The World of El Cid: Manchester University Press

THE WORLD OF EL CID
MANCHESTER
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Manchester Medieval Sources Series
series advisers Rosemary Horrox and Janet L. Nelson
This series aims to meet a growing need amongst students and teachers of medieval
history for translations of key sources that are directly usable in students’ own work.
It provides texts central to medieval studies courses and focuses upon the diverse
cultural and social as well as political conditions that affected the functioning of all
levels of medieval society. The basic premise of the series is that translations must be
accompanied by sufficient introductory and explanatory material, and each volume,
therefore, includes a comprehensive guide to the sources’ interpretation, including
discussion of critical linguistic problems and an assessment of the most recent research
on the topics being covered.
already published in the series
J. A. Boyle Genghis Khan: history of the world conqueror
Trevor Dean The towns of Italy in the later Middle Ages
John Edwards The Jews in Western Europe, 1400-1600
Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding Late Merovingian France
P. J. P. Goldberg Women in England,\ c. 1275-1525
Janet Hamilton and Bernard Hamilton Christian dualist heresies in the Byzantine world
c. 650-c. 1450
Rosemary Horrox The Black Death
Graham A. Loud and Thomas Wiedemann The history of the tyrants of Sicily by ‘Hugo
Falcandus\ 1153-69
R. N. Swanson Catholic England: faith, religion and observance before the Reformation
Elizabeth van Houts The Normans in Europe
Jennifer Ward Women of the English nobility and gentry, 1066-1500
forthcoming titles in the series will include
Mark Bailey English manorial records, c. 1180-1520.
Ross Balzaretti North Italian histories, AD 800-1100
Brenda Bolton Innocent III
Alison McHardy The early reign of Richard II
Edward Powell and Anthony Musson Crime, law and society in late medieval England
Ian Robinson The Pontificate of Gregory VII
THE WORLD OF EL CID
CHRONICLES OF THE SPANISH RECONQUEST
selected sources translated and annotated by

Simon Barton and Richard Fletcher
Manchester University Press

Manchester and New York
distributed exclusively in the USA by St. Martin s Press

Copyright © Simon Barton and Richard Fletcher 2000
The right of Simon Barton and Richard Fletcher to be identified as the editors of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
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CONTENTS
List of figures page vi

Foreword vii
Preface ix
List of abbreviations xi
Map xii
Genealogical table xiii
General introduction 1
I: Historia Sítense 9
Introduction to the Historia Sítense 9

Historia Sítense 24
II: Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, Chronicon Regum Legionensium 65

Introduction to the Chronicon Regum Legionensium of Bishop
Pelayo of Oviedo 65
Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, Chronicon Regum Legionensium 74
III: Historia Roderici 90
Introduction to the Historia Roderici 90

Historia Roderici 98
TV: Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris 148
Introduction to the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris 148

Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris 162
Bibliography 264
Index 274
LIST OF FIGURES
1 The Iberian peninsula at the death of El Cid, 1099

2 Genealogical table of the Leonese-Castilian royal house
FOREWORD
Long relatively neglected by anglophone historians, the multiple histories of

medieval Spain, thoroughly distinctive, post-Roman yet not wholly Latin-
Christian, are now beginning to take their rightful places alongside other
parts of Europe in the history of the Middle Ages. This welcome development
has been due in large part to one of the authors of the present volume, Richard
Fletcher, and has latterly been strongly assisted by the other, Simon Barton.
Both with expert knowledge, on the historical as on the literary and Hispanist
front, of the texts translated and commented upon here, these two scholars
have joined forces to make available all the main narrative sources of eleventh-
and twelfth-century Spain. This crucially important period, of cultural and
social formation and flowering, of political conflict and crystallisation, has
until now been fairly impenetrable for non-specialists. Visitors to León and
Toledo, Burgos, Zaragoza and Valencia gain a vivid yet imprecise sense of the
world of El Cid, negotiating his way between al-Andalus and the Christian
north, and of successive Alfonsos ducking and weaving and battling their way
to the creation of the medieval kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Richard
Fletcher and Simon Barton now make it possible for those without Latin to
read the key texts, to understand their authors’ backgrounds and purposes, to
appreciate their specific literary and historical contexts, and to analyse the
structures of power they reveal. Above all, since, as Marc Bloch wrote, ‘it is
men that history seeks to grasp’, these two fine historians acquaint us with the
characters (and they include a few women too) who throng the chroniclers’
pages. We gain a familiarity, at once vivid and precise, with the nobles and
ecclesiastics, kings and royal kin, whose journeyings and campaigns we
follow, and whose religious and material concerns emerge so clearly in these
pages. This is exactly the kind of historical material that Manchester
Medieval Sources aim to make accessible, and with this splendid volume
alongside John Edwards’ earlier one, it is a particular delight to have Spain
now deservedly well represented in the series.
Janet L. Nelson
King’s College London.
PREFACE
The study of the medieval history of Spain in the English-speaking world has
taken enormous strides over the last generation or so. In the mid-1960s, when
the elder of these two collaborators embarked upon research for a doctorate,
there were scarcely any reputable scholarly works to be had; by the year 2000
the list of them is ample and steadily growing. But the publication of surveys
and monographs, of articles and editions, has not been matched - at least as
regards the central medieval period between the tenth and thirteenth centuries
- by comparable publication of extended translations from the original sources.
It is in an attempt to take some modest steps towards redressing this
imbalance that we have translated the four texts contained within this book.
Together they constitute the principal narrative sources for Leonese—
Castilian history in the century and a half between c. 1000 and c. 1150.
We have worked from the following editions:
1 Historia Silense, eds J. Pérez de Urbel and A. González Ruiz-Zorrilla
(Madrid, 1959).
2 Chronicon Regum Legionensium by Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, under the title
Crónica del Obispo Don Pelayo, ed. B. Sánchez Alonso (Madrid, 1924).
3 Historia Roderici vel Gesta Roderici Campidocti, ed. E. Falque Rey, in Chronica
Hispana saeculi XII, Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis, vol.
71 (Turnhout, 1990), pp. 47-98.
4 Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris, ed. A. Maya Sánchez, in the same volume of
Chronica Hispana saeculi XII, pp. 149-248; together with the associated
verses on the Almería campaign of 1147 edited in the same volume by J. Gil
at pp. 255-67.
The introductions to these editions furnish details of the surviving manu

scripts, previous editions and so forth. No English translation of any of these
texts has been published before in its entirety. Brief extracts from 1, 3 and 4
have been translated in Colin Smith’s Christians and Moors in Spain, vol. I
(Warminster, 1988). Modern Spanish translations have been published as
follows:
1 (a) M. Gómez-Moreno, Introducción a la Historia Silense (Madrid, 1921),
pp. lxiii-cxxxvi.
(b) J. E. Casariego, Crónicas de los Reinos de Asturias y León (Madrid, 1985),
pp. 110-58.
2 Casariego, as above, pp. 172—81.
3 E. Falque Rey, ‘Traducción de la “Historia Roderici", Boletín de la Institución
Fernán González 62 (1983), pp. 343-75.
4 M. Pérez González, Crónica del Emperador Alfonso VII (León, 1997).
X PREFACE
We divided responsibility for the introductions, translations and notes

between us, to Richard Fletcher falling the Historia Silense and the Historia
Roderici and to Simon Barton the Chronicon Regum Legionensium and the
Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris. Each of us submitted his draft work to the other
for criticism, on the understanding that absolute candour was required of the
critic, absolute humility in the criticised. In the resultant shuffling of papers,
the muted buzzings and pingings of faxes and emails, extending over some
two years or more, we hope that we have improved upon our first hesitant
drafts. To our surprise and pleasure we found that harmonious co-operation
was never once threatened by even the suspicion of a cross word so much as
meditated, let alone uttered. Of the ancillary portions of the work, to which we
applied the same routines, Richard Fletcher drafted the general introduction,
Simon Barton the bibliography, map and genealogical table.
We are indebted to many colleagues and friends to whom we have turned, and
never in vain, for advice, help or information. Specifically we wish to put on
record our gratitude to Martin Brett, Roger Collins, Emma Falque, Christopher
Holdsworth, John Keegan, Peter Linehan, Raymond McCluskey, Marcelo
Martínez Pastor, Maurilio Pérez González, Bernard Reilly, María José de
Vega Alonso, Geoff West, John Williams, John Wreglesworth and Roger
Wright. A special word of thanks is due to Jinty Nelson, the series adviser,
both for her enthusiastic encouragement of our project and for her construc
tive critique of our efforts; also to Louise Edwards and Vanessa Graham and
their colleagues at Manchester University Press in watching over the
progress of this book from its outset to its completion.
The dedication is the expression of a different sort of debt. Barrie Dobson has
been a colleague, mentor and friend of us both over many years. In dedicating
this book to him in the year of his retirement we register our gratitude.
Simon Barton
Richard Fletcher
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AHDE Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español

AHN Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid
BN Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid
BRAH Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia
CAI Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris
CCCM Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis (Turnhout)
CD Fernando I Colección diplomática de Femando I (1037 - 1065), ed. P.
Blanco Lozano (León, 1987).
CHE Cuadernos de Historia de España
ES E. Flórez, M. Risco et al, España Sagrada, 51 vols
(Madrid, 1747-1879).
HC Historia Compostellana, ed. E. Falque Rey, CCCM 70
(Turnhout, 1988).
HR Historia Roderici
HS Historia Silense
JL Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ad annum 1198 , ed. P.
Jaffé, revised S. Loewenfeld, et al, 2 vols (Leipzig, 1885).
JMH Journal of Medieval History
PA Poem of Almería
PL Patrología cursus completus. Series Latina, ed. J.-P. Migne,
217 vols (Paris, 1844-64).
RMP R. Menéndez Pidal, La España del Cid, 2 vols (7th edn.,
Madrid, 1969).
The Iberian peninsula at the death of El Cid, 1099
Vermudo II
(982-99)
Alfonso V Sancho Garcés III

(999-1028) of Navarre
(1004-35)
Vermudo III Sancha = Fernando I

(1028-37) (1037-65)
Sancho II Alfonso VI Garcia I

of Castile (1065-1109) of Galicia
(1065-72) (1065-73)
(2) I 0)
Alfonso I Urraca Raymond Teresa = Henry of
of Aragon (1109-26) of Burgundy (d. 1130) Burgundy
(1104—
34) (d. 1107) (d. 1112)
Alfonso VII Alfonso I

(1126-57) of Portugal
(1128-85)
2 Genealogical table of the Leonese-Castilian royal house

To Barrie Dobson
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The Visigothic monarchy of Spain which flourished in the seventh

and eighth centuries was the most sophisticated of the misleadingly
so-called barbarian successor states which replaced the Roman Empire
in western Europe. It was sophisticated in its grasp of the institutional
inheritance from Rome, in its nurturing of the wealth of the rich
provinces of the Iberian peninsula and in its encouragement of a lively
Christian literary and artistic culture. Later generations would look
back nostalgically to the revered figures of the seventh-century golden
age: godly lawgiving kings like Sisebut and Wamba, towering giants
of Christian learning like St Isidore of Seville and St Julian of Toledo,
the devout prelates who attended the long series of ecclesiastical
councils of Toledo and elaborated the splendid liturgy of the Visigothic
Church. This cultural achievement was shattered and dispersed by the
Islamic conquest of Spain in the early years of the eighth century.
‘Islamic conquest’ is shorthand. The conquerors were led by Arab
Muslims, but their rank-and-file were Berbers from north-west
Africa, recently subdued with great difficulty by the Arabs and as yet,
little touched by Islamic teaching. The Christians who were van
quished did not regard the conquerors as the adherents of a new
religious faith but as heretics, deviants from Christian orthodoxy.
That the Visigothic state could be destroyed as the result of a single
defeat in pitched battle may be seen as paradoxical tribute to the very
effectiveness of its monarchy. But Christian Spanish society continued
to function, albeit under more-or-less severe dislocation in the course
of the eighth century, under the new masters. It was only very
gradually that a distinctively Islamic society came into being in what
the Arabs called al-Andalus, by which they meant that large part of
the Iberian peninsula under Islamic rule. The Berbers became more
Islamicised. Some indigenous Christians started to drift across the
religious divide and embrace the faith of Islam. Others abandoned
their homeland and departed to make new lives for themselves under
Christian rulers elsewhere.
Some of these refugees sought asylum in distant places beyond the
Pyrenees. Others remained within the peninsula, finding refuge on its
northern fringes. Up in the north-west, from the Basque country of
2 THE WORLD OF EL CID
the western Pyrenees along the Cantabrian coast to Galicia and the
Atlantic, the Arab hold had been uncertain, even reluctant. The area
was ecologically unappealing to them: distant, mountainous, cold,
wet, a waste land where camels ailed and no dates grew; it was not
worth the striving for. The rulers of al-Andalus accordingly withdrew
their northern frontier to the line of the River Duero, which they
fortified with a network of strongpoints. To the north of that line
there grew up in circumstances of some obscurity a Christian mini
principality, initially clustered about the royal residence at Oviedo in
the Asturias, later expanding to the east and west, and then spilling
southwards over the Cantabrian mountains into the valleys of the
northern affluents of the Duero and finding a new focus and centre,
early in the tenth century, at the town of León. It is with the activities
of the kings of León that three out of the four narratives in this
volume are principally concerned.
León was not the only Christian principality in early medieval Spain.
In the western Pyrenees a kingdom of Pamplona, later to be known as
Navarre, emerged in desperately obscure circumstances in the ninth
century. An eastern subdivision of Navarre, taking its name from the
River Aragón in whose headwaters it had its nucleus, would be con
stituted a separate kingdom in the eleventh century. Further to the
east, in Catalonia, the Frankish aristocracies of southern Gaul set up
frontier lordships, collectively known as the ‘Spanish March’ (or
‘Frontier’), in a kaleidoscope of eastern Pyrenean counties - of Urgell,
Confient, Cerdanya, Besalú, Empuñes, Girona and Osona (to name
only the most important) which, bit by bit, would be amalgamated
into a single county of Barcelona. The authors of the works translated
here were not much concerned with Navarre or Aragon or the
Catalan counties. A partial exception must be made for one of them,
the anonymous author of the Historia Roderici, whose hero, Rodrigo
Diaz (better remembered as E l Cid), spent much of his turbulent
career fighting in eastern Spain and had dealings with both the kings
of Aragon and the counts of Barcelona.
Rodrigo was a native of Castilla, or Castile. This region was the
south-eastern frontier province of the kingdom of León, taking its
name from the castella, the castles which defended it from Andalusi
raids. Restive under Leonese control, the counts achieved a de facto
independence in the course of the tenth century, and Castile was
constituted a kingdom in the eleventh. The confusing shifts of relation
ship between the kingdoms of León and Castile need no further
INTRODUCTION S
comment here: we hope that a tortuous path is adequately signposted

in our notes. What needs emphasis here is that the ruling élites of
León consistently thought of themselves as the primary political
authorities in Christian Spain, heirs to the unitary monarchy wielded
by the kings of the Visigoths back in the seventh century.
The Muslim rulers of al-Andalus —amirs until 929 when they took the
spiritual title of caliph or ‘successor’ (to the Prophet) —had laboriously
constructed an impressive centralised state, governed from Córdoba,
which was at the peak of its power and renown in the tenth century.
If, in retrospect, the Caliphate of Córdoba looks a little less stable than
some of its historians have claimed, this was not visible to contempor
aries. It loomed over the kingdom of León much as Constantinople at
the same epoch loomed over the principality of Kiev. Relations between
the two ill-matched neighbours were not invariably hostile but could
easily become so. This happened during the last twenty years of the
tenth century. The Caliph of the day had been effectively sidelined by
his first minister, the vizir known to Christian chroniclers as Almanzor,
from his honorific title al-Mansur, ‘the Victorious’. Between 981 and
his death in 1002, Almanzor struck repeatedly at the principalities of
the Christian north in a series of campaigns which left a scarred
memory in the collective consciousness of their inhabitants: their
impact can be felt in Bishop Pelayo’s Chronicle of the Kings of León and
in the Historia Silense. Shortly afterwards, however, the terms of
Leonese-Andalusi relations were entirely reversed. For reasons which
are not wholly understood, the Caliphate of Córdoba lapsed into civil
war and fragmented. By 1031 it had been replaced by a score of petty
principalities, typically based upon a city and its surrounding
territory, known to historians as the Taifa states (from an Arabic
word meaning ‘party’ or ‘faction’) or simply the Taifas. The kings of
León, notably Fernando I (1037-65) and his son Alfonso VI (1065-
1109) became skilful in exploiting and manipulating the factious
rulers of the Taifas. They operated what Angus MacKay has called ‘a
protection racket’, offering their services as military ‘protectors’ in
return for payment, normally in gold but sometimes in other forms
such, for example, as the mortal remains of St Isidore, whose relics
were ‘translated’ from Seville to León in 1063 as related at length in
the Historia Silense. These payments of tribute were known as parias.
There were opportunities here too for the royal henchmen, the
nobilities of León and Castile, to profit by playing the same system,
and indeed for freelance operators to break away from royal service
and to run their own rackets. The most famous of these men was
Rodrigo Díaz, E l Cid, whose astonishing exploits were narrated by
the anonymous author of the Historia Roderici.
Christian rulers in eleventh-century Spain in general preferred tribute
and plunder to gains in land. Some historians have claimed that they
were, and had been since the eighth century, imbued with the zeal for
Reconquista, ‘reconquest’, the all-consuming imperative of repossess
ing the homeland for Christian Spaniards. The claim has played a
significant part in the Spanish national mythology. The truth would
seem to be rather less straightforward. It is reasonably clear that from
at least the latter part of the ninth century Asturo-Leonese ruling
circles cherished ideas of continuity with the Visigothic past and, at
any rate, from time to time dreamed of a restored Christian order which
would supersede the alien Islamic presence. It is also indisputable that
slow territorial expansion did take place: by the eleventh century the
southern frontier of the kingdom of León lay along - very roughly
speaking - the valley of the Duero; the no man’s land separating
Muslim and Christian had shifted to the south. But it would be impru
dent to connect expansion with ideology alone. There were less exalted
impulses at work. One of these was demographic. The mountainous
north was probably densely populated in the early medieval period -
in Catalonia, where records have survived in great abundance, it is
demonstrable that the Pyrenean valleys were far more thickly settled
a thousand years ago than they are today. The pressure of humans
upon resources was a powerful stimulus to expansion, as was farming
practice. Pastoralism played an important part in the Leonese
economy. Surviving documents from the tenth and eleventh centuries
reveal big herds of cattle, sheep and goats, and sizeable stud-farms for
the stockmen and their lords. Ample pastures were needed. So too
were armed men to patrol them and to garrison the strongpoints
where a refuge could be found when Almanzor’s cavalry was sighted.
Eleventh-century León was an expanding kingdom, a frontier society
imbued with a militant code of conduct; but that is not quite the same
as being wholly animated by an ideal of reconquest.
Of course, some territorial adventures had a special resonance. In
1085 Alfonso VI raptured Toledo. The diplomatic background to this
was the king’s ever-closer involvement, as protector, in the affairs of
the unstable Taifa principality of Toledo. Eventually it made more
sense to take over the principality than to go on trying to shore up a
feckless ruler. But Toledo was no ordinary city: capital of the
INTRODUCTION 5
Visigothic monarchy, seat of the Primate of the Spanish Church,

where Isidore and Julian had sat in council and where the visible
monuments of that golden age were a constant reminder of past glory
—the gain of Toledo was the most resounding blow for Christendom
yet struck in the century which was to close with the even more
resounding capture of Antioch and Jerusalem by the armies of the
First Crusade. And it was not only in Christian ears that it resounded.
The remaining Taifa rulers were scared out of their wits. In their
panic they sought help from Morocco and in doing so, signed their
own death warrant.
In the middle years of the eleventh century a movement of what today
would be styled Islamic fundamentalism had taken root in Morocco.
The Almoravids were a sect of austere, unflinching Islamic rigour.
Their armies crossed the Straits in 1086 to answer the appeal of their
co-religionists and did indeed inflict a heavy defeat upon Alfonso VI
at Sagrajas, near Badajoz, and went on to threaten his possession of
Toledo. But they were also shocked by what they saw as the religious
backslidings of their Taifa hosts. Shortly afterwards the Almoravid
leaders turned upon the Taifa rulers and deposed them one by one. By
1095 all the Taifa states of southern and central Spain - the exceptions
were Zaragoza and Albarracin in the north-east - had been taken over
by the Almoravids. Al-Andalus was once more united, as in the great
days of the Caliphate of Córdoba.
The early twelfth century was a time of peril for the Leonese, as the
Almoravids kept up their pressure upon Toledo and the Tagus valley.
Alfonso Vi’s empire seemed about to crumble, as the Aragonese seized
eastern Castile and the county of Portugal began the drift towards
independent statehood which would be realised a generation later
when its count assumed the title of king. The author of the Historia
Silense was a troubled man who wrote for an anxious generation, and
the early chapters of Book II of the Chronicle o f the Emperor Afonso are
witness to the strains of life in Toledo under siege. Clerical
contemporaries blamed the sins of the people, of course, for provoking
the wrath of God into visiting another Almanzor-like scourge upon
them. They also had it in for their ruler, Queen Urraca (1109-26),
daughter of the son-less Alfonso VI, who has had a bad press from
nearly every historian of her reign until quite recently; a woman who
in fact - and like some other twelfth-century queens - did her best in
exceptionally difficult circumstances and nursed her kingdom through
the worst testing it had had to face for over a century.
It is easier for us than it was for contemporaries to see that the

