The Epic of the Cid

Entries figuring prominently in The Epic of the Cid and Related Texts are accompanied by one or more parenthetical abbreviations (see abbreviations at the beginning of Related Texts, p. 107). Examples: FERNANDO, KING (FGC); GRANADA (HR, CTK).

ABENGALBÓN (EC). The historical personage who corresponds is probably Ibn Ghalbun, the alcaide (governor) of the castle of Molina de Aragón in the days of the historical Cid (late eleventh century). In the epic he is shown to be the steadfast friend and ally of the Cid. Although there is little or no historical evidence of such a friendship, it is very possible that the real Cid maintained such affiliations with some Muslims.

AL-ANDALUS. The Arabic name for the areas in the IBERIAN PENINSULA, in what is now southern France, that were controlled by Muslims in the early Middle Ages. The Muslim conquest and colonization of Iberia and other parts of southern Europe began in 711, the year in which a relatively small army of Muslims undertook a surprisingly rapid conquest of Visigothic Spain (see VISIGOTHS). From the early eighth to the end of the eleventh century, Al-Andalus was the most powerful and prosperous country in Europe. Its power and influence as an independent polity came to an end in 1031 (see CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA), when Muslim Spain fragmented into a number of independent kingdoms and emirates (see TAIFA STATES; BERBERS). The name Al-Andalus is the origin of the modern name Andalusia (Sp. Andalucía), referring to the present-day autonomous community¹ of Andalucía, and, more generally, to the southern region of Spain.

ALCOCER (EC). Probably corresponds to the present-day Castejón de las Armas (Michael, Poema de Mio Cid, n. to l. 553), a municipality in the province of Saragossa, in the present-day autonomous community of ARAGON.

ALFONSO, KING (EC, FGC). Alfonso VI of history (1040–1109). Surnamed “The Brave.” The second son of Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING), he received the kingdom of LEÓN (1065) when his father divided the kingdom among his three sons. After a war with his elder brother Sancho II (see SANCHO, KING), he ascended the throne of CASTILE (1072), unifying the two kingdoms. After conquering the Muslim kingdom of TOLEDO in 1085, he took over the kingdom of GALICIA from his younger brother García on the latter’s death (1090). Reducing the strategic Muslim kingdom of SEVILLE to the status of a tributary state (1069), he embarked upon a campaign to reconquer southern Spain. With the support of the CLUNY and of Pope Gregory VII, Alfonso, now married to CONSTANCE OF BURGUNDY and aided by a force of Burgundian knights, besieged and conquered Toledo (1085). The loss of the latter kingdom, regarded as one of the jewels of Islam, was a shock to the entire Muslim world. Alarmed, the Spanish Muslims appealed for help to the ALMORAVIDS, who, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, defeated Alfonso at the Battle of Sagrajas (1086). Failing to pursue the advantage seemingly gained from the latter battle, the Almoravids never managed to quell the ongoing Christian resistance to Islam that came to be symbolized by the leadership and successes of the Cid.

Alfonso VI is one of the most important medieval Spanish Christian monarchs. He is credited not only with extending Christian influence in an early phase of the RECONQUEST but also with unifying León, Castile, and Galicia; with promoting the influence of reformed French monasticism in the Peninsula (see CLUNY); and with replacing the old liturgy of the MOZARABS with the Roman (see ISIDORE, SAINT).

ALMOHADS. A BERBER dynasty that dominated the MAGHREB and AL-ANDALUS from 1147 to 1269. Beginning, like their predecessors the ALMORAVIDS, as a puritanical Muslim sect, the Almohads, led by their founder the reformer Muhammad ibn Tûmart, were organized as a militant fundamentalist community in the High Atlas (see ATLAS MOUNTAINS). Succeeding to leadership after the death of ibn Tûmart, Abd al-Mumin lead the Almohads to victory over the Almoravids in the MAGHREB and in Al-Andalus. Inflicting a resounding victory against Alfonso VIII at Alarcos (1195), the Almohads, whose intolerant policies toward non-Muslims drove many Jews and Christians to emigrate to the Christian kingdoms of the Peninsula, eventually succumbed to a Christian coalition led by Alfonso VIII at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). The latter defeat marked the end of Almohad ascendancy and opened the way to the systematic Christian reconquest of Al-Andalus over the next several decades.

With its capital in Marrakesh (present-day Morocco), and extending at its height from northern Al-Andalus to present-day Libya, the Almohad Empire became an important patron of architecture, literature, science, and technology. Maintaining extensive international trade networks, the Almohad dynasty was also a vital link between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

ALMORAVIDS. A North African Muslim dynasty that began as a puritanical religious movement among the nomadic BERBERS who roamed between present-day Senegal and the southern part of present-day MOROCCO. In the mid-1100s, these nomads united under the leadership of the preacher Abdallah ibn Yasin. Succeeding to leadership after Ibn Yasin’s death in combat in 1059, Abu-Bakr founded the city of Marrakesh (1061), led Almoravid resistance to aggressors from the present-day Algeria, and sought to make peace among warring Berber tribes to the south. Left in charge of the MAGHREB in Abu-Bakr’s absence, Yusuf ibn Tashfin (see YUSUF) assumed power. Conquering Fez in 1075 and Tlemcen in 1080, Ibn Tashfin founded the kingdom of Tlemcen, which included present-day Morocco and part of western Algeria. In 1086, invited by the TAIFA STATES of AL-ANDALUS, who sought his help against ALFONSO VI, Ibn Tashfin led a Muslim coalition against the Christians, winning a triumphant victory at Sagrajas. Seeing the Spanish Muslims quarreling amongst themselves and engaged in conspiracies against him, Ibn Tashfin, supported by many local Muslim clerics, conquered all of Muslim Spain between 1090 and 1094. When Ibn Tashfin died in 1106, at the age of 100, he left behind a thriving empire that was to continue to dominate Muslim Spain and the Maghreb for the next two decades. After a period of conflict and internal dissension, the weakened Almoravid Empire finally came to an end in 1147, with the entry of the triumphant ALMOHADS into Marrakesh.

