XVII. Then he of Bivar returned to Zaragoza, and divided the spoil, which was so great that none of his men knew how much they had. And the Moors of the town rejoiced in his good speed, liking him well, because he protected them so well that they were safe from all harm. And my Cid went out again from Zaragoza, and rode over the lands of Monzon and Huerta and Onda and Buenar. And King Pedro of Aragon came out against him, but my Cid took the Castle of Monzon in his sight; and then he went to Tamarit: and one day as he rode out hunting from thence with twelve of his knights, he fell in with a hundred and fifty of the King of Aragon’s people, and he fought with them and put them to flight, and took seven knights prisoners, whom he let go freely. Then he turned towards the sea-coast, and won Xerica and Onda and Almenar, and all the lands of Borriana and Murviedro; and they in Valencia were greatly dismayed because of the great feats which he did in the land. And when he had plundered all that country he returned to Tamarit, where Zulema then was.
XVIII. Now Zulema had sent for my Cid, and the cause was this. His brother the King of Denia had taken counsel with Count Ramon Berenguer, and with the Count of Cardona, and with the brother of the Count of Urgel, and with the chiefs of Balsadron and Remolin and Cartaxes, that they should besiege the Castle of Almenar, which my Cid had refortified by command of King Zulema. And they came up against it while my Cid was away, besieging the Castle of Estrada, which is in the rivers Tiegio and Sege, the which he took by force. And they fought against it and cut off the water. And when my Cid came to the King at Tamarit, the King asked him to go and fight with the host which besieged Almenar; but my Cid said it would be better to give something to King Abenalfange that he should break up the siege and depart; for they were too great a power to do battle with, being as many in number as the sands on the sea-shore. And the King did as he counselled him, and sent to his brother King Abenalfange, and to the chiefs who were with him, to propose this accord, and they would not. Then my Cid, seeing that they would not depart for fair means, armed his people, and fell upon them. That was a hard battle and well fought on both sides, and much blood was shed, for many good knights on either party were in the field; howbeit he of good fortune won the day at last, he who never was conquered. King Abenalfange and Count Ramon and most of the others fled, and my Cid followed, smiting and slaying for three leagues; and many good Christian knights were made prisoners. Ruydiez returned with great honour and much spoil, and gave all his prisoners to King Zulema, who kept them eight days, and then my Cid begged their liberty and set them free. And he and the King returned to Zaragoza, and the people came out to meet them, with great joy, and shouts of welcome. And the King honoured my Cid greatly, and gave him power in all his dominions.
XIX. At this time it came to pass that Almofalez, a Moor of Andalusia, rose up with the Castle of Rueda, which was held for King Don Alfonso. And because he held prisoner there the brother of Adefir, another Moor, Adefir sent to the King of Castille, beseeching him to come to succour him, and recover the Castle. And the King sent the Infante Don Ramiro his cousin, and the Infante Don Sancho, son to the King of Navarre, and Count Don Gonzalo Salvadores, and Count Don Nuño Alvarez, and many other knights with them; and they came to the Castle, and Almofalez said he would not open the gates to them, but if the King came he would open to him. And when King Don Alfonso heard this, incontinently he came to Rueda. And Almofalez besought him to enter to a feast which he had prepared; howbeit the King would not go in, neither would his people have permitted him so to have risked his person. But the Infante Don Sancho entered, and Don Nuño, and Don Gonzalo, and fifteen other knights; and as soon as they were within the gate, the Moors threw down great stones upon them and killed them all. This was the end of the good Count Don Gonzalo Salvadores, who was so good a knight in battle that he was called He of the Four Hands. The bodies were ransomed, seeing that there was no remedy, the Castle being so strong, and Don Gonzalo was buried in the Monastery of Oña, according as he had appointed in his will; and the Infante Don Sancho with his forefathers the Kings of Navarre, in the royal Monastery of Naxara.
XX. Greatly was King Don Alfonso troubled at this villainy, and he sent for the Cid, who was in those parts; and the Cid came to him with a great company. And the King told him the great treason which had been committed, and took the Cid into his favour, and said unto him that he might return with him into Castille. My Cid thanked him for his bounty, but he said he never would accept his favour unless the King granted what he should request; and the King bade him make his demand. And my Cid demanded, that when any hidalgo should be banished, in time to come, he should have the thirty days, which were his right, allowed him, and not nine only, as had been his case; and that neither hidalgo nor citizen should be proceeded against till they had been fairly and lawfully heard; also, that the King should not go against the privileges and charters and good customs of any town or other place, nor impose taxes upon them against their right; and if he did, that it should be lawful for the land to rise against him, till he had amended the misdeed. And to all this the King accorded, and said to my Cid that he should go back into Castille with him: but my Cid said he would not go into Castille till he had won that castle of Rueda, and delivered the villainous Moors thereof into his hands, that he might do justice upon them. So the King thanked him greatly, and returned into Castille, and my Cid remained before the Castle of Rueda. And he lay before it so long, and beset it so close, that the food of the Moors failed, and they had no strength to defend themselves; and they would willingly have yielded the castle, so they might have been permitted to leave it and go whither they would; but he would have their bodies, to deliver them up to the King. When they saw that it must be so, great part of them came out, and yielded themselves prisoners; and then my Cid stormed the Castle, and took Almofalez and they who held with him, so that none escaped; and he sent him and his accomplices in the treason to the King. And the King was right glad when they were brought before him, and he did great justice upon them, and sent to thank my Cid for having avenged him.
