highest tower in the wall, whence he could look down on the whole of
Valencia; and the Moors came to him, and they kissed his hands, and bade
him welcome. The Cid, in return, ordered that all the windows of the tower
which looked towards the streets should be closed, that the Spaniards might
not annoy the Moors by prying into their affairs, and commanded the
Christians to guard the people and to pay them the greatest honour. The
Moors were very grateful for his kindness, and rejoiced indeed that the
city had been given up, for now the provision merchants could come inside
the gates and they could buy food; and some of them were so famished that
they went and plucked the grass and herbs from the field, and tried thus to
satisfy their sharp hunger. It must have been a sad sight to have seen
those who had survived the famine standing about like ghosts, whilst there
was mourning in every house, and space had not been found to bury all the
dead.
The Cid planted his banner on the Alcazar, which was the name given to all
royal houses and palaces in Spain. He caused Abeniaf to be seized by force,
and after he had made him say where he had concealed the treasures of Yahia
he condemned him to be burnt alive, but showed mercy to his son when the
Moors entreated him not to include him in the punishment of his father; and
had the Cid put the innocent child to death it would have been as dreadful
a crime as Abeniaf was guilty of in murdering Yahia.
The city of Valencia lay in a great plain which was called the Garden,
because it was covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and trees, such
as the mulberry, olive, orange, carob, and palm grew in its fertile soil.
There were fair gardens lying between the walls and the shore.
When the Cid had taken up his abode in the vast and beautiful Alcazar, the
people began to cast off their sorrow and gloom, and to take part in the
rejoicings made by the Spaniards. Valencia was now all his own. He
suffered the Moors to remain in the city and to keep all their herds and
flocks; they were to give him a tenth part of their substance, and to
retain all their customs; and he made a good man Wali over them that they
might be governed by their own laws. Those who were not content with this
arrangement, he ordered to go and dwell in the suburb of Alcudia, outside
the walls. From this time he was called the Cid Campeador, the latter title
being given to one greatly renowned for his exploits.
One day, Hieronymo, a holy and learned man, "all shaven and shorn," came
from the East to Valencia, and desired to see the Cid. He said that if he
might once meet the Moors on the battle-field, and have his fill of smiting
them, he would be content. These were warlike words for a priest, but they
pleased Ruy Diaz, and the very next day after the stranger arrived the
mosques were changed into churches, and Hieronymo was made Bishop of
Valencia.
The King of Seville soon came with the Almoravides to besiege the Cid in
his new abode. Ruy Diaz defeated him, and won from them his famed horse
Bavieca, although the chronicles say that Bavieca was the horse he chose
when a boy, because it was so fiery, and the name was given to it from his
godfather exclaiming, "Bavieca (meaning simpleton) thou hast chosen ill."
After this he sent his faithful cousin Alvar with a number of brave knights
to fetch his wife and daughters from the convent of Cardena, where they had
been all this time. The ladies were joyful indeed to hear that Valencia was
gained, and when they drew near, the Cid came out on his horse Bavieca,
with a stately company to meet them, and he took them up to the highest
tower of the Alcazar, whence they could see all the fair city lying in its
plain beside the sea, and its beautiful houses built by the Moorish
architects, its fountains and gateways, and its gardens filled with the
brilliant flowers and luscious fruits of the East.
Dona Ximena and her daughters had been in Valencia about three months, when
news was brought to the Cid that King Yusef was coming from Morocco with
50,000 horsemen, and myriads of men on foot, to invest the city by sea and
land. The Campeador was not alarmed; he had his fortresses well manned, and
the enormously thick walls of the city repaired, and he got in plenty of
provisions, whilst a number of his vassals, Christians and Moors, came to
his aid.
The day before the battle he took his wife and Elvira and Sol to the tower,
and showed them the Moors as they gained their footing on shore. Soon they
began to enter the gardens, and Ruy Diaz told a very brave man to go down
thither with two hundred knights, and show them a little play. So he went
down, and soon drove them out of the gardens. The Cid, being so often at
war, had certain signals, by which the knights knew how many of them were
to arm themselves and assemble, the signal being usually the ringing of a
bell.