ÁLVAR FÁÑEZ, MINAYA (EC, FGC).² A historical person (d. 1114), the vassal of ALFONSO VI and one of the latter’s principal commanders. He was lord of Zorita and governor of TOLEDO. The EC’s portrayal of him as the Cid’s chief lieutenant and closest companion in exile is largely fictional. The nickname “Minaya” given to him in the EC probably derives from the Spanish possessive mi (“my”) and the Basque anai (“brother”).

ÁLVAR SALVADÓREZ (EC). The name of a historical person. Mentioned in the EC as a loyal vassal of the Cid.

ARABY, THREE KINGSOF(EC). Melchior, Caspar, Balthasar: the three kings or Magi of the New Testament (Matt. 2:1–12).

ARAGON. A region and kingdom of northern Spain, bordered to the north by France, to the east by CATALONIA and VALENCIA, to the west by CASTILE, and to the south by NEW CASTILE. The present-day autonomous community of the same name includes the provinces of HUESCA, SARAGOSSA, and TERUEL.

Conquered in the fifth century by the VISIGOTHS, Aragon was incorporated into the kingdom founded by that Germanic people. At the time of the MUSLIM INVASION of the early eighth century, some Christians took refuge in the mountains of Aragon, making this region one of the staging points of the early RECONQUEST. Its chief city, SARAGOSSA, was conquered by Muslims in 714, and remained an important Moorish kingdom until conquered by Christians in the twelfth century. A dependency of NAVARRE in its earliest history, the Christian kingdom of Aragon attained independence under Ramiro I in 1035. During the following centuries it grew steadily, partly by reconquering Moorish territories in the EBRO RIVER basin, and partly by absorbing Catalonia, Valencia, the eastern PYRENEES, and eventually the Balearic Islands. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile in 1474 resulted in the unification of Christian Spain.

ARBUJUELO VALLEY (EC). A valley lying to the southeast of Medinaceli (see MEDINA), in the present-day province of Soria.

ARLANZÓN RIVER (EC). The stream on whose banks the city of BURGOS is located.

ASTURIAS (EC, FGC). A region and kingdom of northwestern Spain, bounded to the north by the Cantabrian Sea (see CANTABRIA), by GALICIA to the west, by OLD CASTILE to the east, and by LEÓN to the south. The land of the ancient Astures, a people who resisted Roman rule until the time of the emperor Augustus in the first century BC, Asturias eventually became one of the nine provinces of Visigothic Spain. Soon after the MUSLIM INVASION in 711, Asturians and VISIGOTHS took refuge in the mountains of Asturias. Pelagius (Sp. Pelayo), the semilegendary founder of the Asturian kingdom, is traditionally credited with defeating the Muslim invaders at Covadonga in 718. He is thus also regarded as the initiator of the RECONQUEST. When the Asturian Christians came to control the kingdom of León during the ninth century, the two realms united as the Asturian-Leonese kingdom, which included Galicia, much of the Basque country (see BASQUES), and from about 1028, Old Castile, as a result of the marriage of Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING) to Doña Sancha, the sister of the Leonese king.

ATLAS MOUNTAINS. A mountain range in northwestern Africa, extending about 2,500 kilometers from southwest to northeast, and traversing all three of the present-day countries occupying the MAGHREB (MOROCCO, Algeria, and Tunisia). The highest peak is the Toubkal Mountain in southwestern Morocco, with an altitude of 4,167 meters (13,671 feet). See also MONTES CLAROS.

BARCELONA (EC, HR, SC). The second-biggest city in Spain, after Madrid; the chief port; and most important financial and industrial city of present-day Spain, Barcelona was probably founded in the third century BC. A port city under the Romans and VISIGOTHS, it was captured by the Muslims in 715 CE, then retaken in 801 by Christians of the CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE. It was the capital of the SPANISH MARCH. Beginning in the latter half of the eleventh century it became the principal city of an independent county, and afterward the capital of the kingdom of CATALONIA.

BASQUES. An ancient people of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque, unrelated to any known language, is the only living representative of the many tribal languages spoken in Iberia before the coming of the Romans in the third century BC. Occupying the lands along the eastern Atlantic coast of the IBERIAN PENINSULA and on both sides of the western PYRENEES, the Basques have traditionally been fiercely independent. Many Christian settlers of unoccupied or Moorish-occupied territories in the western-central and north-central parts of the Peninsula in the early centuries of the RECONQUEST (especially OLD CASTILE) probably came from the Basque Country (País Vasco).

BERBERS. A native African people, speaking a number of affiliated dialects and occupying since ancient times a zone between the Atlantic Ocean and western Egypt, and the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the central Sahara. Converted to Islam around the turn of the seventh century, Berbers were an important factor in the Muslim expansion into the MAGHREB. The majority of the Muslim invaders of Spain in the early eighth century were Berbers (i.e., not Arabs). For several centuries after the Muslim INVASION, Berbers continued to constitute the majority of Muslim settlers in most areas of AL-ANDALUS.

BÚCAR, KING (EC). A Moorish chieftain; possibly corresponding to the historical Almoravid ruler Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar (died 1087).

BURGOS (EC, FGC, CTK). The principal city of CASTILE. Founded in 884 as an outpost and staging point for Christian resettlement on the frontier, the city became the seat of the newly independent county of Castile around 930. In 1038 Burgos was made the capital of the unified kingdom of León-Castile, retaining that honor until ALFONSO VI’s conquest of TOLEDO in 1085, when the latter city became the new Castilian capital (see also LEÓN).

CABRA, CASTLE OF (EC, FGC). Located in the present-day province of CORDOBA, this fortress was the site of the historical Battle of Cabra (1079), in which the Cid defeated the combined forces of Count GARCÍA ORDÓÑEZ and the emir of GRANADA.

