All language subtitles for El.Cid.The.Legend.2020.SPANISH.WEBRip.x264-VXT

♪Epic music♪

El Cid, The Legend

The story of a man who became a legend.

Now that the time has come
to embark on my last crusade...

...in which I must answer to God...

...it is time to take stock of my life.

An exceptional life

full of adventure

of epic victories

of unswerving loyalties...

But also of wars,

death and betrayal.

A life I never dreamed of

when I was still a boy

in the small village of Vivar.

And which led me to reach
the height of power and glory

I ask God for compassion
at my judgement hour

as I have dedicated my life

to fighting in his name against infidels.

To make a fair judgement of the figure El Cid

of his life and his actions

we must go far back in time

to before El Cid himself was born.

Our story begins in the kingdom of Castile

in the 11th century.

At that time, what we know today as Spain

was no more than a collection of different kingdoms

in most cases, at loggerheads with each other.

Up until the 8th century,

the Iberian peninsula was occupied
by the Visigoth peoples

who came from central and northern Europe.

In the year 711

Muslim warriors from the north of Africa

defeated the last Visigoth king,

Rodrigo,

at the battle of the Guadalete river

and thus initiating the Arabic invasion of the Iberian peninsula.

King Rodrigo's swordsmen

fought fiercely against the invaders

protecting their master

at the battle that took place at the Guadalete river

in the year 711.

From this moment on,

and during the following 8 centuries,

successive Christian kings

would endeavour

to recover the land lost to the Muslims

in a process that would go down in history
as the Reconquest.

And it is in this tumultuous period

that one of the greatest legends of the Middle Ages is born:

El Cid Campeador.

Rodrigo was born on the Spanish peninsula at a time when

there were many Muslim kingdoms or taifas

and a few Christian kingdoms

such as Castile, León, Galicia, Aragón and Navarra...

...and the Catalan Counties .

These were difficult times

as there was a power struggle
with everybody fighting everybody else.

The Muslim taifas had weakened

and were no longer warlike nor spent money on their defence

and they asked some of the Christian kingdoms for protection

for which they paid taxes or parias

and these Christian kingdoms defended them from other taifas

or other Christian kingdoms.

We must begin with the premise that

that stories of heroic deeds

are usually the fruit of our collective imagination.

However,

some are loosely based

on real people

whose stories turned them into legendary figures.

This is the case of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar.

Although, over the centuries, his biography combined mysticism and reality,

today we can be sure of his existence

as historians

have revealed a lot of verified
information about his life.

Rodrigo's existence has been confirmed

by the discovery of his signature

in a text dedicated to the Virgin Mary

on the occasion of the opening of Valencia cathedral

dated 1098.

In this document, we see

that he refers to himself as

Ego Ruderico (I, Rodrigo)

followed by the word Campidoctor

that is...Campeador.

But... in reality

who was this legendary hero?

And how much of his legend is true?

In this documentary, we are going to focus

on the historical figure called Cid Campeador,

a name which comes from the Arabic word Sidi (master)

and Campeador, from the Latin Campi-doctor,

which means

"victor on the battlefield"

which gives us further evidence of his character.

Rodrigo was born in the mid 11th century,

around the year 1045

and although there is no documentary evidence

of the place of his birth,

if we turn to historical narrative,

we can conclude that he came into this world

in the village of Vivar,

a small municipality

a few kilometres from the city of Burgos.

He was the son of Diego Laínez

who was thought to be the descendant

of a Castilian judge

and of a woman who, although her name is unknown,

it is known that she belonged to the Álvarez lineage.

When Rodrigo was still very young

he entered the court of King Fernando I

ruler of the kingdoms of Castile, León and Galicia.

Once in the royal court

he became a member, as a page,

of Prince Sancho's entourage

who would later become King Sancho II.

Rodrigo struck up a close friendship

with the future king of Castile.

There, he was taught how to read

by erudite religious scholars.

In fact, today there is evidence that he could read and write,

something uncommon for the period.

He was also trained in the use of weapons

and combat techniques

that a warrior of that period should know.

While he was still an adolescent,

but already a warrior

who stood out for his skill in combat,

he was knighted by the very same prince

who he accompanied in what was possibly

his first great armed conflict:

the battle of Graus in the year 1063

at which Sancho went to the aid of

the king of the taifa of Zaragoza, Al-Muqtadir,

an ally of Castile,

against their enemy Ramiro I of Aragón.

In this battle, El Cid began to forge

his legend as an invincible fighter.

On King Fernando I's death,

his kingdom was divided between his three sons:

Sancho II, the eldest son,

became the king of Castile.

Alfonso VI, his second son, became the king of León

and García II, the youngest, became
king of Galicia.

However, peace between the three heirs of Fernando

did not last long...

