El Cid is one of the most well-known figures
of the Reconquista, and he’s regarded nowadays as a Spanish national hero and champion of
Christianity. But during his life, he was more than just
that: he was a knight, a mercenary, an outlaw, and a warlord; he fought for both sides of
the Reconquista, attacking the Moors when they were weak, and helping them defend themselves
when his relationship with the Christian kings was sour. At the end of his life, he had proven his
military prowess and had become a legend, inspiring with his tale one of the oldest
Castilian epic poems of history. Welcome to our video on the legend of two
worlds - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. When Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was born in 1043,
the Iberian Peninsula was in a period of great change: the Caliphate of Cordoba was collapsing;
dozens of little Muslim states, known as taifas, were becoming independent; the Christian kingdoms
were rapidly expanding and turning against each other; and in the Castilian lands, a
new state was rising. Here’s where Rodrigo was born, in the burgeoning
city of Burgos, amidst an illustrious family. His father, Diego Lainez, was a Castilian
knight of impressive bravery, fighting for King Fernando the Great in the frontiers with
the Kingdom of Navarre. Through his campaigning, Diego conquered several
settlements in Castille, including the towns of Vivar and Uvierna, which he came to own
and then left as inheritance for his son. Upon his father’s death, Rodrigo was left
a young and rich landlord that wanted to follow in his footsteps, and to become a renowned
knight just like him. Prince Sancho the Strong, one of Fernando’s
sons that governed the province of Castille, saw the potential in Rodrigo and took him
into his entourage to complete his military education. With Sancho, Rodrigo experienced his first
military campaigns against the taifa of Zaragoza, concluding with Emir Al-Muqtadir surrendering
unconditionally and becoming a vassal of the Castilian prince. As his new vassal was also threatened by the
Kingdom of Aragon, Sancho then took Rodrigo to the city of Graus where the two Christian
armies battled for the dominance of Zaragoza. This was Rodrigo’s first battle, and the
young knight fought with such braveness and ferocity that Sancho honored him with a distinguished
title for his service. In 1065, King Fernando would die, dividing
his realm amongst his sons and daughters, and Sancho would become the first King of
Castille as a result. By this time, Rodrigo was already one of the
most renowned warriors in the Iberian Peninsula, and he was also a good friend to King Sancho,
acting as his preferred knight and having the honor of carrying the royal banner. Because he thought himself the legitimate
heir to King Fernando, Sancho attempted throughout his reign to reunite the Spanish kingdoms
under his name. Consequently, he warred against his brothers,
in particular against King Alfonso of Leon. In these years, Rodrigo met Alfonso’s forces
in several pitched battles, demonstrating great courage and thus increasing his personal
prestige. The wars between the brothers culminated at
the famous Battle of Golpejera, where the forces of Castille and Leon clashed in a chaotic
struggle for the dominance of both kingdoms. Initially, the Leonese were expelled and had
to retreat, but then King Alfonso reinforced his army and led it back to meet the Castilians. After a fierce fight, the Castilians were
pushed back, and King Sancho barely managed to escape alive. But while they were retreating, Rodrigo stepped
in and advised his king to turn back and counterattack the Leonese army, thinking that Alfonso’s
forces would still be celebrating their victory with their guard down. Led by Rodrigo, the Castilians attacked with
such ferocity that the Leonese never knew what hit them. Alfonso was captured and exiled, and Sancho
became King of Leon. Rodrigo, meanwhile, became famous for his
great victory and received the nickname “Campeador”, which means “champion” or “master of
the battlefield”. With Leon and Galicia secured, the only realm
left for Sancho to reunite was the lordship of Zamora, under the hands of his sister Urraca. During the Siege of Zamora, Rodrigo’s life
would change forever as his friend and liege, Sancho, would be severely injured by an astute
soldier, ending the siege and the monarch’s life. For Nine months Alfonso had been living in
exile at the taifa of Toledo when the news of his brother’s death reached him; nine
months after his greatest defeat at the hands of Rodrigo; and now, the exiled King returned
to Leon to inherit all the lands that Sancho had strived in his lifetime to reunite. Yet despite his resentment against Rodrigo,
Alfonso was a wise king, and he knew that it was better to maintain Rodrigo’s military
expertise alongside him. To keep Rodrigo in his service, Alfonso decided
to marry him with Jimena Díaz, one of his cousins. Rodrigo’s relationship with Alfonso thus
improved, and his marriage to Jimena was very beneficial as well, bringing him very close
to high nobility and having three children with her. Although Rodrigo and Alfonso were in better
terms now, Rodrigo wouldn’t recover the high position he enjoyed with Sancho; instead,
King Alfonso’s preferred knight would be García Ordoñez, count of Najera, which would
develop a fierce rivalry with Rodrigo. In 1079, Alfonso assembled his most trustworthy
knights to collect tribute from his Moorish vassals, as they had a vassalage contract
of protection with the Leonese King in exchange for annual tribute. Rodrigo was among these knights, and he was
sent to the taifa of Seville under the Emir Al-Mu’tamid. When Rodrigo arrived at Seville, Al-Mu’tamid
