Late one sunny afternoon one and twenty knights were riding along
the highway in the northern part of Spain. As they were passing
a deep mire they heard cries for help, and turning, saw a poor
leper who was sinking in the mud. One of the knights, a handsome
young man, was touched by the cries. He dismounted, rescued the
poor fellow, took him upon his own horse, and thus the two rode
to the inn. The other knights wondered at this.
When they reached the inn where they were to stop for the night,
they wondered still more, for their companion gave the leper a
seat next to himself at the table. After supper the knight shared
his own bed with the leper. If the knight had not done this, the
leper would have been driven out of the town, with nothing to eat
and no place in which to sleep. At midnight, while the young man
was fast asleep, the leper breathed upon his back. This awakened
the knight, who turned quickly in his bed and found that the leper
was gone.
The knight called for a light and searched, but in vain. While he
was wondering about what had happened, a man in shining garments
appeared before him and said, "Rodrigo, art thou asleep or awake?"
The knight answered, "I am awake, but who art thou that bringest
such brightness?" The vision replied, "I am St. Lazarus, the leper
to whom thou wast so kind. Because I have breathed upon thee thou
shalt accomplish whatever thou shalt undertake in peace or in battle.
All shall honor thee. Therefore, go on and evermore do good."
With that the vision vanished.
The promise of St. Lazarus was fulfilled. In time young Rodrigo became
the great hero of Spain. The Spaniards called him Cam-pe-ä-dor', or
Champion. The Saracens called him "The Cid," or Lord. His real
name was Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, but he is usually spoken of as
"The Cid."
The Goths, after the death of Alaric, had taken Spain away from
the Romans. The Saracens, or, as they were usually called, the
Moors, had crossed the sea from Africa and in turn had taken Spain
from the Goths. In the time of Charles Martel the Goths had lost
all Spain except the small mountain district in the northern part.
In the time of the Cid the Goths, now called Spaniards, had driven
the Moors down to about the middle of Spain. War went on all the time
between the two races, and many men spent their lives in fighting.
The Spanish part of the country then comprised the kingdoms of
Castile, Leon, Aragon and others.
[Illustration: THE GATE OF THE SUN AT TOLEDO]
The Cid was a subject of Fernando of Castile. Fernando had a dispute
with the king of Aragon about a city which each claimed. They agreed
to decide the matter by a combat. Each was to choose a champion.
The champions were to fight, and the king whose champion won was
to have the city. Fernando chose the Cid, and though the other
champion was called the bravest knight in Spain, the youthful warrior
vanquished him.
When Alfonzo, a son of Fernando, succeeded to the throne, he became
angry with the Cid without just cause and banished him from Christian
Spain.
The Cid was in need of some money, so he filled two chests with
sand and sent word to two wealthy money lenders that he wished
to borrow six hundred Spanish marks (about $2,000), and would put
into their hands his treasures of silver and gold which were packed
in two chests, but the money lenders must solemnly swear not to
open the chests until a full year had passed. To this they gladly
agreed. They took the chests and loaned him six hundred marks.
The Cid was now ready for his journey. Three hundred of his knights
went into banishment with him. They crossed the mountains and entered
the land of the Moors. Soon they reached the town of Alcocer, and
after a siege captured it and lived in it.
Then the Moorish king of Valencia ordered two chiefs to take three
thousand horsemen, recapture the town and bring the Cid alive to
him.
So the Cid and his men were shut up in Alcocer and besieged. Famine
threatened them and they determined to cut their way through the
army of the Moors. Suddenly and swiftly they poured from the gate
of Alcocer, and a terrible battle was fought. The two Moorish chiefs
were taken prisoners and thirteen hundred of their men were killed
in the battle. The Cid then became a vassal of the Moorish king
of Saragossa.
After a while Alfonzo recalled the Cid from banishment and gave
him seven castles and the lands adjoining them. He needed the Cid's
help in the greatest of all his plans against the Moors. He was
determined to capture Toledo. He attacked it with a large army
in which there were soldiers from many foreign lands. The Cid is
said to have been the commander. After a long siege the city fell
and the victorious army marched across the great bridge built by
the Moors, which you would cross to-day if you went to Toledo.
Valencia was one of the largest and richest cities in Moorish Spain.
It was strongly fortified, but the Cid determined to attack it.
The plain about the city was irrigated by streams that came down
from the neighboring hills. To prevent the Cid's army from coming
near the city the Saracens flooded the plain. But the Cid camped
on high ground above the plain and from that point besieged the
city. Food became very scarce in Valencia. Wheat, barley and cheese
were all so dear that none but the rich could buy them. People ate
horses, dogs, cats and mice, until in the whole city only three
horses and a mule were left alive.
Then on the fifteenth of June, 1094, the governor went to the camp
of the Cid and delivered to him the keys of the city. The Cid placed
his men in all the forts and took the citadel as his own dwelling.
His banner floated from the towers. He called himself the Prince
of Valencia.
[Illustration: BRIDGE AT TOLEDO]
When the king of Morocco heard of this he raised an army of fifty
thousand men. They crossed from Africa to Spain and laid siege to
Valencia. But the Cid with his men made a sudden sally and routed
them and pursued them for miles. It is said that fifteen thousand
soldiers were drowned in the river Gua-dal-qui-vir' which they
tried to cross.
The Cid was now at the height of his power and lived in great
magnificence. One of the first things he did was to repay the two
friends who had lent him the six hundred marks. He was kind and
just to the Saracens who had become his subjects. They were allowed
to have their mosques and to worship God as they thought right.
In time the Cid's health began to fail. He could lead his men forth
to battle no more. He sent an army against the Moors, but it was so
completely routed that few of his men came back to tell the tale.
It is said by a Moorish writer that "when the runaways reached
him the Cid died of rage" (1099).
There is a legend that shortly before he died he saw a vision of
St. Peter, who told him that he should gain a victory over the
Saracens after his death.
So the Cid gave orders that his body should be embalmed. It was
so well preserved that it seemed alive. It was clothed in a coat
of mail, and the sword that had won so many battles was placed in
the hand. Then it was mounted upon the Cid's favorite horse and
fastened into the saddle, and at midnight was borne out of the
gate of Valencia with a guard of a thousand knights.
All silently they marched to a spot where the Moorish king, with
thirty-six chieftains, lay encamped, and at daylight the knights
of the Cid made a sudden attack. The king awoke. It seemed to him
that there were coming against him full seventy thousand knights,
all dressed in robes as white as snow, and before them rode a knight,
taller than all the rest, holding in his left hand a snow-white
banner and in the other a sword which seemed of fire. So afraid
were the Moorish chief and his men that they fled to the sea, and
twenty thousand of them were drowned as they tried to reach their
ships.
There is a Latin inscription near the tomb of the Cid which may
be translated:
Brave and unconquered, famous in triumphs of war,
Enclosed in this tomb lies Roderick the Great of Bivar.