CALATAYUD (EC). A town on the JALÓN RIVER in the present-day province of SARAGOSSA, strategically situated between the central plateau of the Iberian Peninsula and the EBRO RIVER valley.

CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA. Established when Abd al-Rahman III, the descendent of Abd al-Rahman I, the founder of the Spanish UMAYYAD dynasty, declared himself Caliph in 929. Around 950, Abd al-Rahman III, his military forces augmented and reorganized, extended his influence into the MAGHREB, controlling the zone between Tangiers and Algiers. Under the first Spanish Umayyad caliph and his successor, al-Hakam II (961–976), the Caliphate’s territories were expanded and the realm’s prosperity increased. At its height, the Cordoban caliphate controlled 80 percent of the IBERIAN PENINSULA. Sometimes at war with Spanish Christian kingdoms, other times at peace, the Umayyads occasionally intervened on behalf of one Christian kingdom or another. The capital, meanwhile, benefited from the Umayyads’ sponsorship of architecture and urban beautification. Cordoba’s population of half a million made it the most populous city in Europe. A famous center of patronage for the arts and sciences, the Umayyad capital was one of the most important seats of learning in the Europe of its day, with its great library attracting Christian and Muslim scholars from many countries.

During the early years of the Caliphate of Cordoba, a general policy of tolerance toward Jews and Christians was observed. This changed under Hicham II, whose grand vizier, the formidable Almanzor, persecuted Jews and Christians within AL-ANDALUS, while launching a holy war against the Peninsular Christian kingdoms, carrying out destructive raids against BARCELONA (985) and SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (997). After Almanzor’s death in 1002, the Caliphate under Hicham II (976–1013) was beset by dynastic struggles, civil wars, and factional strife among Arabs and Berbers. Finally, in 1031, the realm was divided into twenty-three independent kingdoms or city states (see TAIFA STATES).

CANTABRIA. A historic region, situated in the north-central part of the IBERIAN PENINSULA. It is bordered to the east by the BASQUE country; to the west by ASTURIAS; to the south by OLD CASTILE; to the north by the Cantabrian Sea (part of the Atlantic).

CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE. The domain of a Frankish dynasty that took its name from Charles Martel (in Latin, Carolus Martellus, “Charles the Hammer”), the victor against the invading Muslims at the Battle of Poitiers (732). Its most prominent ruler was Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”), king of the FRANKS from 768, and self-styled Emperor of the Romans from 800 until his death in 814. Among the campaigns undertaken by Charlemagne early in his career was an attempted invasion of northern Spain, which ended with his withdrawal into southern France. During the retreat his rear guard was famously overrun by BASQUE guerrillas in the Battle of Roncevaux (August 778). See SPANISH MARCH.

CARRIÓN (EC). The present-day Carrión de los Condes. A town in the present-day autonomous community of Castile and León, sixty-five kilometers from the city of Palencia. Known in history as the ancestral home of the VANIGÓMEZ, the clan of the SCIONS OF CARRIÓN (see DIEGO GONZÁLEZ; FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ).

CASTEJÓN (EC). A town (in modern Spanish, Castejón de Henares) on the banks of the Henares River in the present-day province of Guadalajara, in the autonomous community of Castile and León.

CASTEJÓN (EC). A seaport (in modern Spanish, Castellón de la Plana) located on the Mediterranean coast sixty-five kilometers northeast of VALENCIA; the capital of the present-day province of Castellón.

CASTILE (Sp. Castilla; from castillo, “castle”). An area in north-central Spain, at first a militarized buffer zone between the Christians of ASTURIAS and LEÓN and northern AL-ANDALUS, then constituted as a county in the mid-ninth century. Although the county of Castile achieved a de facto independence from León under the semilegendary Count Fernán González (910–970), it technically remained a Leonese dependency until Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING) merged León and Castile into a single kingdom (1037). The newly unified realm was greatly expanded under ALFONSO VI (1065–1109) and Alfonso VII (1126–1157).

CATALONIA. A region and old kingdom of northeastern Spain, whose borders are the Mediterranean Sea to the east, ARAGON to the west, France to the north, and VALENCIA to the south. Attaining its independence in the ninth century, Catalonia extended, in its earlier history, into the southern part of present-day France. The language of the region, Catalán, is a separate Romance tongue related to the Occitanian dialects of southern France. Its principal city has always been BARCELONA, which became the seat of a powerful independent county of the same name. In the twelfth century the county of Barcelona merged with the kingdom of Aragon, with the unified realms thereafter governed by a single ruler. See also RAYMOND, COUNT OF BARCELONA.

CLUNY, ABBEY OF. A famous French monastery located in east-central France, Cluny was the origin of an influential reform movement in the Benedictine Order, and one of the chief cultural and intellectual centers of Christian Europe from the tenth through the twelfth centuries. The site of an important library, Cluny benefited from the leadership of a line of highly effective abbots. ALFONSO VI, and his father Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING) before him, were major contributors to the abbey’s activities and supported the expansion of Clunaic influence in Christian Spain.

COLADA (EC). One of the two swords legendarily belonging to the Cid (see also TIZÓN). In the EC, the Cid wins the sword in battle from the Count of Barcelona.

CONSTANCE OF BURGUNDY (1046–1093). The daughter of Duke Robert I of Burgundy and of Hélie de Semur-en-Brionnais, she married ALFONSO VI of León and Castile in 1079. Of their several children, the only one to survive beyond infancy was URRACA OF LEÓN AND CASTILE.

CORDOBA. An Andalusian city, founded in ancient times and one of the principal political, cultural, and economic centers of Spanish history. A Roman provincial capital, it retained its importance during the Visigothic period (fifth through seventh centuries; see VISIGOTHS). Conquered by Muslims in the early eighth century, it became the capital of an emirate (755–929), then of a caliphate (929–1031; see CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA). After its reconquest in 1236, it continued to be an important Spanish city, although eclipsed by SEVILLE in the later Middle Ages and in the colonial era.