Tensions soon grew between the three brothers

as they disputed their sovereignty

over the kingdoms inherited from their father

which led to military conflicts.

It was during these conflicts
between the brothers

that the now King Sancho II,

who professed blind faith in Rodrigo,

elevated him to the posts

with most responsibility in the court

until finally, he reached the post of royal squire.

It was in the battles of Llantada and Golpejera

that Rodrigo played an outstanding role,

when Sancho took control of his brothers' kingdoms,
León and Galicia.

It was also during these battles

that Rodrigo Díaz earned the name Campeador,

which means warrior in open-field battle.

After victory over his brother Alfonso

-who fled to Toledo-

Sancho had managed to finally reunite

his father's kingdoms under a single crown.

But peace was not to last long

as at the end of the year 1072

his own sister, Princess Doña Urraca,

leading a group of nobles from León

who were unhappy with Sancho's reign,

rose up against him in the city of Zamora.

The main question with Doña Urraca

I believe, more than her historical figure,

is her figure in literature

as a treacherous woman

because it is supposed she ordered the murder of her brother Sancho

during the siege of Zamora.

This fact does not have much historical basis,

or at least not a clear one,

but the important point about Urraca and El Cid in general,

more than what actually happened,

is what has remained in the narrative.

The characters have become legendary

and Urraca became the baddie,

who ordered her brother Sancho's murder

in order to retain power over Zamora.

Don Sancho went there to put down the rebellion

laying siege to the city with his army

and with the help of Rodrigo's troops

who remained loyal to his master.

The siege at Zamora resulted in the death of King Sancho

who was killed by the knight Bellido Dolfos of Zamora.

As with Urraca, the same thing happens with Bellido Dolfos

or with Cid himself.

He is mostly a literary character

and probably did not even exist.

There is little agreement about this

but I believe he is a literary character.

He is an ancient archetype

of traitor who is decisive in a war
beyond the battlefield

by the use of cunning.

But I agree with those who say
that Bellido Dolfos is an invention,

a myth to exaggerate this historical chapter

of El Cid's time.

This military episode

is one of the most common in medieval narratives,
popular stories and romances

and it is still difficult today

to separate historical fact from fiction.

“King Don Sancho, King Don Sancho!

…Don't say I didn't warn you!

From within Zamora a traitor has come out

His name is Vellido Dolfos, son of Dolfos Vellido.

Four betrayals he committed

and with this one there will be five;

If the father is a great traitor,

the son is a greater traitor.

Shouts sounds at EL REAL:

"Don Sancho has been badly wounded!

Vellido Dolfos killed him…

What a great betrayal he committed!“

Since he killed the King, he got in through a shutter,

he went through the streets of Zamora shouting:

"It was time, Dona Urraca

to fulfill what was promised."

The sudden death of the king

prompted Alfonso to return from exile

to occupy his dead brother's throne.

It was the death of my master, brother and friend

King Sancho

that would change my life forever.

Although it was commonly thought

that his very own brother, King Alfonso,

was behind the king's death

nobody dared say so in public.

Only I, due to the affection I felt for

he who had been my master until then,

had the courage to call the new king of Castile to account.

This was the start of my ordeal...

...but also my glory.

It is quite probable that Bellido Dolfos existed

and was sent by Urraca, Sancho's sister,

as she disagreed with her brother's plans

to conquer or reign over Castile, León and Galicia.

We do not know whether his name was Bellido Dolfos

but we do know it was a messenger or emissary

who ended Sancho's life

and changed the history of the peninsula.

SANTA GADEA Church

Despite tradition telling us of a bad relationship

between Rodrigo and the new King Alfonso VI,

as we are told in the famous episode

known as the oath of Santa Gadea,

in which Rodrigo forced the new king to publicly swear

that he had played no part in his brother's death.

The fact of forcing a monarch to swear an oath

could be interpreted as a humiliation or an offence,

but in reality this event never happened

and it is in fact a myth created in the 13th century

to extol the figure of El Cid

and his dominance over a king.

There is nothing written about the truth of the oath of Santa Gadea.

There is no documentation we can turn to
to confirm its existence.

But what is true is that ancient Roman law

had just that..given the chaos that existed surrounding death

when poison and knives were constantly used.

So in order to stop these regicides,

laws were introduced.

Anyone who incited regicide was excommunicated.

Anyone who advised, incited or paid for the king to be killed

was excommunicated.

Later they had to swear before a court

or something sacred

that they had not directly or indirectly
taken part in the regicide.

Things being as they were, who would make a king swear an oath?

One had to take a risk...

because although swearing an oath was normal
in the event of a violent death

it was necessary to make his successor swear an oath.

in this case, it was Alfonso VI.

And in this case, it was Sancho of Castile who had died

and the Castilians went to hear his oath as was the custom.

King Alfonso had no reason to become angry, as this was the custom.

But bravery was needed.