XXI. After my Cid had done this good service to King Don Alfonso, he and King Zulema of Zaragoza entered Aragon, slaying, and burning, and plundering before them, and they returned to the Castle of Monzon with great booty. Then the Cid went into King Abenalfange’s country, and did much mischief there; and he got among the mountains of Moriella, and beat down every thing before him, and destroyed the Castle of Moriella. And King Zulema sent to bid him build up the ruined Castle of Alcala, which is upon Moriella; and the Cid did so. But King Abenalfange being sorely grieved hereat, sent to King Pedro of Aragon, and besought him to come and help him against the Campeador. And the King of Aragon gathered together a great host in his anger, and he and the King of Denia came against my Cid, and they halted that night upon the banks of the Ebro; and King Don Pedro sent letters to the Cid, bidding him leave the castle which he was then edifying. My Cid made answer, that if the King chose to pass that way in peace, he would let him pass, and show him any service in his power. And when the King of Aragon saw that he would not forsake the work, he marched against him, and attacked him. Then was there a brave battle, and many were slain; but my Cid won the day, and King Abenalfange fled, and King Don Pedro was taken prisoner, and many of his Counts and knights with him. My Cid returned to Zaragoza with this great honour, taking his prisoners with him; and he set them all freely at liberty, and having tarried in Zaragoza a few days, set forth for Castille, with great riches and full of honours.
XXII. Having done all these things in his banishment, my Cid returned to Castille, and the King received him well, and gave him the Castle of Dueñas, and of Orcejon, and Ybia, and Campo, and Gaña, and Berviesca, and Berlanga, with all their districts. And he gave him privileges with leaden seals appendant, and confirmed with his own hand, that whatever castles, towns, and places, he might win from the Moors, or from any one else, should be his own, quit and free for ever, both for him and for his descendants. Thus was my Cid received into the King’s favour,
and he abode with him long time, doing him great services, as his Lord.
BOOK V.
I. In these days King Yahia reigned in Toledo, the grandson of King Alimaymon, who had been the friend of King Don Alfonso; for Alimaymon was dead, and his son Hicem also. Now Yahia was a bad King, and one who walked not in the ways of his fathers. Insolent he was towards the elders, and cruel towards his people: and his yoke was so heavy that all men desired to see his death, because there was no good in him. And the people seeing that he did not protect them, and that their lands were ravaged safely, went to him and said, Stand up, Sir, for thy people and thy country, else we must look for some other Lord who will defend us. But he was of such lewd customs that he gave no heed to their words. And when they knew that there was no hope of him, the Moors sent to the King of Badajoz, inviting him to come and be their protector, saying that they would deliver the city into his hands in spite of Yahia. And the Muzarabes who dwelt in the city sent to King Don Alfonso, exhorting him to win Toledo, which he might well do, now that he was no longer bound by his oath. Then both Kings came, thinking to have the city: and the King of Badajoz came first, and the gates were opened to him in despite of Yahia. Howbeit King Don Alfonso speedily arrived, and the King of Badajoz, seeing that he could not maintain Toledo against him, retreated, and King Don Aifonso pursued him into his own dominions and gave orders that he should be attacked along the whole of his border, and did not leave him till he had plainly submitted. In this manner was Yahia delivered from the King of Badajoz; but King Don Alfonso knowing how that city was to be taken, contented himself with overrunning the country, and despoiling it, even to the walls of the city; and thus he did for four years, so that he was master of the land.
II. In all this time did my Cid do good service to King Don Alfonso. And in these days King Don Alfonso fought at Consuegra with King Abenalfange of Denia, and in this battle the Christians were defeated, and Diego Rodriguez, the son of my Cid, was slain. Greatly was his death lamented by the Christians, for he was a youth of great hope, and one who was beginning to tread in the steps of his father. And King Don Alfonso was fain to retire into the Castle of that town. And Abenalfange gathered together the greatest power of the Moors that he could, and entered the land of the Christians, and past the mountains, and came even to Medina del Campo, and there Alvar Fañez Minaya met him. Minaya had but five and twenty hundred horse with him, and of the Moors there were fifteen thousand; nevertheless by God’s blessing he prevailed against them. And by the virtue of God Alvar Fañez gave King Abenalfange a cruel wound in the face, so that he fled away. Great honour did Minaya win for this victory.