Early the next morning Bishop Hieronymo sang the mass and absolved all the
Christians from their sins; praying afterwards, warlike man that he was, to
be the first to drive back the enemy. Whilst it was still dark, the Cid,
well armed and mounted on Bavieca, went out with his company at the gate
which was called the Gate of the Snake. They loitered about at first, and
then when the Cid rang his bell the Christians came out of their
hiding-places amongst the narrow ways and passes, and the Moors were shut
in between their enemies and the sea. There was hard fighting that day; the
Moors, arming themselves in haste, made a firm stand, but before night they
were overcome and fled to Denia, leaving great riches behind them in the
camp. Ruy Diaz, who had been wounded in the battle, rode joyfully back to
the city when they were gone, still mounted on Bavieca, and with his drawn
sword still in his hand; and he sent King Alonzo a present of three hundred
horses laden with the gold and silver he had found amongst the spoils.
Yusef died soon after his defeat, and his brother Bucar swore upon the
Koran, the book of their law, that he would take revenge upon the mighty
Castillian chief.
The Infantes of Carrion, Diego, and Fernan Gonzalez, vassals of King Alonzo
in Castille, having heard how the power of the Cid was increasing day by
day, demanded his daughters in marriage, thinking by so doing they would
become rich and powerful themselves. The Cid was pleased with the proposal,
but Dona Ximena did not like the idea of such a marriage at all; however,
since the king had heartily approved of it, she dared say nothing against
it.
The weddings were performed by Bishop Hieronymo, and there were great
rejoicings in Valencia for eight days. Each day had its festival, either in
bull-fighting, or tilting, or shooting stones from the cross-bow, or they
witnessed the performances of the Moorish jugglers and buffoons, who were
very clever in their art. Then there were magnificent banquets in the
Alcazar, the tables being covered with silver dishes filled with rare and
highly-seasoned meats.
For two years the Infantes lived with their wives at Valencia in peace; but
at the end of that time a misfortune happened, which caused them to break
with their father-in-law, although it was no fault of his. The Cid had a
very large and lively lion, which afforded him great amusement, and was
kept in an iron house, which opened into a high court behind the Alcazar;
three men had the charge of it, and it was their custom about mid-day to
open the door of its house, and let it come into the court to eat its
dinner, taking care before they left to fasten the door of the court
securely.
The Cid used to dine in company every day, and after dinner he sometimes
fell asleep, for he was getting old. One day a man came to him, and told
him that many vessels had arrived before Valencia, having on board a great
host of the Moors, and among them Bucar, the African king, who had sworn to
revenge the death of his brother. When the Cid heard this he was very much
pleased, for it was nearly three years since he had had a fight with the
Moors. He had his bell rung as a sign that all the honourable men in the
city should assemble, and when they came to Alcazar, and the Infantes were
there too, he told them the news, and agreed with them as to the manner in
which they should repel the advance of their foes. When this was done he
went quietly to sleep, and Diego and Fernan, and the rest of the company
sat playing at tables[9] and at chess.
It happened that the men who guarded the lion heard that the Moors had
come, and rushed to the palace to see if the news were true, forgetting in
their anxiety to close the door of the court behind them. And lo and
behold! the lion, when it had dined right royally, and saw the door open,
walked out of the court and straight into the great hall where all the
company were assembled. It certainly was an alarming sight, and the people
did not know what to do, fearing that the lion might be roused to fury and
tear some of them to pieces. Diego and Fernan Gonzalez showed more terror
and cowardice than all the rest, and Diego ran and hid himself under the
Cid's chair, and very nearly died of fright in his undignified retreat,
whilst Fernan rushed out of a gallery which led into a court where there
was a winepress, and entering therein he tumbled among the lees, which
served him quite right.
The others remained in the hall, and stood around the Cid to guard him
while he slept. The noise of their talking, however, at last awakened him,
and he saw how the lion came towards him and licked his hand, and he asked
what it meant. And when the lion heard his voice, it stood quite quiet, and
the Cid arose and took it by the neck as if it had been a hound, and made
it go back to its iron house, calmly giving orders that it should be more
strictly guarded in future.