CORPES, OAKGROVE OF (EC). A town called Robledo de Corpes (“Oakgrove of Corpes”) exists in the present-day province of Guadalajara. In so far as we can deduce the route taken by the SCIONS OF CARRIÓN on their way home to CARRIÓN, the town is located in the area where the EC shows the Scions’ misdeed was committed. However, controversy surrounds attempts to identify the location of any real forest with that of the grove described in the epic (see Michael, n. to l. 2697).

DAROCA (EC). A Muslim town for four centuries, eventually conquered by the Christians in 1120.

DENIA (EC, HR). A city founded in Roman times, situated on the north coast of the province of Alicante. The capital of a taifa of the same name, established in the early eleventh century, Denia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in eastern Al-Andalus. Annexed by the taifa of Saragossa in 1076, it was conquered by the ALMORAVIDS in 1091 and remained in Muslim hands until its conquest by Christians in 1244.

DIEGO TÉLLEZ (EC). Probably corresponds to the historical Diego Téllez, governor of the Castilian town of Sepúlveda.

DUERO RIVER (EC, FGC, YDR). One of the principal Spanish rivers, flowing west across the north-central Peninsula and emptying into the Atlantic at the Portuguese city of Porto. During the early days of the RECONQUEST period, it marked the boundary between Christian and Muslim territory. See EXTREMADURA.

EBRO RIVER (SC, FGC). The most voluminous river on the IBERIAN PENINSULA, flowing into the Mediterranean Sea in the province of Tarragona.

ELVIRA, DOÑA (EC). One of the two daughters of the Cid in the epic. Possibly corresponds to Cristina, the elder daughter of the historical Cid.

ELVIRA OF TORO (FGC). Younger daughter of Fernando I of Castile (see FERNANDO, KING).

EXTREMADURA (FGC). A historical region in west central Spain whose name derives from a Latin phrase meaning “beyond the Duero” (because the latter river long marked the boundary between Christian and Muslim territory). A frontier zone and important area of Christian occupation and settlement during the earlier part of the Reconquest. Its chief cities are Mérida (the Roman Emerita Augusta), Badajoz, and Cáceres.

FERNANDO, KING (FGC, YDR). Fernando I, the Great (1016–1065). The son of Sancho III of NAVARRE and Munia Mayor of CASTILE, Fernando married Sancha, the sister of King Bermudo III of LEÓN. In 1037, he defeated his brother-in-law’s army and laid claim to the Leonese throne, invoking his wife’s right of succession. In 1054 he won a victory over the armies of Navarre, killing his brother García IV of Navarre during the battle. This victory allowed him to further expand his realm. Fernando I was also known for his victorious campaigns against the Moors, taking Coimbra in 1064 and making SEVILLE a vassal state.

Fernando’s five children were URRACA OF ZAMORA; SANCHO II of Castile; ELVIRA OF TORO; ALFONSO VI of León and Castile; and GARCÍA II of GALICIA. Shortly before his death, Fernando divided his kingdoms among his three sons, with Sancho receiving Castile, Alfonso León, and García Galicia, a partition leading to a period of fratricidal warfare from which Alfonso emerged victorious.

FRANKS (EC). A western Germanic people who came to settle and eventually conquer most of Roman Gaul in the sixth century CE. Within Spain, the name Franks was also applied to the peoples of Barcelona and Catalonia, because of the historical association of those areas with the SPANISH MARCH (see also CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE).

FROILA, COUNT (EC). A historical character, Froila Díaz, one of the most prominent nobles in the court of ALFONSO VI, and the majordomo of RAYMOND, COUNT, the governor of GALICIA during the later reign of Alfonso VI.

GABRIEL, ARCHANGEL (EC). Mentioned in Luke 1:10–20. Regarded as the special messenger of God in both Christian and Muslim traditions.

GALICIA (TES, FGC). A historic region and ancient kingdom in the extreme northwest of the IBERIAN PENINSULA. Roughly corresponding to the Roman province of Gallaecia, and known since ancient times for its mineral wealth, it was a county in the ninth and tenth centuries, then became a kingdom in the eleventh (see FERNANDO, KING). Since the Middle Ages it has been best known for its legendary association with Saint James the Greater (see SANTIAGO) and as the site of SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA.

GALINDO GARCÍA (EC). Identified in the poem as Aragonese; possibly corresponding to a historical knight who collaborated with the Cid in the defense of VALENCIA.

GARCÍA (FGC). García II of Galicia. Youngest son of Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING).

GARCÍA ORDÓÑEZ (EC, FGC). A historical personage (d. 1108), the Count of Nájera, one of the most important nobles in the kingdom of ALFONSO VI. Depicted in the EC as the archrival of the Cid, he was also known as “the curly-haired man of Grañón.”

GORMAZ, CASTLE OF (EC, HR, CTK, YDR). Strategically situated on a hill north of the DUERO RIVER in what is now the province of Soria, this fortress, built by Muslims in the 800s, was the largest fortification in Europe in the tenth and eleventh centuries. After changing hands several times, it was definitively taken by Christian forces in 1060. See SAN ESTEBAN DE GORMAZ.

GRANADA (HR, CTK). Founded in pre-Roman times as a fortified town, Granada was of minor importance in imperial times, and largely depopulated during the early Muslim period. Not until the era of the TAIFA STATES did it become one of the principal cities of AL-ANDALUS. Famous for its fortified palace and residence known as the Alhambra (constructed in the mid-fourteenth century), it remained an independent Muslim state after the main phase of the RECONQUEST was completed in the middle of the thirteenth century. The Muslim kingdom of Granada came to an end in 1492, when, after a ten year war, the city surrendered to Isabel and Ferdinand.

HENRY, COUNT (EC). The historical Henry of Burgundy. A nephew of Robert, first duke of Burgundy, and of CONSTANCE OF BURGUNDY, Henry became the Count of PORTUGAL in 1093, when he married Teresa, Countess of Portugal, the illegitimate daughter of ALFONSO VI.