Almoravids were, or at any rate rapidly became, paper tigers. The
Almoravid empire was a mushroom-in-the-night Berber creation
which quickly lost its impetus, after a pattern which Ibn KhaldOn
would delineate two centuries later. The leadership quickly shed its
idealism, and in Spain became just a corrupt colonial regime. Within
a generation Almoravid rule there began to unravel, the process
assisted by widespread revolts which were encouraged by oppor
tunistic Christian rulers. Once more, al-Andalus started to fragment
into its component parts, the so-called Second Taifas.
This was the background to the exploits of Urraca’s son Alfonso VII
(1126-57), the first two-thirds of whose reign were vividly recorded
by the author of the Chronicle the Emperor Alfonso. Briefly, after estab
lishing his authority within his realm, Alfonso followed in the
footsteps of his grandfather and embarked upon a mixture of tribute
taking and territorial expansion which culminated, for our author, in
his conquest of the Mediterranean port of Almería in 1147. But there
was a novel ingredient in the wars of Alfonso VII. The Almería cam
paign was contemporaneous with the Second Crusade and perceived
as a crusade by, among others, the author of the Poem o f Almería.
Little by little, an ideological edge which would have seemed foreign
to Alfonso VI or the Cid had sharpened the encounter between
Christian and Muslim in Spain. At the time of writing the emperor’s
chronicler did not know that Almería would fall back into Muslim
hands a mere ten years later, recaptured by yet another sect of
Moroccan fundamentalists, the Almohads (who make, indeed, some
brief appearances in his pages). But that story lies beyond our scope.
The century that elapsed between the latter years of Fernando I and
the death of his great-grandson Alfonso VII saw far-reaching changes
in the Leonese kingdom: unprecedented territorial expansion; unpre
cedented peril. It also saw entirely novel developments in León’s
relationship with the world of western Christendom beyond the
Pyrenees. Though never entirely insulated from the rest of Europe -
the tomb of St James at Compostela being alone sufficient to ensure a
regular stream of foreign visitors - the kingdom of León had had
little contact with the extra-Pyrenean world in the ninth and tenth
centuries. From the middle years of the eleventh century, immigrants,
especially from France, began to make their way to Spain in considerable
numbers —royal brides and their households, Cluniac monks, secular
clergy, architects and craftsmen, aristocratic adventurers, farmers,
INTRODUCTION 7
businessmen, artisans and mercenary soldiers. At the same time, the

reforming popes of the Hildebrandine age were turning their attention
upon Spain for the first time and finding much about its Christian
observance which did not fit with their notions of seemly standard
isation. They used the incoming French clergy, alongside their own
legates, as agents of change. A good example is Bernard de Sédirac,
native of the Agenais in south-western France, monk of Cluny, abbot
of the Leonese monastery of Sahagún (a dependency of Cluny) and as
archbishop of Toledo from 1086 until 1124 the most influential figure
in the modernising of the Church in Spain. The reformers changed
much that native Spaniards had cherished: they swept away Spain’s
ancient liturgy; they forced Spaniards to learn to write with a new
script - and the change from 'Visigothic’ script to that called francesa
(i.e. ‘French’ writing) is one with some implications for the dating of
two of the works here translated; they introduced a new canon law.
They may have introduced many other new books as well. It is likely,
though unprovable, that Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne, so significant
an influence upon the author of the Historia Sítense, found its way to
Spain at this epoch.
These cultural changes were stressful. It may not be wholly implausible
to associate with these stresses the remarkable upsurge in historio
graphical activity during this age. The Leonese tradition of historical
writing was feeble. A chronicle attributed to the Asturian king
Alfonso III (866—910), surviving in several different versions, provided
an outline of the doings of the kings from the accession of Wamba in
672 to that of Alfonso III himself in 866 (thus grafting the Asturo-
Leonese monarchy onto the stock of the Visigothic). A continuation of
this was composed, perhaps by the royal notary and subsequent
bishop of Astorga (1035-41), Sampiro, which carried the same story
down to the death of Ramiro III in 985 (possibly to that of Vermudo
II in 999). And that, apart from a few jejune king-lists and annals, is
all that we have from the leading Christian kingdom in Spain from a
period of some four centuries. If the dates that will be proposed for
the four works translated here are found persuasive, these varied
histories were all composed within little more than a single generation:
the (arguably) earliest, the Historia Silense, not before 1109; the
(almost certainly) latest, the Chronicle o f the Emperor Alfonso, in about
1150. Neither are these four the only historical works from this
period. To them we should add the Historia Compostellana, the first
part of the anonymous Chronicle of Sahagún, and perhaps the early
Portuguese annals. (There are in addition works concerning Iberian

affairs written by foreigners, for example the English De Expugnatione
Lyxbonensi and Caffaro of Genoa’s De Captione Almene et Tortuose.) It
is further to be remarked that the four works translated here differ
markedly from one another. And while Pelayo’s Chronicle is in the
same genre as the Chronicle o f Alfonso III and the Chronicle of Sampiro,
and may indeed have been conceived as a continuation of the latter,
the others strike out in different literary directions. Even when most
indebted to literary models, as in the case of the Historia Silense, they
are not slavish imitations but, albeit in a modest way, genuinely
original and experimentative. Furthermore, they had no immediate
successors. Leonese narrative history remained absolutely mute from
c. 1150 until the composition of Lucas of Tuy’s Chronicon Mundi
nearly a century later. The works translated here, varied as they are,
stand together as witnesses to a distinct and creative phase of
medieval Spanish historical writing.
Further Reading
This introduction is intended as the most basic form of orientation for the newcomer
to medieval Spain. For more detail, recourse may be had to the following, listed in
order of ascent from the simple to the more complicated.
R. Fletcher, T h e Early Middle Ages’ in R. Carr (ed.), Spain: a History (Oxford, 2000),
48-68.'
S. Barton, 'Spain in the Eleventh Century’ in D. Luscombe and J. Riley-Smith (eds),
The New Cambridge Medieval History IV (Cambridge, forthcoming).
A. MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages: from Frontier to Empire 1000-1500 (London,
1977).
D. W. Lomax, The Reconquest of Spain (London, 1978).
B. F. Reilly, The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031-1157 (Oxford, 1992).
I: H IS T O R IA SIL E NSE
Introduction to the Historia Sítense
This is a deeply problematic text. Historia Sítense (henceforward HS)

is the misleading name given to a composite historical miscellany
whose main claim upon the attention of historians has been that it
includes our principal narrative account of the Leonese monarchy
between 1037 and 1072. Its interest extends well beyond this, as will
emerge in due course. The work owes the title by which it is con
ventionally known to a supposed origin at the Castilian monastery of
Silos. This attribution was defended tenaciously by the work’s most
recent editor, the late Dorn Justo Pérez de Urbel, himself a monk of
Silos for almost seventy years of a long life and one of her most loyal
sons.1 There are, however, few things to be said in its favour, but
plentiful indications of an origin elsewhere. To lay my cards on the
table at the outset, I shall suggest - as others have done before —that
there is a strong probability that the work was composed by a
member of the religious community of San Isidoro in the city of León,
at a date certainly after 1109 and probably before 1118.
All those who have studied it are agreed that the text of the H S as it
has come down to us is desperately corrupt. The earliest surviving
manuscript (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional 1181) is of the latter half of
the fifteenth century and appears to be at least two removes from a
presumed original. A glance at the notes to the translation which
follows will show how frequently, if reluctantly, the translator has
had to resort to emendation of the Latin text in an attempt to make
sense of it. The principal editions of the work are not flawless, which
further complicates the translator’s task. It has also to be said that the
author’s literary tastes and pretensions, of which more below, con
stitute a further obstacle to ease of understanding.
1 Historia Silense. Edición crítica e introducción, eds J. Pérez de Urbel and A. González
Ruiz-Zorrilla (Madrid, 1959) at pp. 68-77. The introduction which follows shares
its theme with an earlier paper: see Fletcher, ‘A Twelfth-century View of the
Spanish Past' published in The Medieval State. Essays presented to James Campbell,
edited by J. R. Maddicott and D. M. Palliser (London, 2000) pp. 147-61: although
there is a considerable degree of overlap between the two pieces they are intended
to complement, rather than to duplicate, one another.
Fortunately for us, the author made his intentions unambiguously

plain in chapter 7. He proposed ‘to write of the deeds of the lord
Alfonso, the orthodox emperor of Spain’, that is, Alfonso VI (1065-
1109). Unfortunately he never completed his task, thus denying to
historians a Gesta Adefonsi to set alongside other eleventh-century
royal biographies such as Wipo’s Gesta Chuonradi, the anonymous Vita
Ædwardi Regis or the Gesta Guillelmi of William of Poitiers. The H S is
no more than the lengthy preamble to a work which was apparently
never written.
Because the H S is too long to be translated for this volume in its
entirety, it is appropriate to begin by briefly sketching the outline of
the entire work, so that the reader can grasp the overall structure. In
doing so I follow Pérez de Urbel's somewhat puzzling chapter-num
bering. Chapters 1-6 contain introductory materials on the Visigothic
monarchy of Spain, embedded in which lies the enunciation of themes
which will be sounded more strongly later on. In chapter 7 (as we
have seen) the writer stated his intention of commemorating Alfonso
VI; he also offered some cryptic information about himself, with which
we shall have to wrestle presently. Chapters 8-13 furnish a guarded
narrative of the strife between Alfonso and his brothers Sancho II of
Castile and Garcia of Galicia which occupied the years 1065-72 and
close with a forward look to the death and burial of Garcia in 1090.
The author closed chapter 13 with an announcement of the need to
‘unravel the kingdom’s origin’. This ‘unravelling’, which takes up
about two-thirds of the entire work, is accomplished by the insertion
into the text of three blocks of narrative (which are omitted from the
present translation). These are:
1 The Chronicle o f Alfonso III, a narrative of the deeds of the Christian
rulers from the Visigothic king Wittiza (d. 710) to the Asturian
king Ordoño I (d. 866), composed under the inspiration of the
latter’s son Alfonso III (866-910), perhaps even by him.“ This
occupies chapters 14-38 inclusive of the HS. The text is differ
entiated from other recensions of the Chronicle by numerous small
verbal variants and interpolations whose character is such as to
identify the editorial hand of the author of the H S (as we shall see
in due course).2
2 An English translation of this work is to be found in K. B. Wolf, Conquerors and

Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain (Translated Texts for Historians, vol, 9:
Liverpool, 1990), pp. 159-77.
HISTORIA SIL E N SE 11
2 A Continuation of the preceding work which narrates the deeds of

Alfonso III and his sons Garcia (910—913/14) and Ordoño II
(913/14-924). This runs from chapter 39 of the H S to chapter 47,
where it breaks off in the middle of a sentence. There is no
consensus as to whether this was the composition of the author of
the H S or an editorial insertion by him: a knotty problem which
is not relevant to our concerns here.3
3 The Chronicle o f Sampiro, a narrative of the reigns of the kings of
Asturias and León from the accession of Alfonso III in 866 down
to the reign of Alfonso V (999—1027), attributed to Sampiro,
notary, courtier and towards the end of a long life, briefly bishop
of Astorga (1034-6). In Pérez de Urbel’s edition of the HS
Sampiro’s narrative is, confusingly, given a separate enumeration
of chapters (1-30), matching the chapter divisions proposed by
the same scholar in the edition of Sampiro which he had published
seven years earlier.4 There are discrepancies between texts 2 and 3
in their treatment of the years between 866 and 924. Furthermore,
there are no interpolations into Sampiro’s text characteristic of
the authorial tastes and habits of the writer of the HS. These two
considerations have led to the suggestion that Sampiro’s work
either came late to the knowledge of the author of the H S or was
inserted into his text by a later hand: another knotty problem. I
am not persuaded that the final chapter (30) of Sampiro was
wholly and exclusively the work of that chronicler and believe
that its text shows traces of the editorial attention of the author
of the HS. Accordingly, that chapter is included in the present
translation, re-numbered as chapter 30*.
In the wake of these three inserted narratives the author resumed his
own account in or after chapter 30* with a chapter numbered 69 by
Pérez de Urbel (it is not clear why). Chapters 69-79 narrate the
history of the Leonese kings between 956 and 1037, with a diversion
on the early history of Navarre in chapter 74. The final section of the
work, chapters 80-106, offers a fairly detailed account of the reign of
King Fernando I (1037-65), the father of Alfonso VI. Into this narra
tive is inserted at chapters 96-102 the text of the Translatio Sancti
3 Inconclusively discussed by C. Sánchez-Albornoz, ‘El anónimo continuador de

Alfonso III' in his Investigaciones sobre historiografía hispana medieval (siglos VIII al
XII) (Buenos Aires, 1967), pp. 217-23.
4 J. Pérez de Urbel, Sampiro: su crónica y la monarquía leonesa en el siglo X (Madrid,
1952): the cronicle is edited at pp. 275-346.
Isidori, an account of the movement of Isidore’s relics from Seville to

León in 1063, with some distinguishing editorial changes.5 It is
possible that the author also drew, for much of chapters 105 and 106,
upon a contemporary account of Fernando’s last days which has not
survived independently. The H S closes with the obsequies of Fern
ando I on 2 January 1066. The author could now have turned to the
deeds of his son Alfonso VI. If ever he did so, the text has not come
down to us. But I suspect that, for reasons about which we can only
speculate, he never committed his Gesta Adefonsi to writing.
The author did his work after 1109, the year of Alfonso’s death, because
he tells us in chapter 7 that ‘the whole length of his fragile life has
been run’. In chapter 13 he informs us that Cardinal Rainerius ‘who
later became pope’ was in León as papal legate and holding a church
council there at the time of the death of Alfonso’s brother Garcia in
1090. Rainerius became pope as Paschal II in 1099 and died in
January 1118. There is no hint in the H S that he was anything but
still alive. This does not prove that composition occurred before 1118,
but it certainly suggests it. All recent commentators accept this
dating more or less cautiously.
Two misreadings might suggest that the lost autograph of the H S
was written in Visigothic script, and this too would point to an early
date in the twelfth century. In chapter 8 the word perlabor was misread
as profabor and in chapter 13 dolore was read as dolose. Abbreviations
and letter-forms in Visigothic script were such that copyists unfamiliar
with it frequently misread per- as pro- and confused / with f, r with s
(the latter with especial frequency). It would be unwise to make too
much of this point, given the manifold corruptions of the text, but it
might be allowed a little weight.6
We offer, accordingly, as a working hypothesis that the author was
writing between 1109 and 1118. Where did he do his work ? In a
tantalising sentence in chapter 7 he tells us: ‘I, then, submitted my
neck to the yoke of Christ from the very flower of youth and received
the monastic habit at the monastery called domus seminis.’ Much
ingenuity has been squandered in attempts to identify this mysterious
domus seminis, literally ‘the house of (the) seed’. Identification with the
Castilian monastery of Silos appears to descend only from a marginal
5 See F. Santos Coco (ed.), Historia Silense (Madrid, 1921), pp. 93-9.
6 See further the introduction to the Historia Roderici. The point did not escape
Pérez de Urbel, Historia Silense, p. 91.
note reading ‘Santo Domingo de Silos’ inserted beside the words

domus seminis in a lost manuscript, now known as the Fresdelval MS,
allegedly copied c. 1500. This manuscript was used by the antiquary
Francisco de Berganza for the earliest printed edition of the H S in his
Antigüedades de España published in 1721. Three copies of the
Fresdelval MS have come down to us, of which the earliest dates from
c. 1600: it contains the attribution to Silos. In other words, one
sixteenth-century reader —between the putative dates of Fresdelval
and of its earliest derivative —thought that domus seminis was Silos.
This is very shaky testimony; neither is it strengthened by all the
special pleadings of Pérez de Urbel. To this may be added other
points that have struck most critical readers of the work: that the
author never mentioned Silos; that he displayed little interest in
Castile (as against León); and that at one juncture (ch. 92) he showed
himself ignorant of Castilian topography. In the light of these
considerations nearly all scholars now judge it well-nigh impossible
to sustain the case for a Castilian origin for our text.
A much more promising approach lies in the suggestion that the
words domus seminis, or the single word seminis, arose from a copyist’s
misreading or the mistaken expansion of an abbreviation. Two
possibilities have been canvassed. One is that domus seminis is a mis-
copying of the words domnis sanctis, perhaps originally abbreviated as
dms seis. This would point towards the monastery of Sahagún, some
fifty kilometres to the south-west of the city of León, whose dual
dedication to Sts Facundus and Primitivus led to its being frequently
referred to in its abundant documentation as the monastery domnis
sanctis, literally ‘at the lord saints', more loosely ‘of the holy patron
saints’.7 In support of this identification there may be adduced, first,
that Sahagún was thrice mentioned in the HS (in chs 41, 71 and 104);
second, that given that Alfonso VI was buried there it would make
sense to locate his biographer there too; and third, that Sahagún’s
library and intellectual traditions were sufficient to furnish resources,
7 The case for a Sahagún provenance has been developed at greater length by J. M. Canal
Sánchez-Pagín, ‘¿Crónica Silense o Crónica Domnis Sanctis?’ CHE 63/64 (1980),
pp. 94-103. Cautious support for it was shown by R. McCluskey, ‘Malleable Accounts:
Views of the Past in Twelfth-century Iberia’ in The Perception of the Past in Twelfth-
century Europe, ed. P. Magdalino (London, 1992), pp. 211-25 (at p. 214, n. 13): even
more guarded is P. Linehan, History and the Historians of Medieval Spain (Oxford,
1993), p. 223. For an example of the phraseology from the very period when our
author was at work see R. Escalona, Historia del Real Monasterio de Sahagún
(Madrid, 1782), escritura cxlv, p. 510: ‘loco quo dicitur Domnis Sanctis’.
context and perhaps stimulus to our unknown author. As against these

points, it has to be said that indications of specific and strong Sahagún
loyalties are lacking in our text. For example, although Archbishop
Bernard of Toledo was mentioned in chapter 13, the author failed to
draw attention to his earlier abbacy at Sahagún between 1080 and
1085; neither did he allude to Alfonso Vi’s burial at Sahagún when
referring in chapter 7 to the king’s death. Sahagún is a much stronger
candidate than Silos: but there is one yet stronger.
A more economical and a more convincing emendation of the single
word seminis was proposed in 1961 by the distinguished codicologist
and palaeographer Professor Manuel Díaz y Díaz.8 The word seminis
is most plausibly explained as a mistaken expansion of the abbreviated
words sei ihnis, sancti Iohannis, ‘of St John’. This makes sound palaeo-
graphical sense: the letters c and e were frequently confused by copy
ists, and the rapid single downstrokes of the pen, known as minims,
employed to render the letters h, i, j, l, m, n, t, u and v were (and are)
a notorious source of muddle. One monastic ‘house of St John’
immediately suggests itself, and that is the community in the city of
León whose dedication was to St John the Baptist.9 This was a royal
foundation, established by King Sancho I of León in or about 966, and
enjoying thenceforward a close and warm relationship with the royal
family. It was founded as a double house for both monks and nuns, the
monks under the patronage of St John and the nuns under that of the
Leonese child-martyr Pelayo. Properly, therefore, ‘the house of St
John and St Pelayo’, it could in practice be referred to as either ‘the
house of St John’ or ‘the house of St Pelayo’.10 Damaged by the
destructive raids of Almanzor in the late tenth century, the house was
restored by King Alfonso V (999-1028). Lavishly patronised by the
latter’s daughter Sancha and her husband King Fernando I (1037-65),
the community received its most spectacular piece of royal largesse in
1063 when king and queen presented it with the relics of St Isidore,
8 M. C. Díaz y Díaz, ‘Isidoro en la edad media hispana', first published in the collec
tion Isidoriana (León, 1961), pp. 345-87, repr. in his De Isidoro al siglo XII. Ocho
estudios sobre la vida literaria peninsular (Barcelona, 1976), pp. 141-201 (at p. 190 n.
139). The writer observed that he had already suggested this emendation on a
number of occasions (ya me pronuncié en varias ocasiones') which I take to refer to
unpublished lectures.
9 See R. McCluskey, ‘The early history of San Isidoro de León (X-XII c.)', Notting
ham Medieval Studies 38 (1994), pp. 35-59.
10 See, for example, Colección Documental del Archivo de la Catedral de León (775-1230^ vol.
Ill (986-1031) ed. J. M. Ruiz Asencio (León, 1987), no. 711, from the year 1013.
HISTORIA SILEN SE 15
lately translated from Seville, an occasion described at length in the