When the Infantes came out of their hiding-places they must have felt very
much ashamed, but they gave a very different version of the story to what
had really happened. In the famous poem of the Cid, which contains a great
deal of historic truth, Ruy Diaz forbears reproaching his sons-in-law for
their cowardice. Be that as it may, they made the event a pretence for
taking offence with him, as they were wicked and discontented men; they
were tired of their wives, and thought that they ought to have wedded
damsels of far higher rank than the daughters of the Cid. So they said that
he had arranged that the lion should come out of its den only to put them
to shame before all the hidalgos; and their uncle, Suero Gonzalez, wickedly
advised them to ask Ruy Diaz to let them take their wives to their home in
Carrion, that, once out of Valencia, they might do with them whatsoever
they pleased.
In the meantime there was much noise in the city. Bucar had landed his
forces, and arrived in a plain about a league from Valencia, which was
called Quarto; and there the Cid gave him such a defeat that he was obliged
to flee with his diminished army across the sea. Ruy Diaz was still kindly
disposed towards his sons-in-law; and when the battle was over he thanked
them for the share they had had in it, when they had really done nothing at
all, and had only pretended to fight; such men were not worthy to have
married the daughters of the Cid! Now they said that they had heard no news
of their father and mother in Carrion since they left Castille; and they
wanted to take their wives home, and tell their parents what honour they
had attained to by marrying them. Dona Ximena had no faith in them, and she
told her husband that they were not true-hearted; she was very loth to let
her daughters go with them; nevertheless the Cid trusted them still, and
one day Elvira and Sol set out from Valencia with the Infantes; their
parents, and a great and valiant company going with them two leagues on the
road to Castille. Before they started, Ruy Diaz gave them presents worthy
of a king. First of all, he gave them a quantity of cloth of gold, silk,
and wool, a hundred horses richly caparisoned, and a hundred mules with
gorgeous trappings; then he gave them ten goblets of pure gold, and a
hundred vases of silver besides quantities of silver in plate and shields.
A hundred well-appointed knights were to accompany them into Castille;
amongst whom were two very brave men, named Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez,
whom the Cid held in great esteem. Last of all he gave the Infantes each a
golden-hilted sword to defend their wives with; these two swords he prized
very much, because he had won them from the Moors, and he had named them
Colada and Tizona.
When it was time to part, Elvira and Sol took a sorrowful leave of their
parents, and the Cid, as he turned away from them began to feel some
misgivings in his heart, and to wonder if Ximena had really been right in
her distrust. The Infantes, however, still promised to treat their wives
with honour, and the cavalcade went on towards Castille. On the way they
were entertained by a Moorish king, a vassal of the Cid's, who could not do
enough to show his pleasure in welcoming them, and so far all was well, and
they went through the valleys until they reached the oak forest of Torpes.
When they arrived there the Infantes told all the knights to go forward,
and said they would stay for a while in the forest. Elvira asked her
husband Diego why they remained there alone; he replied that she should
soon see. Then these wicked men took their wives by the hair and dragged
them along until they came to the fountain of Torpes, and there they beat
them with the leathern girths of their saddles until the blood flowed from
their wounds. And they took from them all the costly jewels, and robes of
silk and ermine Dona Ximena had given them, and went on their way, leaving
the poor ladies half dead by themselves in the forest, where the wild
beasts might have come and devoured them. Elvira and Sol startled the birds
in the branches overhead by the piteous cries they uttered in their terror
and pain; then, finding that no one came to their aid, they said their
prayers very fervently, and sank fainting to the ground.
The cruel Infantes mounted their horses, and took the mules which had
carried their wives, and said aloud as they went out of the forest, "Now we
have done with the daughters of the Cid! We demeaned ourselves by marrying
them, and we are avenged of the affront their father put upon us by letting
loose the lion."
Felez Nunoz, however, the nephew of the Cid, happened to pass that way, and
he heard what the Infantes said. He would have punished them on the spot,
but he feared they would return and perhaps kill their wives; so he went
into the deep oak glades, and kept calling his cousins by their names until
he found them. Then, in great sorrow to behold the terrible plight they
were in, he gave them water to drink, and carried them to a part of the
forest where they would be in greater safety, and made a soft couch for
them of tender green leaves and grass, whereon they might rest, for they
were utterly worn out.
