Chronicle of the Cid

by Unknown

XIV. When eight days were overpast the Bishop Don Hieronymo married the Infantes of Aragon and Navarre to the daughters of the Cid in this manner: the Infante Don Ramiro of Navarre to Doña Elvira; and the Infante Don Sancho of Aragon to Doña Sol. And on the day after they had been espoused they received the blessing in the great Church of St. Peter, as is commanded by the law of Jesus Christ, and the Bishop said mass. Who can tell the great rejoicings which were made at those marriages, and the great nobleness thereof? Certes there would be much to tell; for during eight days that they lasted, there was feasting every day, full honourably and plentifully, where all persons did eat out of silver; and many bulls were killed every day, and many of those wild beasts which the Soldán sent; and many sports were devised, and many garments and saddles and noble trappings were given to the joculars. And the Moors also exhibited their sports and rejoicings, after such divers manners, that men knew not which to go to first. So great was the multitude which was there assembled, that they were counted at eight thousand hidalgos. And when the marriage was concluded, the Cid took his sons-in-law and led them by the hand to Doña Ximena, and showed them all the noble things which the Soldan had sent him; and they when they beheld such great treasures and such noble things were greatly astonished, and said that they did not think there had been a man in Spain so rich as the Cid, nor who possessed such things. And as they were marvelling from whence such riches could have come, both of gold and silver, and of precious stones and pearls, the Cid embraced them and said, My sons, this and all that I have is for you and for your wives, and I will give unto you the noblest and most precious things that ever were given with women for their dowry: for I will give you the half of all that you see here, and the other half I and Doña Ximena will keep so long as we live, and after our death all shall be yours; and my days are now well nigh full. Then the Infantes made answer, that they prayed God to grant him life for many and happy years yet, and that they thanked him greatly, and held him as their father; and that they would ever have respect to his honour and be at his service, holding themselves honoured by the tie that there was between them. Three months these Infantes abode with the Cid in Valencia, in great pleasure. And then they dispeeded themselves of the Cid and of their mother-in-law Doña Ximena, and took each his wife and returned into their own lands with great riches and honour. And the Cid gave them great treasures, even as he had promised, and gave them certain of those strange beasts which the Soldan had sent. And he rode out with them twelve leagues. And when they took leave of each other there was not a knight of all those who came with the Infantes to whom the Cid did not give something, horse, or mule, or garments, or money, so that all were well pleased; and he gave his daughters his blessing, and commended them to God, and then he returned to Valencia, and they went to their own country.

XV. After the Cid had seen his sons-in-law depart, he sent for the messenger of the Soldan, and gave him many of the rare things of his country to carry unto his Lord. And he gave him a sword which had the device of the Soldan wrought in gold, and a coat of mail and sleeve armour, and a noble gipion which was wrought of knots; and his letters of reply, which were full of great assurances of friendship. Much was the messenger of the Soldan pleased with the Cid for the great honour which he had shown him, and much was he pleased also at seeing how honourably the marriage of his daughters had been celebrated. So he departed and went to the port, and embarked on board his ship, and went to his Lord the Soldan.