HS. The arrival of Isidore’s relics began the process by which his
patronage slowly replaced that of St John the Baptist. It is necessary
to stress that this was a gradual process. The dual patronage of both
St John and St Isidore for the masculine half of the establishment can
be found in later documents such as a diploma issued by Alfonso VI in
1099." It is not implausible that a writer active between 1109 and
1118, especially if he were an elderly man of conservative temper,
should refer to the community as ‘the house of St John’. It is even
possible, if we press the sense of that puzzling sentence in chapter 7 to
the limits, that the author was trying to tell us that he had received
the monastic habit there before the arrival of Isidore’s relics in 1063.
But this is to run ahead of the argument. Are there other indications
in the text of the H S of a connection with this distinguished royal
foundation in the city of León? Yes, and three of them are particularly
telling. One of these lies in a minor editorial change which the author
of the H S made when reproducing the text of the Translatio Sancti
Isidori. Early on in the Translatio, Bishop Alvito of León was referred
to as Legionensis urbis episcopus, ‘bishop of the city of León’. But the
author of the HS (ch. 96) changed the phrase to huiuscemodi regie urbis
episcopus, ‘bishop of this royal city'. León was often referred to as ‘the
royal city’ in the documentation of the eleventh and twelfth centuries;
and the community of San Isidoro - as we may for convenience now
call it - lay within its walls. One could hardly ask for a clearer pointer
to a place of composition within the city of León.1*2 Second, when
referring in chapter 103 to the rebuilding and embellishment of the
church of San Isidoro by Fernando I and Queen Sancha, the writer
named it as hanc ecclesiam, ‘this church’, thus localising himself and his
primary audience within the community of San Isidoro. Third, in
chapter 12 the author stated that he was aware of the wisdom and
goodness of Alfonso Vi’s elder sister Urraca ‘more by experience than
by report’. Now the Infanta Urraca, who died in 1101, was closely12
11 Printed in M. E. Martín López, Patrimonio cultural de San Isidoro de León H l:

Documentos de los siglos X-XIII. Colección Diplomática (León, 1995), no. 9, pp. 31-2.
For the correct date of this diploma, 17 January 1099, see B. F. Reilly, The Kingdom
of León-Castilla under King Alfonso V I 1065-1109 (Princeton, 1988) p. 292, n. 44.
12 G. West has uttered a caution in ‘La “Traslación del Cuerpo de San Isidoro” como
fuente de la Historia llamada Silense’, Hispania Sacra 27 (1974) pp. 365—71 (at p.
366, n. 8): I have explained elsewhere why 1 consider this unnecessary; see
Fletcher, ‘A Twelfth-century View’, p. 150, n. 7.
associated with the community of San Isidoro. In particular, she set

herself the task of continuing and completing the architectural and
artistic ensemble initiated by her parents Fernando and Sancha. Her
epitaph at San Isidoro gratefully commemorated her patronage and
referred to her ‘many gifts’ to the house. One among these survives
at San Isidoro to this day, the magnificent ‘Chalice of Doña Urraca’.
San Isidoro was the best possible place to observe at first hand, by
experience rather than report, the wisdom and goodness of the
princess.13
Now, these features of the H S do not of course prove that it was
composed at the monastery of San Isidoro de León: but this looks
likelier than an origin at Sahagún, let alone Silos. There are plenty of
other pointers in the same direction. The author mourned the passing
of Vermudo III (who was buried at San Isidoro) and perhaps quoted
from a Latin poem which commemorated him (chs 78, 79). He
displayed warm partiality for Queen Sancha (ch. 75), San Isidoro’s
royal patron. He knew about the plans of Fernando and Sancha for a
royal mausoleum at San Isidoro (ch. 94). He had access to the
Translatio Sancti Isidori (chs 96-102), which must have been composed
in and for San Isidoro in or shortly after 1063. He displayed a detailed
knowledge of Fernando I’s deathbed at San Isidoro (chs 105, 106). He
had access to the semi-official chronicles of the Asturian and Leonese
monarchy, which would surely have been preserved (though we
cannot prove this) in the library of a royal foundation such as San
Isidoro. The whole focus, or tendency, of the work, its ‘sense of
subject’, is Leonese.14 The author had heard stories about the snow
storm which saved the city from Almanzor (ch. 71). He knew the pre
cise date of Fernando I’s coronation in León (ch. 80). He was aware
that Fernando had held a council in León to announce the partition of
his kingdom (ch. 103). He reported the circumstances of ex-king
Garcia’s death and burial in 1090 (ch. 13).
Wherever the libraries to which he had access, our author was a
learned man. His work contains quotations from or verbal remini-
13 On Urraca’s patronage see S. H. Caldwell, ‘Urraca of Zamora and San Isidoro de

León: fulfilment of a legacy’, Woman’s Art Journal 7 (1986), pp. 19-25. Her chalice
is illustrated in The Art o f Medieval Spain AD 500-1200 (Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, 1993), catalogue no. 118.
14 A point rightly emphasised by earlier scholars, for example M. Gómez-Moreno,
Introducción a la Historia Silense (Madrid, 1921) and C. Sánchez-Albornoz, ‘Sobre el
autor de la llamada Historia Silense’ in his Investigaciones sobre historiografía, pp.
224- 34 .
HISTORIA SILE NSE 17
scences of the Bible, Ovid, Virgil, Gregory the Great and Isidore. He
knew Julian of Toledo’s Historia JVambae (‘History of [Tüng] Wamba’),
though he surprisingly misattributed it to Isidore (ch. 5). He knew
that very rare work, the Vitas Sanctorum Patrum Emeritensium (‘The
Lives of the Holy Fathers of Mérida’: ch. 4), a copy of which had been
in the royal library in the early years of the tenth century.15 Two
authors above all others he knew and loved: Sallust and Einhard.
Phrases from Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae and Bellum Iugurthinum (‘The
Catiline W ar’ and ‘The Jugurthine W ar’) and Einhard’s Vita Karoli
(‘Life of Charlemagne’) are liberally scattered throughout his work,
not invariably appositely, nor indeed always intelligibly. Their
presence in those chapters (14-38) dependent on the Chronicle of
Alfonso III serves to identify his editorial hand; and suggests it,
though less forcibly, in the chapters (39-47) which appear to depend
on the Continuation. Their absence from those chapters (1-30*)
dependent on Sampiro raises doubts as to whether this interpolation
is owed to our author or to some other hand (above p. 11).
We may well imagine that if our author had completed the task he
had set himself his Vita Adefonsi would have owed much to Einhard’s
Vita Karoli. It is legitimate to suppose that it would have displayed no
little literary art —observe how cunningly the author passed over and
isolated the less savoury parts of Alfonso’s career in chapters 8—13 —
and there is a hint in chapter 9 that he had it in mind to provide a big
set-piece devoted to the king’s most famous conquest, of Toledo in
1085. It is surely reasonable to suppose that what the author had in
prospect was a celebratory, panegyric Vita whose tone would chime
with the chorus of praise for Alfonso from all those of his contem
poraries whose voices may still be heard.16
The preoccupations he revealed, the themes he enunciated, in what
survives of his work, offer further hints as to how he would have set
or framed his image of Alfonso VI - themes and preoccupations which
are matched in the contemporary iconography of the urbs regia of
15 The ‘Lives of the Fathers of Mérida has been translated into English by A. T. Fear,
Lives of the Visigothic Fathers, Translated Texts for Historians, vol. 26 (Liverpool,
1997), pp. 45-105. The presence of the work in the library of Alfonso III was
referred to in that king’s letter to the clergy of Tours in 906 whose authenticity I
have attempted to defend in Fletcher, Saint James's Catapult. The Life and Times of
Diego Gelmirez of Santiago de Compostela (Oxford, 1984), appendix C, pp. 317—2S.
16 A good example is Pelayo of Oviedo, whose encomium is translated elsewhere in
this volume: see pp. 84- 9. For a dissentient modern voice see the Note at the end
of this introduction.
León and in particular of San Isidoro.17 He was interested in

legitimacy and orthodoxy. He encouraged his readers to look back to
the Visigothic monarchy after it had abandoned Arianism in 589 as
the model of a good state. This is the point of the introductory chapters
1-6. Its kings were godly kings like Sisebut and Wamba. It was
doctrinally orthodox, unlike the monarchies of the Vandals and Sueves,
unlike even the emperor Constantine. It was distinguished for its
learning, a trait given special prominence by our bookish author in
the opening sentence of his work. Cherished by divine providence, its
kings were everywhere victorious until their sway extended from the
Rhône to Morocco. Divine providence would also act to punish
wicked kings like Wittiza by unleashing the ‘barbarians’ upon them -
our author’s preferred term for Muslims. But this was not the end.
The heirs of the Visigoths learned the lesson, were cleansed by punish
ment and were allowed to rebuild their kingdom, what the author
called in one of his additions to the Chronicle o f Alfonso III (ch. 15) the
Hisfanie regnum, ‘the kingdom of Spain’. The author made it plain that
he regarded his own monarchy, the kingdom of León, as the continu
ation of the Visigothic monarchy, the only legitimate Hispanie regnum.
Fernando I and Alfonso VI were cast in the mould of Sisebut or
Wamba. They did God’s work in rescuing captive Christian churches
from the ‘sacrilegious hands’ (ch. 85) of the barbarians. Divine approval
of their campaigns of conquest was made manifest in the assistance
rendered by St James ‘the knight of Christ’ (ch. 88). Like the Visi
gothic kings after 589 they were orthodox (chs 7, 31): and here the
writer sounded a topical note, for it was Alfonso VI who had in the
1070s spurred on the difficult change from the so-called Mozarabic
liturgy, which pope Gregory VII had suspected of doctrinal deviance,
to the orthodox Roman rite.18 Like the Visigothic kings, too, they set
a high value on good learning: in a passage lifted entire from Einhard
the author lauded the care bestowed by Fernando I on his children’s
education (ch. 81).
17 See a number of acute studies by J. W. Williams: ‘San Isidoro in León: Evidence for
a New History’, The Art Bulletin 55 (1973), pp. 170-184; ‘Generationes Abrahae:
Reconquest Iconography in León’, Gesta 16 (1977), pp. 3-14; ‘León: the Icono
graphy of the Capital’ in Cultures of Power. Lordship, Status and Process in Twelfth-
century Europe, ed. T. N. Bisson (Philadelphia, 1995), pp. 231-58.
18 For Alfonso’s role in these liturgical changes see Reilly, Alfonso VI, ch. 6 and refer
ences there cited. Pope Gregory’s reference to ‘the tongues of heretics' occurs in a
letter to the king dated 19 March 1074: Gregorii VII Registrum, ed. E. Caspar
(Berlin, 1920-3; repr. 1955) i, 64 (= JL 4840).
The kingdom, then, was legitimated by its past, its ancestry. So too
was its ruling dynasty. Possibly unaware that the Visigothic mon
archy had been elective, not hereditary, the author could allude in
chapter 15 —in another of his additions to the Chronicle of Alfonso III
— to the stirps regalis Gotorum, ‘the royal stock of the Goths’, from
which his hero Alfonso VI was descended. In chapter 31 he an
nounced his intention to ‘weave the genealogy’ of the king. He had
already shown in chapter 26 how Alfonso I (7 3 9 -5 7 ) was descended
from the Visigothic king Reccared (significant as the first orthodox
Catholic ruler, who had formally abjured Arianism in 589). Thereafter
the blood of the royal stirps continued in the legitimate male line of
the Asturian and Leonese kings until the death of Vermudo III of
León in 1037. On his death its sole carrier was his sister the Infanta
Sancha. Her marriage to Fernando I (ch. 75) was therefore of critical
importance to our author, for it enabled the son of that marriage,
Alfonso VI, to be ‘sprung from the famous stock of the Goths’ as he
put it in chapter 8.
The extensive kingdom of the Visigoths had something imperial about
it. King Reccared could issue ‘imperial commands’ in chapter 3. So
could his successor Fernando I, who presided over a ‘royal empire’
(ch. 83) and could issue ‘imperial orders’ (ch. 95) to a barbarian ruler.
Alfonso VI, who intermittently employed the imperial title in his
solemn diplomas from the year 1077 onwards, could be described as
‘our emperor’ in chapter 74 and as ‘the orthodox emperor’ in chapter
7. Here too there was some topicality of reference. Pope Gregory VII
had rashly asserted lordship over the regnum Hispanie in the 1070s.
Although the claim had not been pressed, it was one to be guarded
against. Emperors do not have suzerains over them. The writer’s
discreet sounding of the imperial theme could be interpreted as a
rebuttal of papal claims.19
And of other claimants too ? For there were those within Spain who
might presume to claim the imperial title. The author’s attitude to the
other Christian principalities of Spain was dismissive. The ‘kingdom
of the Cantabrians’ (ch. 74: i.e. Navarre) was an upstart realm which
could be referred to as a mere ‘province’ (ch. 76). Its ruling dynasty
was ‘noble’ rather than royal. The kingdom of Aragon was no more
than a ‘little fragment’ of Navarre - a fragment of a province! Three
19 For all that concerns Alfonso’s pretensions and Gregory’s claims see Reilly, A lfonso
FI, ch. 6 and H. E. J. Cowdrey, P o p e G re g o ry V II 1079-1085 (Oxford, 1998), pp.
468-80.
times in two chapters (75-6) the writer pointed out that its first king
Ramiro was of illegitimate birth; and he told a mocking story of his
ignominious flight from a battlefield. The implication is that the
kingdom and its rulers lacked legitimacy and dignity. Here we have
another contemporary reference for the primary audience to pick up.
If we are correct about the date of composition, these dismissive
comments were penned at a time when Ramiro’s grandson, Alfonso I
el Batallador (1104-34) was attempting to establish his rule as king-
consort, husband of Alfonso Vi’s daughter and successor Queen
Urraca (1109-26), over the kingdom of León. Furthermore, in the
documents he issued in those years between 1109 and 1118, Alfonso I
styled himself imperator, ‘emperor’, with fair consistency. Alfonso was
not well liked in the city of León, whose bishop he had expelled in
1111 and whose rural hinterland - not impossibly including estates
belonging to San Isidoro - he had laid waste in fighting with the
partisans of his wife. When Lucas of Tuy, canon of San Isidoro, came
to compile his Liber de Miraculis Sancti Isidori (‘Book of Miracles of St
Isidore’) in the early thirteenth century he demonised Alfonso el
Batallador as a despoiler of San Isidoro.20
The author was also dismissive of the French. In the past they had
aided heretics (ch. 4) and rebels against the Visigothic monarchy (ch.
5). The claims made by the French that Charlemagne had conquered
lands in Spain were baseless. On the contrary, he had been bribed
with gold ‘j ust like the French' and gone off home leaving the peoples
o f ‘warlike Spain’ to fend for themselves (ch. 18). This was an allusion
to the recent past which would again have had resonance for his
audience. When the Almoravid invaders of 1086 had inflicted defeat
on Alfonso VI at Sagrajas and threatened his possession of Toledo, he
had appealed for help to the French compatriots of his queen,
Constance of Burgundy. But the French army which had come to
Spain in 1087 had accomplished nothing and dispersed, leaving
Alfonso VI to face the Almoravids on his own. At the time of writing
the Almoravid threat to Toledo - with all its special significance as
the ancient capital of the Visigothic kings - continued extremely
20 For the troubled reign of Queen Urraca see B. F. Reilly, T h e K in g d o m o f L e ó n -

C a stilla u n der Q ueen U rra ca 1109-1126 (Princeton, 1982); for Alfonso of Aragon’s
imperial style, see the documents assembled in Colección D ip lo m á tic a de A lfo n so I de
A ra g o n y P a m p lo n a (1104-1134), ed. J. A. Lema Pueyo (San Sebastián, 1990); for his
posthumous reputation see Archivo de San Isidoro de León, MS LXI ff. S0v-S5r (=
L ib e r de M ira c u lis S a n c ti Isid o ri, chs 25-7).
grave. The French were doing nothing to help the Hispanie regnum in
its hour of peril. To add insult to injury, they were helping the
despised Aragonese to enlarge their illegitimate kingdom by
territorial conquests in the valley of the Ebro which culminated in the
conquest of Zaragoza in 1118.*1
The author of the H S wrote at a time when the Hispanie regnum was
being tested anew, as it had been under the attacks of Almanzor (chs
30*, 69—71), or as when, long ago, God had permitted the barbarians
to overrun the Visigothic kingdom (ch. l). He wrote to comfort and
instruct an unhappy present by holding up a reassuring past. The
kingdom would come through present tribulations as it had done in
the past. Its enemies would be ‘buried in hell’ like Almanzor (ch. 71).
God-cherished kings would once more ‘extend the kingdom of the
Spaniards by waging wars against the barbarians’ (ch. 8). They would
restore a Christian dominion which had formerly existed in ‘cities
over whose churches bishops had once upon a time presided’ (ch. 85),
like Toledo, ‘the mirror of Christians of all Spain’ (ch. 9). Therein lay
the whole duty of a rightful ruler of the Hispanie regnum. The H S is in
its individual way a mirror for the princes of an individual realm. I
wonder whether the author had any particular prince or princess in
mind. Even as he wrote it, Queen Urraca’s son Alfonso (born 1105),
later to be Alfonso VII, was of educable age: but his turbulent
childhood was spent in an aristocratic household in Galicia. A more
likely possibility is Alfonso's beloved elder sister the Infanta Sancha,
born in 1095. She was most likely brought up in the city of León; as
an adult she was an active and generous patron of San Isidoro; and on
her death in 1159 she was buried there and after her death she was
warmly remembered there. The important part she played in the
counsels of her brother throughout his reign (1126—57) was emphasised
by the contemporary author of the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris and is
amply attested by the surviving documentation.** It is a nice conceit,
and a possibility not to be ruled out, that through the agency of Doña
Sancha the author of the Historia Silense touched the mind of Alfonso
VII and helped to shape the tone and style of his reign.
21 Amply surveyed by C. Stalls, P ossessin g the L a n d . A r a g o n ’s E x p a n sio n in to Isla m ’s

E b ro F ro n tie r u n d er A lfon so the B a ttle r 1104-1134 (Leiden, 1995).
22 Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris, i, ch. 12 (see below, p. 169); B. F. Reilly, The Kingdom
of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126-1157 (Philadelphia, 1998) pp. 139-tl; L.
García Calles, Doña Sancha, Hermana del Emperador (León and Barcelona, 1972) is
full but insufficiently critical.
Note: A rival interpretation
A colleague in Spanish medieval studies, Dr John Wreglesworth, has

proposed that the Historia Silense is a rounded and finished work and
that its anonymous author intended to be obliquely critical of Alfonso
VI. Such a radically original interpretation of the Silense deserves to
be presented at length: it is to be hoped that Dr Wreglesworth will
elaborate his argument in print. The purpose of this Note, whose text
has been approved by Dr Wreglesworth and which is published with
his consent, is simply to alert the reader to this alternative interpre
tation of a puzzling work which has not yet yielded up all its secrets.
The case rests upon the translation of a passage in chapter 7 which
differs from that proposed in this book. The key words are as follows:
Ubi diversis sententiis sanctorum patrum catholicorum regum, sacris indicentibus
libris, mecum ipse diu spatiando revolvens.
I have rendered this passage thus:
There for a long time I ruminated in my own mind upon various opinions
of the holy fathers proclaimed in the holy books of Catholic kings ...
- a translation which rests upon a separation of the phrase sanctorum
patrum ('of the holy fathers') from the phrase catholicorum regum (‘of
Catholic kings’). But each of these four words is in the genitive plural
case. It is therefore perfectly proper to link catholicorum to sanctorum
patrum and to find an entirely different significance for the word
regum (‘of kings') by linking its sense to the phrase sacris indicentibus
libris. Dr Wreglesworth would accordingly translate the crucial words
in this manner:
There I gave lengthy consideration to the judgements of the holy Catholic
fathers on the sacred Books of Kings.
(In this reading he is at one with the two translators of the text into
Spanish, Gómez-Moreno and Casariego.) The author’s allusion,
therefore, was to the books of Kings in the Old Testament; and herein
lies the clue to what Dr Wreglesworth has called his ‘coded criticism'
of Alfonso VI (and I quote from his doctoral thesis, The Chronicle o f
Alfonso III and its significance fo r the Historiography o f the Asturian
Kingdom 718-910 AD (Leeds D.Phil., 1995), p. 112).
Isidore, who would certainly have qualified as a ‘holy Catholic father’
in the opinion of the author of the Silense, had commented upon King
HISTORIA SILENSE 23
Solomon that he had started out well but had later by his backsliding
forfeited God’s favour. There were suggestive parallels, for those who
had eyes to see, between Solomon and Alfonso VI. Solomon had failed
to keep his covenant with God by taking foreign wives and con
cubines, among them the daughter of Pharaoh, and by slipping into
idolatrous worship under their influence. God paid Solomon back by
raising up enemies against him. Alfonso VI married five foreign wives
and his mistress Zaida had been a Muslim, the daughter-in-law of the
ruler of Seville, the most imposing among the amirs of the Taifa
principalities of al-Andalus. (She became a convert to Christianity in
the course of her attachment to Alfonso.) His religious policies were
actively forwarded by the longest-lived of his foreign queens, Con
stance of Burgundy. Though they might have pleased Pope Gregory
VII (and benefited immigrant ecclesiastical adventurers from France),
they were regarded by conservative churchmen in Spain as un
welcome innovations. The misfortunes which befell the king and his
kingdom —the Almoravid invasion, the death in battle of the heir to
the throne Sancho, the civil war which followed hard upon the old
king’s demise and which was still raging at the (probable) time of the
composition of the Silense —could most plausibly be interpreted as
divine punishment for royal backsliding.
Alfonso Vi’s father Fernando, however - like Solomon’s father King
David —was a godfearing ruler who manifested all the virtues of a
devout king. His choice of marriage-partner was thoroughly satis
factory and his piety was at once lavish and reassuringly conservative.
He was duly rewarded by God with victory, prosperity and the saintly
patronage of Isidore and the apostle St James. Fernando I was the
true hero of the Historia Silense, which was artfully designed to cele
brate him. Alongside and in contrast, the life and deeds of his flawed
son Alfonso VI were there in suggestion and in allegory for those
who were able to read the code.
Such in briefest summary is Dr Wreglesworth’s alternative reading of
the Historia Silense. I have to confess, as is implicit in my translation
of the passage quoted above, that I am not quite persuaded by it.
Others, however, may be. At all events, in this strikingly new per
spective upon a notoriously difficult text we have something which
deserves to be pondered sympathetically.
Historia Sítense
C hapter l
Once upon a time Hispania blossomed abundantly with every kind of