The knights had gone on their way, and when they saw the Infantes coming
towards them bringing with them the mules and the rich robes of their
wives, they began to fear that some evil deed had been done, and they all
crowded round them, taunting them with their cowardice, and threatening to
fight them. The Infantes wanted to be rid of them all, and declared that if
the knights would go back to the forest, they would find Elvira and Sol by
the fountain there unharmed. So Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, and all the
bravest men in the company returned thither; but when Felez Nunoz and his
cousins heard their voices they were alarmed, thinking the Infantes were
near; and they kept quite still, so that the knights could not find them,
and returned, very angry, to pursue the cowardly brothers, feeling sure
that some foul deed had been done. Diego and Fernan, however, were already
beyond their pursuit,--craven-hearted men can fly fast, and the knights set
out at once for the court of Don Alonzo, and told their king all that had
happened.
Now the ladies in the forest at first had nothing to eat, and were very
near dying of hunger, when, by good fortune Felez Nunoz found his way to a
village where he bought them food, and he kept them thus from starving for
seven days; but could not make their misfortunes known to the Cid because
he feared to leave them by themselves in the wild forest. At last he found
in his village a worthy man in whose house the Cid had once lodged, and he
brought two asses to the forest, and made the noble ladies mount them, and
led them in safety to his own house, where his wife tended them kindly,
rejoicing that she had them under her roof. Here they wrote a letter to
their father, which Felez Nunoz undertook to convey to him at Valencia. On
the road thither he met Alvar Fanez and Pero Bermudez, who were going to
the king with a present from Ruy Diaz, of two hundred horses he had won in
his battle with Bucar, besides a number of swords and a hundred Moorish
captives. These knights were enabled to give Don Alonzo a faithful account
of all that had happened, and the king was very indignant at the wickedness
of his vassals, and appointed a day, three months from the time, when he
would hear the matter through, and give judgment in his Cortes at Toledo.
And Alvar and Pero set out in search of the Cid's daughters, taking with
them from Alonzo two mules, with saddles richly adorned with gold, and
jewelled robes for the sisters, so that they might return to Valencia in
the same attire they had worn when they started on their hapless journey.
When they had found them at the good man's house, Pero went on to Valencia,
and Alvar remained with the knights who had followed him to guard his
cousins. The indignation and anger of the mighty Cid may be imagined when
he heard how his children had been treated. Dona Ximena was more dead than
alive, and she was thankful indeed when she had her dear daughters safe at
home with her once more.
Great preparations were made for the day of trial. The walls of the palace,
where judgment was to be given, were hung with cloth of gold, rich carpets
were spread on the floor, and a great throne was placed in readiness for
the king. The Cid left Hieronymo and Martin Pelaez in charge of his city,
and set out betimes for Toledo with so great a host of followers that it
looked like an army. When he drew near Alonzo came out to meet him, but he
would not cross the Tagus that night, and had candles lighted in the church
of Saint Servans on the shore, and kept a vigil there a great part of the
night with his friends. And he ordered one of his hidalgos to set a
beautiful ivory chair he had won from the Moors close beside the king's
throne, and sent a hundred squires, each one an hidalgo, to stand around it
all night to guard it, with swords hanging from their necks.
There were many people in Toledo who were friends of the Infantes of
Carrion, and therefore ill-disposed towards the Cid, and they thought he
was taking a great liberty in having his chair set beside the king's
throne: but Alonzo honoured him, and he suffered it to remain.
It was a stately meeting; we are told that when the day came Ruy Diaz wore
a tunic of gold tissue, and over that a red skin with points of gold; this
he always wore, and on his head he had a coif of scarlet and gold: his long
beard, which was getting white, was tied up with a cord.[10] When he came
into the hall, the king and all the people stood up, except those who were
on the side of the Infantes of Carrion.
Alonzo gave judgment against those wicked men, and made them give up the
golden-hilted swords Colada and Tizona, which they did not indeed deserve
to keep. But the Cid was not content when judgment was pronounced; he
thought the dishonour was not yet wiped away, and he stood up and required
that three knights should fight for his cause against three of Carrion.
When he said this the three brave knights named Martin Antolinez, Pero
Bermudez, and Nuno Gustios, entreated him to let them fight on his side;
and a terrible quarrel arose; the Infantes said many rude things of the
Cid, and his haughty hidalgos would not suffer their insults to pass; they
quarrelled and fought until the king could scarcely hear himself speak, and
he rose from his seat and called the Alcaydes, and went to confer with them
in a chamber apart, while the Cid and all the others remained in the hall.