XVI. After this the Cid abode in Valencia, and he laboured a full year in settling all the Castles of the Moors who were subject unto him in peace, and in settling the Moors of Valencia well with the Christians; and this he did so that their tribute was well paid from this time till his death. And all the land from Tortoso to Origuela was under his command. And from this time he abode in peace in Valencia; and laboured alway to serve God and to increase the Catholic faith, and to make amends for the faults he had committed towards God, for he weened that his days now would be but few. And it came to pass one day, the Cid having risen from sleep and being in his Alcazar, there came before him an Alfaqui whom he had made Alcalde of the Moors; his name was Alfaraxi, and he it was who made the lamentation for Valencia, as is recorded in this history. This Alfaqui had served the Cid well in his office of Alcalde over the Moors of Valencia: for he kept them in peace, and made them pay their tribute well, being a discreet man and of great prudence, so that for this and for his speech he might have been taken for a Christian; and for this reason the Cid loved him and put great trust in him. And when the Cid saw him he asked him what he would have: and he like a prudent man bent his knees before him, and began to kiss his hand, and said, Sir Cid Ruydiez, blessed be the name of Jesus Christ who hath brought you to this state that you are Lord of Valencia, one of the best and noblest cities in Spain. What I would have is this. Sir, my forefathers were of this city, and I am a native hereof; and when I was a little lad the Christians took me captive, and I learnt their tongue among them, and then my will was to be a Christian, and to abide there in the land of the Christians; but my father and mother, being rich persons, released me. And God showed me such favour, and gave me such understanding and so subtle, that I learnt all the learning of the Moors, and was one of the most honourable and best Alfaquis that ever was in Valencia till this time, and of the richest, as you know, Sir; and you in your bounty made me Alcalde, and gave me your authority over the Moors, of which peradventure I was not worthy. And now, Sir, thinking in my heart concerning the law in which I have lived, I find that I have led a life of great error, and that all which Mahommed the great deceiver gave to the Moors for their law, is deceit: and therefore, Sir, I turn me to the faith of Jesus Christ, and will be a Christian and believe in the Catholic faith. And I beseech you of your bounty give order that I may be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and give me what name you will. And from this time forward I will live the life of a Christian, and fulfil what is written in the Gospel, and forsake wife and children and kin, and all that there is in the world, and serve God, and believe in his faith and holy law, as far as the weakness of my body can bear. When the Cid Ruydiez heard this he began to smile for very pleasure; and he rose up and took Alfaraxi with him to Doña Ximena, and said, Here is our Alcalde, who will be a Christian, and our brother in the faith of Jesus Christ: I beseech you therefore give order to provide all things that may be needful. When Doña Ximena heard this she rejoiced greatly, and gave order that all things should be full nobly prepared. And on the morrow the Bishop Don Hieronymo baptized him, and they gave him the name of Gil Diaz: and his godfathers were Don Alvar Fañez, and Pero Bermudez, and Martin Antolinez of Burgos; and Doña Ximena, with other honourable dames, were his godmothers. And from that time forward Gil Diaz was in such favour with the Cid, that he trusted all his affairs to his hands, and he knew so well how to demean himself, both towards him and all those of his company, that they all heartily loved him.

BOOK XI.

I. It is written in the history which Abenalfarax, the nephew of Gil Diaz, composed in Valencia, that for five years the Cid Ruydiez remained Lord thereof in peace, and in all that time he sought to do nothing but to serve God, and to keep the Moors quiet who were under his dominion; so that Moors and Christians dwelt together in such accord, that it seemed as if they had alway been united; and they all loved and served the Cid with such goodwill that it was marvellous. And when these five years were over tidings were spread far and near, which reached Valencia, that King Bucar the Miramamolin of Morocco, holding himself disgraced because the Cid Campeador had conquered him in the field of Quarto near unto Valencia, where he had slain or made prisoners all his people, and driven him into the sea, and made spoil of all the treasures which he had brought with him; … King Bucar calling these things to mind, had gone himself and stirred up the whole Paganism of Barbary, even as far as Montes Claros, to cross the sea again, and avenge himself if he could; and he had assembled so great a power that no man could devise their numbers. When the Cid heard these tidings he was troubled at heart; how beit he dissembled this, so that no person knew what he was minded to do; and thus the matter remained for some days. And when he saw that the news came thicker and faster, and that it was altogether certain that King Bucar was coming over sea against him, he sent and bade all the Moors of Valencia assemble together in his presence, and when they were all assembled he said unto them, Good men of the Aljama, ye well know that from the day wherein I became Lord of Valencia, ye have alway been protected and defended, and have past your time well and peaceably in your houses and heritages, none troubling you nor doing you wrong; neither have I who am your Lord ever done aught unto you that was against right. And now true tidings are come to me that King Bucar of Morocco is arrived from beyond sea, with a mighty power of Moors, and that he is coming against me to take from me this city which I won with so great labour. Now therefore, seeing it is so, I hold it good and command that ye quit the town, both ye and your sons and your women, and go into the suburb of Alcudia and the other suburbs, to dwell there with the other Moors, till we shall see the end of this business between me and King Bucar. Then the Moors, albeit they were loth, obeyed his command; and when they were all gone out of the city, so that none remained, he held himself safer than he had done before.