Either the noblest of the Castilians

or the most qualified had to make him swear an oath.

Who was it at that time?

It was Rodrigo Díaz

because he was Sancho's lieutenant.

As king, Alfonso made active use of Rodrigo's services.

What is more, he arranged a marriage to his own niece,

noblewoman Doña Jimena Díaz

with whom Rodrigo had three children.

Jimena Díaz, known as such due to her marriage with Rodrigo,

was the daughter of a noble Asturian

and Cristina Fernández.

Rodrigo probably married Jimena for love

as the wedding coins..

-the wedding coins is a document that is drawn up

with the assets that a husband
awards to his wife-

the wedding coins that Rodrigo gave to Jimena

were far superior to those that Castilian law

dictated at that time.

Rodrigo invoked León's laws

and, at the very least gave
half of his assets to Jimena.

He also awarded her with the position of ambassador
in the taifa of Seville

in the year 1079,

with the task of collecting the taxes

owed to him by the then Arabic King Al-Mutamid.

All of this proves that

contrary to popular belief,

the relationship between king and vassal

were excellent at that time.

But, if this really was the case,

what caused them to become enemies?

Well, basically their disputes

were due to political and military reasons.

After ten years of loyal vassalage to the king,

Rodrigo decided, on his own initiative,

to undertake a military campaign

at Gormaz, in Soria,

which was under Christian control,

and had been attacked by Muslims

who came from the taifa of Toledo.

The relationship between Christians and Muslims
in that period

can be seen on various levels.

We should keep in mind that it was a period

in which war was an everyday economic activity.

It was not a question of whether there would be a war or not,

but when it would begin... and there always was war.

Pillaging across borders was common

and a normal part of the economy of the period.

I think that in the Christian territory,

differences and even violence were exacerbated

for political reasons

because when Islam
began to withdraw from Spain

the Christian kingdoms needed

to make good use of propaganda.

And unfortunately, as we know,
religious and racial factors

are strong motivators to make people pick up a sword

and go to war.

El Cid had undertaken this rescue campaign

despite being aware

that the aggressor, Al-Qadir,

was a reigning Muslim

who had the protection of King Alfonso.

The Castilian knight's troops

invaded Al-Qadir's territories

and engaged in a brutal campaign

of pillaging of the crop fields

and villages in this taifa.

Alfonso VI, who was most displeased by Rodrigo's actions,

as these actions of his vassal

put negotiations with his ally

the prince of Toledo at risk,

decided to banish him

accusing him of disloyalty.

Thus, the Castilian nobleman

left his lands

in exile

to seek a master to whom he could offer

his services and extensive experience

in military matters.

Accompanied by his men,

the Campeador left Burgos

through the Santa María arched gateway.

The poem of the Cid has Cid leave via this place

after having knelt

before the ancient Romanesque cathedral

and prayed to Santa María.

When the prayer was over, he mounted on the steed.

North from the gate and over the Arlanzon he went

Later he headed towards San Pedro de Cardeña

where Doña Jimena had taken refuge

with their three young children

so he could say farewell to his family.

The blind sun crashes

Against the hard edges of the weapons

Wounding with light the breastplates and bars

and enflaming the tips of the spears.

The blind sun, thirst and fatigue

Over the terrible Castilian steppe,

To exile with twelve of his own

Blood, sweat and iron... El Cid rides on.

During the first months of his exile

El Cid crossed Castile

stopping at some of the most important

fortified strongholds of the period,

such as Peñaranda de Duero,

which bordered Muslim lands.

Later, Cid's troops

approached Atienza

which he called "a rugged crag".

It is quite possible that the Castejón

which the Poem refers to

where El Cid stayed during his exile

is in fact Jadraque.

Although its castle is named "del Cid"

in reality it was built

much later than our hero's period.

In fact it was built in the 15th century by Cardinal Mendoza.

The following morning, they set off

at Medina they were going to seek shelter.

Although the poem cites Medinaceli as a Castilian stronghold,

in fact it was Muslim territory during Rodrigo's life

as Medina, which was strategically important,

was not taken by Alfonso VI until the year 1104,

five years after El Cid had died in Valencia.

Some scholars believe that the author of the Poem of the Cid

or one of the authors, may have been from Medinaceli.

Later he set off for Barcelona

where he offered his services to Earl Berenguer Ramón II,

who would go down in history as The Fratricide

because he had killed his brother Ramón.

Finally, they did not reach an agreement

seemingly due to Berenguer Ramón's demand

which would have put him in the possible position

of having to fight against Alfonso VI

who he had always considered as his master.

There goes Cid with his armed retinue.

He had to leave with "criados", warrior friends.

Not "criados" meaning servants but

"criados" meaning brought up by him.

Here the word "criado" changes,

because it means brought up at home

brought up by him, he taught him how to use a sword

and to behave like a a knight.