liberal teaching and in her those thirsting to drink at wisdom’s spring
everywhere bestowed care on the study of letters. But then, over
whelmed by the strength of the barbarians,12345 study and teaching
completely died away. In these constraining circumstances, writers
were lacking and the deeds of the Spaniards were passed over in silence? But
if you wisely ponder why such a disaster should have happened to
Spain, assuredly there comes to mind that all the paths o f the Lord are
mercy and truth? For He allots some, inexorably ensnared by their
various sins, to the eternal torments; others He invites to the flowery
meadows of the heavenly homeland as rewards for a good life. Some
indeed, answerable in part on both counts, He summons to eternal life
when they have been purged by the cleansing of a transitory fire. This
too must not be omitted, that He strikes very many bodily, so that in
future this punishment shall not be for a remedy, and thus it is for
those who are in no way corrected the affliction of the aforesaid
scourges may be the beginnings of torments to come. Whence the
Psalmist says, Let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with
a mantle? which double garment they put on figuratively who are
condemned to both temporal and everlasting torment.
C hapter 2
Kings accordingly, as we have learned from ancient report, first distin

guished themselves with the title o f sovereignty in the world.5 But when
little by little sloth insinuated itself in place o f industry, pride in place o f
equity, lust and greed in place o f moderation,6 wantonly abandoning to
oblivion the true God and His commands, they started to worship the
created rather than the Creator. And they upon whom above all living
beings the Creator of all things had bountifully bestowed clear and
1 ‘Barbarians’ is the term most commonly employed by the author to denote the
Muslim inhabitants of Spain.
2 Einhard, V ita K a ro li, preface.
3 Psalm xxv. 10.
4 Psalm cix.29.
5 Sallust, B ellu m C a tilin a e (henceforward B ell. C at.) ii, 1.
6 Sallust, B ell. C at. ii, 5.
elevated vision to aspire to the celestial things, lost in a fourfold mist,

bowed themselves in wicked worship of demons, false idols of wood
and stone and metal. We must pass over the details of place and deed
in the bringing to good order7 of those who were renewed by the
spring of holy baptism. For if, as we believe, Christ having taken on
our humanity preached one baptism and one faith, the Roman
Emperor Constantine8 must indeed be censured in the matter of the
faith: who indeed, an Augustus of great eminence, was first cleansed
in the font of holy baptism by Pope Sylvester9 of holy memory after
signs and wonders had been seen. From this it is plainly to be
understood that the signs were displayed not fo r the faitfful but for
infidels,'0 whence the Truth Himself thus spoke, Except ye see signs and
wonders ye will not believe." However, the aforesaid emperor was led
astray towards the end of his life by a counterfeiter of the Catholic
faith named Eusebius, bishop of the church of Nicomedia,12 by whom
he was rebaptised and thus ran headlong, lamentably, into the Arian
heresy. Persisting in this error, he departed this life an infidel. This is
clearly proclaimed in the chronicle which Christ’s servant Isidore,
bishop of the church of Seville,13 composed in a comprehensive history
from the beginning of the world down to the time of the Roman
emperor Heraclius and Sisebut the most pious ruler of the Spaniards.14
A very great proportion of those who followed him perished by the
same madness, even though not in a similar way. What indeed am I to
say of the leaders of the Vandals and Sueves, among whom very few
Catholics are to be found ?15
7 Emending m orden des to inordinandos.
8 Constantine I, Roman emperor 306-37.
9 Sylvester I, Pope, 314-35. The legend that he baptised Constantine first made its
appearance in the fifth century, and was widely known from the ninth century
onwards owing to the forged ‘Donation of Constantine’.
10 This seems to be a reminiscence of Pope Gregory the Great, H o m ilia e in E van gelio, x
( = P L 76, col. 1110).
11 John iv.48.
12 Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia and subsequently of Constantinople (d. c. 342),
baptised Constantine on his deathbed in 337 and led the dominant Arian faction at
the court of his son the Emperor Constantius II (337-61).
13 Isidore, bishop of Seville c. 600-36, scholar and ecclesiastical statesman. His
C hronicle was completed in 615 or 616.
14 Heraclius, Roman (Byzantine) emperor 610-41; Sisebut, Visigothic king of Spain
612-20.
15 The Vandals and Sueves were Germanic peoples who set up successor-states in the
wreckage of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century, respectively in north
Africa and western Spain. The Vandals were Arian Christians who vigorously persecuted
the Catholic clergy. The Sueves were intermittently and less fanatically Arian.
C h a pte r 3
The kings of the Goths also, by land and sea victorious, subdued the
nations round about to their dominion:16 but raging with a twofold
madness against the limbs17 of Christ they expelled the orthodox
worshippers and in the height of their damnation embraced the
teachings of the Arians. Let us recall to mind one of these rulers, by
name Leovigild, for the greatness of his evil-doing.18 This Leovigild,
indeed, burning with zeal for the Arians, because his son Hermenigild
refused to join that detestable cult, first subjected him to various
tortures, then put him in chains and finally ordered him to be killed.
After Leovigild’s death king Reccared,following not hisfaithlessfather but the
footsteps o f his martyred brother, imbued with the teaching of the
venerable bishop Leander of Seville, was made a preacher of the truth and
uprooted altogether the madness of the Arians.19 Pope Gregory writes
[of this[] in the Book o f Dialogues which he diligently composed about
the lives and miracles of the holy fathers.20 Thus it came about that
his successors as kings of the Goths, obedient to his imperial
commands, devoutly observed the Catholic faith in peace and war.
C hapter 4
Their perversity proclaims however, among other things, that the

fury of the Franks was striving to overturn sacred cult.21 For there were
16 The Visigoths, another Germanic people, invaded Spain in 456 and had consoli
dated their hold over it by about 480. The Visigothic monarchy ruled Spain until
the Arab-Berber conquest of 711-20.
17 Emending m enia to m em bra (as found in some MSS).
18 On Leovigild (569—86), perhaps the greatest of the Visigothic kings, and his son
Hermenigild, see Roger Collins, E a r ly M e d ie v a l S p a in . U n ity in D iv e r s ity 400-1000
(2nd edn., London, 1995) pp. 41-53.
19 King Reccared (586-601) announced his personal conversion from Arianism to
Catholicism in 587 and the transition was formally ratified by the leaders of the
Spanish church at an ecclesiastical council held at Toledo in 589 (III Toledo), a
defining moment in Spanish historical mythology: but see the cautions of Peter
Linehan, H isto ry a n d the H isto ria n s o f M e d ie v a l S p a in (Oxford, 1993) ch. 2. Leander,
bishop of Seville c. 580-600, was the elder brother of Isidore.
20 The reference is to Gregory the Great’s D ia lo g o ru m L ib e r and the quotation in the
text is from iii, 31.7 (A. de Vogiié (ed.), G ré g o ire le G ra n d , D ia lo g u es, Sources
Chrétiennes, vol. 260 (Paris, 1979), vol. II, p. 388).
21 This is the first of several chapters which contain unflattering references to the
Franks: see the discussion of this feature of the H is to r ia in the introduction. This
opening sentence has caused difficulty to other editors and translators; the text
may be corrupt.
two counts of King Reccared, of whom one was named Granista and the
other Vildigerius. They were noble by birth and o f great wealth, but o f
unsound morals and judgement.** A bishop named Athalogus, assuredly
an adherent of the Arians, had led them astray into heresy. At the
prompting of the Devil this man incited a great revolt against the
Catholic faith at the famous city of Narbonne. These two counts,
obedient to the instructions of this same Athalogus, brought a very
numerous company o f Franks into the province of Narbonne, thinking
indeed to uphold the Arian faction with the support of so many soldiers
and i f possible to deprive the most serene king Reccared of his kingdom.
Meanwhile, raging hither and thither, shedding the blood of Christ’s
servants, they did much damage. When Reccared heard of this he gave
orders to Claudius, the very powerful duke of the city of Mérida, that
he should hasten to avenge this innocent blood. So this Claudius,
immediately obedient to the king’s command, attacked the Franks
with great force. In fierce fighting he put nearly sixty thousand of them
to the sword. Finally the Franks, thrown into confusion by divine
chastisement for as long as they reviled the Catholic faith with
haughty mien, lost both lives together. Those of them who contrived
to escape the hands of the enemy took to flight: the Gothspursued them as
fa r as thefrontiers o f their kingdom.
C h a pte r 5
Nevertheless, in the time of the most glorious King Wamba the

fierceness of the Franks is known to have been cast down.“3 For it
happened that a certain Paul, to whom King Wamba had delegated
the dukedom of the province of Narbonne, was so puffed up with pride
and the desire for power that he placed a crown on his head and was
hailed** as king. Strengthened by the aid of the Franks he rose in
rebellion at Nîmes. Stung by this insult the Spanish king hastened to
Nîmes as fast as he could with a picked force of cavalry with whom he
was on campaign. The Franks were routed and put to flight.*5 Wamba2345
22 Much of this chapter derives from two seventh-century works, the V itas Sanctorum
P a tru m E m eriten siu m (L iv e s o f the H o ly F ath ers o f M érid a ) and Isidore of Seville's
H isto ria G othorum (H isto ry o f the Goths): see the English translations respectively by
A. T. Fear, L iv e s o f the Visigothic Fathers, pp. 99-100, and K. B. Wolf, Conquerors a n d
Chroniclers o f early m ed ieva l S p a in (Liverpool, 1990). p. 104.
23 The reign of Wamba (672-80) furnished the author with another opportunity to
insert material hostile to the Franks.
24 Einhard, V ita K a ro li, ch. 30.
25 Sallust, B ellu m Iu g u rth in u m (henceforward B ell. lu g .) xcix, 3.
besieged and captured the city and levelled a part of it to the ground.
The province of Narbonne thus brought back to his authority, he
returned rejoicing to Toledo, carrying Paul captive with him. These
things are written in the book of the blessed Isidore which is among
the other fourteen which he diligently composed about the deeds of
the Vandals, the Sueves and the Goths.26
C h a pte r 6
The Spanish kings governed in a Catholic manner from the Rhône,

the greatest river of the Gauls, as far as the sea which divides Europe
from Africa; six provinces, that is to say, of Narbonne, Tarragona,
Betica, Lusitania, Carthago and Galicia. Furthermore they subjected
the province of Tingitana, in the furthest bounds of Africa, to their
lordship.27 Then at length divine providence, descrying that Wittiza
king of the Goths2829had for long been skulking among the Christians
like a wolf among the sheep, lest all the flock should again be defiled
by this age-old swinish wallowing29 allowed barbarian peoples to take
possession of Spain - just as in the time of Noah the Flood [[covered]]
the earth - few of the Christians being spared.
C hapter 7
It disgusts me, to be candid, to dwell on the ruin of my homeland and the

wicked doings of its kings, and the while I have proceeded at too great
length; the subject itself summons me to return to what I had begun.30 I,
then, submitted my neck to the yoke of Christ from the very flower of
youth and received the monastic habit at the monastery called Domus
26 A surprising misattribution by our learned author. Isidore died in 636; Paul's

rebellion against Wamba took place in 673. The work to which our author refers
is the H is to r ia fV am bae (H is to r y o f W a m b a ) by Julian, bishop of Toledo (680-90),
composed shortly after the events it describes.
27 See Roger Collins, E a r ly M e d ie v a l S p a in , map 1, for the Roman provinces of Spain
inherited by the Visigoths. Tingitana, more accurately Mauretania Tingitana, was
the town of Tingis (Tangier) with a modest hinterland, the shrunken remains of a
much larger Roman province which between the first and the third centuries had
extended further down the Atlantic coast of present-day Morocco and inland as far
as the town of Volubilis (near today's Meknes).
28 King Wittiza (692/4-710) features as a scapegoat in the semi-historical accounts of
the Arab-Berber conquest which were current in the Christian kingdoms of northern
Spain from the ninth century onwards.
29 II Peter ii.22.
30 Sallust, B e ll C a t v, 9; B e ll lu g . iv, 9.
Seminis.3132There for a long time I ruminated in my own mind upon

various opinions of the holy fathers proclaimed in the holy books of
Catholic kings, and decided to write o f the deeds of the lord Alfonso, the
orthodox emperor of Spain,38 and, separately, the life of the same.33 in the
first place because his more noble deeds seem worthy to be
remembered; second because, now that the whole length of his fragile
life34 has been run, he seems the most worthy of respect among all the
kings who govern Christ's church in a Catholic manner. But before I
embark on the beginning of this discourse I must dwell a little on the
many difficulties and threatening obstacles which he overcame in
coming to the throne.
C h a pte r 8
Alfonso, then, sprung from the famous stock of the Goths,35 was o f
great strength in bothjudgement and arms to a degree rarely found among
mortal men; for we see that the one stemsfrom the fear of death, and the
otherfrom the bravery of strength.36 To him in extending the kingdom
of the Spaniards,37 in waging wars against the barbarians, what spirit
was given! I go forward upon38 my journey, so far as the diligence of
31 For the various conjectures as to the identity of this community, see the
introduction.
32 Alfonso VI, King of León 1065-72, King of León, Castile and Galicia 1072-1109.
For a suggestion as to why the author should have laid stress upon Alfonso's
orthodoxy, see the introduction. From 1077 onwards Alfonso was intermittently
styled im p era to r H isp a n ie (‘Emperor of Spain') in official documents.
33 Einhard, V ita K a ro li , preface; Sallust, B ell. Cat. iv, 2.
34 Emending v ita m fir a g ili to v ita e fr a g ilis .
35 The author, who may have been unaware that the Visigothic monarchy was
elective, riot hereditary, believed that there had existed ‘a royal dynasty of the
Goths' ( G otoru m reg a lis stirp s , ch. 15) from which Alfonso VI was descended
through his mother Queen Sancha, the wife of Fernando I. In ch. 31 (not here
translated) he stated his intention ‘to weave the genealogy’ of Alfonso VI
(gen ealogiam texere ), and the first two-thirds of the text as it has come down to us
is given over to this end.
36 Sallust, B e ll Cat. v, 1; Bell. lu g . vii, 5. The sense is not wholly clear, perhaps because
the author misquoted or misunderstood his source.
37 This is the first of two occurrences of the term regnum H isp a n o ru m in the Silense ,
the other one being in ch. 13: he also uses, once, the phrase H isp a n ie regnum
(‘kingdom of Spain’) in ch. 15 which is one of his additions to the Chronicle o f
A lfon so III. For a brief discussion of its implications, see the introduction.
38 Emending the non-existent word p ro fa b o r to perlabor. If the original text had been
written in Visigothic script (see introduction) a misreading of p e rla b o r for p ro fa b o r
by a copyist who was ignorant of that script would be intelligible.
so THE WORLD OF EL CID
my capabilities shall allow, in listing one by one the provinces

reclaimed from their unholy hands and returned to the faith of Christ.
After King Fernando of good memory breathed his last he was
survived by his children: Sancho, the eldest; the aforesaid Alfonso; and
the youngest, Garcia; there were in addition their two sisters Urraca
and Elvira.39 Although while yet alive their father had divided the
kingdom equally among them,40 nevertheless for eight41 entire years
they waged internecine war without result. No small number of
soldiers perished in two major battles.42 So intense was the brothers’
strife! but who does not know that so it has been among mortals from
the beginning, except he who has given himself over to other
concerns and does not wish to bestow care on the discipline of reading
in order to study the deeds of kings.43 For there never was a lasting
peace for the inhabitants in the kingdom. Indeed, the Spanish kings
are reputed to be of such bellicosity that when any prince of their line
has reached manhood and taken up arms for the first time, he prepares
to contend by force, against his brothers or if they are still alive his
parents, so that he alone may exercise royal authority.
39 King Fernando and Queen Sancha were married in (probably) 1032. For the
sequence of their children's births (Urraca, Sancho, Elvira, Alfonso, Garcia) see ch.
81 below, also the order in which they witnessed CD Fernando /, no. 66. Precise
dates of birth are not known, but all had been born by 21 April 1043 when all five
were mentioned in a document issued by their father: CD Fernando 7, no. 21. The
Sahagun chronicler tells us that Alfonso VI was aged 72 when he died on 1 July
1109 which would indicate a date of birth in the second half of 1036 or the first half
of 1037.
40 The decision to divide the kingdom was formally taken at a great council held, it
would seem, early in 1064 (though presumably long meditated beforehand): see
below, ch. 103. The division was far from ‘equal', Alfonso being favoured at the
expense of both his brothers, especially the elder, Sancho.
41 Between Fernando I's death on 29 December 1065 and the murder of Sancho II on
7 October 1072 there elapsed rather less than seven years. For a possible explan
ation of the chronicler's ‘eight' see Reilly, Alfonso VI, p. 21.
42 That is, Llantadilla in July 1068 and Golpejera in January 1072. The first was not
a ‘major battle' but a modest skirmish; possibly the second too.
43 In translating this puzzling sentence I have taken a hint from Gómez-Moreno's
rendering (p. lxviii) and have also emended the punctuation in such a fashion that
the words scrutare etenim regum gesta are detached from the following sentence and
added to the end of this one.
HISTORIA SILENSE 31
C h a pte r 9
Now Sancho his brother compelled this Alfonso, deprived of his native
kingdom, to go to Toledo.44 But we believe that this came about by
the provident disposition of God. For when, driven by necessity, an
exile from his homeland, he was forced to keep barbarian company —
saving his faith —for a span of nine months,45 he was hugely esteemed
by those very same Saracens as a great king.46 Looked upon as the
greatest friend by the band of Moors, he was even conducted here and
there throughout Toledo, enabling him to master it for himself. He
lodged in his own mind, pondering the matter more deeply than anyone
might have believed,47 at which places and with which siege engines
that city, once the mirror of Christians of all Spain, might be wrested
from the hands of the pagans. I shall show in what follows how it was
captured by him in hard fighting.48
C h a pte r 10
Meanwhile King Sancho assembled an army and laid siege to Zamora,

which long ago used to be called Numantia.49 The Zamorans, however,
remained unmoved by this development. Fortified by the assistance of
King Alfonso and not minded to put up with the repulse of their lord,
the Zamorans despatched a knight of great courage and killed King
44 Toledo, formerly capital city of the Visigothic kings (see ch. 5 above), was now the
seat of one of the Taifa rulers who had succeeded to the authority of the Caliphate
of Córdoba when it fragmented earlier in the century. Al-Ma'mQn - rendered by
our author as Halmemon in ch. 11 - governed Toledo from 1044 to 1075. At this
juncture he was at the height of his power, having conquered the neighbouring
Taifa state of Valencia in 1065. The ease with which a Christian princely exile like
Alfonso could find asylum in a Muslim state is noteworthy.
45 That is, from January to October 1072.
46 As pointed out earlier (see note 1 above), the writers preferred name for Muslims
is ‘barbarians'. In this single short chapter, presumably to avoid verbal repetition,
he referred to them additionally as ‘Saracens', ‘Moors' and ‘pagans'. ‘Moors' is the
designation he used most frequently after ‘barbarians'. He used the term pagan'
sparingly. This is the only occurrence of the word ‘Saracen' in any part of the work
attributable to the anonymous author: in chs 99 and 100 it is borrowed from the
T ran slatif) S a n e t i Isid o ri (see above, pp. 11—12, n. 5).
47 Sallust, B ell. C a t v, 3; B ell. lu g . xi, 7.
48 There is a hint here that the author planned a literary set-piece devoted to
Alfonso's conquest of Toledo in 1085.
49 Numantia, the Iberian town besieged, taken and destroyed by Scipio Aemilianus in
133 BC, lies about 8 km north of the Castilian city of Soria. Subsequently the
identity of the site was forgotten and much later on Numantia was erroneously iden
tified with Zamora, on the River Duero south of León, about 300 km west of Soria.
Sancho by treachery while he was besieging them.50 The king was trans
fixed with a spear by him, unexpectedly, from behind, and shed his life
together with his bloodl5152After the king’s death you might plainly discern
how so much courage?1 so much rejoicing, were turned to as much despair,
as much sorrow, in so great and noble an army. Every soldier encamped
about the city, when assailed by the dreadful news, was driven frantic
and took to flight, abandoning nearly all of his possessions. Finally
they all sought out their homeland, though not in the disciplined manner
in which the army had been used to conduct itself when protected by
arms and vigilance, but in scattered bands travelling by day and night.
C hapter l l
However, a squadron of the bravest knights of Castile, mindful o f their

birth and o f their deeds o f old while under arms,53 carried off the lifeless
body of their lord with such honour as they could. They laid him in
his tomb with the trappings of a royal funeral, with great honour as
was fitting, at the monastery of Oña.54 The news of so great an out
rage afterwards came to the ears of King Alfonso in Toledo. Taking
his leave of Halmemon, the aforesaid barbarian king of Toledo, he told
him that he would return to his native land at once so that he might
50 All that one may reliably conclude about Sancho II’s murder on 7 October 1072 is
that foul play was involved. In Castilian circles rumours circulated that Alfonso VI
- the beneficiary of it - had been implicated in his brother’s killing. Later elabor
ations, in a Latin poem commemorating Sancho’s death (composed c. 1160?) and in
a vernacular epic (composed c. 1220?), would also involve the Infanta Urraca, their
elder sister. The truth will never be known. Naturally, the author of the S ilen se
would be reluctant to criticise either Alfonso or Urraca. He was careful not to
define the nature of Alfonso's ‘assistance’ {p re sid iu m ). In a diploma dated 17
November 1072 Alfonso claimed that his recovery of the throne had been achieved
without bloodshed: J. M. Ruiz Asencio (ed.), Colección d o cu m en ta l d e l a rch ivo de la
c a te d ra l d e L éo n (775-1230), vol. IV (1032-1109) (Léon, 1990), no. 1182. Modem
discussion may be found in C. Smith, T h e M a k in g o f the ‘P o e m a d e M io C id '
(Cambridge, 1983), pp. 30-37; Reilly, A lfo n so VI, pp. 65-8; R. Fletcher, T h e Q u est
f o r E l C id { London, 1989), pp. 116-18.
51 Virgil, A en eid, ii, 532.
52 Sallust, B ell. Cat. lxi, 1.
53 Sallust, B ell. C at. lx, 3,7.
54 The monastery of Oña, near the headwaters of the River Ebro in the north of Old
Castile, had been founded in 1011 by Count Sancho of Castile, a double house for
men and women under the direction of his daughter, Abbess Tigridia. The
founder’s namesake and son-in-law, Sancho e l M a y o r (‘the Great’) of Navarre, was
buried there on his death in 1035. The decision by his son Fernando I to establish
a royal mausoleum at San Isidoro de León (see below, ch. 94) frustrated Ofia’s
ambitions to become the burial place of the kings and queens of León-Castile.
HISTORIA SILENSE S3
assist his people. Furthermore, because Alfonso said nothing whatso

ever to him about the death of his brother, the barbarian at first felt pity
for this noble man who was about to suffer.55 He advised him not to fall
again into hostile hands. He Qal-Ma’mürf] informed him [Alfonso] that
his brother’s good luck and courage were still pretty well-known to
him56 by experience. At length —for that people glows with innate
cunning - the Moor enquired privately of him, though he was un
willing, about his brother’s death. But in this doubtful pass both were
hurt by one wound. Alfonso, by avoiding the barbarian’s snares,
declined to reveal matters to him as they really stood. Indeed, his
[Alfonso’s]] nature, greedyfo r power, used to alarm Halmemon greatly.57
C h a pt e r 12
The king of Toledo debated these matters with himself for a long
time. It is said that he contemplated the imprisonment of our king.
When King Alfonso discovered this by means of an informer, because
he was prudent in counsel as well as very mighty in arms, he boldly
returned to the city of Zamora protected by his knights. There,
occupying himself with the secure government of the kingdom, he
summoned his sister Urraca to him and other very prominent men.
Secret discussions were held. This Urraca indeed had loved Alfonso
from childhood more than the other brothers with the warmest sisterly
love; and since she was the elder, she chose for herself58 and took on
the place of a mother. She was outstanding in both wisdom and goodness,
which indeed we have learned more by experience than by report.59
Spurning carnal ties and the perishable garments of a husband,
outwardly in secular guise but inwardly under monastic discipline,
she clove to Christ as her true spouse, and throughout the term of her
life she persisted in her cherished practice of embellishing holy altars
and priestly vestments with gold and silver and precious stones.60
55 Emending iacture to iacturi.