HUESCA (EC). A town in the northeastern IBERIAN PENINSULA, located in the present-day autonomous community of ARAGON. Founded in pre-Roman times, it was important during the imperial and Visigothic periods. After the fall of the CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA, it became subject to the taifa kingdom of SARAGOSSA.

IBERIAN PENINSULA. Derived from ancient Greek and Latin names for the EBRO RIVER (Greek Ibēros, Lat. Ibērus or Hibērus), the name is used to refer to the land mass of the Peninsula, as opposed to any of the political divisions within it (e.g., PORTUGAL, CASTILE). See also HISPANIA; SPAIN.

ISIDORE, SAINT (EC). Saint Isidore of SEVILLE (Sp. San Isidro or San Isidoro; c. 560–636 CE; canonized in 1598). The archbishop of Seville, Isidore was the most prominent theologian and scholar of Visigothic Spain. Regarded by some as the last great thinker and writer of antiquity, he exerted a lasting influence not only in Spain but throughout Christian Europe. His most famous work, the Etymologies, a kind of encyclopedia, was widely read until the Renaissance.

ISLAMIC CALENDAR. Also known as the Hijri Calendar, this dating system takes as its starting point the year of the migration (Hegira) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina (622 AD). The abbreviation that corresponds to AD (anno Domini, “in the year of our lord”) of the Christian calendar is AH (anno Hegirae, “in the year of the Hegira”).

JALÓN RIVER (EC). A river in northeastern Spain, a principal tributary of the EBRO RIVER.

JÁTIVA (EC). A town founded in pre-Roman times, located in the southern part of the present-day province of VALENCIA. After the fall of the CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA, it was subject to a succession of TAIFA STATES (TOLEDO, CORDOBA, DENIA).

JÉRICA (EC). A TAIFA STATE founded in 1010. The first such state to declare independence from the disintegrating CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA, it was conquered in 1076 by the taifa of SARAGOSSA.

JEROME, BISHOP (EC). The historical Jerome, originally from the province of Périgord, France, was made bishop of the newly conquered VALENCIA in 1097–1098, remaining in that office until the Christian withdrawal from Valencia in 1102. He died c. 1120.

JIMENA, DOÑA (EC, FGC, YDR). The historical Jimena Díaz (born probably before 1046; died around 1115). Married to the Cid in 1074, Jimena bore him three children: Cristina (b. 1075), called DOÑA ELVIRA in the EC; María (1077–1105), called DOÑA SOL in the EC. The EC does not mention a son, Diego (1076–1097), killed at the age of nineteen in the Battle of Consuegra. After the Cid’s death in 1099, Jimena stayed in VALENCIA, leading the city’s resistance to Muslim attacks. But in 1102, Jimena and the other Christians living in the city were forced to withdraw. She ended her days in the monastery of SAN PEDRO DE CARDEÑA.

JÚCAR (EC). A river in eastern Spain, flowing 509 kilometers eastward from its source in the Sierra de Tragacete, in the present-day province of Cuenca, and emptying into the Mediterranean near the town of Cullera, in the province of VALENCIA.

LEÓN. A city in the northwestern IBERIAN PENINSULA, founded in Roman times. Conquered from the Muslim city in the middle of the eighth century, the town became the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name in the early tenth century. The most important Christian kingdom in the Peninsula during the tenth and early eleventh centuries, León was briefly controlled by NAVARRE in the 1020s, before becoming part of the combined kingdom of León-Castile under Fernando I (from 1037 until his death in 1065; see FERNANDO, KING).

LONGINUS (EC). The name given in medieval Christian tradition to the Roman soldier (unnamed in the Gospels) who, at the crucifixion, pierced Jesus’ side with a lance (John 19:34). The same medieval tradition identified Longinus as the centurion who declared that Jesus was indeed the son of God (Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39).

MAGHREB. The name (Arabic, “place of the setting sun”) given to the northwestern part of Africa. The region is occupied by several countries: MOROCCO, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

MAL ANDA (EC). A character unknown to history, probably fictional. A legal expert, supporter of the Cid.

MARTÍN ANTOLÍNEZ (EC). A knight of Burgos, unknown to history. In the epic, a staunch supporter of the Cid.

MARTÍN MUÑOZ (EC). A historical person, the governor, under ALFONSO VI, of what is now the Portuguese town of Montemor-o-Velho (called “Montemayor” in the EC). Later named the Count of Coimbra, he could not have accompanied the historical Cid into exile.

MEDINA (EC). Identified with Medinaceli, a strategically important frontier town located in the present-day province of Soria, at the confluence of the JALÓN and ARBUJUELO valleys.

MONREAL (EC). A town corresponding to the modern Monreal del Campo, located in the present-day province of TERUEL, in the autonomous community of ARAGON.

MONTES CLAROS (EC). A name used in the EC as another name for the ATLAS MOUNTAINS. It is also the name of a range traversed by the SCIONS OF CARRIÓN and their brides. Michael (n. to l. 2693) points out the difficulty of identifying these mountains with any known range.

MONZÓN (EC). A town and fortress, founded by Muslims in the tenth century, located in the present-day province of HUESCA.

MOOR. In traditional Spanish usage (and in the EC): an inhabitant of the MAGHREB or of AL-ANDALUS, of Berber, Arab, or Black African descent; or a Muslim.

MOROCCO (EC). The country situated in the northwest corner of Africa, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, by Algeria to the east, and by the Sahara to the south. Conquered by Arabs and converted to Islam at the end of the seventh century, the BERBERS of Morocco constituted the majority of the Muslim forces that carried out the MUSLIM INVASION of Spain. See also BERBERS; MUSLIM INVASION.

MOZARABS (Sp. mozárabes; from the Arabic musta’rib, meaning “arabicized”). A term referring to Christian inhabitants of AL-ANDALUS, practicing the Christian religion according to their own rite, speaking a variety of related Romance dialects, and generally granted a certain degree of communal and legal autonomy under Muslim law. During the RECONQUEST period, owing to increasing persecution of non-Muslims in Al-Andalus, many Mozarabs emigrated to the Christian kingdoms of the northern Peninsula, retaining their characteristic liturgy, customs, and language.