When he came back he sat down on his throne with great solemnity, and told
the people to listen to the sentence, which decreed that a combat should
take place three weeks from that day between the Infantes and their uncle
Suero Gonzalez on the side of Carrion, and the three brave knights who were
willing to fight for the Cid.
Ruy Diaz was now content; he rose from his seat and kissed the king's hand,
and prayed that God might have him in His holy keeping for many good years,
so that he might administer justice worthily, as he had done that day.
In the midst of all this, messengers arrived at the palace from the kings
of Arragon and Navarre, demanding the daughters of the Cid in marriage for
their sons, when the unhappy marriage they had made with the Infantes of
Carrion should be dissolved. Ruy Diaz went back to Valencia in joy, and
told the glad news to his wife; adding that they need have no fear now for
their daughters' happiness, because the princes of Arragon and Navarre
were known far and wide to be honourable men. The combat took place on the
appointed day. The Cid lent Colada and Tizona to his knights, and Diego and
Fernan Gonzalez, and their uncle Suero, were all three overcome and wounded
in the presence of King Alonzo; and, they crept away in disgrace and were
never seen more, and Carrion, after the death of Don Gonzalez, their
father, went back to the crown of Castille.
When the three victorious knights returned safe and sound to Valencia, and
made known there the result of the combat, the joy of the Cid was beyond
all bounds, and as for Dona Ximena, and Elvira, and Sol, they would fain
have kissed the feet of their valiant defenders. There was rejoicing in the
city for eight days, and banquets were held every day, the silver dishes
being filled with the flesh of many extraordinary animals, which were
cooked in Spain for the first time, having been sent to the Cid with a
number of rare and beautiful presents from the Soldan, or Sultan of Persia.
The Soldan paid great court to Ruy Diaz, and made known to him how a vast
army of Christians had come out to the East and lay before Jerusalem,
hoping to conquer that city from the Saracens; and that was the first
crusade which had been preached by Peter the Hermit, when William Rufus was
reigning in England.
The Cid remained in peace at Valencia for five years, and kept the Moors so
quiet that they no longer molested the Christians, but lived with them on
friendly terms. At the end of this time news came suddenly that Bucar had
stirred up all the chiefs in Barbary to cross the sea in revenge for the
victory that Ruy Diaz had gained over him in the field of Quarto.
The Cid sent the Moors who dwelt in the city to the suburb of Alcudia,
where he thought they had better remain until the affair was ended. His
strength was failing fast; and one night, as he lay wakeful on his bed, his
chamber was filled with a strange brightness and fragrance, and he had
another wonderful vision, in which Saint Peter appeared to him, aged and
white as snow, with a bunch of keys in his hand, and told him now to mind
other things besides the coming of Bucar, for that in thirty days he should
die, and yet by the help of Saint James he should conquer his foes after he
was dead. When the vision disappeared the Cid was lost in wonder, but he
felt greatly comforted; and early in the morning he called the hidalgos
around him and told them what he had seen, and how they should conquer the
Moors. The last day that he was able to rise from his bed he ordered the
city gates to be shut, and repaired to the church of Saint Peter, where he
spoke long and earnestly to the people assembled there, reminding them
that, however great and honourable their estate in life might be, not one
of them could escape death. Then he took leave of them all, and confessed
his sins at the feet of Bishop Hieronymo. From that time until his death,
seven days afterwards, he took no nourishment except a little myrrh and
balsam stirred in rose water, such as was used to embalm the dead bodies of
kings in the East, and had been sent among the gifts of the Soldan in a
casket of gold. He bequeathed great riches to his knights, leaving a
thousand marks of silver to those who had only served him one year, and he
ordered four thousand poor persons to be clothed at his expense. On Sunday,
the 25th of May, 1099, the Cid died, in the seventy-third year of his age.
These were his dying words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Thine is the kingdom; Thou
art above all kings and all nations, and all kings are at Thy command. I
beseech Thee to pardon my sins, and let my soul enter the light that hath
no end."
Three days after his death King Bucar came, and with him thirty-six kings
or chiefs. It is said that fifteen thousand tents were pitched around
Valencia. As all was quiet inside the city, the Africans thought that their
enemy dared not come out against them.