II. Now after the Moors were all gone out of the city, it came to pass in the middle of the night that the Cid was lying in his bed, devising how he might withstand this coming of King Bucar, for Abenalfarax saith that when he was alone in his palace his thoughts were of nothing else. And when it was midnight there came a great light into the palace, and a great odour, marvellous sweet. And as he was marvelling what it might be, there appeared before him a man as white as snow; he was in the likeness of an old man, with grey hair and crisp, and he carried certain keys in his hand; and before the Cid could speak to him he said, Sleepest thou, Rodrigo, or what are thou doing? And the Cid made answer, What man art thou who askest me? And he said, I am St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, who come unto thee with more urgent tidings than those for which thou art taking thought concerning King Bucar, and it is, that thou art to leave this world, and go to that which hath no end; and this will be in thirty days. But God will show favour unto thee, so that thy people shall discomfit King Bucar, and thou, being dead, shalt win this battle for the honour of thy body: this will be with the help of Santiago, whom God will send to the business: but do thou strive to make atonement for thy sins, and so thou shall be saved. All this Jesus Christ vouchsafest thee for the love of me, and for the reverence which thou hast alway shown to my Church in the Monastery of Cárdena. When the Cid Campeador heard this he had great pleasure at heart, and he let himself fall out of bed upon the earth, that he might kiss the feet of the Apostle St. Peter; but the Apostle said, Strive not to do this, for thou canst not touch me; but be sure that all this which I have told thee will come to pass.

And when the blessed Apostle had said this he disappeared, and the palace remained full of a sweeter and more delightful odour than heart of man can conceive. And the Cid Ruydiez remained greatly comforted by what St. Peter had said to him, and as certain that all this would come to pass, as if it were already over.

III. Early on the morrow he sent to call all his honourable men to the Alcazar; and when they were all assembled before him, he began to say unto them, weeping the while, Friends and kinsmen and true vassals and honourable men, many of ye must well remember when King Don Alfonso our Lord twice banished me from his land, and most of ye for the love which ye bore me followed me into banishment, and have guarded me ever since. And God hath shown such mercy to you and to me, that we have won many battles against Moors and Christians; those which were against Christians, God knows, were more through their fault than my will, for they strove to set themselves against the good fortune which God had given me, and to oppose his service, helping the enemies of the faith. Moreover we won this city in which we dwell, which is not under the dominion of any man in the world, save only of my Lord the King Don Alfonso, and that rather by reason of our natural allegiance than of anything else. And now I would have ye know the state in which this body of mine now is; for be ye certain that I am in the latter days of my life, and that thirty days hence will be my last. Of this I am well assured; for for these seven nights past I have seen visions. I have seen my father Diego Laynez, and Diego Rodríguez my son; and every time they say to me, You have tarried long here, let us go now among the people who endure for ever. Now notwithstanding man ought not to put his trust in these things, nor in such visions, I know this by other means to be certain, for Sir St. Peter hath appeared to me this night, when I was awake and not sleeping, and he told me that when these thirty days were over, I should pass away from this world. Now ye know for certain that King Bucar is coming against us, and they say that thirty and six Moorish Kings are coming with him; and since he bringeth so great a power of Moors, and I have to depart so soon, how can ye defend Valencia! But be ye certain, that by the mercy of God I shall counsel ye so, that ye shall conquer King Bucar in the field, and win great praise and honour from him, and Doña Ximena, and ye and all that ye have, go hence in safety; how ye are to do all this I will tell ye hereafter, before I depart.

