The reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula lasted more than 7 centuries. It was a time of glorious victories and bitter defeats, treacherous betrayals and heroic devotion. The struggle of Christians against the Moors gave Spain, probably, one of its most famous national heroes - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who was nicknamed El Cid Campeador.
Internecine war
The legendary "Song of my Side" says that the future hero of Castile, and then the whole of Spain, came from a noble family. According to one of the versions, his ancestor held a high position of a judge. The fact is that in Castile there was a long tradition - all controversial moments in the life of citizens were decided by two judges. Accordingly, only a noble and respected person could take such a position. De Vivar's father Diego Laines devoted his entire life to protecting the borders of Castile and Navara from the raids of the Moors.
Due to his high social status, Rodrigo entered the Castilian court and was educated at the monastery of San Pedro de Cardena. After the death of his father, he was brought up at the court of Fernando I, and the king's eldest son, Sancho, became his best friend. In the monastery, Rodrigo was taught to read and write. Moreover, the latter has been proven, since El Cid's signature has been preserved.
In 1065, when the king of Castile Ferdinand I died, the kingdom found itself in the abyss of civil war. The fact is that Ferdinand I divided vast lands between his three sons. Castile itself went to the eldest - Sancho, Leon went to the middle - Alfonso. Well, the youngest, Garcia, received Galicia in his possession.
In the outbreak of conflict, success was accompanied by Sancho II. It was on the side of this king that Rodrigo fought. He gained fame for his courage and heroism during numerous battles. In one of them, El Cid not only defeated the enemy's army, but also captured King Alfonso. Thanks to this, Sancho II was able to take control of the land belonging to a relative. According to one version, it was for this feat that Rodrigo received the nickname Campeador. This word can be translated as "knight", "great warrior".
But the confrontation did not end there. In 1072, Sancho II led his troops to the city of Zamora, where his sister Urraca was hiding. She helped Alfonso escape from captivity and take refuge with the emir Mamunu in Toledo. Of course, Sancho considered this a betrayal and decided to deal with the insidious relative. The inhabitants of Zamora heroically held the defense, although the forces remained less and less. And when it seemed that the city was about to fall, Sancho II died. He was killed by the spy Velido Alfonso, who played the role of a defector and thus managed to infiltrate the camp of the King of Castile and Leon. After the death of Sancho, Alfonso VI ascended the throne.
Confrontation with Alfonso
Having become the full-fledged ruler of vast lands, Alfonso VI behaved wisely. The first thing I did was make up with Rodrigo. He did not want to find a blood enemy in the person of such a famous and respected warrior. True, according to one of the legends, El Sid demanded that the newly made king swear that he was not involved in the murder of his brother. This episode first surfaced in the mid-30s of the 13th century. However, many historians consider it to be the author's fiction, since no documents confirming the oath have survived.
By and large, whether this is true or not is irrelevant. Most importantly, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar stood at the head of the entire army of Castile. And then he married a relative of the king, Jimene Diaz.
In those turbulent times, the rulers of fragmented Spain did not stop internecine wars. Moreover, for the sake of victory or financial gain, they did not hesitate even to conclude short-term alliances with their main enemies - the Moors. It was because of such a skirmish that El Cid suffered. Having united with the emir of Seville, Al Mutamid, who, by the way, was an ally of Castile, he in the "open field" came together with the army of Abdullah, the ruler of Granada. That fight ended in victory for Rodrigo and Al Mutmid. But the joy of victory was spoiled by one fact. It turned out that Count Garcia Ordonez, who was under the patronage of Alfonso VI, was found in the army of Abdullah. This count was taken prisoner by Rodrigo. And after that, El Cid still devastated the lands of Toledo, which were also under the protectorate of the King of Castile.
I must say that Alfonso VI was rather cold about the successful commander. The wisdom shown in the beginning gave way to envy and fear of losing the throne. After all, El Sid was very popular in the army and among the people. Therefore, Alfonso used the capture of Ordonez and the raid on Toledo with the maximum benefit for himself. El Cid fell into disgrace and was forced to leave Castile in 1080.
Finding himself unnecessary to Alfonso, Rodrigo began an active search for a new equally powerful and influential patron. First of all, he offered help in the fight against the Moors to the counts of Barcelona. But they, for some reason, refused El Cid. And then Rodrigo went over to the camp of the enemies - he stood "under the arms" of the emirs of Zaragoza.
At the time, this was not considered something out of the ordinary. A common practice among Christian warriors who have failed to find a master of a similar faith. They went to the service of the emirs because of an acute lack of livelihoods or because of persecution in their homeland. The Moors, in turn, sought to lure the Christian warriors, since they were distinguished by discipline and training. In addition, they did not have any relatives or any influential Muslim friends. This means that they did not go into undercover intrigues. It turned out to be mutually beneficial cooperation in the context of the ongoing war for the liberation of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslims.
