Castile from his uncles death in 1029. Having acquired the Kingdom of León after defeating his brother-in-law in 1037, he became King of León and Castile. He had himself crowned Emperor of Spain in 1056. Ferdinand was barely in his teens when García Sánchez, Count of Castile, was assassinated by a party of exiled Castilian noblemen as he was entering the church of John the Baptist in León, where he had gone to marry Sancha, sister of Bermudo III King of Leon. On his fathers death, Ferdinand continued as count of Castile, now recognizing the suzerainty of his brother-in-law Bermudo III, but they fell out and on 4 September 1037 Bermudo was killed in battle with Fernando at Tamarón. Ferdinand took possession of León by right of his wife, who was the heiress presumptive, and the next year had himself formally crowned king of León and Castile. Ferdinand died on the feast of Saint John the Baptist, 24 June 1065, in León. At his death, Ferdinand divided up his kingdom between his three sons, the eldest, Sancho, receiving Castile and Alfonso being given León, while from the latter the region of Galicia was carved off to create a separate state for Garcia. Ferdinands two daughters each received cities: Elvira, Toro and Urraca, Zamora. In giving them these territories, he expressed his desire that they respect his wishes and abide by the split. However, soon after Fernandos death, Sancho and Alfonso turned on García, and defeating him they then fought each other, the victorious Sancho reuniting their fathers possessions under his control in 1072. He had obviously not learned the lesson of his own succession. For Alfonso and Spain! In 1026 Rodrigo was born, of noble lineage, in the city of Burgos, and in the street of St. Martin in the neighborhood of the palace of the Counts of Castille. Layn Calvo was Rodrigo’s grandfather. His father was Diego Laynez and his mother was Dona Teresa Rodriguez who was the daughter of Don Rodrigo Alvarez the Count of Asturias. During this time an argument ensued between Count Don Gomez the Lord of Gormaz, and Diego Laynez- Rodrigo’s father. The Count insulted Diego and gave him a slap across the face with his glove—the highest of insults during the Middle Ages. Now Diego was a man of considerable years, and his strength had long since passed. It was obvious that he could not take any physical vengeance to protect himself, and so disgraced he retired from the castle to his home to stay alone and deliberate about his dishonor. He could not eat, or sleep. Layneze sat staring downward. He did not leave his house, nor see his friends. Instead he turned from them in silence as if the venom of his shame would rub-off on them. Indeed, the height of his depression debilitated his normally cheerful presence. Rodrigo was young, and the Count Don Gomez the Lord of Gormaz, was a mighty man in arms, one who was also a gifted orator in the Cortes. The Count was held to be the best warrior in all of Spain. So powerful was he that he had thousands of friends spread throughout the mountainous regions. Rodrigo, however, was blinded to all these things when he thought of the insults that had be thrown at his father and the devastating depression that it had caused. It was the first -and Rodrigo vowed- it would be the last which would be extended to the blood of Layn Calvo. El Cid was brought up in the court of King Fernando I and he lived in the household of the Kings eldest son, who was to be the future King, Sancho II. Rodrigo asked nothing from Heaven but restitution of the family name and justice. Of man he asked only for a fair arena; and his father seeing that his son was pure of heart gave to him his sword and his blessing. He lamented that he could no longer bear the responsibility of protecting the Calvo name. The strength of his physical body lie dormant before him yet more importantly Layn’s spirit was crushed from the bullying inflicted by Count Don Gomez. In his father’s presence, silently, Rodrigo plotted to avenge the name of Calvo. The sword had been the sword of Mudarra, a hero, in former times, and when Rodrigo held its cross in his hand, he thought within himself that his arm was no weaker than Mudarras. Thereafter, he left his home and challenged the Count to battle. In the that confrontation Rodrigo assassinated him. He sliced off his head with his father’s sword and carried it home to his father. He had rectified the insults that had so viciously destroy his father’s spirit and restored and renewed a sense of honor to his father’s home. The old man was still sitting at the table, the food lying before him untasted, when Rodrigo returned, and pointing to the head which hung from a horses collar, dropping blood, he asked him to look up, for this was the medicine which should restore to him his appetite. The tongue that insulted you is gone, and the hand which wronged you is severed, I have restored the honor of the Calvo name. Now history relates that King Don Fernando argued with King Don Ramiro I of Aragon over the city of Calahorra. Each claimed this city as his own; in covert pretense the King of Aragon placed it upon trial by combat He confidently relied