IV. After the Cid had said this he sickened of the malady of which he died. And the day before his weakness waxed great, he ordered the gates of the town to be shut, and went to the Church of St. Peter; and there the Bishop Don Hieronymo being present, and all the clergy who were in Valencia, and the knights and honourable men and honourable dames, as many as the Church could hold, the Cid Ruydiez stood up, and made a full noble preaching, showing that no man whatsoever, however honourable or fortunate they may be in this world, can escape death; to which, said he, I am now full near; and since ye know that this body of mine hath never yet been conquered, nor put to shame, I beseech ye let not this befall it at the end, for the good fortune of man is only accomplished at his end. How this is to be done, and what ye all have to do, I will leave in the hands of the Bishop Don Hieronymo, and Alvar Fañez, and Pero Bermudez. And when he had said this he placed himself at the feet of the Bishop, and there before all the people made a general confession of all his sins, and all the faults which he had committed against our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bishop appointed him his penance, and assoyled him of his sins. Then he arose and took leave of the people, weeping plenteously, and returned to the Alcazar, and betook himself to his bed, and never rose from it again; and every day he waxed weaker and weaker, till seven days only remained of the time appointed. Then he called for the caskets of gold in which was the balsam and the myrrh which the Soldan of Persia had sent him; and when these were put before him he bade them bring him the golden cup, of which he was wont to drink; and he took of that balsam and of that myrrh as much as a little spoon-full, and mingled it in the cup with rose-water, and drank of it; and for the seven days which he lived he neither ate nor drank aught else than a little of that myrrh and balsam mingled with water. And every day after he did this, his body and his countenance appeared fairer and fresher than before, and his voice clearer, though he waxed weaker and weaker daily, so that he could not move in his bed.

V. On the twenty-ninth day, being the day before he departed, he called for Doña Ximena, and for the Bishop Don Hieronymo, and Don Alvar Fañez Minaya, and Pero Bermudez, and his trusty Gil Diaz; and when they were all five before him, he began to direct them what they should do after his death; and he said to them. Ye know that King Bucar will presently be here to besiege this city, with seven and thirty Kings whom he bringeth with him, and with a mighty power of Moors. Now therefore the first thing which ye do after I have departed, wash my body with rose-water many times and well, as blessed be the name of God it is washed within and made pure of all uncleanness to receive his holy body to-morrow, which will be my last day. And when it has been well washed and made clean, ye shall dry it well, and anoint it with this myrrh and balsam, from these golden caskets, from head to foot, so that every part shall be anointed, till none be left. And you my Sister Doña Ximena, and your women, see that ye utter no cries, neither make any lamentation for me, that the Moors may not know of my death. And when the day shall come in which King Bucar arrives, order all the people of Valencia to go upon the walls, and sound your trumpets and tambours, and make the greatest rejoicings that ye can. And when ye would set out for Castille, let all the people know in secret, that they make themselves ready, and take with them all that they have, so that none of the Moors in the suburb may know thereof; for certes ye cannot keep the city, neither abide therein after my death. And see ye that sumpter beasts be laden with all that there is in Valencia, so that nothing which can profit may be left. And this I leave especially to your charge, Gil Diaz. Then saddle ye my horse Bavieca, and arm him well; and ye shall apparel my body full seemlily, and place me upon the horse, and fasten and tie me thereon so that it cannot fall: and fasten my sword Tizona in my hand. And let the Bishop Don Hieronymo go on one side of me, and my trusty Gil Diaz on the other, and he shall lead my horse. You, Pero Bermudez, shall bear my banner, as you were wont to bear it; and you, Alvar Fañez, my cousin, gather your company together, and put the host in order as you are wont to do. And go ye forth and fight with King Bucar: for be ye certain and doubt not that ye shall win this battle; God hath granted me this. And when ye have won the fight, and the Moors are discomfited, ye may spoil the field at pleasure. Ye will find great riches. What ye are afterwards to do I will tell ye to-morrow, when I make my testament.