HOW THE KING AND RODRIGO, HAVING SAID GOOD PRAYERS, GAVE GOOD SWORD
STROKES
The king, Don Fernando, having left the works for the rebuilding of
Zamora in a forward state, was preparing to return to Burgos, where he
intended to devote himself exclusively to the improvement of the laws,
of agriculture, and of the arts, taking advantage of the tranquillity
that reigned in his kingdoms, and desirous of ameliorating many
grievances in them, as such had been rather increasing for some time
back.
Before returning to Burgos, he desired to go to Compostela, with the
object of visiting the shrine of the holy Apostle James. When Rodrigo,
just as he was about to leave that last-named city, learned the king's
intention, having finished his devotions, he determined to await the
king there, in order to accompany him on his journey to Burgos.
Don Fernando arrived in due course at Compostela, and for some days
devoted himself with much fervour to pious exercises, for he was as good
a Christian as he was a brave warrior. He was solacing himself with the
hope of soon being in the bosom of his family, when the Moors of
Portugal unexpectedly broke the peace which they had arranged with Don
Fernando, crossing the frontiers of the Christian districts, and
committing various kinds of outrages.
Don Fernando felt that he must sacrifice his personal tranquillity to
the protection of his subjects, and to the punishment of the infidels,
who, if he did not arrest their progress, would become more daring, and
extend their depredations farther. He asked advice from Don Rodrigo and
other cavaliers, and all, especially the latter, counselled war.
That, therefore, was decided on. The king and Rodrigo Diaz collected
together in a few days an army sufficiently large, and set out for
Portugal, with the determination of attacking the first Moorish castle
which they might find on their route; for this purpose they had provided
themselves with good materials of war.
Near Monzao they overtook a large body of infidels who were hastening
back to Portugal with the rich booty that they had seized in the
district of Tuy, and routed them completely, taking back from them all
the plunder which they had possessed themselves of. Don Fernando
divided it amongst his troops, and this inspirited the Christian army to
such an extent, that it followed the track of the comparatively few
Moors who had escaped from the battle, and who, under the command of the
Alcaide[1] of Cea, had succeeded in taking refuge in the castle in that
town.
[1] Governor of a castle or fort.
The Castle of Cea was very strong, was well garrisoned, and provided
with provisions sufficient to bear a long siege; for these reasons Don
Fernando believed that an attempt to take it would result in a loss both
of time and men. However, as such obstacles were only incentives to the
courage of the Cid, for by that name Rodrigo was now known, he believed
that the Christian army should not pass on farther without giving a
fresh proof of its power by destroying that first bulwark of the
Moslems.
"Sire," said Rodrigo to the king, "I am about to ask a favour of you,
which I trust you will grant."
"Speak, Rodrigo," replied Don Fernando, "for you already know how
desirous I am to gratify you."
"The favour I ask of you is, that you will permit me, this very day, to
plant the Christian standard with my own hands on the walls of the
Castle of Cea."
"O good Cid, who is there but must love you as the best cavalier in the
world!" exclaimed Don Fernando, clasping him to his breast. "With a
hundred knights like you, I would undertake to drive the Moors, not
alone from Portugal, but from all Spain. It is not idle talk when the
people say that you were born in a lucky hour! I applaud your valour,
Rodrigo; my heart swells and rejoices when I hear you thus speak; but
you know that the enterprise which you desire to undertake is very
difficult."
"Sire, it is in difficult and useful enterprises that glory is to be
found. In this castle have taken refuge those who have pillaged and laid
waste a considerable portion of your states, and they must not remain
unpunished. Pardon me if I speak with more heat than is seemly before my
lord and king, but Rodrigo Diaz would rather break his sword into
fragments than be within a few bow-shots of the Moors and not come to
close quarters with them. Let them but see that we do not take into
consideration whether their walls are strong or weak, and the terror
that will seize on them shall serve us better than our weapons. The same
feeling is widespread amongst those under my command, who desire to be
the first to prove to the infidels that there are no Moors capable of
resisting Castilian arms."
"Well, then, Rodrigo, let us attack and conquer this fortress," replied
Don Fernando, full of hope and joy. "Then let us hasten on to Viseo and
other strongholds, and let us not return to Castile till we have freed
Portugal completely from the Moslem domination."
Preparations were then immediately made for the siege of the castle. In
a few hours it was attacked and defended with extreme obstinacy. The
Moors discharged clouds of projectiles from the walls, causing terrible
carnage amongst the besiegers. The battering-rams, which the latter
worked unweariedly, did not move a stone, for the walls of Cea were
extremely solid. The Cid, and those under his command, who fought in the
most advanced position, were burning with impatience, seeing that the
time for dashing at the fortress was delayed so long.
"To the assault! To the assault!" cried the Cid, full of ardour and
courage.
"To the assault!" cried all who were fighting by his side.