upon the prowess of Don Martin Gonzalez, who was at that time held to be the finest warrior knight in all Spain. King Don Fernando accepted the challenge, and said that Rodrigo of Bivar should do battle on his part, but that he then was not then present but would be asked to appear. His real name was Rodrigo or Ruy Diaz (i.e. son of Diego), a Castilian noble by birth. In the spring of 1063, Rodrigo fought in the Battle of Graus, where King Ferdinands half-brother, Ramiro I of Aragon, was laying siege to the Moorish town of Cinca which was in Zaragozan lands. Al-Muqtadir , accompanied by Castilian troops including El Cid, fought against the Aragonite. Rodrigo would emerge victorious; Ramiro I was killed and the Aragonite fled the field. One legend has it that during the conflict, El Cid killed an Aragonite knight in single combat, thereby receiving the honorific title Campeador (Champion). Rodrigo did so well that King Fernando made him commander and chief of his armies. As the years passed, the Moors continued invading Castille. They came in larger and larger numbers . Five Kings invaded with detachments of Moors and they past near Burgos, and crossed the mountains of Oca, and plundered Carrion, and Vilforado, and Saint Domingo de la Calzada, and Logroño, and Najara. They carried away many captives both male and female, and mares, and flocks of all kinds. Rodrigo of Bivar, as commander of Fernando armies, combed the country, and eventually located the Moors in the mountains of Oca. The Cid descended upon them and embarrassed them with his military prowess and maneuvers. He took back all their illicit booty, and took all the five Kings prisoners. El Cid was thankful that he was able to return the illicit plunder to the people and to secure the safety of their borders. He said to his mother that he did not think it a good thing to keep the Kings in captivity, but to let them go; and so he set them free and told them to leave. Accordingly, each returned to his own country, praising and blessing Rodrigo for their freedom, and they sent him great gifts; and immediately they sent him tribute and acknowledged themselves to be his vassals. So El Cid now had the allegiance of five armies. And at the same time there came before Alfonso VI, Ximena Gomez, the daughter of the Count, and the King’s cousin, who properly addressed the King and said, Sir, I am the daughter of Count Don Gomez of Gormaz, and Rodrigo of Bivar has slain the Count my father. I am the youngest. Sir, I come to ask of you a favor, that you will give me Rodrigo of Bivar to be my husband, and I will be greatly honored; for I am certain that he will have more fame and wealth than any man in your dominions. Since he has murdered my father I therefore seek his protection. In exchange for that protection I vowed to forgive Rodrigo and be a good and faithful wife. When the King thought it an appropriate time, he spoke to Rodrigo and said, that Doña Ximena Gomez, the daughter of the Count who you have slain, had come to ask me to make you her husband. She would forgive you her fathers death; Alfonso requested him to think it a good thing to take her to be his wife, in which case Alfonso would show Rodrigo great favor. So Rodrigo left the King, and took his spouse with him to the house of his mother. He gave her to his mothers protection. There he made a vow in her hands and in the presence of his mother that he would never go anywhere until he had won five battles in the field. He explained that these battles were necessary for the protection and security of the realm. When Ferdinand died, Sancho II, with the aid of Rodrigo continued to enlarge his territory, Rodrigo conquered both Christian cities and the Moorish cities of Zamora and Badajoz. When Sancho learned that Alfonso was planning on overthrowing him in order to gain his territory, Sancho sent El Cid to bring Alfonso back so that Sancho could speak to him. In the Cid’s absence, Sancho was assassinated in 1072, as the result of a pact between his brother Alfonso and his sister Urraca. Since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his power passed to his brother Alfonso. Under Sancho II, son of Ferdinand, Rodrigo served as commander of the royal troops. In a war between the two brothers, Sancho II and Alfonso VI of Leon, because of a military maneuver on the part of Rodrigo, Sancho was victorious and his brother was forced to seek refuge with the Moorish King of Toledo. Alfonso never forgave the Cid for having, as leader of the Castilians, compelled him to swear that he , Alfonso, had no hand in the murder of his brother. In 1072 Sancho was assassinated at the siege of Zamora, and as he left no heir the Castilians had to acknowledge Alfonso as King. So he was the first person who united the states of Castille and Leon. He was the first who was called King of both Castille and Leon; for till this time the lords of that country had been called Counts. Historically, the earliest literary treatment of El Cids life is found in Carmen Campidoctoris written by a Catalan partisan to celebrate El Cids defeat of Berenguer Ramón II. The author of the Campidoctoris reports