In this way he crosses the Castilian steppe

and goes to Zaragoza where he is met with open arms

by the king of Zaragoza who he already knew and was a friend of his.

They had fought side by side at Graus

and he was known for his skill and bravery

and the affection his men had for him.

In Zaragoza El Cid is happy.

He oversees the armies there,

he restructures all of Zaragoza's defences

and goes to war with the neighbouring regions

he is ordered to... he is a mercenary...

El Cid and his men are mercenaries.

They fight for money.

And although it may seem strange to us
that a Christian knight

would be at the service of a Muslim king,

this was not at all unusual in that period

as the Muslim courts

often became

a refuge for Christian noblemen from the north.

This is important in Rodrigo's story

and it is a fact that has always been difficult to fit with

the figure of Christian leader and hero

and example of religious knight.

The fact that for many years he was a mercenary

of the emirs of Zaragoza

and that, in that post, he defeated

armies, especially from Aragón,

but also from Castile.

So, how do you fit that in
with the figure of a Christian knight?

It is likely that in that period, it was not that hard,

it must have been quite common.

Even the aristocracy of Christian kingdoms

admired the Muslims' refinements

and adopted them.

Perhaps the best example

is the abundance of Mudejar art

which is also a genuine unique Spanish artistic style

and reflects the fact that...

...well, yes, we are defeating the Muslims

but... we like their things

as if they are nicer than ours.

It is likely that while El Cid was in Zaragoza,

he wore Muslim attire

and learned to speak Arabic.

It is very likely as he was there many years.

It is also likely that, without abandoning the Christian faith,

he felt a certain respect and admiration

for what he saw in Zaragoza.

I imagine that comparing a city such as Zaragoza

with what he saw in Castile,

well, it must have seemed remarkable to him.

Rodrigo was a loyal knight to the emirs of Zaragoza

while they paid him.

After all, he was a mercenary

and this did not bother him.

Between the years 1081 and 1087, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar

fought under a Muslim flag

in multiple military campaigns

such as that against the king of the taifas of Lérida,

Tortosa and Denia,

against Sancho Ramírez of Aragón

or against the very same Earl Berenguer Ramón II of Barcelona.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar had
a good relationship with Al-Muqtadir

who was the king of the taifa of Zaragoza

as, on several occasions, he had come to his aid

by order of his king,

firstly under Fernando I and later under Sancho II.

So during his banishment, it was natural

for him to be taken in at Zaragoza,

and to be put in charge of their armies.

On Al-Muqtadir's death,

his sons inherited the kingdom

and their father divided into two.

One son inherited Zaragoza, and the other, Lérida.

Rodrigo remained in Zaragoza

and he found himself obliged to fight alongside Al-Mustain's brother.

The relationship was good as he was his general

and he stayed in Zaragoza

until King Alfonso VI

decided he wanted to resume

collecting the taxes that the citizens of Zaragoza had stopped paying

as they had felt protected
by the presence of El Cid.

All these enemies, Rodrigo,

who was now a great strategist and soldier,

roundly defeated

and in some cases, humiliatingly.

It is likely that after these successful campaigns

Rodrigo received the popular nickname

Cid or Sydi in Arabic.

During my banishment

I continued to pay vassalage to my King Alfonso.

As proof of this, I will say that

from each of my conquests, I paid tribute to Castile.

One one occasion, I remember sending

my good Alvar Fáñez with one hundred

of the most beautiful horses seized

with their beautiful saddles, their bits

and with swords hanging from their harnesses.

Now, with the good judgement

given to me by the passing of time,

I wonder if all of that

I may have done seeking a royal pardon

to allow me to return to Castile

and be reunited with Jimena and my children.

On the death of the king of Zaragoza in the year 1085,

he was succeeded by his son Al-Mustaín

under whose service the Campeador remained

but not for long.

In 1086 his old master, Alfonso VI,

who had conquered Toledo the year before,

laid siege to Zaragoza with the firm intention of taking it.

However, on 30 July of that year

the emperor of Morocco disembarked with his troops,

The Almoravids,

in order to help the Al-Andalus kings

against the Christian advances.

The Almoravids are wrongly identified as a dynasty.

But that is not exactly true, it was more like a sect

of warrior monks from North Africa

who, like many others, wished to reinstate the purity of Islam

and establish a great empire ... and they succeeded.

It was a remarkable empire

covering the regions of Morocco, Algeria,
even Mauritania

and the thing with empires is that they seek to expand

and they came to the Iberian peninsula

not to help the Al-Andalus kingdoms

so much as to assimilate them,

and if possible, to conquer
territory of the Christian kingdoms.

They were tough fighters, fanatical,

and hard nuts to crack.

This coincided with El Cid's historical period

and enabled his figure to gain prestige

as he confronted and defeated them

which was a notable achievement

at the time, as up until then

the Almoravids had never really
lost a battle,

and their expansion was halted.