56 Emending ilium to illi.
51 Sallust, Bell. lug. vi.3. The general sense of the second half of this chapter is plain
enough, though as it stands the text makes less than complete sense. Other
translators seem to have been baffled too: see Gómez-Moreno, p. lxx and
Casariego, pp. 117-18.
58 Emending allebat to allegebat.
59 For the implications of this phrase see the introduction.
60 For the Infanta Urracas artistic patronage see S. H. Caldwell, ‘Urraca of Zamora
and San Isidoro de León: fulfilment of a legacy', W o m a n s A r t J o u rn a l 1 (1986), 19-
C hapter 13
So Alfonso took her advice, troubled as he was at this juncture lest the
kingdom should again be threatened either by his own illness61 or by
his brother’s death. He captured his younger brother Garcia and
immediately62 put him in chains.63 Every royal honour was shown to
him save only the liberty of ruling. Alfonso also had it in mind that in
the fullness of time, all being well, Garcia should succeed him on the
throne. But imperious nature, who fixed for mankind the inescapable
frontier of death, intervened. Much later on, worn down by fever,
[García]] died in captivity.64 Both his sisters, Urraca and Elvira, attended
his funeral in royal fashion.65 At that time Rainerius, legate of the
Roman church, who later became pope, happened to be presiding over
a synodal council at León together with Archbishop Bernard of
Toledo and the other bishops and abbots of his province.66 Offering
Mass to God for the repose of his soul, they committed his body to
the tomb in the company of his forebears in the same city. Thus was
Alfonso strengthened in his hold over his father’s kingdom. Before we
come to the narrative of his wars and conquest of cities, of how he
governed the kingdom of the Spaniards,67 of how greatly he enlarged
it from so small [a nucleus]], we must go back to an earlier date and
unravel the kingdom’s origin.
25 and above all J. W. Williams, ‘León: the Iconography of the Capital’ in T. N.

Bisson (ed.), C ultu res o f P o w e r. L o rd sh ip , S ta tu s a n d P ro cess in T w e lfth -c e n tu ry E u ro p e
(Philadelphia, 1995), pp. 231-58.
61 Emending dolose to dolore.
62 Emending p r e to to presto.
63 According to a usually reliable source Garcia was captured on 13 February 1073:
C hronicon C om postellanum , in E S 20, p. 610. He was imprisoned at Luna, in the
mountains to the north-west of León.
64 According to the source cited in the previous note, Garcia died on 22 March 1090.
65 Sallust, B ell. lu g . xi, 2.
66 Rainerius, cardinal-priest of San Clemente since 1078, legate in southern France
and Spain 1090, elected Pope 1099 and took the name Paschal II, died 21 January
1118. On the council of León see Reilly, A lfo n so VI, pp. 217-19. Bernard, native of
south-western France and monk of Cluny, came to Spain c. 1079, Abbot of Sahagún
1080-85, Archbishop of Toledo 1086-1124.
67 The second (and last) occurrence of the phrase regn u m H isp a n o ru m see above, ch. 8,
n. 37.
L in k in g pa ssa g e a f t e r c h . 13
In order to ‘unravel the kingdom’s origin’ the author went right back to the
reign of the Visigothic king Wittiza. To traverse the period from the late
seventh century to the late tenth he leant principally upon the Chronicle of
Alfonso III and the Chronicle of Sampiro, as explained in the introduction. The
present translation resumes with a chapter numbered 30 in Pérez de Urbel’s
edition because he believed it to be the thirtieth and final chapter of Sampiro’s
work. It is not wholly clear that this is so, and for that reason the chapter is
here numbered 30*. The chapter presents various problems and I suspect
that our unknown Leonese author of the Silense had a hand in shaping it.68
Whether this is so or not, I detect at any rate his preoccupations in the last
sentence concerning the marriage of Fernando I. For this reason alone it
seemed appropriate to include the chapter in its entirety.
C h a pt e r 3 0 *
On the death of Ramiro QUI], Vermudo [[II] the son of Ordoño QUI]
entered León and acquired the kingdom peacefully.6970He was a man of
more-than-average statesmanship. He confirmed the laws established
by King Wamba; he ordered canon law to be observed; he loved mercy
andjudgement?0 he sought to reject evil and to choose good. But in the
days of his reign, on account of the sins of the Christian people, there
grew a huge multitude of the Saracens.71 Their king —who chose a
false name for himself, Almanzor72 —was like none who has gone
before nor will be again. He formed an alliance with the Saracens across
the sea, and at the head of the whole people of the Ishmaelites he
invaded the frontiers of the Christians and began to lay waste many of
their kingdoms and to put [[many] to the sword. These are the king
doms of the Franks, the kingdom of Pamplona and the kingdom of
León.73 He laid waste cities and castles, indeed, and depopulated all
68 Linehan, History and the Historians, p. 158, n. 110, draws attention to some of the
problems and possibilities.
69 The writer’s assessment of Vermudo II (982-99) is notably more sympathetic than
the very hostile account penned by Pelayo of Oviedo: see pp. 74-9.
70 Psalm ci. 1; Hosea xii.6. On Vermudo’s legal activities see Collins, Early Medieval
Spain, pp. 240-1.
71 If this sentence is indeed the work of our author, this is an additional use of the
term ‘Saracen’: see above, ch. 9, n. 46.
72 Almanzor (al-MançQr) was not a given name but a laqab or honorific name
meaning ‘the Victorious’.
73 By ‘the kingdoms of the Franks’ the author presumably meant the Catalan counties
of north-eastern Spain which notionally formed part of the kingdom of West
Francia (France), itself still (until 987) under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty.
Barcelona was sacked by Almanzor in 985.
the land, until he reached the coastal regions of western Spain7* and
destroyed the city of Galicia in which the body of the blessed apostle
James is buried. He had intended indeed to go to the tomb of the
apostle in order to destroy it; but he drew back in terror.15 He pulled
down churches, monasteries, palaces and destroyed them by fire. [This
took place]] in the Era 1 0 3 5 [= AD 99 7 ]]. The heavenly king; remem
bering his mercy, wrought vengeance on his enemies: that very people o f the
Hagarenes began to fa ll away by the sword and sudden death, and day by
day to come closer to annihilation.16 But King Vermudo, assisted by the
Lord, began to restore that same place of St James for the better. And
in the second year after that campaign he died a natural death in the
region of El Bierzo, rendering up his spirit in confession of the Lord.
He reigned seventeen years. On his death his son Alfonso []V]] being
three years of age, succeeded to the kingdom in the Era 103 7 [= AD
9993. From this descent Fernando, the son of Sancho the Cantabrian
king, took his wife and sprang forth as the king-to-be who would make
it his task to expel the barbarians in the future.74*767
C hapter 6 9
However, in the time of Sancho, son of the aforesaid King Ramiro, on

account of the wickedness of some of those who had governed - for
some had cast friends out of the kingdom, some [like the father of this
Sancho]] had torn out the eyes of kinsmen - by God’s leave the Moors
were again allowed dominion over the Spains —just as pagan peoples
had lorded it over the Israelites for their manifold sins.78
74 Removing the full stop between occidentalis and Ispanie.

15 The same phrase occurs in Sampiro ch. 29.
76 This sentence occurs almost exactly word for word in Pelayo’s account of Vermudo
II: see p. 79. It also contains a reminiscence of Luke i.54 (the Magnificat).
77 For Fernando's marriage see below ch. 75. The language here used of the king’s
mission might prompt reflection on the prophetic strain in Leonese historiography,
possibly not unconnected with the remarkable popularity in early medieval
Christian Spain of the Commentary on the Apocalypse attributed to the eighth-century
monk Beatus of Liébana. San Isidoro de León possessed a very handsome copy of
this work donated by Fernando I and Queen Sancha in 1047 (now in the Biblioteca
Nacional in Madrid).
78 The author backtracks again. The kings referred to here are Ramiro II (930-51)
and his son Sancho I (956-8, 959-66). Ramiro blinded his half-brother and three
cousins in order to render them unfit for the throne. Sancho was restored to power
in 959 with the aid of the Muslim Caliph of Córdoba ‘Abd al-Rahmän III, to whom
he paid tribute.
C hapter 70
Accordingly, in the Era 1004 £= AD 966^], on the death of King

Sancho, Almanzor, the greatest of all the barbarians, boldly invaded
the bounds of the kingdom of the Christians.79 Sure enough after
Sancho’s death, as tends to happen in such circumstances, the counts
who administered the regions, some calling to mind a royal authority80
endured beyond what was just, others putting fortifications in order
with the aim of ruling without restraint, refused obedience to the still
tender-aged Ramiro, the son of King Sancho. So when the barbarian
heard of this discord among the Christians he forded the River Duero
which then marked the frontier between Christians and barbarians.81
In doing this there assisted82 the barbarian both the size of the payment
with which he had bound to his service no small numbers of Christian
soldiers, and his justice in giving judgements which, as we have learnt
from a father’s report,83 he always held dear above all other people,
even (if it is fitting to say so) the Christians. For example, if while in
winter quarters there were to occur any mutiny, punishment would be
applied more severely upon barbarian than upon Christian. So, laying
waste with fire and sword all that lay within the province, he boldly
made camp beside the River Esla in order to attack the city of León;
rightly estimating that nothing would later stand in his way if only he
might enter the royal city of the Leonese.
79 His chronology is at fault here: Almanzor did not come to uncontested power in al-
Andalus until 981.
80 The Latin words are regnum im perium , literally ‘kingdom-empire’. Although the
phrase has found defenders as a correct reading, it seems likely that it is a copyist’s
error for regiu m im perium , ‘royal empire’ or (as suggested here) ‘royal authority', a
phrase which the author used again in ch. 83. Other translators have been like-
minded, Gómez-Moreno rendering it ‘una autoridad real’, Casariego ‘una potestad
regia’.
81 The narrative seems to run on naturally with the sentence beginning ‘So, laying
waste ...’ a few lines below. Perhaps the two sentences in between have been
interpolated at some later stage.
82 Einhard, V ita K a r o li ch. 9.
83 On a strictly literal reading these words could be interpreted as indicating that the
writer’s father had been among the Christian soldiers who took service with
Almanzor, though this is surely all but impossible on chronological grounds.
However, the phrase might plausibly suggest that tales from that period had been
handed down to the author's own day. Some of the episodes of chs 70 and 71 have
the feel of story-telling about them: for instance, Almanzor’s good justice, his
golden helmet, his manner of showing displeasure and the snowstorm which saved
León. These are not sufficient to encourage speculation about some lost epic poem
which could have been the author’s source, though some enquirers have viewed
this question more indulgently.
Chapter 71
When he heard this the young Ramiro, whom his mother Queen
Teresa was still looking after at León, went forth armed to meet the
enemy accompanied by certain counts. Battle was joined, and Ramiro
drove them back to their tents with huge slaughter. But when the
barbarian saw that his men were exposing themselves in cowardly
flight he sprang from his seat to counter this. For it is said that
Almanzor used to show this sign of displeasure to his troops when
they were fighting poorly: taking off the golden helmet which he
habitually wore on his head he would sit upon the ground with
dishonour. When the barbarian soldiers saw him bareheaded, exhort
ing one another to action, they surrounded our men on all sides with
much noise. The tables were turned: pursuing our people from behind,
they would have poured headlong through the gates of the city had
not a massive snowstorm interrupted the conflict.8485His plans for that
year unaccomplished owing to the approach of winter, the barbarian
returned to his own land. Divine displeasure, however, allowed him
such licence in the future that for twelve successive years he assaulted
the frontiers of the Christians in as many campaigns.88 He took León
and other cities, destroyed the churches of St James and of the holy
martyrs Facundus and Primitivus, as I have said above, together with
many others which it is long to enumerate.8687He profaned whatever
was sacred with his reckless audacity; and at the end he made the
whole kingdom submit to him and pay tribute. During that same
terrible time in Spain all holy worship perished, all the glory of the
Christians fell away, the accumulated treasures of the churches were
dispersed.91 At last divine piety, having compassion on such wreckage,
saw fit to lift this scourge from the necks of the Christians. Indeed, in
the thirteenth year of his reign,88 after many dreadful defeats of the
84 This is not a literal translation: the text does not make sense as it stands; yet the
general drift is clear. So too Gómez-Moreno, p. cxi and Casariego, p. 140.
85 Almanzor’s campaigns against the Christians lasted for over twenty years in all
until cut short by his death. Fourteen years elapsed between the sack of León in
988 and Almanzor s death in 1002.
86 The church of the holy martyrs Facundus and Primitivus’ is the monastery of
Sahagun (San’ Fagun’), about 50 km south-east of León, founded in the early years
of the tenth century by King Alfonso III. It was sacked by Almanzor in the same
year as was León, 988; Santiago de Compostela was sacked in 997. If as I have said
above’ be taken as referring to Sahagun, it has not previously been mentioned; if to
Santiago, see above, ch. 30* (with implications for the authorship of that chapter).
87 Einhard, V ita K a r o li ch.13.
88 See above, n. 85.
HISTORIA SILENSE 39
Christians, Almanzor was snatched away by the Devil (who had taken
possession of him during his lifetime) at the great city of Medinaceli
and buried in Hell.89
C h a pte r 72
The people indeed of the Goths,90 freed by God’s mercy from such a
yoke, little by little recovered strength. For Ordoño, the son of King
Fruela, who had reigned for a short time, left a son who survived him
named Vermudo.91923This Vermudo indeed, when he had taken up the
direction of the kingdom in the marches of Galicia, was neither hasty
nor idle in his duties: from the very beginning of his reign he began to
do battle with the Moors with earnest effort.
C h a pte r 73
He fathered Alfonso,1^ a man well-endowed with bowels o f mercy’*

towards the churches and Christ’s poor, and a very vigorous enemy of
the barbarians and their cities. In his zeal for the true law of God, in
the course of his pursuit with the greatest hatred of the superstitious
sect of the barbarians, it is said that he held some of the Moors fast
bound by weaponry and hunger at the castle of Viseu.94 During that
campaign he was clad only in a linen shirt owing to the great heat:
while he was passing near the city walls on horseback he was struck
with an arrow fired from a tower by a certain barbarian who was a
skilful archer; he died of the wound, rendering up his soul, as we
believe, to God. He left children, Vermudo and a daughter Sancha.95
89 Almanzor died on 11 August 1002. ‘Great city' is a rendering of maxima civitas, but
both the English and the Latin phrases give a misleading impression. Medinaceli
was not a densely-populated town but a military strongpoint and administrative
depot which controlled the so-called Middle March in the sparsely settled
borderlands of the northern frontier of al-Andalus. See R. Collins, Spain. An Oxford
Archaeological Guide (Oxford, 1998), pp. 183-4.
90 The author refers, significantly, to the Leonese of the tenth century as the gens
Gotorum.
91 We return to Vermudo II (see ch. 30* above), son of Ordoño III (951-56). The
latter was not the son of Fruela but of Ramiro II.
92 Alfonso V (999-1028).
93 Phil, ii.l; Col. iii. 12.
94 In central Portugal, about 110 km north-east of Coimbra.
95 Alfonso's death occurred in July or August 1028. Vermudo III reigned as king of
León 1028-37. Sancha married Fernando I (below ch. 75).
40 T H E W O R L D O F EL CID
C hapter 74
For the rest, having demonstrated the maternal descent of Alfonso

our emperor, in order that the noble pedigree of his father may also be
made clear, our tale must turn back for a little while. Accordingly, we
know that the kingdom of the Cantabrians was in part overturned by
Moorish occupation; in part, however, it remained intact by means of
fortification and through the difficulty of gaining entry to its lands.
For whenever the dreaded enemy penetrated further than usual,
leaving the plain behind, he would be making his way to towns and
castles situated in the valleys between the mountains. Then the
Cantabrians, well able to put up with cold and exertion, given the
[[nature of the[] place and the circumstances, taking up their lighter
arms, would take to the hills and the hidden forest places.9679By creeping
unexpectedly upon the enemy camps91 while they were there,98 and by
attacking them, they often threw them into confusion. Neither could
such action ever be avenged by the enemy;99 for the Cantabrians, agile
and lightly armed, would immediately disperse themselves as soon as
occasion demanded. Thus the fierceness of the Moors which to others
was dreadful was to the Cantabrians a [[subject for[] mockery. But
Garcia, who was descended from the noble stock of Duke Pedro of the
Cantabrians, after he was proclaimed king, encountered the bar
barians frequently in battle and vehemently repulsed their attacks, so
that they should not rage furiously after their usual manner against
the Christians' frontiers.100 On his death his son Sancho succeeded to
his father’s kingdom. God, seeing him to be a devout vindicator of the
Christian faith with the strength of his army, both showered him with
prosperous achievements and made his progeny to grow with multiple
96 Einhard, Vita Karoli ch. 9 (in which Einhard was describing the same region in his
account of the Roncesvalles campaign).
97 Sallust, Bell. lug. lviii, 1.
98 Emending adderant to aderant.
99 Einhard, Vita Karoli ch. 9.
100 The reference seems to be to King García Sánchez II (994-1004), the father of
Sancho el Mayor (‘the Great’) of Navarre. Certain MSS have a date at the end of
this sentence which has been the cause of some confusion: Era MVIII (= 970 AD).
This was the date of the death of King García Sánchez I (9SS-70), but by being
taken by many historians as the date of the death of his grandson Garcia Sánchez
II, the accession of his son was pushed back to 970, thus giving him an impossibly
long reign of sixty-five years. Sancho the Great of Navarre became king in 1004,
absorbed the county of Castile in 1028 and much of the kingdom of León in 1030,
and died in 1035. For the history of the kingdom of Pamplona-Navarre in the
tenth and eleventh centuries see R. Collins, The Basques (Oxford, 1986), chs 4 and
5, with a helpful genealogy on p. 164.
HISTORIA SILENSE 41
generation. For from the very pinnacles of the Pyrenees as far as the
fortress of Nájera101 he snatched from the power of the pagans as
much land as was contained within those bounds. He caused the way
of St James to run without the hindrance of deviation, which for fear
of the barbarians the pilgrims had trodden by the roundabout route of
Alava.10*
C h a pte r 75
He deserved to enjoy long and happily the company of his sons,

among whom the father generously divided the kingdom during his
lifetime. He placed the firstborn, Garcia, over the people of Pamplona;
warlike Castile received Fernando as her governor on the father’s
order; and to Ramiro, whom he had fathered from a concubine, he
gave Aragon, a little fragment of his realm, so that he should not
appear to inherit a kingdom like his brothers, as being inferior on his
mother’s side.103 Meanwhile Fernando took to wife the very noble young
woman Sancha, the daughter of Alfonso the Galician king, her
brother Vermudo presiding over the regal nuptials of his sister.104
Prince Vermudo indeed ruled as king upon the death of his father
from the bounds of the Galicians as far as the River Pisuerga which
marks off the kingdom of the Cantabrians.105106
C h a pt e r 7 6
King Sancho,^// o f days'06 and in a benign old age, departed this life
in the Era 107 3 [= AD 1035^ while his son Garcia was on a journey to
101 In the Rioja, about 40 km to the west of Logroño.