was amidst an ongoing war with the taifa of Granada, and so the Emir called Rodrigo to
honor their contract and come in his defense. Concurrently, the count of Najera had been
sent to Granada with the same objective, and he had been asked the same for the Emir of
Granada, to which he gladly agreed. Rodrigo tried, to no avail, to peacefully
resolve the conflict between the two taifas, but when the count of Najera invaded with
a huge Moorish army, Rodrigo had no other choice but to interfere. At the castle of Cabra, he led the Sevillian
army against that of Granada, and he won a great victory, capturing his rival in battle
and further increasing his prestige. When he returned to Seville, Al-Mu’tamid
happily paid his tribute and also offered many gifts to Rodrigo for his bravery. As he got back to Leon, even Alfonso praised
his ferocity in battle, although the count of Najera, now released from Rodrigo’s imprisonment,
falsely accused him of stealing part of the tribute for himself, which fell on the King’s
deaf ears. A year later however, the Emir of Toledo attacked
the castle of Gormaz and was defeated by Rodrigo. The Castilian knight decided to pursue his
foe without the agreement of King Alfonso, ransacking the countryside of Toledo as a
result, which earned the ire of Alfonso, who was convinced by envious count of Najera,
and other enemies of Rodrigo, to exile him. Saddened by the news, Rodrigo took his wife
and children and left to seek employment elsewhere, essentially working as a soldier of fortune. In Zaragoza, the Emir Al-Muqtadir, old vassal
of King Sancho, and an old acquaintance of the Castilian knight, received him with open
arms and trusted him with the defense of his state. But the Moor was very old and sick, and he
would perish a few months later, dividing his realm between his two sons, with Al-Mutaman
receiving the taifa of Zaragoza and Al-Mundhir receiving the taifa of Lerida. Rodrigo would remain in the service of Al-Mutaman
for four years, earning his trust and friendship, and occupying a high position in the court
of Zaragoza. With his new patron, Rodrigo defended the
Moorish realm from the armies of King Sancho of Aragon, Count Berenguer of Barcelona, and
even from Al-Mutaman’s brother, the Emir of Lerida. At the Battle of Almenar for instance, the
combined forces of Lerida and Barcelona were besieging the castle of Almenar with a huge
army. First, Rodrigo attempted to pay them off,
but Count Berenguer noticed that his army was bigger than that of Zaragoza, and so decided
to refuse Al-Mutaman’s payment, mocking him about Rodrigo’s chances and continuing
the siege instead. Irritated by his refusal, the knight ordered
his men to arm themselves and started marching into battle. Thus, Berenguer’s forces were taken by surprise
by the ferocious drive of Rodrigo’s army, suffering huge casualties and the imprisonment
of Count Berenguer himself. Another important battle came in 1084, as
Al-Mutaman sent Rodrigo to ransack Lerida’s lands and to attempt to conquer a route into
the sea. This time, the Emir of Lerida managed to get
an alliance with the King of Aragon, marching together to Morella with the objective of
repelling the Castilian outcast. Rodrigo faced them with his smaller army,
and after a grueling struggle, the Aragonese forces retreated, with Rodrigo in pursuit. The knight essentially destroyed his foe and
captured more than 2000 men. It’s probably in this great victory that
Rodrigo was first called sīdi by his Moorish soldiers, translated in Spanish into Cid,
although there is no evidence of contemporary use of this name. That same year, Al-Mutaman would die of old
age and would be succeeded by his son, Al-Musta'in, whom El Cid continued to serve for some time. But when the Almoravids entered into the Iberian
Peninsula and defeated King Alfonso at the Battle of Sagrajas, Rodrigo was recalled back
into Leon and was pardoned by Alfonso, who needed strong military men to face the Almoravid
threat. Now reconciled with his liege, El Cid departed
Castille at the head of a small army to vassalize the taifa of Valencia. There, he managed to scare off the forces
of the Count of Barcelona and those of Emir Al-Qadir of Valencia, who then became a vassal
to King Alfonso. In 1088, the Almoravids returned to the Iberian
Peninsula to wage war upon the Christian kingdoms. Joined by the southern taifas, they laid siege
to the castle of Aledo, to which Alfonso marched to defend. Naturally, Alfonso asked his best knights,
including Rodrigo, to join him in this struggle, but El Cid had a logistics problem, and he
ended up waiting for his liege on a different route to that which Alfonso had taken. In the end, the Christians managed to win
the day, although El Cid failed to join them in battle. For this, King Alfonso was very furious and,
fueled by the count of Najera’s suspicions that Rodrigo was a traitor, he ended up exiling
him for a second time. This time however, all of Rodrigo’s goods
were taken, and his wife and children were imprisoned. Incensed by the actions of King Alfonso, El
Cid marched to the Levante and established himself as an independent warlord, sacking
the taifa of Lerida and vassalizing the taifa of Valencia. For the second time, the Emir of Lerida and
the Count of Barcelona felt threatened by Rodrigo’s might, and so decided to join
forces to oust him. Being a good friend to El Cid, the Emir Al-Musta'in
of Zaragoza pledged his support for Rodrigo and alerted him of the impending attack. El Cid then placed his forces atop mount Tevar,
and sent mocking letters to Count Berenguer with the objective of encouraging him to attack. This was very effective, so the Count launched