But just as they were preparing to put ladders against the walls, a
large portion of one of them crashed down, dislodged by a terrible blow
from a more powerful battering-ram, which had been constructed when it
was found that those which they had been using were inefficient.
"St. James of Compostela!" thundered the Cid. "To the walls! To the
walls, my good cavaliers!"
And snatching from the hands of its bearer the standard of Castile and
Leon, he clambered up the ruins of the wall, it in one hand, and his
sword in the other, followed by many cavaliers as brave as himself.
Blood ran in torrents. The Moors fought with desperation, concentrating
almost all their forces on that point; but all was in vain, for the Cid
pressed onward, trampling Moslem corpses under his feet, and at last
gained the highest part of the wall. There he planted the Christian
standard, crying out with resounding voice--
"Cea for Don Fernando!"
This triumph, achieved by the company of the Cid, lent new courage to
the besiegers, and struck terror into the besieged. In a short time the
castle was assaulted at many other places, and the cross was substituted
everywhere for the crescent. The Castle of St. Martin and others were
taken by the army of Don Fernando shortly after the conquest of Cea. The
name of the Cid resounded in all directions, filling the Moors with
terror; and the brave cavalier, becoming every day more daring, every
day more desirous of seeing the holy cross where the crescent hitherto
dominated, proposed to the king the siege of Viseo, the only place of
importance which the Mahometans still held in Portugal.
"Sire," said Rodrigo to Don Fernando, "your health and your age demand
quiet and rest after such severe labours. If a vassal may be allowed to
give advice to his lord, I would counsel you to retire to Coimbra, which
is a populous and rich town, and where you will find, therefore, all the
conveniences and comforts which you have been accustomed to enjoy in
Leon or in Burgos. I am a young man, and therefore must not let my arm
get out of practice. Leave to my charge the siege and assault of Viseo,
and, God aiding me, it shall be yours within fifteen days."
"It is certain," said Don Fernando, "that my health is much impaired,
and years are coming on me more rapidly than I should wish. If I were
younger, you and I together would soon drive the Moorish power beyond
the Strait into Africa. My heart, however, beats and grows young again
when I see you fighting. We shall first subjugate Viseo, and then we
shall go together to take some repose in Coimbra, which place I am
desirous to see, as I am fond of it, if it were only because it cost me
a seven-months' siege to subdue it."
"That which pleases you also pleases me, sire," replied Rodrigo, seeing
with joy, and being much moved by, the warlike ardour which animated the
king.
Two days after, the town of Viseo was surrounded.
In vain did the battering-rams exert all their force against the walls,
for they were extremely solid; in vain were ladders brought up in order
to take the castle by assault, for the battlements were crowded with
crossbow-men who rained down their arrows on all who approached the
walls. Three times had the Cid taken up the standard of Castile and
Leon, as at the escalade of Cea, and had endeavoured to mount the wall;
but each time he had to fall back, seeing those about him killed, and
himself preserved almost miraculously.
It was past midnight. Don Fernando had ordered the assault to be
suspended, in order that he might deliberate with his captains, and
particularly with the Cid, as to the precautions that should be taken
in order to prevent the sacrifice of so many men-at-arms, and as to the
best means for bringing the enterprise to a successful issue. They had
demanded from its defenders the surrender of the stronghold, threatening
that all would be put to the sword if they did not deliver themselves up
by a certain day. That day had arrived, and the besieged still continued
to defend it.
A Moor who was one of the sentinels on the battlements let himself down
on the outer side of the wall, and, making his way to the royal tent of
Don Fernando, asked to be brought into his presence. He was carefully
examined, lest he might have concealed weapons, wherewith to commit some
act of treachery, and, none having been found, he was brought before the
king.
"Sire," he said to Don Fernando, "I believe it is your intention to take
this place by storm and put all the inhabitants to the sword; I have a
wife and children, whom I love, and in order to save them I have become
a traitor to my faith and to my brothers-in-arms. Many years ago an
arrow was shot from these very walls, which killed Don Alfonso, King of
Leon, and the father of your queen; he who shot that arrow is now in
Viseo. If you give me your word to spare my wife, my children, and
myself, I will tell you who"--
"Glorious St. Isadore!" exclaimed Don Fernando, "what do I hear? Can it
be possible that the murderer of the good Don Alfonso--for whom Queen
Sancha still weeps--yet lives? Tell me who the traitor is, tell me his
name, and I promise you, not only to spare yourself and your family, but
also to load you with riches."
"Sire," hastened to answer the Moor, filled with joy, "he is named
Ben-Amet, and is now charged with the defence of the wall of the Mosque;
for, as it is it, above all, that should not fall into your hands, they
have confided its defence to him."
"You are now at liberty either to remain here or to return into the
town," said Don Fernando. "To-morrow we shall enter Viseo; whether you
now go or remain with us, describe the position of your house
accurately, and both it and its occupants shall be respected."