He did not defeat them to the point of disarray

but he stopped them

enabling the Reconquest to continue

especially for Aragón, curiously,

as it is he who benefits most from El Cid's campaigns

against the Almoravids.

The interesting thing about the Almoravids is that a common thing

happened to them.

The first wave arrives as very fanatical warriors,

very devout.

They establish themselves in Al-Andalus and they become refined,
they soften,

and later on, another wave

of different fanatics arrives

who in turn defeat them,

The Almohads in this case.

Confronted with the arrival of these troops from Africa,

the king of Castile had to lift the siege

and head towards Toledo

to prepare a counterattack.

However, this battle ended

on 23 October in a great defeat for Castile,

known as that of Sagrajas.

Under pressure due to this defeat, Alfonso VI

sought help from his allies

to face the growing Amoravid threat

and it seems that it is then that

reconciliation between
the Christian king and El Cid occurs.

Alfonso VI may have pardoned Rodrigo

for a strictly pragmatic reason:

the need to gather

knights and commanders of great military value,

as Rodrigo undoubtedly was,

to face the new power

that was arriving from Africa.

The Campeador was tasked with

expelling from Valencian territory

all those who aspired to dominate the area

with the promise of being able to take control

of all the lands he conquered in the east

in the king's name.

El Cid succeeded in carrying this out to perfection

gaining for the king, and for himself,

the lands of Sagunto and Alpuente

which allowed him to keep and finance

his own army

without the king having to provide a single salary.

The newly reestablished good relationship between the king and El Cid,

founded on El Cid's military successes,

soon ended.

Alfonso had gone to defend the castle at Aledo,

located in modern day Murcia,

from the siege it was under

from Almoravid troops.

To this end, he order Rodrigo to meet him.

However, Rodrigo, probably aggrandised with his incipient power,

went ahead alone

without waiting to meet the king.

We still do not know today

if this fact was due to

poor coordination between the two armies

or if in fact it was intentional and explicit

disobedience by the knight

whose plans differed more and more from those of his king.

Faced with this direct affront,

Alfonso decided to punish his vassal,

but this time not just with banishment,

but also by confiscating all his assets,

something which was only done in cases of extreme betrayal.

From this moment on,

El Cid became, to all intents and purposes,

an independent commander

without vassalage or a king to answer to.

Master of his own destiny

and that of his armies.

The case of Aledo depends on how you analyse it.

It has been said that El Cid did not attend because he did not wish to.

Others say there was simply a communication problem

and he arrived late.

You would have to put yourself in their shoes

to find out what really happened.

I think it was more of a misunderstanding

because El Cid was not a man to avoid a fight.

There was no reason for him not to go to battle,

but the consequences that we do know

were serious

because Rodrigo was dispossessed of his assets,

he was exiled again

and this triggered the final campaign for Valencia

which had notable historical consequences

because he snatched a very important city from the Muslims,

it meant a rupture in the Almoravid offence

which had been unstoppable until then

and basically facilitated things for Aragón

in his expansion south which until that moment

had been at a standstill.

And after the episodes at Valencia

and the battles that took place in the region

it's true that those taifas

that had resisted well until that moment

were greatly weakened.

The breakup with Alfonso was seen

as a possible weakness of Rodrigo

so his enemies, both Moorish and Christian,

took advantage to attack.

Vivar's response was forceful,

defeating all who challenged his hegemony

which helped to consolidate his fortresses in the east.

As a result of these events,

El Cid became the most powerful figure

in the whole of the eastern territory of the peninsula,

establishing a protectorate in the east

whose areas where he was to be paid tribute included

Valencia, Lérida. Tortosa, Denia, Albarracín,
Alpuente, Sagunto, Jérica, Segorbe and Almenara.

Faced with the enormous power and wealth

that the knight began to accumulate,

in May 1092, Alfonso VI decided to take Valencia by force.

He formed alliances with other regional leaders

among which were Ramón Berenguer, Sancho Ramírez
and the fleet of Génova and Pisa.

Faced with this combined attack, orchestrated by his former king,

el Cid's victory, of undeniable military genius,

was irrevocable and his revenge, terribly bloody.

He laid waste to the lands of Calahorra and Nájera

and even reached the city of Logroño,

spreading fear in his wake.

The impact of defeat, at the hands of his vassal,

on King Alfonso's mood was immediate.

He wrote a letter to Cid pardoning him

and admitting his own guilt for their disagreements.

What I longed for finally arrived...

My king and master's pardon.

I could do no more

than fall to my hands and knees

and place my sword at his service

and all swords of those that were with me.

There would be hard times ahead

and in these times we should be united again

defending the Christian cause.

After this succession of victories and conquests carried out by Rodrigo

there were no longer any Christian forces that could oppose Cid.