a surprise night assault, which managed to encircle the army of Zaragoza. Surrounded, El Cid used his wit to set up
a ruse to divide Berenguer’s forces: he sent several Moorish soldiers to act as deserters
and inform the Count that Rodrigo was going to escape throughout the mountains. Berenguer believed this, and so he divided
his forces to cover the escape routes. There, the soldiers of Barcelona were ambushed
and routed by Rodrigo’s men. El Cid then reunited his forces and charged
against the remaining soldiers of Berenguer. After a fierce struggle, Rodrigo came out
on top again, resulting in the Count being imprisoned along with 50 of his finest knights. Once the battle had concluded, the Castilian
warlord treated them with great mercy and agreed to set them free in exchange for a
huge tribute. The Count and El Cid would remain friends
and would not fight each other ever again, with Rodrigo becoming the most powerful man
in the Levante and establishing a protectorate over the taifas of Lerida, Albarracín, Alpuente
and Valencia. Using his newfound influence, El Cid brokered
a peace between his friend Al-Musta'in and the King of Aragon, he negotiated with King
Alfonso for the release of his family, and he even went so far as to raid the lands of
the count of Najera, his long-time rival. But in 1092, his dominance of the Levante
was finally contested by the Almoravids, who managed to depose and execute the Emir Al-Qadir
of Valencia, taking control of the city and the surrounding lands. In response, El Cid gathered thousands of
men and moved to the village of Cebolla to prepare for the conquest of Valencia. The siege of Valencia lasted almost nine months,
and in the meantime, Rodrigo battled against some of his rebellious Moorish vassals, such
as the Emir of Albarracín. In the end, the city had become depleted and
had to concede defeat, opening the gates to El Cid’s army. Victorious, Rodrigo established a lordship
over the city, self-styling himself as Prince of Valencia. Angered by this turn of events, the Almoravids
sent a huge army to reconquer the city, making camp at Cuarte to prepare for the siege. For several days the Saracens laid siege to
Rodrigo’s capital, howling and shooting arrows against the walls of the city. But on the tenth day, El Cid gathered the
defenders and launched a surprise assault against the Almoravid army. During the night, Rodrigo secretly left the
city with most of his men to place themselves at the rear of the Almoravid camp at Cuarte;
meanwhile, at dawn, a small Christian force would exit the city through the western gate
to draw the besieging army away from camp. Once the Muslim vanguard was far away, El
Cid charged against the Almoravid camp with such strength and bravery that the Saracens
were completely routed and quickly disbanded. At the same time, the vanguard of the Almoravids
saw their rearguard collapse and thought that King Alfonso had come with reinforcements
to lift the siege, so they also disbanded and started to retreat. Thus, El Cid won with his astute plan an amazing
victory, securing his control over Valencia and further solidifying his new state. Around the same time, King Sancho of Aragon
died and his son Pedro succeeded him. As the young King feared an incoming attack
by the Almoravids, he rapidly reached out to El Cid with a proposition of friendship,
to which Rodrigo agreed. And so, in result, the Kingdom of Aragon and
the Principality of Valencia formally entered into an alliance. The next year, Rodrigo campaigned around his
state to conquer the castles of Olocau and Serra, two Muslim strongholds, with the intention
of safeguarding the surroundings of Valencia. Yet in 1097, the Almoravids gathered a formidable
army to reconquer Valencia and avenge their previous defeat. The alliance with Aragon came in handy, as
King Pedro marched with his army and joined El Cid at Valencia. Together, the two combined armies would repel
the attack of the Almoravids, who wouldn’t dare to attack El Cid ever again. Rodrigo would then conquer the Muslim strongholds
of Almenara and Sagunto, finally consolidating his dominion over the entire taifa of Valencia. This success would be celebrated with the
consecration of the old mosque of Valencia, which was transformed into the Cathedral of
Santa María. Yet the joy wouldn’t last very long, as
his son Diego would perish at the Battle of Consuegra while in the service of King Alfonso. The grief caused by the passing of his son,
along with his old age, would take a heavy toll on El Cid’s health. In 1099, one of his last actions would be
to marry his daughters with Count Ramón Berenguer of Barcelona and with Lord Ramiro Sánchez
of Pamplona, forging alliances with both of them. Consequently, El Cid would become an ancestor
to many kings of Spain, and would leave his state with powerful alliances capable of defending
it after he was gone. That same year, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known
as El Cid Campeador, would die of old age and would be buried at the Cathedral that
he founded. The state that he created was inherited by
his wife, Jimena Díaz, who managed to maintain its independence for three more years. But in 1102, the Almoravids attacked with
a huge army, and the city had to be abandoned. Jimena then traveled back to Castille with
the remains of her husband, and El Cid would be finally buried at the monastery of San
Pedro de Cardeña. Thus ended the life of one of the most fascinating
heroes of the Middle Ages, who remained undefeated throughout his life, who managed to create
his own state and become an independent warlord, and who fought for both Christians and Muslims
alike as a true knight of two worlds. We always have more stories to tell, so make
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