"Opposite the great Mosque there is a detached building with a handsome
frontage; that is my house, sire, and my wife and children are in it."
The Moor retired to a tent, near that of the king, for he did not dare
to return to the town. Shortly afterwards, Don Fernando summoned his
captains and related to them what he had heard.
"We must," said the Cid, "make the assault at daybreak on the wall which
that traitor defends, and all of us shall either take it or die in the
attempt."
Don Fernando held out his hand to Rodrigo Diaz, rejoiced to know that he
had anticipated his own wish.
"Rodrigo," he said, "you always divine what my heart feels. Yes, the
traitor Ben-Amet must expiate with his blood that of Don Alfonso; but we
must economise as much as possible our own. We have already lost very
many brave cavaliers in the assaults which we have attempted, and we
must now endeavour to think of some plan to shelter ourselves to some
extent from the arrows of our enemies."
"Our shields," said the Cid, "are not large enough to protect our bodies
from the arrows of the besieged; it seems to me that it would be a good
plan to enlarge them by attaching to them wooden boards; I heard my
father say that such a thing has been done at times."
"Yes, yes," said the king, "we shall do that."
And as Martin Antolinez, Alvar Minaya, and the other cavaliers who were
present approved, as well as the king, of the plan of the Cid, whose men
were the first that offered to scale the wall of the Mosque, they began
at once to get the shields enlarged in the manner indicated.
At the dawn of day the Cid and his men approached the wall of the Mosque
as quietly as possible, provided with scaling ladders and the enlarged
shields. At a signal, that had been arranged beforehand, the ladders
were placed against the walls; the Moors, however, discovered this, and
began to rain down a shower of arrows. The Christian cavaliers, who
preceded the other scalers of the walls, also cast a large number of
javelins, which caused great slaughter amongst the defenders; however,
as the shields protected the bodies of the besiegers, they did not fall
back, but mounted the ladders, and were very near its summit,
notwithstanding the furious efforts which Ben-Amet and his soldiers used
in order to keep them back.
"St. James of Compostela!" cried the Cid, as at the assault of Cea; all
who followed him repeated the cry with enthusiasm, and all rushed on to
the top of the wall. Then followed a sanguinary fight; horrible,
ferocious, body to body, arm to arm; dead bodies fell in all directions,
blood ran in torrents; those who were guarding other portions of the
walls rushed to the defence, but at last the Christian army pressed
forward into the citadel, through the opening made by the Cid and those
under his command, and Ben-Amet was in the power of Don Fernando.
"Sire," then cried out Rodrigo Diaz, "I ask a favour of you; enough of
blood has already been shed in Viseo, pardon the vanquished, let not our
swords be used against the defenceless inhabitants of the town."
"I grant your request, good Cid," responded Don Fernando. "They shall
not be used; let no one dare to kill man or woman."
The soldiers were preparing to put to the sword the inhabitants of the
place, but refrained, respecting the command of the king.
And then Rodrigo Diaz planted with his own hand the Christian standard
on the walls of Viseo, crying out--
"Viseo for Castile and Leon! Viseo for Don Fernando!"
On that same day the hands of the slayer of Don Alfonso were cut off and
his eyes torn out; he then was put to death with arrows on the very wall
from whence he had shot the regicidal arrow.
The Moors, fearful that Don Fernando would subject the district over
which they still ruled in Portugal, endeavoured to divert his course,
and collecting together a numerous army, in the direction of Elvas, they
marched on through Estremadura, committing still greater outrages than
those which they had practised in Galicia. Don Fernando learned this,
and although he determined to hasten to stem that torrent, he considered
that he should not leave unprotected the districts which he had
subjected; he resolved, therefore, to divide his army, with the object
that half of it should remain in Portugal and that the remainder should
go in pursuit of the invaders.
Rodrigo Diaz, to whom inaction was unbearable, for whom the favourite
position was that which offered the most dangers and fatigues, and who
always anticipated the desires of the king, offered to go in pursuit of
the Moors. Don Fernando accepted his offer, and in a short time the Cid
placed himself at the head of a brave body of men and set out for the
frontiers of Estremadura. The king, in the meantime, well satisfied with
the results of that campaign, and firmly persuaded that Rodrigo would
make the Moors pay dearly for their temerity, made preparations to
visit his dominions in Portugal. His objects were to assure himself, by
personal observation, of the state of public spirit, of the condition of
the fortified places, of the needs of his subjects; and to put in good
order the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of that kingdom.
The progress of Don Fernando from district to district presented
occasions for the most ardent and sincere ovations that had been offered
to him during his long life. The Portuguese, who during very many years
had groaned under the heavy Moslem yoke, blessed and honoured with fêtes
and rejoicings the monarch who had liberated them, and in doing so they
also celebrated the glory of Rodrigo.