Only the powerful Almoravid empire,

at that time at the peak of its military power,

could confront him.

In fact, it was the Almoravid threat

which finally led Cid

to take a further step towards his ambitions in the east.

Discarding the idea of creating a protectorate

over the different fortresses in the region,

he decided to conquer the city of Valencia

to establish a hereditary seigniory,

which would not be subject to any Christian king.

After taking Valencia without needing to enter into combat,

El Cid went on to take strongholds all over the east

imposing the collection of large amounts of money

as taxes.

To give us an idea of the capital collected by Rodrigo,

we could say, for example, that he received 50,000 dinars for Denia

Tortosa and Lérida,

for Alpuente 10,000

and most importantly, 52,000 dinars for Valencia.

Thanks to all these conquests

El Cid took control of practically all the lands in the east.

The fame garnered by El Cid and his armed retinue,

the largest and bravest on the peninsula,

was such that they were joined by men from

the remotest parts of Europe and Africa.

In the autumn of 1092,

there was a revolt in Valencia

led by the qadi Ben-Yaffah

who, by force, deposed the vizier named by El Cid.

On hearing the news, a furious Campeador

returned to Valencia immediately

and laid siege to the city.

The rebels requested reinforcements from the Almoravids

who sent an army to their aid.

However, 20 kilometres from Valencia,

seeing themselves in a position of inferiority, this army

decided to withdraw leaving the city to its fate.

After this withdrawal

The Valencian Arabs received no more

external help whatsoever

and so the city began to suffer shortages

as a consequence of the siege
they were under.

Finally, Valencia surrendered to Rodrigo

on 15 June 1094.

From then on, the Castilian commander

adopted the title "Prince Rodrigo the Campeador".

In reprisal for the revolt,

Ben Yaffah was burned alive by el Cid,

who took revenge for the murder of his protegé

using a rite originating from

an ancient Islamic custom.

After taking Valencia

I again sent my most loyal emissary, Alvar Fañez,

to Castile, and with him a fifth

of the substantial loot we found

when we arrived in the city.

Alvar Fañez, Hañez or Yañez

is another addition to the legend of el Cid.

This character really existed.

He was an important captain in the Castilian army

but he was never el Cid's deputy or right hand man.

In fact, it is possible that they hardly ever crossed paths

and even that they did not get along

but the author of the Poem

for some reason wished to put the
two great captains of the period together

and Minaya under the control of el Cid.

But this was the poet's idea

because in fact Alvar Fañez lived

went to war and led his campaigns,

in Castile,

and his relationship with el Cid, if it existed,

was exceptional and infrequent.

But despite having initially put down

the revolt in the east,

pressure from the Almoravids did not cease.

Just a few months later, in mid-September,

a new army led by Abu Abdalá,

the nephew of Emperor Yusuf,

arrived as far as Cuart de Poblet,

five kilometres from the eastern capital,

and laid siege to it.

But they were again defeated by el Cid

in a bloody pitched battle.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar won all the battles he faced.

It is likely that for this reason he is known as "the undefeated"

and this battle was no different.

It is true that Valencia was under siege for a time.

It was Ramadan

and there came a point when the siege became harder

and although Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was supposed to have

asked King Alfonso VI for help,

it did not arrive in time.

Therefore, as in all his other battles,

he invented a strategy to win this battle

and break the siege.

He left with his armies at night to the south of Valencia

which was not under siege or being watched by the Almoravids.

After a wide circular detour they positioned themselves behind the enemy.

The next morning,

as he had ordered,

a group of soldiers left Valencia to harass the Moors

and the Moors gave chase.

The majority of the Amoravid army set off
after these knights

who had left Valencia.

At that moment, Rodrigo, bearing his king's flag,

who was not in fact the person carrying out the attack,

attacked the Almoravid camps from behind.

The Almoravids, thinking it was a large part of the Christian army,

took flight in terror.

In this way, the battle was won

practically without casualties,

without Christian casualties but with many Almoravid casualties

who were thrown into the sea.

It was another of his battles,

perhaps one of the most important and well-known ones,

as it took place in Valencia

and was won using strategy

and planning and not by force.

Once again, at the end of the same year

new disturbances caused by Muslims

persuaded el Cid to settle permanently in Valencia,

specifically in el Alcázar,

as well as to take over the mosque

and dedicate it to Santa María.

EQUIPMENT TO THE CATHEDRAL OF VALENCIA
Only known manuscript signed by El Cid

At the beginning of 1097,

the final Almoravid expedition during
Rodrigo's life took place

commanded by Muhammad Ben Tashufin.

This new attack led to the battle of Bairén.

The Castilian commander once again emerged victorious,

this time with help from soldiers from Aragón

from King Pedro I

with whom Rodrigo had signed an alliance in 1094.