MULADÍ. Term referring to the Christians of AL-ANDALUS who converted to Islam, and to their descendants. Also refers to those of mixed Muslim and Christian parentage.

MURVIEDRO (EC). The modern Sagunto (a readopted form of the ancient name, Saguntum), a town on the Mediterranean coast thirty kilometers north of the city of VALENCIA. Held by Muslims from the early eighth century until its conquest by Jaume I in 1238.

MUSLIM INVASION (of Spain). Initiated in 711 CE and completed within eight years, this conquest toppled the Visigothic kingdom that had lasted 250 years and initiated the long Islamic period in Peninsular history. The period came to a gradual close with the advance of the RECONQUEST in the eleventh through mid-thirteenth centuries, followed by two and a half centuries during which GRANADA lingered as an independent Muslim state, finally conquered in 1492. The Muslim era could be said to have finally come to a close in 1609, with the expulsion of the Moriscos (descendants of Spanish Muslims who converted to Christianity). See also AL-ANDALUS; CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA.

NAVARRE (EC, SC, FGC). A region in the extreme north-central part of the IBERIAN PENINSULA. Never fully subjugated by the VISIGOTHS or by the Muslims, Navarre, with its capital Pamplona, became an independent kingdom in the early Middle Ages. Under Sancho III (992–1035) it was the most powerful Christian kingdom of the Peninsula, claiming authority over CASTILE and attempting to unite the Spanish Christians. Sancho’s division of his realm among his sons shortly before his death undid the unity he had fostered. Navarre, although surviving for six centuries as an independent monarchy, was never again to enjoy the same power and prestige.

NEW CASTILE (Sp. Castilla la Nueva). The name of an historical region to the south of CASTILE (see also OLD CASTILE) and originally comprising the provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, and TOLEDO. The designation distinguished Castile proper, or Old Castile, from newly reconquered and resettled territories pertaining to the Castilian crown and forming an extension of the original kingdom.

OLD CASTILE. The name of an historical region, more or less coinciding with the original kingdom of CASTILE. It comprised the provinces of Santander (now Cantabria), Logroño (now La Rioja), BURGOS, Palencia, VALLADOLID, Soria, Segovia, and Ávila. The name emerged to differentiate the older part of the Castilian kingdom from its reconquered and assimilated territories to the south (see NEW CASTILE).

PER ABBAT (EC). The name of the copyist (probably not of the author) of the only extant manuscript of The Epic of the Cid. Little is known concerning the identity of this scribe.

PEDRO BERMÚDEZ (EC). Probably a historical person, about whom little is known. In the EC, the nephew, standard-bearer, and trusted vassal of the Cid.

PETER, SAINT (EC). One of the twelve apostles. Venerated by all Christians as a leader of early Christianity and by the Catholic Church as its first pope. The patron saint of the monastery of SAN PEDRO DE CARDEÑA.

PORTUGAL (FGC). The present-day country of the same name had its beginnings during the reign of ALFONSO VI as a county made up of reconquered territory to the south of GALICIA. This county was given by Alfonso to his son-in-law, COUNT HENRY, in 1093.

PYRENEES. A mountain range running from west to east and extending approximately 430 kilometers between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. The range forms a natural barrier separating the IBERIAN PENINSULA from the rest of continental Europe. The highest elevation is Pico d’Aneto (11,168 feet, or 3,404 meters).

RAQUEL AND VIDAS (EC).Moneylenders, probably fictional. Some have suggested that these characters are Jewish. However, there is no indication of their ethnicity in the text; moreover, usurers could come from any religious group.

RAYMOND, COUNT OF BARCELONA (EC, HR). A historical person, Count Berenguer Ramón II (1050s to 1090s), surnamed “The Fratricide” because public opinion blamed him for the murder of his twin brother and co-ruler Ramón Berenguer II.

RAYMOND, COUNT (EC). Count Raymond of Amoux (in Burgundy), the son of William I, Count of Burgundy, and the cousin of COUNT HENRY. The governor of GALICIA under ALFONSO VI, he married URRACA OF LEÓN AND CASTILE, the daughter of Alfonso and eventual heir to his throne.

RECONQUEST (Sp. Reconquista). The term used to refer to the long period during which AL-ANDALUS was conquered by Christian kingdoms. A Spanish Christian concept, promulgated since the twelfth century, sees the beginning of the Reconquest in the victory of Pelayo over Muslim forces at the Battle of Covadonga in 722. Another more objective historical perspective sees an earlier phase of several centuries of generally peaceful coexistence, punctuated by frequent warlike episodes that varied in scale, intensity, and duration. Throughout this earlier period, both sides knew setbacks and triumphs, as places and territories were lost, then retaken, then lost again. The balance of power favored the Islamic side, while permitting Christian autonomy and initiative.

The collapse of the CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA in 1031 was the watershed moment that changed all this. Ever after, the Christian kingdoms tended more and more toward collaboration, consolidation, and unification, while the Muslim taifas became ever more prone to rivalry, dissension, and disunity. On the Christian side, during the first century or so after the breakup of the Cordoban Caliphate, there was as yet no systematic sense of a Christian Re-conquest. Conquest was conquest, plain and simple, as it had always been. The propagandistic re-, implying the taking back of something that had always rightfully belonged to the Christians in the first place, was only added, mainly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, by apologists and fomenters of religious crusade and territorial expansion. The epic Cid’s notion of conquest is prepolitical, prepropagandistic. He needs no ideological justification: he conquers because he wants to and because he can. The epic shows no sense of his furthering any agendas but his own.