that as a young man in 1057, Rodrigo fought against the Moorish stronghold of Zaragoza. His conquest made its emir, al-Muqtadir, a vassal of King Sancho II. This 1864 Marcos Giráldez de Acostas painting depicts the Santa Gadea Oath. In the middle of the scene, Alfonso VI (with red cape) is swearing with his right hand on the Bible that he did not take part in the murder of his brother Sancho II, while El Cid stands as a witness in front of him. Some Historians contend that there are no documents to support this alleged event- yet we do have a painting that has come down to us and therefore some oral history or document must have existed prior to its painting. Almost immediately, Alfonso returned from exile in Toledo and took his seat as king of Castile and León. He was deeply suspected in Castile by the nobility of the realm, of having been involved in Sanchos murder. According to the epic of El Cid, the Castilian nobility led by El 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 did not participate in the plot to kill his brother. Rodrigos position as armiger regis was taken away and given to Rodrigos enemy, Count Garcia Ordonez In 1079 Rodrigo was sent by Alfonso VI to Seville to the court of al-Mutamid to collect the parias owed by that taifa to León–Castile. While he was there Granada, assisted by other Castilian knights, attacked Seville, and Rodrigo and his forces repulsed the Christian and Grenadine attackers at the Battle of Cabra, in the mistaken belief that he was defending the kings tributary. The Count Garcia Ordonez and the other Castilian leaders were taken captive and held for three days before being released. In the Battle of Cabra (1079), El Cid rallied his troops and turned the battle into a rout of Emir Abdulallh of Granada and his ally Garcia Ordonez. However, El Cids unauthorized expedition into Granada greatly angered Alfonso, and May 8, 1080, was the last time El Cid confirmed a document in King Alfonsos court. This is the generally given reason for El Cids exile, although several others are plausible and may have been contributing factors: jealous nobles turning Alfonso against El Cid, Alfonsos own animosity towards El Cid, and an accusation of pocketing some of the tribute from Seville. Alfonso never forgave Rodrigo for having, as leader of the Castilians, compelled him to swear that he had no hand in the murder of his brother. Alfonso did, however, as a conciliatory measure, give his cousin Ximena, daughter of the Count of Oviedo, to the Cid in marriage. There afterwards, in 1081, when he found himself firmly entrenched on the throne, and encouraged by Leonese nobles Alfonso struck back. Rodrigo’ enemies unjustly accuse him of steal money, which they said he held some taxes back, from the King. Alfonso VI yielded to his own feelings of resentment—and he banished Rodrigo from the kingdom. At the head of a large body of followers, the Cid eventually joined the Moorish King of Zaragoza, in whose service he fought against both Moslems and Christians with equal vigor. It was probably during this exile that he was first called “ El Cid”, an Arabic title, which means the lord. He was very successful in all his battles. 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 roamed to the City of Zaragoza where he received a warmer welcome. Over the exile years, the Cid conquers city after city in Spain and in Alfonso’s name. To regain his integrity, he fought against the Moorish armies and conquered Valencia. By these heroic acts he regained the confidence of the king Finally, after a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Moors of Alfonso commanders, Rodrigo is called back to Alfonso’s court and his honor restored. Alfonso knows he must now depend on Rodrigo to restore the morale of the troops. In honor of his return King Alfonso VI personally marries Rodrigo’s daughters to two princes from Carrion. However, when men from El Cids army make fun of the princes because they ran from a Lion, the two beat their wives and left them tied to a tree. El Cid demanded justice. The two were beaten in a duel and stripped of their honor and made to pay the dowry back to Rodrigo. The two daughter remarry a prince from Aragon and a prince from Navarre. Through these marriages Rodrigo helps to begin the unification of Spain. Moctadir invaded Valencia in 1088, but afterwards carried on operations alone, and finally, after a long siege, made himself master of the city in June, 1094. He retained possession of Valencia for five years and reigned like an independent sovereign over one of the richest territories in the Peninsula, but died suddenly in 1099 of anger and grief on hearing that his relative, Alvar Fañez, had been vanquished and the army which he had sent to his assistance had been defeated. After the Cids death, by guile and cunning his wife, Doña Ximena , held Valencia till 1102, when she was coerced to yield to the Almoravides and she then escaped to Castile, where she died in 1104. Alfonso could not hold Valencia so he burned it to the ground. Her remains were placed by those of “El Cid” in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. The great