This victory allowed him to resume his conquests

all over the east of the peninsula.

Thus, at the end of 1097,

the Campeador took the stronghold of Almenara

and in June 1098, he succeeded in taking the powerful stronghold Sagunto

which considerably strengthened his power in those lands.

Rodrigo's intense warring activity

and the effects of the serious injuries he had suffered

years before at the battle of Daroca

evidently affected his health

to the point that some months after Valencia's surrender,

his physical deterioration was plain.

This decline was also worsened

by the death of his son Diego at the battle of Consuegra two years earlier.

This death had plunged him into a deep sadness.

God, to whom, with heart and soul, I had always wished to serve

took from me too soon what most I loved.

With Diego departed my will to live

the continuity of my work and my name...

I no longer had the strength nor the will to fight

especially knowing that the end was near...

Indeed, it was a paradox

because El Cid, undefeated in a thousand battles,

with injuries, that is true, but not serious ones,

and the first time his son goes to battle...

...his first battle..he dies.

What is more, he dies defending King Alfonso VI

with his swordsmen.

Alfonso VI manages to survive

but with a sword thrust into his thigh

and right through his horse's saddle.

So he also suffered.

But he lost the battle against the Almoravids.

For el Cid this was a serious blow

because they had been his hopes.

At that time, having a son meant having continuity,

that your name would survive

the vicissitudes of history

and the dynasty would continue.

So for him it was a heavy blow

and this together with the numerous injuries he carried

resulted in a serious decline

including physically.

Mentally and physically...

Unlike all the heroes in poems

and songs

and all the ballads that existed at the time all over Europe,

he dies in bed, peacefully.

In all ballads, heroes are exaggerated,

they are described as dying while fighting 300 adversaries.

El Cid dies peacefully, relaxed, surrounded by his loved ones.

The conquest of Sagunto would be his last.

Just a year later, in May 1099,

el Cid died a natural death in Valencia

at the age of 55 years,

which was normal at a time

when life expectancy was 50 years.

Thus, his wife Jimena became lady of Valencia.

During several years, el Cid's widow

succeeded in defending the city from Muslims

with help from her son-in-law, Ramón Berenguer III.

But in May 1102,

faced with the impossible task of defending the principality further,

Cid's family and court left the city of Valencia

with the help of King Alfonso VI,

but not without first applying a scorched earth tactic

ransacking and setting fire to the city before leaving.

Valencia was conquered the day after
their departure by the Almoravids

and remained in Muslim hands until the year 1238

when it was definitively reconquered by King Jaime I.

With respect to Rodrigo's body,

Doña Jimena took it with her

after the evacuation and burning down of the eastern capital

and she buried it at San Pedro de Cardeña monastery in Burgos.

In 1808, during the War of Independence,

French soldiers desecrated his tomb,

but finally, after several moves

since 1921, his remains lie

next to those of his wife Doña Jimena

at the crossing in Burgos cathedral.

So my adventures came to an end...

those of a simple warrior who went from nobleman to sublieutenant,

from sublieutenant to master

and from master to legend.

And who may say, proudly,

that although not born of royal blood,

his grandchildren would become kings...

After his death, and over the following centuries,

the figure of el Cid grew

leading to countless legends,

many of them with no historical basis,

about his life and military campaigns,

which soon took root in popular culture.

One literary genre in particular contributed to this:

epic poetry,

and especially the Poem of the Cid,

an anonymous work written around the year 1200,

that is,100 years after el Cid's death.

The work consists of 3,730 verses

recounting heroic feats freely inspired

by the life of the Castilian knight.

And what the tale tells,

although with a hint of fiction,

actually refers to the most relevant
historic episodes of his life.

In the poem, his feats are exaggerated

to create the figure of a hero

which endures in the present.

The Poem of the Cid does not form a part

of el Cid's legend.

The Poem of the Cid is the legend.

Together with other poems and ballads, the Poem

gives shape to this figure

which, more than historical, is very literary and mythical.

El Cid is an archetype of Christian knight

and Castilian knight.

It is a first class propagandistic element

for the kingdom of Castile.

Therefore, in this sense, the Poem is a great work of propaganda,

beautiful, well made propaganda

which combines historical elements with fabrication

and with half-truths ... but it does it well, with talent.

It is a work which has later been used,

much later even,

to add more legend to the formation of a national spirit.

Taking into account that el Cid is a Castilian hero,

later, he became a Spanish hero,

and he has been much used in this propagandistic sense.

But it is logical

because right from the start,

the figure of el Cid as a literary character

has been an element of political propaganda

which justifies the very existence of a kingdom, its expansion, its creation.

Of course, this is not something exclusive to Castile.

These things have been done throughout history:

create a national hero

who embodies the values that, supposedly, this nation has.