RODRIGO DÍAZ DE VIVAR (EC and all Related Texts). The full name of the man known to history and folklore as “the Cid” or “My Cid.” Born in VIVAR, near BURGOS, c. 1040 (though some have argued for other dates between that year and 1050); died in VALENCIA, 1099. The son of Diego Laínez, an infanzón (“baron”) of BURGOS, and of a mother, given name unknown, with the family name of Rodríguez. The vassal and close collaborator of KING SANCHO II, then, after the Sancho’s death, the vassal and confidante of Sancho’s brother and successor, ALFONSO VI. Estrangement between Rodrigo and Alfonso led to a period of exile (c. 108 –c. 1087), during which Rodrigo served the taifa kingdom of SARAGOSSA. A reconciliation with Alfonso, apparently prompted by Alfonso’s fear of Almoravid invasion, was followed by another period of exile and a period of independent campaigns in the eastern-central part of the Peninsula. These culminated in Rodrigo’s famous siege and conquest of the great Muslim city of Valencia in 1094. Dying peacefully in 1099, he was later buried at the monastery of SAN PEDRO DE CARDEÑA.

ROMANCE LANGUAGES. The languages of western Europe that descend from regional dialects of vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman Empire. In the IBERIAN PENINSULA these include Castilian (i.e., Spanish, the official national language of the modern Spanish nation-state), Galician, Portuguese, Catalan, and several regional dialects. Other Romance languages include French; the Occitanian dialects (Provençal, Limousin); Italian and its several dialects; Sardinian; and Romanian.

RUY. A short form of the proper name “Rodrigo” (see RODRIGO DÍAZ DE VIVAR).

SAHAGÚN (EC). A town in the southeastern section of the present-day province of LEÓN.

SAN ESTEBAN (EC). A town situated near the banks of the DUERO RIVER, close to the Castle of Gormaz (see GORMAZ, CASTLE OF).

SAN PEDRO DE CARDEÑA (EC). A Benedictine monastery located eight kilometers southeast of BURGOS. Founded in 899, it became one of the most important shrines in the era of the Camino de Santiago (“Way of Saint James”; see SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA). Historically associated with the Cid, it was the site where his remains were originally buried before their subsequent removal to the Burgos cathedral.

SANCHO, KING (FGC, HR, SC, CTK). Sancho II of Castile. Second-born child and eldest son of Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING).

SANTIAGO (EC). Saint James the Greater, the son of Zebedee; one of the Twelve Apostles and the patron saint of Spain. “Santiago” was the traditional Christian battle cry in the era of the RECONQUEST. Peninsular Christian tradition believed that this saint preached in Roman Spain as well as in the Holy Land; that his body was conveyed to Spain after his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1–2); that his remains were buried in GALICIA; that he miraculously appeared to fight alongside Spanish Christians in their wars against the Muslims—hence his nickname, Matamoros (“Moor-slayer”).

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (EC). A town in GALICIA: the legendary burial site of Saint James the Greater (see SANTIAGO); one of the three principal pilgrimage destinations of Christian Europe (along with Rome and Jerusalem); and the end point of the famous pilgrimage route, the WAY OF SAINT JAMES (Camino de Santiago).

SARAGOSSA (Sp. Zaragoza; EC, HR, TES). Principal city of the former kingdom of ARAGON, located on the EBRO RIVER. Founded in 14 BC during the reign of the Emperor Augustus, and named Caesaraugusta in his honor, the city has been important both commercially and militarily since its foundation. The capital of the powerful TAIFA STATE of Saraqusta, it was reconquered by the Christians in 1118 and became the capital of the Aragonese kingdom.

SCIONS OF CARRIÓN (EC). (Sp. Infantes de Carrión, “noble heirs of Carrión.”) DIEGO and FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ were historical persons and members of the powerful Leonese family of the VANIGÓMEZ, whose ancestral lands were located near CARRIÓN. Members of the court of KING ALFONSO VI. There is no historical evidence of their having married the daughters of the Cid.

SEVILLE (HR, SC, CTK). One of the oldest Spanish cities, founded over two thousand years ago on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Important in Roman times, it became an important Visigothic town in the mid-sixth century, and, after the MUSLIM INVASION, one of the principal cities of AL-ANDALUS. After the breakup of the CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA, Muslim Seville became the seat of one of the most important TAIFA STATES. Reduced to the status of a tribute state by Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING) and then by his son ALFONSO VI, Muslim Seville looked for help to the ALMORAVIDS. After several expeditions in supposed relief of the Spanish Muslims, the Almoravids mounted an all-out invasion of Al-Andalus in 1090, and remained in control of Al-Andalus until their overthrow by the ALMOHADS in the middle of the twelfth century. Prospering under the Almohads, Seville was reconquered by Fernando III in 1248.

SOL, DOÑA (EC). Probably corresponds to the historical María, younger daughter of the Cid.

SPAIN (Sp. España; EC). In the medieval context, a regional name referring either to the entire IBERIAN PENINSULA or—occasionally—Muslim Spain (i.e., AL-ANDALUS).

SPANISH MARCH (Marca Hispánica). A buffer zone between northern AL-ANDALUS and the Frankish lands, created by CHARLEMAGNE in the late eighth century on the Spanish side of the PYRENEES. Its southern boundary was the EBRO RIVER. The several counties and lordships of which it consisted, including Pamplona and BARCELONA, at first paid allegiance to the Frankish monarchs, but gradually attained independence. See also CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE.

TAGUS RIVER (EC). At 1,038 kilometers, the longest river in the IBERIAN PENINULA. Of its length 716 kilometers are in Spain and the remainder in PORTUGAL, where it flows into the Atlantic at Lisbon.

TAIFA STATES. When the CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA collapsed in 1031, the once unified and powerful AL-ANDALUS broke up into a number of independent kingdoms and principalities. The cities and towns of the old Caliphate (e.g., SEVILLE, CORDOBA, GRANADA, TOLEDO, VALENCIA, and SARAGOSSA) became the urban nuclei and administrative centers of their respective areas. The Arabic word taifa, from which these states take their collective name, means “faction” or “party.” The term aptly characterizes these petty realms, whose rulers competed among themselves, both militarily and culturally, recruiting mercenaries and palace guards while patronizing scholars, poets, musicians, and artists. This fragmented environment of kinglets and city-states constituted the political map of Al-Andalus in the historical Cid’s day (latter half of the eleventh century). The disunity of the situation insured the constant vulnerability of the taifa states to domination, exploitation, and conquest by both Christians from the northern Peninsula and by Muslim powers (such as the Berber ALMORAVIDS) from the MAGHREB.