102 For a sketch-map of the pilgrim road to Compostela through the kingdom of
Navarre see Collins, Basques, p. 212.
103 Sallust, B ell. lu g . xi, 3. The sons of Sancho the Great ruled as follows: Garcia
(Navarre) 1035-54; Fernando (Castile) 1035-65 (adding León 1037-65); Ramiro
(Aragon) 1035-63. The author makes no mention of a fourth son, Gonzalo, for
whom a principality was constituted in the Pyrenean counties of Sobrarbe and
Ribagorza, to the east of Aragon, 1035-44.
104 Fernando's marriage to Sancha, of critical significance for the writer because it
enabled his hero Alfonso VI to be ‘sprung from the famous stock of the Goths’ (above,
ch. 8), took place in (probably) 1032. The description of Alfonso V as 'the Galician
king' was also applied to him by a contemporary chronicler writing in Angoulême:
Adémar of Chabannes, Chronique, ed. J. Chavanon (Paris, 1897), iii, 70 (pp. 194-5).
105 The Pisuerga rises not far from the head-waters of the Ebro and runs southward
until its confluence with the Duero a little to the south-west of Valladolid.
106 Jeremiah vi.l 1.
Rome in fulfilment o f a vow.101 Fernando had him interred with great

honour, as was fitting for such a father, at the monastery of Oña.108
When Garcia returned from Rome, having fulfilled his vows to God,
and already, having been told of his father’s death, was approaching
the province of Pamplona, he heard that his brother Ramiro —the one
born of a concubine — was concerting treacheries against him
concerning the kingdom. Ramiro indeed, in order to wreak this crime,
had entered into alliance with some of the neighbouring Moorish
kings, those that is of Zaragoza, Huesca and Tudela.109 Relying more
on their assistance than on his own efforts, they made camp together
beside the town of Tafalla.110 Shamefully, he threatened his brother
with war. King Garcia’s spirit could not put up with this contumacy which
seemed to dishonour him.111 He assembled a force of the bravest
soldiers of the Pamplonans and at once launched an attack on the
enemy encampments. The greater part of them were cut down like
cattle; those that remained abandoned tents and possessions and,
weaponless, took to flight. But as for Ramiro - the illegitimate one -
that would have been his last day had he not sought places of safety,
having lost his boots, on a horse guided only by a halter.“2
C hapter 7 7
Meanwhile, from the bond of unity and affection, black discord arose
between Fernando and his kinsman, which from the beginning was
the seedbed of all evils and the unexpected disturber of things good.
For what wonder is it if, there being a pretext, [discord]] exercised its
powers here ? While the various impulses of humankind are growing
stronger it obtrudes itself by unbalancing even the sweet-tempered.
Seeing that it even separated that immortal creature, no less, from the
angelic concord, it is matter for no surprise if it stirred up death-deal-
108 See above, ch. 11 and n. 54.
109 Alliances of this sort, which spanned religious and cultural frontiers, were not
uncommon in eleventh-century Spain. For two examples from 1069 and 1073 see
the texts printed with illuminating commentary by J. M. Lacarra, ‘Dos tratados de
paz y alianza entre Sancho el de Peñalén y Moctadir de Zaragoza (1069 y 1073)'
in H om enaje a Johannes Vincke , I (Madrid, 1962), 121-34, reprinted in his C o lo n iza
ción , p a ria s, repoblación y o tro s estu dios (Zaragoza, 1981), pp. 77-94.
110 About 30 km south of Pamplona.
112 I.e. without saddle or bridle. The point is that Ramiro’s flight, barefoot as well as
bareback, was undignified as well as cowardly. For the author’s attitude to the
Aragonese, see the introduction.
ing wars among mortals, even among those wise after their earthly
fashion."3 In truth, in this conflict each seemed to have his justifi
cation according to human reason. For after the death of Alfonso
prince of the Galicians, Sancho of the Cantabrians took advantage of
the tender age of Vermudo and had brought under his rule a part of
the latter’s kingdom, namely from the River Pisuerga as far as the
Cea.1131415Vermudo indeed, now of adult age when King Sancho breathed
his last, determined to gain his father’s kingdom for himself.
C hapter 78
In reaction to this Fernando, to whom Alfonso’s daughter had been

joined in marriage, considered it unjust and almost contrary to any
reason that he should be deprived of this land. The two therefore
contended together and a great quarrel arose between them. But
because they were unequal in military strength, so that Fernando was
in no position to withstand Vermudo’s attack, he earnestly requested
the help of his brother Garcia in campaigning against the enemy.
Grief always seizes me, writing of the death of such a king, when I
consider his excellent rule. For Vermudo, that noble youth become
king, was not a slave to childish diversions and wanton desires as that
age tends to be: but from the very outset of his youthful reign he
began to govern the churches of Christ and defend them from evil
men and to act (like a devout father) as the comforter of the
monasteries. There can be no doubt that once Vermudo had been
taken from this world he would be a stone fixed in the building of the
heavenly Jerusalem. As it is written, Pile her in heaps, and the stones
are brought together for the celestial building: and again, The righteous
perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart.'15
113 This is another passage in which the general sense is plain while difficulties of
comprehension in detail remain.
114 The River Cea rises in the mountains to the north-east of León and flows
southward past Sahagún to its confluence with the River Esla near Benavente due
south of León; roughly parallel to the Pisuerga (above, n. 105) but significantly
further to the west. In other words, Sancho had appropriated an extensive - and
agriculturally rich - tract of the kingdom of León, that region known as the
Tierra de Campos.
115 Jeremiah 1.26; Isaiah lvii.l.
C hapter 79
So Fernando and his brother gathered together a force of very brave

soldiers and made haste to engage the enemy. Vermudo with his
following crossed the marches of the Cantabrians and went on his
way armed for the encounter. And then across the valley of Tamarón
the two opposing armies with their bright weapons regarded one
another.116 Vermudo, ardent and undaunted, at first urged on his
famous horse Pelayuelo with his spurs and, desirous to strike the
enemy, galloped lance in hand against the densest squadron.117 But
dastardly death, whom no mortal can escape, laid hold on him. As
fierce Garcia and Fernando pressed upon []hirrf] ever more
strenuously, he was struck down in the very act of charging and fell
lifeless to the ground. Seven among his warriors fell bitterly beside
him. His body was carried for burial among the other kings at León.
C hapter 80
Afterwards Fernando, Vermudo being now dead, coming from the

borders of Galicia, besieged León and all the kingdom passed under
his control.118 In the Era 1076, on the tenth of the Kalends of July Q=
22 June 1038]] the lord Fernando was consecrated in the church of St
Mary at León and anointed king by Servando of venerable memory,
Catholic bishop of the same church.119 After he took up the sceptres of
the realm’s governance with his wife Sancha it is incredible to relate in
116 Tamárón is about 16 km west of Burgos. The battle took place on 4 September
10S7.
117 Some of the phrases used here have rhythms suggestive of the endings of Latin
hexameters, e.g. fu lg e n tib u s arm is, calcaribu s urget, stric ta a sta incu rrit. This feature,
and a few other literary touches such as the reference to the king’s horse by name,
have suggested to some enquirers that the author might have been drawing upon
some lost work lamenting the death of King Vermudo III in Latin verse.
118 It is assumed that after his victory at Tamarón in September Fernando I made a
circuit round the city of León before approaching it ‘from the borders of Galicia’.
One might compare William the Conqueror’s approach to London in the autumn
of 1066 after his victory at Hastings.
119 For this and other royal inauguration rituals see Linehan, H isto ry a n d the H istorians,
ch. 5. In an apparently original diploma dated the day before the ceremony the
scribe Ansur could put into the king’s mouth the words ‘when I entered León and
accepted ordination’ (q u an do ego re x d o m n o F re d in a n d o in L e g io n e in tr o ib i et
ordin acion e acepi): see C D F e rn a n d o /, no. 8. The ceremony was referred to as an
o rd in a tio in the king’s own prayer book, commissioned by Queen Sancha in 1055
and produced most probably in León or Sahagún: it is now in the Biblioteca
Universitaria of Santiago de Compostela.
HISTORIA SILENSE 45
how short a timé1'10 the fear of him overshadowed the provinces of the
barbarians throughout Hispania. These he would from the outset the
more swiftly have laid waste had he not first, to calm the disturbances
of his kingdom, prudently taken care to punish the rebel souls of
certain noblemen.121 In this context the extent of his kingdom excited
the ambition of his brother Garcia, leading him from brotherly
unanimity to the very summit of envy. King Fernando therefore,
obstructed by such circumstances, for a full sixteen years accom
plished nothing in campaigning against the outsiders beyond his borders.
C h a pte r 81
Meanwhile Queen Sancha conceived and bore a son, who was called
Sancho; then she gave birth to a daughter, Elvira; again she conceived
and bore a son, whom it pleased both parents to call Alfonso; finally
she gave birth to the youngest, Garcia. The parents bore Urraca, a
girl of the utmost nobility in comeliness and behaviour, before they
attained the fullness of the kingdom.12a King Fernando took pains so
to educate his sons and daughters that, first, they should be instructed in the
liberal disciplines to which he himself had given study. Then, when they were of
the right age, he had his sons learn to ride after the manner of the Spaniards,
to practise the use of weapons and to hunt. Lest his daughters should languish
in idleness he ordered them to be taught every womanly skill.1'13 So the
government of King Fernando’s realm, once it was strengthened by
free customs and by troops, seemed tolerably flourishing and powerful
QbuC] as is generally the case in human affairsfrom its very prosperity there
arose envym between him and his brother Garcia. Notwithstanding
Fernando showed himself in all things mild and devout, unwilling to
sever himself from his inherent good nature and customary piety, he had
determined in his heart to endure the rivalry and envy of his brother
come what may, lest he might be provoked to anger by him}*3 He thought
that he might always subdue his brother’s jealousy by means of his
own fame.
120 Sallust, B ell. C at. vii, S.
121 This discreet hint at disturbances is occasionally amplified by references in
Fernando’s surviving diplomas to rebellions and confiscations, e.g. C D F ern a n d o /,
no. 59.
122 See above, n. 39. Observe the writer’s flattering tribute to the Infanta Urraca,
patroness of San Isidoro de León.
124 Sallust, B ell. C at. vi, 3.
125 Einhard, V ita K a r o li chs 18, 20.
C h a p t e r 82
Accordingly, while Garcia lay ill at Nájera, King Fernando, moved by

brotherly affection, hastened to pay him a visit. When he had come to
him, Garcia took counsel about making the king captive, and an
ambush was prepared for him. But in the event it was in vain:
apprehensive of such an outcome, Fernando promptly departed to his
own land. It so fell out that Fernando in his turn fell ill and King
Garcia, as if to make up for so great a crime, humbly approached
because of Fernando’s illness. It seems to me that Garcia came more
to assuage the frustrated crime than to comfort his brother in his
illness. Indeed Garcia wished that he alone might possess the kingdom,1*6
that his brother might be not merely impeded by illness but
completely removed from this world: for thus do work the covetous
minds of kings. When King Fernando learnt of this he was moved to
anger: he ordered him to be put126127 in chains at Cea. García cunningly
escaped a few days later and returned to his own land with a few
soldiers whom he had secretly gathered together.
C hapter 83
Afterwards Garcia, hostile and fierce, began openly to seek out

occasions of war and, thirsting for his brother’s blood, to lay waste his
marches wherever he could. When he heard this King Fernando
assembled an enormous army from the borders of Galicia and made
ready to avenge the injury [[done to[] the kingdom. Meanwhile he sent
fitting envoys to King Garcia, [[requesting him[] to leave his marches
and embrace peace, so that he should not choose the strife of death
bearing swords with him: for they were brothers, and it was fitting
that each of them should dwell peaceably in his own kingdom. He also
stated that he could not maintain a multitude of so many soldiers. But
King Garcia, ferocious and rash, in contempt of his brother’s restraint,
heard the envoys out and ordered them to be expelled from his camp.
And immediately adding threats, he said that when their lord had
been defeated he would carry them off like cattle into his own country
together with their conquered companions. For Garcia trusted in his
own might, because at that time he was reputed an outstanding
soldier, above any knight in all the royal empire.128 For indeed in
126 Sallust, B e l l lu g . viii, 1.

127 Emending po n ere to p on eri.
128 Emending excepto to ex to to (as found in one MS).
HISTORIA SILENSE 47
every battle he had been accustomed to perform at once the duties o f a

valiant soldier and o f a good general11' 9 He had also brought with him a
very great contingent of Moors whom he had engaged for warfare in
the impending campaign.129130
C h a pte r 8 4
And so a day and a place was agreed upon between them for the ill-
fated conflict. King Garcia had already pitched camp in the middle of
the valley of Atapuerca, when King Fernando’s troops took possession
by night of the hillside which rose above.'31 These troops indeed, for
the most part attached to the affinity of King Vermudo, when they
learnt of the fervent wish of their lord to take his brother alive rather
than dead —at the prompting, as I believe, of Queen Sancha —resolved
each and all to avenge the blood which was common to them. At
daybreak, when Titan first emerged from the waves,132 the lines of
battle were drawn up, a great clamour went up on both sides, hostile
javelins were hurled from a distance, the common fate was dealt out
by death-dealing blades. The troop of very brave soldiers whom I
touched upon a little earlier loosed their reins and charged downhill
at great speed brandishing their spears. Cutting through the middle
of the enemy line they fell upon King Garcia, transfixed him and
hurled his lifeless body from his horse onto the ground. In that fight
two of Garcia’s warriors were killed with him. The Moors who had
taken part in the battle tried to take to flight, but the greater part of
them were taken prisoner. King Garcia’s body was taken for burial to
the church of Sta María de Nájera which he himself had devoutly
raised from its foundations and had splendidly embellished with silver
and gold and silken textiles.133
C h a pte r 85
King Fernando, after the death of his brother and his brother-in-law,
saw that the entire kingdom was subject to his authority without
129 Sallust, Bell. Cat. lx, 4.

130 See above ch. 76 and n. 109. The peace-treaties of 1069 and 1073 there referred to
stipulated mutual military aid.
131 Atapuerca is about 15 km to the east of Burgos. The battle was fought on 15
September 1054.
132 Pérez de Urbel (p. 187, n. 203) detected an echo of Lucan and/or Manilius here.
133 Garda had founded the monastery of Nájera in 1052. It was affiliated to Cluny by
Alfonso VI in 1079.
challenge. Now secure in his native land, he ordained that the

remaining time be given over to campaigning against the barbarians
and strengthening the churches of Christ. Accordingly, when winter
was past and the summer had begun and owing to the abundance of
foodstuffs the army could campaign, the king left the Tierra de Campos
and set off for Portugal, over the greater part of which, from the
provinces of Lusitania and Betica, the barbarians held sway, belching
forth profanities. Indeed King Fernando, throughout his whole life, kept
this resolve firmly in his mind, never to abandon what he had undertaken
nor to lay down a task once begun before he had completed it to the best o f his
ability.™* Because of this trait, dread of him, like the sight of a snake,
had terrified the hearts of the barbarians. So he gathered together all
his paid troops134135 and first attacked the town of Seia and its
surrounding castles.136 Some barbarians were slaughtered, others at
his command he humbled in slavery to himself and his men. It would
be tedious to note down one by one the settlements and the many
castles of the barbarians laid waste by the ever-victorious King
Fernando. Accordingly I have sought to record [only] the names of
the principal cities over the churches of which once upon a time bishops
presided, which stoutly fighting he dragged from their sacrilegious
hands.
C h a pte r 8 6
After the conquest of the town of Seia he made haste to invest the city
of Viseu, with this in mind that the barbarians of that city should
make due recompense for the death of his father-in-law Alfonso:137 the
time to avenge their crimes had come round [? ].138 For there was in
134 Einhard, V ita K a r o li chs 5, 20.

135 Emending stipen diis to stipen diariis. The author probably had in mind those vassals
whose service was rewarded by a money payment rather than by a landed fief: see
S. Barton, T h e A risto c ra c y in T w e lfth -c e n tu ry L e ó n a n d C a stile (Cambridge, 1997),
pp. 83, 91, 109-10 and references there cited.
136 Seia is in central Portugal, on the western slopes of the Serra da Estrêla, about 30
km south of Viseu. The author’s chronology of Fernando’s Portuguese campaigns
is vague. If he is correct in placing the capture of Seia before that of Lamego and
Viseu, the campaign perhaps took place in the summer of 1057.
137 See above, ch. 73. The author has reversed the order of these triumphs: Lamego
fell to Fernando on 29 November 1057, Viseu on 25 July (St James’s day) 1058.
These dates are derived from the Portuguese annals edited by P. David in his
E tu d e s historiqu es su r la G a lic e e t le P o r tu g a l d u V ie au X l l e siècle (Paris, 1947), p.
296.
138 This seems to be the general sense: the text is corrupt.
HISTORIA SILENSE 49
that city a company of very skilled archers. If ever men were to scale
the walls in order to assault, unless they strengthened their shields
with boards or some stronger protection, the force of the arrow was
such as to pierce each shield and a threefold coat of mail. Having
reconnoitred all the city’s entrances and pitched camp, the king
ordered picked soldiers accompanied by slingers to approach the city of
Viseu and lay siege to the gates.'39 Then battle was joined, and after
some days of fierce fighting he conquered it. Inside the town he found
the archer who had killed King Alfonso: he ordered both his hands to
be struck off. The other Moors were booty for his soldiers. Speedily
striking camp140 Fernando set out for the city of Lamego and when he
got there invested it with his army.13914041142He endeavoured with a great
effort to break down the wall. Although it seemed impregnable owing
to the difficulty of the terrain, he set up towers and siege-engines of
various kinds'** and conquered it in a short space of time. He subjected
the conquered city to his own laws. Some of the Moors of Lamego
were put to the sword, others were despatched in chain-gangs for
building works on churches.
C h a pte r 87
King Fernando always used to see to it with special care that the
better part of the spoils of his victories should be distributed among
the churches and Christ’s poor to the praise of that highest Creator
who gave him victory. He also captured the castle of San Justo on the
River Alva, and Tarouca with several other fortifications in the
vicinity, which were rendered threatening by the inhospitable
landscape.14314He levelled them to the ground}** so that the barbarians
139 Sallust, B ell. lu g . xci, 4.