While in the service of the Emir of Sarago, El Cid fought against Barcelona. And in several battles he managed to defeat the counts, who not so long ago refused to protect him.
In 1086, Christians had a new enemy - at the invitation of the emirs of Seville, Granada and Badajoz from Morocco, the troops of the Almoravids invaded Andalusia. In one of the biggest battles of the entire Reconquista - the Battle of Zallac - the Spanish Christians suffered a crushing defeat. King Alfonso VI himself miraculously escaped from the battlefield.
According to one version, El Cid Campeador also took part in that battle. And although the battle was lost, he managed to regain the favor of the king of Castile and returned to his homeland.
After just a year, El Cid again went on the warpath. This time, the conflict erupted over Valencia. Rodrigo was opposed by his old adversary - Ramon Berenguer, the count of Barcelona, who supported the emirs. I must say that Campeador himself also sided with the Muslims. In the battles for Valencia, El Cid turned out to be stronger, and the city passed under the protectorate of Alfonso VI. The king of Castile appreciated and hated Rodrigo at the same time. Therefore, when he refused to support Alfonso in the raid on the Moors, the ruler again expelled Campeador.
By itself
After another undeserved, according to El Cid, disgrace, he began to work exclusively for himself. Using great authority, Campeador managed to conquer the lands of Valencia, having obtained recognition from the emirs of his power. Then he once again defeated the army of Ramon Berenguer and managed to take him prisoner. For the release, Rodrigo demanded that the enemy once and for all abandon claims to the lands of Valencia. The count had to agree.
In 1094, El Cid managed to subjugate the city itself. The Almoravids tried several times to recapture Valencia from the neg, but all their attempts failed.
El Sid, as befits a real hero, did not die in his own bed. According to legend, before the battle with the Moors, he was wounded by a poisoned arrow. Sensing the approach of death, Rodrigo ordered his wife to dress him in armor and put him on a horse so that the enemy would not suspect anything. Jimena fulfilled her husband's wish. The Moors most likely knew that El Cid was mortally wounded, so his appearance frightened them and they fled. So, at least, it is written in the legends.
But when the news of Rodrigo's death spread throughout Spain, the Moors with a vengeance began to try to conquer Valencia. Jimena defended the city as best she could. But a few years later, when her strength was exhausted, she asked for protection from Alfonso VI. The king of Castile did not get involved with the Moors, but simply invited the Christian residents to leave the city. And soon Valencia was occupied by Muslims.
El Cid and his family are buried in the Burgos monastery. An epitaph written by Menedes Pidal is engraved on the tomb: “Here lie Rodrigo Diaz, Campeador, who died in Valencia in 1099, and his wife Jimena, daughter of Count Diego de Oviedo, of the royal family. They all achieved honor and were born at a good hour."
National hero
Due to his character and a great many victories, El Cid was considered the true embodiment of the Castilian spirit during his lifetime. Therefore, he gained immortality as the national hero of Spain in the legends and songs-romanceros. For example, "The Song of My Side", composed in the period from the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th centuries. She is considered a model of the Spanish medieval epic.
Several centuries later, the writer Guillen de Castro, who composed the plays "Youth of Sid", remembered the hero. Then this idea was picked up and developed by the playwright Pierre Corneille in the poetic play "Sid". And if de Castro's creation was, in fact, small-town, outside of Spain no one knew about him, then the Frenchman brought Rodrigo world fame. The composer Massenet composed an opera based on the play. And at the beginning of the 19th century, the poet Robert Southey from England, who wrote The Chronicle of Sid, remembered about Campeador. The film-maker did not bypass this topic either - in 1961 the Hollywood film "El Cid" appeared, and in 2003 the Spaniards created a cartoon called "The Legend of Side".
Rodrigo's Blade
"The Song of My Side" glorified not only the brave Rodrigo. His blades - Tizona and Colada - also became famous. And, which is very important, both of these swords have survived to this day. One of them is definitely a contemporary of Campeador. This was confirmed by chemical analysis.
According to some historians, after the death of El Cid, his blade ended up in the ancestors of the future King Ferdinand II of Aragon. He, in turn, at the beginning of the 16th century donated the weapon to the Marquis de Falses as a token of gratitude for his devoted service. Legend has it that the king allowed de Falses to choose what he wanted. And the marquis took the legendary blade instead of money or a castle.
In 2007, the owner of the sword sold it to the Castile and Leon region. After that, the weapon settled in the Cathedral of Burgos, where El Cid himself was drunk.
It is curious that at one time there were rumors that Tizona was a fake. An examination was carried out. She showed that the hilt of the sword was made in the 16th century, but the blade itself dates back to the 11th century. But the second sword of El Cid - Colada - certainly did not belong to the national hero of Spain. It was forged in the 13th century.