TARANZ, THICKETS OF (EC). The area called Campo Taranza in present-day Spain is an area of uncultivated scrubland, probably densely forested in the Middle Ages, located in the modern provinces of Guadalajara and Soria.

TERUEL (EC). A town in ARAGON, the capital of the present-day province of the same name.

TIZÓN (EC). The second of the Cid’s famous swords, won by the hero in battle from the emir of MOROCCO.

TOLEDO (EC, TES, HR). Founded by the Romans in 192 BC, and strategically situated in the center of the Peninsula, Toledo has been an important Spanish town throughout its history. It was the capital of the Visigothic kingdom, the seat of a TAIFA STATE, and one of the principal Christian cities after its conquest by ALFONSO VI in 1085.

UMAYYADS. A dynasty of Caliphs that ruled the Muslim world from 661 to 750. Their name comes from an ancestor, Umayya, the great-uncle of Mohammed. In the lifetime of the prophet, they controlled the region around Mecca. Their caliphate, with its capital in the Syrian city of Damascus, was, in terms of territorial extent, the greatest Muslim state in history. Overthrown in 750, the Umayyads relocated to AL-ANDALUS, where, under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman I (756–788), they established an independent emirate. Abd al-Rahman III (c. 890–961), assuming the title of caliph in 929, presided over the most powerful and prosperous country in tenth-century Europe (see CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA).

URRACA OF ZAMORA (FGC). Eldest child of Fernando I of Castile (see FERNANDO, KING).

URRACA OF LEÓN AND CASTILE (1079–1126). The eldest surviving child of ALFONSO VI, she succeeded her father as queen of LEÓN, CASTILE, and GALICIA, and in 1109 assumed the title of “Empress of All the Spains.”

VALENCIA (EC). A Roman military colony, then an important port in the late-imperial and Visigothic eras, Valencia became one of the principal cities of AL-ANDALUS. The Cid’s conquest and occupation was a brief interlude (1094–1102), as Muslims retook the city after the withdrawal, in 1102, of JIMENA, Bishop JEROME, and most of the other Christian residents. The city remained in Muslim hands until 1238.

VALLADOLID (EC, FGC). A historic city of OLD CASTILE, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva Rivers. From the time of ALFONSO VI, one of the most important towns of the RECONQUEST era.

VANIGÓMEZ (or Beni-gómez; EC). Noble family whose ancestral estates were located near the town of CARRIÓN; the SCIONS OF CARRIÓN were members of this family.

VELLID ADOLFO (FGC). The legendary assassin of King SANCHO II during the latter’s siege of ZAMORA.

VISIGOTHS. A Germanic people who immigrated into the western Roman Empire in the early fifth century. Obtaining control of southern Gaul (present-day France) by means of a pact with the Roman emperor, they entered HISPANIA in 414 as allies of Rome. Making TOLEDO their capital in the sixth century, they consolidated their realm, seizing control of the northwestern area of the Peninsula (GALICIA and ASTURIAS) from a rival Germanic people (late sixth century).

After the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 476, the Visigoths played an important military, political, and cultural role in western Europe. Latin speakers by the time of their settling in the Peninsula, they were admirers and inheritors of Roman civilization. They established law codes, fostered trade and commerce, sponsored literature and the arts, especially architecture, and encouraged the expansion of Christianity. Theirs was perhaps the most prestigious of the so-called Germanic successor states that were the direct heirs of the western Roman Empire.

Invaded in 711 by a Muslim army of between 10,000 and 15,000 soldiers, consisting mostly of BERBERS recently converted to Islam, the Visigothic kingdom was subdued after an eight-year campaign. Only mountainous regions in the extreme northwest (GALICIA and ASTURIAS) and in the BASQUE country remained unconquered.

The relative rapidity and completeness of Visigothic Spain’s conquest by the Muslims in the early eighth century is attributed to internal tensions and disunity within the Germanic kingdom; to its harsh treatment of Peninsular Jews; to the regime’s persistent identity as an exploitative warrior elite rather than an assimilating minority, and its consequent failure to win the hearts and minds of the Hispano-Roman population.

YUSUF (EC, TES). A historical person, Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1009?–1106), the leader of the ALMORAVIDS from 1061 until his death. The commander-in-chief of Almoravid forces in the Muslim coalition (including the taifas of SEVILLE, GRENADA, Malaga) that defeated ALFONSO VI and his forces at the Battle of Sagrajas (1086). Afterward, between 1090 and 1094, he conquered a disunited AL-ANDALUS for the ALMORAVIDS, who stayed in power until 1147.

ZAMORA (FGC). A city in the northwest part of the IBERIAN PENINSULA, the capital of the present-day province of the same name. One of the most important Christian fortified towns in the early years of the RECONQUEST. Famous for being bequeathed to URRACA OF ZAMORA by King Fernando I (see FERNANDO, KING), and as the site of SANCHO II’s legendary assassination by VELLID ADOLFO in 1072.

1. Autonomous community (“comunidad autónoma”) is a first-level political-administrative division of contemporary Spain, above the level of province.

2. What seem to be last names in The Epic of the Cid are patronymics. They literally mean “son of.” Thus, RODRIGO DÍAZ = “Rodrigo, Son of Diego”; DIEGO GONZÁLEZ = “Diego, Son of Gonzalo.” Medievalists generally list such names by given name, not by the patronymic. Similarly, for an edition of the Iliad in English a translator would index the hero under ACHILLES, SON OF PELEUS, rather than under PELEUS’S SON, ACHILLES.