140 Sallust, B ell. C at. lvii, 3.
141 Lamego is situated a little to the south of the River Douro (Duero) about 80 km
inland from the Atlantic coast.
142 Sallust, B ell. lu g . xxi, 3.
143 Tarouca is about 8 km south of Lamego. I have not identified the castle of San
Justo: the River Alva (so, correctly, one MS: others, M a lv a ) on which it stood runs
from the Serra da Estrêla to its confluence with the River Mondego about 17 km
north-west of Coimbra.
144 The phrase used here, a d solum usque d estru x it, exactly matches the wording used
of Charlemagne's dismantling of the walls of Pamplona in the A n n ales R e g n i
F ran coru m s.a. 778, suggesting that this text (or parts of it) as well as Einhard’s
V ita K a r o li was available to the author.
would not be able to place garrisons in them against the Christians.145

After these triumphs, in order that Coimbra, the biggest city of those
parts and the capital of the region, might be restored to Christian
cult, the king solicitously sought out the shrine of St James the
Apostle, whose body is said to have been borne to Spain by the divine
visitation of our Redeemer. He prayed for three days there that this
campaign might yield happy and prosperous results, pleading that the
apostle would be an intercessor for him with the divine majesty. So,
having worshipped at that venerable place, King Fernando, armoured
with divine help, boldly made his way to Coimbra and settled down in
his camp to besiege it. I have thought it worth recording, so that it
might be clear to all, how his very fervent prayer was answered by
God.
C h a p t e r 88
For there was in the perfected devotions of King Fernando the firm
promise of our Saviour when he says, ‘Amen, I tell you that whatsoever
ye shall ask o f the Father in my name, He may give it you!'*6 For in this he
was imploring that that city might be wrested from the rites of the
pagans and restored to the faith of the Christians. Earnestly in the
name of Jesus - which means Saviour - he prayed to God the Father
for his safety. But because Fernando was still enmeshed in corruptible
flesh and knew that he was not close to divine grace by the merit of
his life, he sought the assistance of the apostle to intercede as a most
privileged courtier of his most holy Master. King Fernando therefore
fought at Coimbra with the material sword; James, the knight of
Christ,147 ceased not to implore his Master to bring about the king’s
victory. At length the blessed apostle of Compostela made known
after this fashion that victory had been granted from heaven to the
most serene King Fernando.
145 The passage which follows from here until the end of ch. 89 has been translated
into English by C. Smith, C h ristia n s a n d M o o rs in S p a in , vol. I: 711—1150 (War
minster, 1988), text no. 16, pp. 80-4.
146 John, xv. 16.
147 Assuming that the author was writing c. 1115 (see introduction) this is the earliest
known reference to St James under this title.
C h a pte r 8 9
There had come from Jerusalem a certain Greek pilgrim,148 poor as I

believe both in spirit and in worldly wealth, who settled himself for a
long time at the entrance to the church of St James and gave himself
over day and night to prayers and vigils. As he little by little acquired
facility in our language he heard the local people, as they frequently
entered the sacred edifice for their intercessions, importuning the ears
of the apostle under the name of ‘the good knight'. He said to himself
that not only was [St James]] no knight, but that he had never even
got astride a horse! When nightfall came and daylight was extin
guished in the normal way, and the pilgrim was spending his night in
prayer, suddenly he was seized by terror. The apostle James appeared
to him, holding as it were keys in his hand, and with a cheerful
expression said to him, ‘Yesterday, mocking the devout intercessions
of the people praying, you believed that I had never been a very
valiant knight!’ As he said this, there was led up to the church’s
portals a most magnificent horse of great size, whose snow-white
brightness filled all the church with light through the open door. The
apostle mounted the horse and, displaying the keys to the pilgrim,
informed him that the city of Coimbra would surrender to King
Fernando on the following morning at about the third hour of the
day. The stars went down, and when on the Lord’s day the sun first
lit up the bright globe, the Greek, amazed at such a vision, calls
together all149 the clergy and all the leading men of the town and,
ignorant as he was of the [king’s]] name and campaign, he recounted
the incident to them just as it had happened and announced that on
that very day King Fernando would enter Coimbra. His hearers,
taking note of the day, sent messengers with all speed to the
encampments of the undefeated king. Eagerly pursuing their journey,
they proclaimed150 that whether [or not]] this vision proceeded from
God it should be made known to this world to the praise of the name
of His servant. The messengers hastened on their way and reached
Coimbra. There they discovered that on the third hour of that very
day which the apostle James had indicated at Compostela the king had
148 This may seem very odd, but it can be matched by a Greek bishop and his
attendant - A n d rea s episcopus de Grecia, G regoriu s discipulus illius - who feature in a
document drawn up at Oviedo in 1012: Colección de D ocum entos de la C a te d ra l de
O viedo, ed. S. Garcia Larragueta (Oviedo, 1962) no. 41 (at p. 140).
149 Sallust, B ell. C at. xvii, 2.
150 Emending p e rc ip ia n t to pra ecip iu n t.
taken possession of the city.151152He had, indeed, for some time confined
the inhabitants of Coimbra within their ramparts. Positioning batter
ing-rams round the circumference, he had managed to breach the city
wall in part. The barbarians, seeing this, sent envoys with supplications to
the king, asking only life fo r themselves and their children.152 They
surrendered to the king the city and all its contents, except for
[their]] provisions for the journey and a very small153 sum of money.
C hapter 9 0
Thus was the frenzy of the Moors driven out of Portugal. King Fernando
compelled them all to cross the River Mondego which separates the
province from Galicia.154 Over those cities which he recovered from
the law of the pagans he set a certain Sisnando, famous in counsel.155
This man had once been carried off from Portugal a captive by
Benahabet king of the province of Betica along with other spoils.156157
Performing many distinguished services Sisnando had achieved such
renown among the barbarians by his industry that he was valued
more highly by the barbarian king than all [others]] in his whole
kingdom as a man indeed whose advice and whose efforts were never
useless.'51 When indeed, having left Benahabet, Sisnando entered the
service of King Fernando, owing to his aforesaid experiences, he was
invaluable to us, and to the barbarians the mightiest terror, until his
151 Coimbra surrendered to Fernando I on 9 July 1064.

152 Sallust, B ell. lu g . xlvi, 2.
153 Emending p e r p a r iu m to p e rp a rv u m and supplying et.
154 A most surprising error. It was the River Miño (Port. = Minho) which then
separated Galicia from Portugal - as it still does - as is clear from a number of
references in, for example, the near-contemporary H is to r ia C om postellana.
Alternatively, is ‘Galicia a mistake for ‘Lusitania? Yet this would still present
problems, for it was the Duero and not the Mondego which separated the
(Roman) provinces of Galicia (Gallaecia) and Lusitania. Whatever the error, and
whether it arose from a simple slip of the authorial pen or from a copyist’s lapse
of concentration, it had entered the manuscript tradition no later than 1174 when
it is found in the C rón ica N a jeren se , here dependent on the H is to r ia Sítense. C rón ica
N ajeren se , ed. A. Ubieto Arteta (Valencia, 1966) iii, 22 (p. 100). For the date see
D. W. Lomax, ‘La fecha de la Crónica Najerense’, A n u a rio de E stu d io s M e d ie v a le s 9
(1974—9), 405-6.
155 For Sisnando’s career see E. García Gómez and R. Menéndez Pidal, ‘El conde
mozárabe Sisnando Davídez y la política de Alfonso VI con los Taifas’, A l-A n d a lu s
12 (1947), 27-41.
156 ‘Benhabet’ is the author’s rendering of Ibn ‘Abbad, the kunya or family name of the
ruling dynasty of Seville: Sisnando's captor had been al-Mutadid (1041-69).
157 Sallust, B ell. lu g . vii, 6.
dying day. King Fernando, in return for his victory over the enemy,
worshipped at the shrine of the blessed apostle with gifts and joyfully
returned to the city of León. Then, holding a general council of his
great men, he ordered a campaign against the barbarians who, assail
ing from the eastwards regions, from the province of Carthaginensis
and the kingdom of Zaragoza, were laying hold of the strongpoints
and numerous castles along the River Duero. For by reason of this
proximity they were unavoidable enemies, mounting lightning raids
for slaves on the frontiers of Castile.
C h a pt e r 91
So when the campaigning season came round again, King Fernando

reassembled his army and attacked them. After quickly taking the
castle of Gormaz, he came to Vadorrey.158 He subjected that town to
his lordship and then boldly approached the city of Berlanga which
other castles situated round about protected.159 But the Moors of that
city were struck by great terror that they might become enemy booty.
So before the king might lay hold on them they spent several days
pulling down the wall in different places and made ready to flee,
leaving a throng of women and children behind. After this victory
Fernando fell upon the town of Aguilera, triumphed over the castle of
Santiuste, and took by combat the fortress of Santamera. Then
approaching the castle of Huérmeces del Cerro, he levelled it to the
ground. For the safety of the oxen ploughing the fields he also dis
mantled all the watch-towers which the barbarians had built after
their custom on the slopes of Mount Parrantagón and the strong-
points erected throughout the valley of Bordecorex.
C h a pte r 9 2
When he had made the frontiers of the Cantabrians safe from the
threat of the barbarians spewing out of the province of Celtiberia and
the kingdom of Toledo, King Fernando gathered together from his
whole kingdom very strong forces of soldiers and slingers, intending
to conquer the province of Carthaginensis. Having traversed the
158 The stupendous tenth-century fortress of Gormaz guards a crossing of the Duero
some S3 km south-west of Soria: see Collins, A rch aeological G uide, pp. 136-8. The
other places mentioned in this chapter are in the same general area, the south
eastern zone of Old Castile round Soria, Almazán and Sigüenza.
159 Emending p ro te g e b a t to protegeban t.
peaks of the mountain of Honia very rapidly,160just as a starving lion

when he gazes upon the proferred herd of cattle on the open plains,161
so the thirsty Spanish king fell upon the lands of the Moors. He drew
up his army opposite the town of Talamanca and pitched camp.162 He
laid hold of many barbarian settlements, very rich in flocks and herds
and other good things; he laid waste the countryside; he captured and
burnt many castles and towns, inadequatelyfortified or without a garrisonhe
slaughtered Moors; he ordered women and children and all their goods
to be the booty o f his soldiers.'63 Then reaching the city of Complutum
which is now called Alcalá he laid waste with fire and sword its
neighbouring farmland and surrounded its defences with [his]]
encampments.164 When the barbarians of Complutum, pinned within
their defences, see the wall shaken by the battering rams and all their
possessions threatened from outside,165 in their necessity they sent
messengers to Halmemon, king of Toledo,166 [pleading]] that he should
look to his safety and that of his kingdom, either by driving back such
an enemy in battle or by buying him off with gifts. He should know
that unless he acts very swiftly both he and the kingdom of Toledo
will soon be lost.
C h a pt e r 9 3
The barbarian, however, heeding the wiser advice, had gathered

together an immense amount of gold and silver coin and of precious
textiles. Under safe conduct he made his way very humbly to the king’s
presence and steadfastly167 besought his excellency to accept gifts and
160 There is a difficulty here. Either m ons H o n ia is an unidentified mountain in the

region which was the focus of attention in the last chapter; or it is Oña, in the far
north of Old Castile (above, note 54). The trouble with the latter identification is
that it makes no geographical sense: no king in his right mind would go from
León to Talamanca and Alcalá by way of Oña. This apparent unfamiliarity with
the geography of Castile is but one of several indications that our author is
unlikely to have been an inmate of the Castilian monastery of Silos: see the
discussion of authorship in the introduction. (Professor Janet Nelson has
suggested to me that Fernando might have gone out of his way to visit the tombs
of his ancestors at Oña: see below, ch. 94 and references.)
161 Pérez de Urbel et a l (p. 196, n. 229) caught a Virgilian echo here.
162 Talamanca de Jarama, about 40 km north of Madrid.
163 Sallust, B e ll lu g . liv, 6.
164 Alcalá de Henares, about 30 km east of Madrid.
165 Sallust, B e ll lu g . lxxvi, 6.
167 Emending obnoxiu s to obnixius.
desist from laying waste his marches. He said furthermore that both
he and his kingdom were commended to Fernando’s lordship. Now
indeed King Fernando, though he thought that the barbarian king spoke
insincerely, and though he himself was entertaining designs of a fa r different
nature, nevertheless for the time beingJ68 accepted the treasure and called
off his campaign against the province of Carthaginensis. Laden with
much booty he returned to the Tierra de Campos.
C h a pte r 9 4 168169
Meanwhile Queen Sancha, seeking an audience with the lord king,

persuaded him that a church should be built in León as a royal mauso
leum where the bodies of the kings might he rightly and splendidly170
entombed. For King Fernando had ([formerly]] ordered that his body
should be delivered to the tomb either at Oña, a place which he always
held dear, or in the church of San Pedro de Arlanza.171 Queen Sancha
on the other hand, given that her father of worthy memory Prince
Alfonso and her brother the most serene king Vermudo rested in
Christ in the cemetery of the kings at León, exerted all her influence
to bring it about that both she and her husband should lie alongside
them after death. And so the king yielded to the request of his most
faithful wife. Masons were commissioned, who strenuously devoted
themselves to such a very worthy task.
C h a pte r 9 5
Thus King Fernando had ordered everything aright within his fron
tiers. When the first opportunity arose he summoned his army again
and set off to campaign against the provinces of Betica and Lusitania.
168 Sallust, Bell. lug. xi, 1.

169 This chapter has been translated in Williams, ‘León: the Iconography’ (above, n.
60), p. 234. See also R. McCluskey, ‘The early history of San Isidoro de León (X -
XII c.)‘, Nottingham Medieval Studies 38 (1994), pp. 35—59.
170 Sallust, Bell. lug. xi, 2.
171 For Ofia see above, n. 54. Arlanza, about 40 km south of Burgos, claimed to have
been founded by the celebrated early Count of Castile, Fernán González, in the
middle years of the tenth century. In a diploma granted to Arlanza in 1039,
apparently reliable, Fernando promised to be buried there; and the promise was
renewed in 1046: CD Fernando I, nos. 12, 32. (It may be significant that though
the diploma ran in the name of king and queen together, the undertaking
concerning burial was given in the name of the king alone: Queen Sancha was
consistently loyal to her Leonese connections.) Fernando was a very generous
benefactor whose most imposing gift consisted of the relics of Sts Vincent, Sabina
and Christeta, translated from deserted Avila to Arlanza in 1062.
When he had laid waste the fields of the barbarians and burned many
of their villages, Benhabet King of Seville came to meet him with
great gifts.178 He implored him fo r the sake offriendship and for113 the
honour of the kingdom to desist from attacking him and his land.
King Fernando indeed, merciful as was his wont to human sufferings,
while he was softened by the prayers of the elderly barbarian,
summoned all the suitable men from their winter quarters17213741756and debated
with their counsel what answer he should give to the supplications of
the king of the Moors. Then the matter was decided by judgement of
the council. QFernandcf] received gifts and gave orders that the body
of the martyr-saint Justa, who formerly at Seville made her way to
Christ with a martyr’s crown, should be given back to him so that he
might translate her to the city of León.'75 The barbarian immediately
assented to Fernando’s imperial orders and pledged himself to give
him the body of the most blessed virgin.
C h a p t e r 9 6 ' 76
This undertaking having been accepted, when he had returned from

that campaign King Fernando summoned to him at León the
venerable Bishop Alvito of this royal city and Ordofio the reverend
bishop of Astorga and also Count Muño, and sent them with an escort
of knights to Seville to collect the body of the aforesaid virgin.177 On
arriving there they reported the king’s orders to Benhabet, who
replied to them: ‘I know well’ he said, ‘that what you ask I have
promised to your lord. But neither I nor any of my people can show
you the body which you seek. Search for it yourselves: and when you
have found it take it up and depart in peace.’ We little understood
172 For ‘Benahabet' see above, n. 156.

173 Sallust, B e l l lu g . lxxi, 5.
174 Sallust, B e ll lu g . lxii, 4.
175 St Justa was allegedly martyred at Seville in the year 287.
176 As explained in the introduction, chs 96-102 inclusive follow closely the anony
mous T ra n sla tif) S a n c ti Isid o ri, but with characteristic editorial changes and
additions.
177 Alvito was bishop of León from 1057 to 1063, Ordoño of neighbouring Astorga
from 1062 to 1065. It seems very probable that both men had served in the royal
chancery of King Fernando I before their advancement to the episcopate: see C D
F ern a n d o J, nos 20, 29, 31, 34, 35, 39. Their respective sees were well rewarded for
their services in translating the relics of Isidore. Count Muño Muñoz was also
handsomely rewarded, and he thanked the king by giving him ‘a very fine hawk':
C D F ern a n d o J, no. 68. For some comments upon the significance of the phrase
‘this royal city', see the introduction.
whether the barbarian spoke this truthfully to our embassy, or by way

of concealment: but frequently human desires are as inconstant as they are
importunate.178 Hearing this the distinguished bishop Alvito counselled
his companions and said: W e must understand, brothers, that we
shall return in vain unless divine mercy come to assist the toil of our
journey. It seems fitting, best beloved, that we should seek the help of
the Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, and engage in three days of
fasting and prayer, so that the divine majesty may deign to reveal the
treasure of the holy body which is hidden from us.’
C h a pte r 9 7
The bishop’s exhortation that they should spend those three days in
prayers was pleasing to all. On the third day, when the sun had
traversed the heavens and gone to his repose and the fourth night was
approaching, the venerable bishop Alvito, ever wakeful, was still
engaged in prayer. He had sat down briefly to rest his weary limbs as
he recited to himself one - I know not which - of the psalms and, on
account of the great length of his vigils, was overcome by sleep.
There appeared to him a man of grizzled and venerable appearance
clad in episcopal robes, who addressed him as follows: ‘I know that
you have come with your companions to this place to take with you
from here in translation the body of the most blessed virgin Justa.
However, it is not God’s will that this city should be left grieving by
the departure of this virgin. But His mighty love will not suffer you to
depart empty-handed. It is my body that has been given to you, which
you may take up and return in triumph to your own.’ When the
reverend man asked who it was who was giving him these orders, he
replied: ‘I am Isidore, Doctor of the Spains and bishop of this very
city.’ Having said this he vanished from the beholder’s sight.
C h a pte r 9 8
Waking, the bishop fell to rejoicing over the vision and giving praise
to God more earnestly, imploring that if this vision were from God it
might be vouchsafed more fully a second and a third time. Praying
thus, he fell asleep again and Lo! the same man in the same apparel
[[appeared]], speaking to him in words not dissimilar to [those uttered
on]] the previous occasion, and again disappeared. Waking once more,
the bishop implored more eagerly of God a third repetition of the
178 Sallust, B ell. lu g . cxiii, 1.

vision. While he the more strenuously179 was praying, for the third
time he fell asleep. Then the aforesaid man appeared to him as on the
first and second occasions and repeated for the third time what he had
said beforehand. He struck the ground three times with the staff
which he held in his hand to show the place where the holy treasure
lay concealed, saying, ‘Here, here, here you will find my body. And
lest you think that you are being tricked by an apparition, this will be
a sign to you of the truth of my words. Soon after my body will have
been brought up to the earth’s surface you will be attacked by a grave
illness of the body, to which you will succumb; and having shaken off
this mortal flesh you will come to us with the crown of righteousness.’
He made an end of speaking and the vision was taken away.
C hapter 9 9
The bishop woke from sleep assured about so great a vision, more
joyful still about the summons to him. Daybreak had come, and he
exhorted his companions, saying: ‘Most beloved, we must worship the
divine omnipotence of the highest Father with humbled minds, who
deigns to go before us180 with his grace and does not suffer the recom
pense of our labour to be in vain. We are forbidden by divine
command to take from here the relics of the blessed virgin Justa, dear
to God; but we may take with us gifts no lesser when we shall bear off
the body of the most blessed Isidore, who in this city was vested in
the robe of pontifical authority and who graced all Spain with his
word and his work.’ And having said this he told them in order about
the series of visions. They heard it and offered heartiest thanks to
God. They went together to the king of the Saracens and related all
these things to him in order. The barbarian was greatly alarmed.
Though he was an infidel, he wondered at the power of the Lord and
said to them: ‘And if I give Isidore to you, with whom shall I remain
here?' However, not daring to resist men of such authority, he gave
permission to search for the relics of the confessor. I speak wondrous
things, related to me, however, by those who were present. While the
search was taking place for the tomb of the blessed body, the tip of the
staff with which the holy confessor by his threefold knock had
indicated his resting-place was found. When it was uncovered, so
powerful a fragrance was emitted that it drenched the hairs of the
179 Emending obnoxius to obnixius.

180 Emending precedente to precedere.
head and beard of all who stood by as if with a mist of nectar181 or the
dew of balsam. The blessed body was enclosed in a wooden coffin
made of juniper. No sooner had it been opened than sickness attacked
the venerable man Bishop Alvito and on the seventh day later he
underwent penance and, as true faith believes, surrendered his soul
into the hands of the angels.18“
C h a pt e r 1 0 0
Taking up the relics of the blessed Isidore and the body of the bishop
of León, Bishop Ordoño of Astorga and his escort made haste to
retrace their steps to King Fernando. The aforesaid king of the Saracens
Benahabet draped a hanging woven with marvellous craftsmanship
over the sarcophagus of the blessed confessor,183 and heaving great
sighs from deep within his chest, said ‘Lo! O Isidore, man worthy of
veneration, so you depart from here! But you yourself have known
how this matter is mine as well as thine!’184These things were remem
bered by those who have sworn that they heard them when they were
present. So the envoys set out with so great a gift bestowed from
heaven, and went back to their own land. Upon their return the most
glorious King Fernando laid on a splendid welcome. Although he
mourned the death of the bishop of León, nevertheless he organised a
magnificent reception for the arrival of the most blessed confessor
Isidore. He re-interred the holy body in the basilica of St John the
Baptist which the same most serene king had recently built at León, as
I have mentioned earlier. The venerable bishop Alvito was buried in the
^cathedral]] church of St Mary over which with God’s aid he had presided.
C h a pte r 101
Thus, four hundred years after his death,185 the body of the blessed
confessor of Christ Isidore was translated from the city of Seville and
buried with fitting honour in the city of León. Having gathered
together the noblemen, the bishops and the abbots of his entire
kingdom, the king had the aforesaid church consecrated in honour of
181 Emending nectaroque to nectareaque.
182 Later Leonese tradition commemorated his death on 3 September 1063.
183 It is just possible that this textile is the same which (or a part of which) still lines
the saint's reliquary in its resting place in the Real Colegiata de San Isidoro de
León.
184 The sense of this sentence is not clear.
185 To be precise, 427: Isidore died on 6 April 636.
the confessor on the 22nd day of December in the year of the Lord’s
Incarnation 1 0 5 2 .186 On that festive occasion the most glorious king is
said to have been assiduous in humility, with such great devoutness,
out of reverence for the holy bishop, that when the time came for the
feast he laid aside his royal pride and, in place of the servants, with his
own hands served the elaborate dishes to some of those men of
religion. Queen Sancha also, with her sons and daughters, humbly
waited upon the remainder of the company in every respect after the
manner of servants.
C h a p t e r 102
In that place where the relics of the blessed body are venerated by the
faithful people our Lord has deigned to show forth so many and so
great miracles to the honour and glory of his name, that if any skilled
person were to commit them to writing he would fill no small number
of books.187 But my only purpose is to write of the deeds of kings: it is
not my intention for the present to relate how many and how frequent
miracles have been wrought upon the bodies of those diverse sufferers
who sought his intercession, through the merits of that confessor, by
the divine Maker. To Him be glory for ever and ever: Amen.
C h a p t e r 103
After the arrival of the body of Isidore the bountiful bishop, the most
serene prince Fernando [occupied himself] in the protection, the enlarge
ment and the embellishment o f his kingdom.l88 Holding sway at León he
held a general council of his magnates. He chose to partition his
kingdom among his sons in order that after his death they might —
should this be possible —live at peace among themselves.189 Accord
ingly he set Alfonso, whom before all his children he held dear, over
the Tierra de Campos, and subjected to his authority all the kingdom
of the Leonese. He appointed his first-born son Sancho king over
Castile. And he put190 the younger, Garcia, in charge of Galicia. Upon
186 An extraordinary error. The translation of Isidore's relics formally took place on
21 December 1063: see C D F e rn a n d o 7, no. 66.
187 Lucas, canon of San Isidoro and later bishop of the Galician see of Tuy, composed
such a work early in the thirteenth century, the L ib e r M ira c u lo ru m S a n c ti Is id o r i
{T h e B ook o f M ira c le s o f S a in t Isidore). The text remains unpublished.
189 See above ch. 8 and n. 40; also Reilly, A lfo n so VI, pp. 14-22.
190 Emending p e r tu lit to p re tu lit.
his daughters he bestowed all the monasteries of his whole kingdom,