In addition to the Poem of the Cid,

the other three texts in this genre which have lasted

and which tell us tales of the Castilian hero

are The Mocedades de Rodrigo with 1700 verses,

The Roncesvalles, of about 100 verses,

and a short inscription in a Romanesque temple

known as the epic epitaph of the Cid.

And so el Cid became, more a literary person than a real one,

the model of the perfect knight

with which to rally the Christians

to conquer the territories of the Muslim kingdoms.

Of all the legends that endure today,

to the one previously mentioned about the oath of Santa Gadea,

others are added such as the one which refers to

his triumph in a battle... after his death!

And which tells of how, one morning,

while Rodrigo was inspecting a battle field

under siege by the Muslim enemy,

he was hit by a stray arrow

and el Cid fell to the ground with a fatal wound.

Conscious that he was dying,

he still had enough bravery to explain to his men

a final strategy:

he ordered them to embalm his body and that,

already dead, he would ride on his horse Babieca

in the following battle in command of his troops.

All that night, the legend continues,

the Moorish drums could be heard

rousing the fighters, who were sure of their victory,

knowing that el Cid had fallen.

At dawn, the gates of Valencia were opened

and through them galloped

all the Christian knights of the city

with el Cid at the head.

His men had dressed him,

strapped his weapons to him

and mounted him on his horse.

The Arabic troops were surprised

to see el Cid on Babieca

riding to battle

when they thought he was dead.

The Arabic troops were filled

with such terror

that they fled in panic, believing him to be immortal.

And that is how el Cid Campeador won his final battle.

Another popular episode about the figure of el Cid

is the "afrenta de Corpes".

It tells of how the princes of Carrión,

nobles of Castilian origin,

asked el Cid for his daughters' hand in marriage.

Satisfied by the political alliance this would mean,

he gladly accepted.

However, on arriving in Valencia,

the princes showed signs of cowardice

by not wishing to face the Muslims

who were laying siege to the city.

This cowardice was again apparent

by their fear of a tamed lion belonging to el Cid.

According to legend,

el Cid picked it up by its neck and took it to its cage

among the laughter of his troops

and the princes' embarrassment.

Feeling humiliated, they asked for el Cid's daughters
to be transferred with them to Castile

so they could marry them there.

But, according to legend, what they really

intended was to take revenge on el Cid

for these public insults.

In an oak forest called de Corpes,

they flogged the young girls

and there they left them to their fate, tied to a tree.

As luck would have it, they were rescued

by a knight from the princes' retinue, a cousin of el Cid.

On hearing of this insult,

Rodrigo challenged the princes to a duel,

defeating them and restoring his tarnished honour.

Finally, Rodrigo's daughters,

whose real names were María and Cristina,

were wed to the princes of Navarra and Aragón,

and this has been proved to be historically true.

I think, in reality

his daughters were married, one to the earl of Barcelona,

Ramón Berenguer III

and the other to Ramiro of Navarra.

I think the story about the earls of Carrión is a myth.

Legends accompany el Cid

and even his personal possessions,

his weapons and his animals.

Such is the case with the names of his swords:

Tizona

and Colada.

or that of his horse, Babieca.

Grave of BABIECA

All these legends meant that the figure of el Cid

was considered, over the centuries,

as that of a genuine "superman",

a model for Christian kings and knights in the Middle Ages.

He would gain such fame that

in the 16th century there was an attempt to canonise him.

The Catholic Kings, Felipe II and even the Franco regime

did not hesitate to use the figure of el Cid

as a model to transmit patriotic and Catholic values.

On 24 July 1955, General Franco

inaugurated the monument to Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in Burgos

among the paraphernalia typical of dictatorships.

In the speech he gave, he did not hesitate

to state that, "El Cid represents the spirit of Spain

and embodies all the national ideals".

The legendary figure of el Cid, not the real one,

the figure created by literature and historiography

may embody certain values of a certain Spain.

Obviously, it does not represent either all the country

or all Spaniards, or all the periods that this country has been through.

This is a country which has changed a lot over the centuries.

But of course, every state needs legends and heroes

to explain itself...in the end they are symbols

that try to represent what the country is supposed to be.

El Cid is one of those symbols

and has been used widely in a propagandistic sense.

We can say that in part he is a real person

and in part, a literary character

and there is no way to change this.

Whatever his figure may have been, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar the person

has been totally imbued with literary and historical myth

and it does not matter that it is this way.

Today, 900 years after his death,

the Campeador remains a subject of controversy.

Sometimes he is presented as a mercenary,

eager for wealth and glory,

who employed with extraordinary harshness

war and revenge.

Others say he was a loyal and honorable knight,

loyal to his king, his kingdom and his ideals.

In any case,

El Cid continues to capture public imagination,

without us knowing how much is reality

and how much is fiction

in the life of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar.

And perhaps it should always be like that.

♪ Music ♪