III. Now had King Don Alfonso for many years cut down the bread and the wine and the fruits in all the country round about Toledo, and he made ready to go against the city. The tidings of this great enterprise spread far and wide, and adventurers came from all parts lo be present; not only they of Castille and Leon, Asturias and Nagera, Galicia and Portugal, but King Sancho Ramirez of Aragon came also, with the flower of Aragon and Navarre and Catalonia, and Franks and Germans and Italians, and men of other countries, to bear their part in so great and catholic a war. And the King entertained them well, being full bountiful, insomuch that he was called He of the Open Hand. Never had so goodly a force of Christians been assembled in Spain, nor so great an enterprise attempted, since the coming of the Moors. And of this army was my Cid the leader. So soon as the winter was over they began their march. And when they came to a ford of the Tagus, behold the river was swoln, and the best horsemen feared to try the passage. Now there was a holy man in the camp, by name Lesmes, who was a monk of St. Benedict’s; and he being mounted upon an ass rode first into the ford, and passed safely through the flood; and all who beheld him held it for a great miracle.
IV. Greatly to be blamed are they who lived in those days for not handing down to everlasting remembrance the worthy feats which were atchieved at this siege. For not only was Toledo a strong city, both by nature and in its walls and towers, but the flower of the chivalry of all Spain and of all Christendom was there assembled, and the Moors of Spain also, knowing that this was, as it were, the heart of their empire, did all they could to defend it: greatly to be blamed are they who neglected to transmit to us the memory of their deeds, and greatly have they wronged the worthy knights whose exploits should else have gained for them a never-dying renown. Nothing more, owing to their default, can we say of this so notable a siege, than that when Don Cabrian, the Bishop of Leon, was earnestly engaged in prayer for the success of the Christian arms, the glorious St. Isidro appeared unto him, and certified that in fifteen days the city should be surrendered; and even so it came to pass, for the gates were opened to the King on Thursday the twenty-fifth of May, in the year of the æera 1123, which is the year of Christ 1085. The first Christian banner which entered the city was the banner of my Cid, and my Cid was the first Christian Alcayde of Toledo. Of the terms granted unto the Moors, and how they were set aside for the honour of the Catholic faith, and of the cunning of the Jews who dwelt in the city, and how the Romish ritual was introduced therein, this is not the place to speak; all these things are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Spain.
V. Now Yahai, when he saw that he could by no means hold Toledo, because on the one hand the Moors would give it to the King of Badajoz, and on the other King Don Alfonso warred against it, he made a covenant with King Don Alfonso to yield the city to him, if he with the help of Alvar Fañez would put him in possession of Valencia, which had belonged unto Hicem and Alimaymon, his fathers, but which the Guazil Abdalla Azis held now as his own, calling himself King thereof. And he covenanted that King Don Alfonso should also put into his hand Santa Maria de Albarrazin, and the kingdom of Denia; and the King assented to the covenant, thinking that in this manner the land would be all his own. Yahia therefore sent Abenfarat, who was his cousin, to Valencia, to spy out what the Guazil would do, whether he would peaceably deliver up the kingdom unto him, or whether he would oppose his coming, which he greatly doubted, because it was rumoured that he was about to give his daughter in marriage to the King of Zaragoza. Abenfarat went his way, and took up his abode in the house of a Moor who was called Abenlupo; and while he sojourned there the marriage of the Guazil’s daughter was effected, and the Guazil himself fell sick and died. Then Abenfarat tarried yet awhile to see what would be the issue, for the men of Valencia were greatly troubled because of the death of their King. He left two sons, between whom there was no brotherly love during his life, and now that he was dead there was less. And they divided between them all that he had left, even the least thing did they divide, each being covetous to possess all that he could; and they made two factions in the town, each striving to possess himself of the power therein. But the men of Valencia who were not engaged on their side, and they also who held the castles round about, were greatly troubled because of this strife which was between them; and they also were divided between two opinions, they who were of the one wishing to give the kingdom to the King of Zaragoza, and they who were of the other to yield themselves unto Yahai the grandson of Alimaymon, because of the covenant which King Don Alfonso had made with him. When Abenfarat knew these things he returned unto Yahia, and told him all even as it was; and Yahia saw that he should have the city, because of the discord which was therein.
Complete Poetical Works of Robert Southey Page 254