“Poem of the Cid and the Reconquista” Dissertation

The Poem of the Cid is being considered the oldest Spanish heroic poem, written by the anonymous author (possibly, a few different authors). It tells the story of Sid’s exploits, which in turn reflect early Spaniards’ attitudes towards Reconquista – the process of Iberian Peninsula’s territories being gradually reclaimed back from Moors, who invaded Spain in 711 A.D. and remained there until they were completely expelled in 1492. Even though that the bulk of stories about Cid, contained in the poem, appear being of a clearly fictitious nature, the poem’s main character did exist in reality. Being one of the most prominent representatives of a Castilian aristocracy at the time (11^th century), Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (Cid) contributed extensively towards the process of Spain being liberated from Moors, which partially explains why the poem’s anonymous author had made a point in hypertrophying his feats. Apparently, there were a number of objective reasons for Cid to end up acquiring the status of a Spanish national hero.

Structurally speaking, The Poem of the Cid consists of series of unequally sized and assonansic stanzas, with the number of syllables ranging from eight to sixteen. In its turn, this serves as yet an additional indication of the fact that this poem belongs to the genre of ‘folk epic’.

In The Poem of the Cid, there are three foremost themes, which can be outlined as follows: a) The theme of Spaniards indulging in the armed struggle with Moors for the purpose of reclaiming Spanish territories from them, b) The theme of never-ending quarrels between the representatives of Spanish nobility, c) The theme of Castile becoming a fully independent kingdom.

The Poem of the Cid is divided into three parts (Cantars). In Cantar 1, after having been fallen out of favor with King Alfonzo, Cid embarks on the mission of expelling Moors out of formerly Spanish towns of Alcocer and Castejón. This Cid’s undertaking turns out to be a complete success. After having enriched himself with the gold, taken from Moors, Cid sends one tenth of his booty to King Alfonzo – hence, proving his unwavering loyalty to the monarch.

In Cantar 2, Cid conquers Valencia and ends up being fully reconciled with King Alfonso. Counts (or infants) de Carrion marry Cid’s two daughters.

In Cantar 3, Counts de Carrion decide to take a revenge on Cid (allegedly, because he considered them cowards) – they tied up Cid’s two daughters to the trees and abandoned them. After having found out about what happened, Cid rushes back to the Alfonso’s court and reestablishes justice – his daughters’ abusers prove themselves cowards once again, and end up being expelled from the court.

Even though that, as it was implied earlier, the poem’s anonymous author clearly tends to exaggerate Cid’s heroism, especially in the scenes where Cid and his followers are shown facing numerically superior Moors, the overall sounding of the explored motifs can be best defined as rather realistic. After all, unlike what it is being the case with many French and British epic medieval poems, which refer to the main characters’ act as such that has been driven by the essentially idealistic considerations, on their part, The Poem of the Cid refers of Cid’s heroism as simply a byproduct of his thirst for fame and money. For example, in the scenes that feature Cid dividing the ‘spoils of war’ among his soldiers, the anonymous author had made a point in providing readers with detailed accounts of what constituted the every warrior’s share of booty: “The gains were great, one hundred marks falling to the share of each knight and half that amount to each foot soldier” (Hamilton & Perry 50). This, of course, is being suggestive of the fact that the prospect of material enrichment played a crucial role in inspiring Spaniards to take an active part in Reconquista.

What also increases the semantic distinctiveness of The Poem of the Cid, is the fact that, except for the scene in which, prior to leaving Castile, Cid gets to talk to angel Gabriel in his dream, it does not contain author’s elaborations on how different Christian fables relate to the poem’s actual plot. This partially explains the poem’s well-defined humanistic spirit, sublimated in the absence of scenes in which Cid and his followers treat their defeated foes with an excessive cruelty. At the same time, however, there is a plenty of scenes in The Poem of the Cid, in which Cid refers to subdued Moors in a particularly gallant manner. For example, after having captured the fortress of Castejón, Cid does not only spare its defenders’ lives, but he also decides in favor of leaving this fortress in Moorish hands: “We cannot remain in Castejón, for King Alfonso is not far off, so I shall set free one hundred Moorish men and women, that they may not blame me for taking it from them” (Hamilton & Perry 51). Apparently, not being a Christian fanatic, Cid was naturally predisposed towards adopting a humane attitude towards the ‘infidels’.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to refer to The Poem of the Cid as such that is being spared of idealistically sounding motifs, whatsoever. The reason for this is quite apparent – throughout the poem’s entirety, Cid never ceases to position himself as a person closely affiliated with the code of knightly ethics, which in turn exposes the poem’s main character as a romantically minded individual. For example, despite having been unjustly treated by King Alfonso, Cid never skipped an opportunity to prove to his monarch that he continued to remain a loyal subject to King’s royal authority: “Alvar Fanez Minaya reached Castile and presented the thirty horses to the King… ‘He (Cid) sends this gift to you, his honored King, humbly salutes you sues for your favor in God’s name” (Hamilton & Perry 69). For Cid, it was self-evident that; whereas, a noble man’s unruly behavior may be well overlooked, his disloyalty could never be forgiven. This, of course, provides us with the insight into the very essence of a medieval code of knightly ethics, which even today is being perceived by many Westerners as such that represents an aesthetic value.

The reading of The Poem of the Cid also leaves very few doubts as to the fact that, Cid’s senses of humbleness and humanness coexisted with his acute sense of courageousness. After all, The Poem of the Cid contains many scenes that are being implicitly suggestive of the fact that it was namely Cid’s endowment with the sense of courageousness, which allowed him to successfully challenge the numerically superior Moorish forces. The validity of this suggestion can be well illustrated in regards to the following scene, in which Cid proved himself a particularly effective military leader – all due to his unwavering steadfastness: “There were two main banners on the Moorish side and they formed two battle lines of mixed infantry in countless numbers… ‘Stay where you are, my men’ (said Cid), ‘and let none break ranks till I give the word of command’” (Hamilton & Perry 59). Apparently, Cid was well aware of the fact that, in a combat, it is namely the sheer strength of soldiers’ resolution to win, which often provides their commanders with a crucial tactical advantage. And, in order for a military leader to be able to lead his soldiers to victory, he himself must embody courageousness.

The earlier mentioned scenes in The Poem of the Cid, allow us to identify the foremost moral message, conveyed by this particular masterpiece of a Spanish early literature. This message can be conceptualized as follows: In order for a particular individual to be able to leave a mark in history (just as it was the case with Cid), he must be humble, humane, and honest, on the one hand, but courageous, loyal, and just, on the other. This message is being fully consistent with how medieval knights used to subjectualize themselves against the emanations of a surrounding reality. As it was noted by Moon: “There is no quality so imperative as courage, and no quality so despised as cowardice in a knight” (703). Thus, it will only be logical, on our part, to suggest that despite having been written in 12^th century, The Poem of the Cid even today represents not only a high literary but also a high philosophical value. This is because readers’ exposure to this particular poem helps them to realize the historical roots of Western civilization’s greatness.

Bibliography

Hamilton Rita & Perry Janet. The Poem of the Cid. London: Penguin, 1975. Print.

Moon, Harold. “Humor in the ‘Poema del Cid’.” Hispania 46.4 (1963): 700-704. Print.