popular hero in the AGE OF CHIVALRY in Spain, was born in the village of Vivar near Burgos around 1040; Rodrigo or Ruy Diaz died at Valencia in 1099. He was given the honorable title of El Cid (lord, chief) by the Moors and that of Campeador (champion) by his pleased countrymen. Tradition and legend and the ravages of time have cast a deep shadow over the history of this brave knight, to such an extent that his very existence has been questioned by some; but there is however, no reason to doubt his existence . Some historians paint him as a free agent, a dishonorable adventurer, who battled with equal vigor against Christians and Moors; or who, to further his own ends, would as soon destroy a Christian church as a Moslem temple; one who plundered and murdered as much for his own gain as from any patriotic motives. It must be accepted in mind, however, that the facts which discredit him have reached us through hostile Arab historians, and that to deal with him impartially he should be judged according to the standard of his country in his own historical context. The history and legend of the Cid is one of romance, legend, and ballad and probably there were several versions of these legends/histories as troubadours varied and honed their craft. What may be pleasantly sounded to an oral history to one troubadour may not have been so rigidly copied by another. Rodrigo is fancied as the tender, loving husband and father; the bold and fearless soldier; the honorable and generous conqueror, totally loyal to his country and his king; the man whose name has been revered and linked to the inspiration of Spanish nationalism. But whatever may have been, the genuine adventures of El Cid Campeador, his name has come down from the annals of history to us in modern times. The numerous conquests and a long series of heroic achievements in which he stands out as the central figure of the long struggle of Christian Spain against the invading Moslem hoards still stands unequalled. He was the impetus to the Reconquista. Cardea Monastry: the tomb of El Cids great warhorse Babieca RESOURCES; 1. Maria Jesus Viguera Molins, “El Cid en las fuentes árabes», in César Hernández Alonso (coord.), Actas del Congreso Internacional el Cid, Poema e Historia”, (12-16 de julio de 1999), Ayuntamiento de Burgos, 2000, págs. 55-92. ISBN 84-87876-41-2 2. Ramón Menéndez Pidal, “Autógrafos inéditos del Cid y de Jimena en dos diplomas de 1098 y 1101, Revista de Filología Española”, (1918), Madrid, Sucesores de Hernando, 1918. Digital copy Valladolid, Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo. Dirección General de Promociones e Instituciones Culturales, 2009-2010. Original in Archivo de la Catedral de Salamanca, caja 43, legajo 2, n.º 72. 3. Alberto Montaner Frutos y Ángel Escobar, “El Carmen Campidoctoris y la materia cidian, in Carmen Campidoctoris o Poema latino del Campeador” , Madrid, Sociedad Estatal España Nuevo Milenio, 2001, pág. 73 [lam.]. ISBN 978-84-95486-20-2 4. Alberto Montaner Frutos, “Rodrigo el Campeador como princeps en los siglos”, XI y XII» 5. Georges Martin “El primer testimonio cristiano sobre la toma de Valencia (1098)”, en el número monográfico , Rodericus Campidoctor» de la revista electrónica e-Spania, n.º 10 (diciembre de 2010). Online since January 30th 2013. URL Last time visited February 17th 2013. Complete text (Edition of the Latin text) in José Luis Martín & al., Documentos de los Archivos Catedralicio y Diocesano de Salamanca (siglos XII-XIII), Salamanca, Universidad, 1977, doc. 1, p. 79-81. 6. Chaytor, Henry John (1933). Chapter 3: The Reconquest:. A History of Aragon and Catalonia. London: Methuan. pp. 39–40. 7. The Historia Roderici says that the other two Castilian leaders were Diego Pérez and Lope Sánchez. de los Rios, José Amador (1863). Capitulo 3: Primeros Monumentos Escritos de la Poesía Castellana (Chapter 3:First Written Monuments of Castilian Poetry). Historia Crítica de la Literatura Española, Tomo III, (II Parte, Subciclo I) (The History and Criticism of Spanish Literature, Volume III, (Second Part, subpart I)) (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: J. Rodriguez. p. 104. 8. Perea Rodríguez, Óscar. Díaz de Vivar, Rodrigo o El Cid (1043-1099). Retrieved 7 March 2013. 9. Alonso, J. I. Garcia; Martinez, J. A.; Criado, A. J. (1999). Origin of El Cids sword revealed by ICP-MS metal analysis. Spectroscopy Europe (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.) 11 Translations into English • Robert Southey, Chronicle of the Cid, 1808, prose translation with other matter from chronicles and ballads, with an appendix including a partial verse translation by John Hookham Frere. • John Ormsby, The Poem of Cid, 1879, with introduction and notes. • Archer Milton Huntington, Poem of the Cid, (1897–1903), reprinted from the unique manuscript at Madrid, with translation and notes. • Lesley Byrd Simpson, The Poem of the Cid, 1957. • W.S. Merwin, The Poem of the Cid, 1959. • Paul Blackburn, Poem of the Cid: a modern translation with notes, 1966.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:48:50 +0000
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