El Cid

El Cid was brought up in the court of King Fernand I and he lived in the
household of the King’s eldest son,who was to be the future Sancho II. In 1065
Fernand I died. He divided his kingdom among his three sons, Sancho,Alfonso and
Garcia and his two daughters, Elvira and Uracca.(Unlike today,Spain was not one
kingdom,but ruled by many kings including some Arabics.) Fernand had hoped
that his children would be happy with their lands. Sancho being the eldest
thought that he should have inherited all of his father’s lands. Sancho first needed
to do battle with the Kingdom of Aragon which was not under control of any of his
family. El Cid proved to be such a help in defeating the kingdom of Aragon that he
was named Commander of the Royal Armies. At this time he was only about 23
years old.

About 1070 Sancho began his war against his brothers and sisters. He first
waged war against his brothers in Leon and Garcia. Both victories were
accomplished with the great assistance of El Cid who turned almost certain
defeats into victories. Sancho exiled his brothers to the city of Toledo. Sancho
then took the city of Toro which was the domain of his sister,Elvira. He then
began a battle with his sister Uracca and her city of Zamora in 1072. However
Sancho was killed by one of Uracca’s soldiers right at the city gates. Upon hearing
of his brother’s lands and most importantly the throne he became Alfonso VI.

El Cid became concerned for his life. He had after all helped Sancho wage war
against Alfonso who was now the King. But El Cid had a couple of things in his
favor. One was a very good soldier. Alfonso knew that he would need a leader like
El Cid. Also the people in Castile were not happy that they were being led by a
king from Leon. El Cid was from Castile and was liked by the people.

In 1086 Alfonso VI came under attack from the Almoravid armies from North
Africa. He suffered a great defeat at Sagrajas on October 23 rd. Realizing that he
needed El Cid’s help to save his Kingdom,Alfonso recalled El Cid from exile.
 El Cid returned to Alfonso,but now he had his own plans. He only stayed a
short while and returned to Saragossa. El Cid was content to let the Almoravid
armies and the armies of Alfonso fight without his help. Even when there was a
chance that the armies of Almoravid might defeat Alfonso and take over all of
Alfonso’s lands. The reason El Cid did not want to fight was because he was
hoping that both armies would become weak. That would make it easier for him
to carry out is own plan which was to become a ruler of the Kingdom of Valencia.

The first thing El Cid needed to do was to remove the influence of the Count of
Barcelona. Barcelona was the major city in the area and the Count was a powerful
man. He defeated the Count (Berenguer Ramon) at the battle Tebar in May 1090.
Valencia,however was stilled ruled by an Arabic leader,al-Qadir. El Cid became
lucky when in October 1092 al-Qadir was killed by one of his noblemen,Ibn
Jahhaf. The city of Valencia was thrown into confusion. It was at this time that El
Cid decided to attack. He surrounded the city and began a long siege. In May,1094
Ibn Jahhaf surrendered the city.

Although El Cid was a soldier he understood some of the politics of being a

ruler. Through his service to Sancho II and then Alfonso VI he learned about
Spanish politics. Through his service to al-Mu’tamin and al-Musta’in he learned
about Arabic politics. He knew that because Valencia contained a great number of
Moors (Arabs) that he would have to have the support of Ibn Jahhaf. He forgave
Ibn Jahhaf of all of his crimes including the killing of al-Qadir. Ibn Jahhaf agreed to
use his influence over the Moors so that they would accept El Cid as their ruler.
Once this was accomplished, El Cid decided that he did not need Ibn Jahhaf and
had him arrested and killed.

El Cid technically ruled Valencia for Alfonso. But,Alfonso was not about to wage
war against El Cid,so he let him rule with almost no control. El Cid began to act as
a king. He appointed a Bishop and he encouraged people to settle in Valencia. He
married one daughter, Cristina to a prince of Aragon,Ramiro and his othe
daughter Maria to Count of Barcelona,Ramon Berenguer III,whose father he had
earlier defeated.
 The body of El Cid was returned to Burgos and buried in a monastery.Almost
immediately he became regarded as a national hero of Castile. In the 12 th century
a 3700 line poem “El Cantar de Mio Cid”(The Song of the Cid) was written about
him. The poem and later writings such as a play in 1637 made his exploits almost
legendary to the point that some people began to doubt that wether El Cid was
ever a real person. Unlike King Arthur of English Legend,El Cid really did exist. And
the poem about him (although it does in some cases stretch the truth),is
considered to be the beginning of Spanish literature.
 Name:

1. When did Sancho began his war against his brothers and sisters?

2. Where did the body of El Cid returned?

3. Who removed El Cid as commander of Royal Armies?

4. What is the meaning of As-Sid?

5. Where was Sancho killed?

6. In what year Ibn Jahhaf surrendered the city?

7. Where was Sancho first exiled his brothers?

8. Who decided to abandon the city and ordered it burned?

9. Why did Alfonso need El Cid’s help?

10.What is the reason why El Cid did not want to fight?