in which they might live to their lives’ end without the bond of a
husband.191192 He observed the Christian religion, to which he had been
devoted since his childhood, with the greatest piety.X9i He embellished this
church which he had newly built and had consecrated in honour of the
holy bishop Isidore with gold and silver of the utmost beauty and
precious stones and silken hangings.193 He would tirelessly attend church
morning and evening, also fo r the late-night hours and at the time o f the
sacrifice Qof mass]],194 and he rejoiced exceedingly to join with the
voices of the clergy in praise of God.
C h a p t e r 104
He cared fo r the church of San Salvador at Oviedo above other sacred

and venerable places and endowed it with much gold and silver.195
Furthermore he strove to adorn the church of the blessed apostle
James with varied gifts.196 What more Qieed I say]]? Throughout the
whole course of his life the devout and most excellent prince Fernando
held nothing more dear, than that the leading churches of his
kingdom should be strengthened by his gifts in their ancient dignity and
191 This sentence has given rise to much discussion. It must not be accepted at its face
value: there were scores of religious communities scattered throughout the
dominions of Fernando I which were under the ownership or patronage of persons
or families unconnected with the royal dynasty. Understanding of the text is
assisted if the words ‘of his whole kingdom’ (totiu s reg n i sut) are interpreted as
‘under his entire control’. The princesses were to manage and be sustained by the
resources of certain prominent nunneries or double-monasteries under the
patronage of the crown. The resultant lordship was known as the in fan taticu m
(Spanish infantado). Arrangements of this nature are traceable in Castile and León
between the late tenth and the mid-twelfth centuries. It was a device for ensuring
livelihood with honour and power to the unmarried ladies of the royal family.
Comparable arrangements were to be found in Germany and England at the same
period. See most recently P. Stafford, ‘Queens, Nunneries and Reforming Church
men: Gender, Religious Status and Reform in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century
England’, P a s t a n d P resen t 163 (1999), pp. 3-35, especially p. 17. Further research
on the institution of the in fa n ta d o is needed. For the present, reference may be
made to L. García Calles, D o ñ a Sancha, pp. 105-23.
193 See Williams, ‘León: the Iconography’, also the splendid illustrations in T h e A r t o f
M e d ie v a l S p a in in the section ‘Romanesque Spain’, pp. 167-328. The phrase ‘this
church’ is yet another pointer to the authorship of an inmate of San Isidoro de León.
195 Einhard, V ita K a r o li ch. 27. San Salvador was the cathedral church of Oviedo.
196 The church of St James (Santiago) at Compostela, not formally the seat of a bishop
until 1095, though in practice the seat of the bishops of Iria from at latest the
middle years of the tenth century.
that they should be not only through his agency secure and at peace but also by
his efforts well-endowed and beautiful.191 He loved poor pilgrims and
took great trouble in caring for them. Indeed, wherever he discovered
Christian monks, or clergy, or women vowed to God, living in
poverty, having compassion for their need, it was his custom either to
come in person to comfort them or to send money frequently. Thus it
came about that, coming in his mercy to inspect the monks of
Sahagún, satisfied with the monastic routine, he would humbly take
his meal with them at the hour appointed for eating.197198 As was the
custom, vessels for the blessing of the wine had been set out upon the
abbot’s table, at which the king was also sitting. Somebody handed a
glass goblet full of wine to the lord king. On the abbot’s command
that he should drink of the wine for a blessing, the king took it
clumsily, and it fell onto the table, and because it was delicate it was
shattered into little pieces.199 The king was overcome by dismay and
felt very guilty. He summoned peremptorily to him one of his
retainers, who were standing by, and ordered him to bring him as
quickly as possible the golden vessel from which he himself was
accustomed to drink. It was brought without delay and placed upright
upon the table. Then he addressed the brothers thus: ‘See, my lords, I
restore this vessel to the blessed martyrs in place of the broken one.’
Furthermore he ordered that one thousand gold coins should be given
annually during his lifetime from his own resources to the monks of
Cluny to unloose the fetters of his sins.200
C h a pt e r 105
When these things had thus been well ordered, he set out with his
armed forces to lay waste the fields and destroy the settlements of the
Moors of the Celtiberian province. He remained there for a long time,
laying waste with fire and sword [[those settlements]] which were
without fortifications. He came to the city of Valencia201 which he

198 This episode set at the monastery of Sahagún has been pressed into service by
those who attribute the authorship of the S ilen se to a monk of Sahagún.
199 Emending f r u s tr a tim to fr u s ta tim .
200 This, Fernando’s most resplendent piece of munificence, has been very fully studied
by C. J. Bishko, ‘Fernando I y los orígenes de la alianza castellana-leonesa con
Cluny, C H E 47-8 (1968), 31-135 and 49-50 (1969), 50-116. There is an English
translation in his volume of collected essays, S tu d ie s in M e d ie v a l S p a n ish F r o n tie r
H is to r y (London, 1980), no. II.
201 On the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
H I S T O R I A S IL E N S E 63
would have conquered within a short space of time had he not been
struck down with illness and bedridden. Having accepted the surrender of
all the cities and castles202 of the Celtiberian province, sick in body he
was carried to León in the month of December [yvhere^ he prayed at
the shrine of St Isidore the confessor of Christ. He entered the city on
Saturday 2 4 December.*03 As was his custom he adored the bodies of
the saints on bended knees, imploring that, if already the fearful hour
of death should seem to threaten him, his soul might be presented
without hurt, free from the power of darkness, before the court of
Christ his redeemer, through their intercession and that of the angelic
choirs. Then, in the festal night of the Lord’s Nativity, when the
clergy were singing the early morning mass of the Nativity appointed
for that festival, the lord king was present with them. With what
strength he could summon he joyfully joined in singing the last
response of matins, Advenit nobis, which at that time they sang in the
Toledan manner, the succentors responding Erudimini omnes qui iudicatis
terram?0* which seemed then not unsuitable for the most serene King
Fernando who while it was given him to live both governed his
kingdom in a Catholic manner and himself in an entirely devout one,
restraining unchastity as with a bridle.
C h a pte r 106
When the clear day of the Nativity of the Son of God lightened the
whole world, the lord king began to feel the strength ebb from his
limbs. He asked for Mass to be sung and after receiving the body and
blood of Christ he was led by hand to his bed. At daybreak on the
following day, knowing what was to come, he summoned to him the
bishops and abbots and religious men, and that they might fortify his
passing he was carried to the church, together with them, clad in his
royal apparel with his crown upon his head. Then he knelt before the
altar of St John and the bodies of the saints - the blessed Isidore2034
203 For what follows, see Charles J. Bishko, T he Liturgical Context of Fernando I’s
last days according to the so-called H isto ria S ile n se , H isp a n ia S a cra 17—18 (1964-
5) 47—59, reprinted in his second volume of collected essays, Span ish a n d
P ortu gu ese M o n a stic H isto ry 600-1300 (London, 1984), no. VII. Professor Bishko
has suggested that the author was drawing upon a written account of the king’s
deathbed, composed presumably at San Isidoro.
204 ‘Be instructed, ye judges of the earth', from Psalm ii. 10. These responses formed
part of the liturgy for Christmas Day according to the so-called Mozarabic Rite
(‘the Toledan manner’) which was abandoned in favour of the Roman liturgy in
1080.
confessor of the Lord and St Vincent the martyr for Christ205 - and in
a loud voice addressed the Lord: ‘Thine is the power, thine the
kingdom, O Lord. Thou art above all kings. All realms both heavenly
and earthly bow to thy governance. Behold, I therefore render back to
thee the kingdom which I received as thy gift, and which I have ruled
for as long as it freely pleased thy will. Only, I pray thee, receive my
soul in peace, snatched from the whirlpool of this world.’ When he
had spoken these words he took off the royal cloak with which his
body was attired and removed the gem-encrusted crown with which
his head was adorned and, tearfully prostrating himself on the floor of
the church, he earnestly implored God for the forgiveness of his sins.
Then he underwent ([the sacrament of[] penance at the hands of the
bishops. He was robed in a hair shirt in place of his royal garments
and scattered with ashes instead of a golden diadem. God granted him
two days to live in this state of penance. On the following day, which
was Tuesday, at the sixth hour of the day on which the feast of St
John the Evangelist is celebrated, he rendered his soul to heaven
between the hands of the bishops. Thus, in a good old age, full of
days, he departed in peace in the Era 1103 [[= AD 10653- His body
was buried in the church of St Isidore the mighty bishop, which he
himself had built from its foundations in León, in the twenty-seventh
year of his reign, with six months and twelve days.206
205 When St Vincent's relics were translated to Arlanza in 1062 (above ch. 94 and n.
170), a portion of them were given to San Isidoro de León.
206 As Bishko has shown, the correct date of Fernando's death was Thursday 29
December 1065 (not Tuesday 27 December); he has also plausibly demonstrated
how the error arose: above, n. 203. The calculation in the closing phrase is the time-
span from coronation to burial: 22 June 1038 plus twenty-seven years, six months
and twelve days gives us 2 January 1066 as the date of the king’s interment.
II; BISHOP PELAYO OF OVIEDO,
CHRONICON R E G U M LEGIONENSIUM
Introduction to the Chronicon Regum Legionensium of Bishop

Pelayo of Oviedo
The Chronicon Regum Legionensium, or Chronicle of the Kings of León,

attributed to Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo (1101-30 and 1142-3), is a
brief history of the Leonese monarchy from the accession of Vermudo
II in 982 to the death of Alfonso VI in 1109.' The Chronicon forms
part of a compilation of historical works, the Liber Chronicorum, which
was put together in the scriptorium of Oviedo cathedral some time
before 1132, and which itself belongs within the voluminous collection
of writings that was assembled under Bishop Pelayo’s supervision,
today known as the Corpus Pelagianum? Although some elements of
the Corpus, such as the Chronicon itself, are original compositions,
many others are either heavily interpolated copies of earlier works
and documents, or else outright forgeries. If Pelayo is well known
today, it is less for his accomplishments as a scholar than for his
wholesale falsification of the historical record, an activity which has
earned him the soubriquet of el Fabulador, ‘the Fabulist’.123
Nothing is known of Pelayo’s background. From the inclusion of a
genealogy in the Liber Testamentorum, the cathedral cartulary
commissioned by the bishop c. 1120, it has been conjectured that he
may have been related to the founding families of the monasteries of
Coria and Lapedo in the western Asturias.4 Pelayo may also have had
Leonese connections. In 1136 he granted to the canons of Oviedo the
1 B. Sánchez Alonso (ed.), C rónica d e l obispo D o n P ela yo (Madrid, 1924) is the most
recent edition. There has been a partial translation into Spanish by J. E. Casariego,
C rónicas de los reinos de A stu ria s y de L eó n (León, 1985), 172—81.
2 For a guide to the contents of the Corpus, see the In ven ta rio G en era l de M an u scritos
de la B iblioteca N a cio n a l, IV (Madrid, 1958), no. 1513, pp. 401^1; F. J. Fernández
Conde, E l L ib r o de los T estam en tos de la ca te d ra l de O vied o (Rome, 1971), pp. 50-69.
3 For an introduction to the life and works of Bishop Pelayo, see Fernández Conde,
L ib r o de los T estam entos, pp. 35-80; M. G. Martínez, ‘Regesta de Don Pelayo, obispo
de Oviedo’, B oletín d e l In stitu to de E stu d io s A stu ria n o s 18 (1964), 211—48.
4 Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los Testam entos, p. 37.
properties he owned at Villamoros and Trobajuelo near León;5 that he

admired and was well-acquainted with the city of León is clear to see
from his description of the final days of Alfonso VI in the Chronicon,
and from the lines he penned as part of the treatise he composed on
the origins of the cities of León, Oviedo, Toledo and Zaragoza in
1 1 4 2 .6 It is possible that Pelayo served successively as deacon and
archdeacon of the cathedral chapter of Oviedo before being elected
bishop of the see.7 According to the prologue to the Corpus Pelagianum,
he was then consecrated into the see of Oviedo on 2 9 December 1 0 9 8 ,
which has led some historians to speculate that he served as auxiliary
to Bishop Martin until the latter’s death on 1 March 1101.8 However,
there is no documentary evidence to support this. Pelayo ruled the see
of Oviedo for the best part of three decades, until in February 1130, at
the Council of Carrión, he and his fellow prelates Diego of León and
Muño of Salamanca, were deposed by the papal legate Cardinal
Humbert, apparently for having challenged the validity of Alfonso
VII’s marriage to Berengaria of Barcelona on the grounds of consan-
guinuity.9 After the death of his successor Alfonso, in January 1142,
Pelayo returned briefly to administer the affairs of the see until the
early summer of 1 1 4 3 .101He died on 2 8 January 1 1 5 3 ."
During his thirty years in office, Pelayo was a political figure of some
importance. He attended most of the major councils of the kingdom
that were held during the early decades of the twelfth century and
was a regular visitor to the court of Queen Urraca. His stalwart
5 S. García Larragueta (ed.), Colección, no. 151.

6 M. Risco, ES 38 (Madrid, 1793), pp. 373-5.
7 If he may be identified as the same P e la g iu s diacon u s and a rch idiacon u s who
confirmed two Oviedo charters of 1096 and 1097: Fernández Conde, L ib r o d e los
T estam en tos , p. 37, n. 9.
8 Risco, E S 38, pp. 99 and 371. Cf. Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los T esta m en to s , p. 37
and n. 11 and B. F. Reilly, T h e K in g d o m o f L e ó n -C a s tilla u n d er Q ueen U rraca, 1109-
1126 (Princeton, 1982), p. 32, n. 66.
9 On the background to Pelayo’s deposition, which was carried out by the papal
legate Cardinal Humbert, apparently in league with Alfonso VII and Archbishop
Diego Gelmirez of Santiago de Compostela, see B. F. Reilly, 'On getting to be a
bishop in León-Castile: the "Emperor” Alfonso VII and the Post-Gregorian
Church’, S tu d ie s in M e d ie v a l a n d R en aissan ce H is to r y 1 (1978), 37-68, at pp. 48-51.
10 He is cited as bishop of Oviedo in a number of private documents of March and
April 1142 and March 1143: see Reilly, A lfo n so VII, p. 33, n. 50. By June 1143,
however, the archdeacon Froila Garcés had assumed the administration of the see:
Garcia Larragueta (ed.), Colección, no. 155. The new incumbent of the see, Bishop
Martin, was elected at the council of Valladolid in September 1143.
11 Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los T estam en tos, p. 44.
CHRO NIC ON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S IU M 67
support, both moral and monetary, for Urracas cause during her
struggles with her estranged husband, Alfonso I of Aragon (1104-
84), and with her son, the future Alfonso VII, in 1110-17 earned
Pelayo the queen’s gratitude.ia He also played a part in bringing about
the reconciliation between Urraca and her son Alfonso at the council
held in Sahagun in 1116.1213 However, Pelayo’s star appears to have
waned after the accession of Alfonso VII in 1126. The bishop appears
only rarely in the records of the new king’s court and he was never
the recipient of royal largess. What is more, it was probably Pelayo’s
opposition to Alfonso’s proposed marriage with Berengaria in 1127
that led to the bishop’s eventual removal from office three years later,
by which time the king and his advisors, anxious to consolidate the
authority of the crown, may have regarded the independent-minded
Pelayo as a positive threat to the good order of the realm.14
At a local level, Pelayo was to all apppearances a busy and con
scientious prelate: he supervised a programme of building works in
the cathedral of San Salvador; he reorganised the administration of
the cathedral chapter and the archdiaconate of the diocese; he con
ducted property transactions on behalf of the see; and he travelled
widely within his diocese, consecrating churches and abbots, and
settling lawsuits.15 What is more, he worked hard to promote Oviedo
as a centre of pilgrimage to rival that of Santiago de Compostela.16
Even after his removal from office he continued to look after the well
being of the church of Oviedo, as is vouchsafed by his grant of two
Leonese properties to the cathedral refectory in February 1136.17
Throughout his career Bishop Pelayo proved to be a ferocious
defender of the rights and privileges of his see. This defence was
based upon three strategic principles which were to condition and
underpin his subsequent scholarly activity. First, he sought to protect
12 Details in Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los Testam entos, pp. 44-50. Urraca made
grants to Oviedo in 1112, 1118 and 1120: Garda Larragueta (ed.), Colección, nos
1 3 1 , 140 and 142. On the first of these, which has been interpolated, see Reilly,
U rraca, p. 79, n. 107.
13 H C , pp. 197-8.
14 Reilly, ‘On getting to be a bishop’, 49-50.
15 Details in Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los Testam entos, pp. 69-72.
16 See S. Suárez Beltrán, ‘Los orígenes y la expansión del culto a las reliquias de San
Salvador de Oviedo’, in L a s p eregrin acion es a S ß n tia g o de C om postela y S a n S a lv a d o r
de O vied o en la E d a d M e d ia , ed. J. 1. Ruiz de la Peña Solar (Oviedo, 1993), 37-55, at
pp. 46—51.
17 See above, n. 5.
and consolidate the seigneurial rights of the church of Oviedo within

its own diocese. The lawsuits the bishop fought with Count Fernando
Diaz and Countess Enderquina Muñoz and with the abbot of Corias
in 1104 bear ample witness to Pelayo’s resolution in this regard.18
Second, Pelayo was determined to ensure that the borders of his diocese
were respected, and to this end he became embroiled in lengthy but
inconclusive jurisdictional disputes with his episcopal neighbours: to
the east with the diocese of Burgos over their respective claims to the
territory of Asturias de Santillana; to the west with the see of Lugo
over ownership over a group of parishes.19 Last, and most important
of all, Pelayo waged a vigorous campaign to maintain the indepen
dence of his see from the metropolitans of Toledo and Braga, both of
which sought to make Oviedo their suffragan.
Bishop Pelayo held office at a time of considerable upheaval for the
church in western Iberia.20 The territorial expansion of the kingdom
of León in the late eleventh century had been accompanied by a far-
reaching programme of ecclesiastical reform designed to ensure the
integration of the western Spanish churches into the wider community
of western Christendom. The changes introduced by the reforming
popes and their legates, as well as by the incoming French clerics who
were appointed to most of the top ecclesiastical positions, were many
and varied: they included the suppression of local ecclesiastical
customs (notably the so-called Mozarabic liturgy), the introduction of
a new-fangled canon law, and even the imposition of a new form of
writing. W hat is more, they introduced a system of metropolitan and
territorial diocesan organisation designed to replace the one that had
been destroyed by the Muslim conquest nearly four centuries earlier.
In an ideal world, the reformers would have preferred to have
restored the administrative framework of the Visigothic church in
toto. But political realities on the ground made it impossible to turn
the clock back. Although the majority of dioceses had formerly
existed in the Visigothic period, there were a handful which could
boast no such pedigree, among them those of Oviedo and León, both
of which had come into being because of their role as royal centres of
government in the fledgling Asturian-Leonese kingdom. The
accommodation of these ‘new’ sees into the administrative framework
18 Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los T esta m en to s , p. 38.

19 Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los T estam en tos, pp. 73-8.
20 For what follows, see R. A. Fletcher, T h e E p isco p a te in the K in g d o m o f L e ó n in the
tw e lfth century (Oxford, 1978), pp. 21-6, 135ff.
of the Church was to require a complicated process of restructuring
and redefinition of diocesan boundaries which in turn gave rise to
numerous jurisdictional disputes. Matters were further complicated
by the re-establishment of the metropolitans of Toledo in 1086 and
Braga in 1091, to which that of Santiago de Compostela was added in
1120. The three archbishoprics wasted little time in seeking to enforce
their authority over their suffragan sees and were keen to extend
their provinces further. Thus, Oviedo, along with León and Palencia,
was declared a suffragan of the ecclesiastical province of Toledo by
Pope Urban II in 1099, but after an appeal to Rome was granted a
privilege of exemption by Paschal II in 1105.21 The battle was won,
but not the war. Some time between 1109 and 1113 Braga launched
its own unsuccessful attempt to make Oviedo and León its suffragans,
and in 1121 Toledo successfully persuaded Pope Calixtus II to strip
both sees of their privilege of exemption.22 Although León soon
managed to get this ruling overturned, almost another forty years
would elapse before Oviedo would regain its cherished independence.
Pelayo’s work as an author and as a patron of learning took place
against this backdrop of fiercely competitive ecclesiastical politics. By
the early twelfth century, Oviedo, although it could claim to be the
cradle of the self-proclaimed revived Visigothic monarchy in Asturias,
had become something of a backwater. The diocese was eyed greedily
by the predatory metropolitans of Toledo and Braga. Power and
influence lay elsewhere. Compared with the ambitious and energetic
Diego Gelmirez, the newly elevated archbishop of Santiago de
Compostela, who could count upon a network of friends and allies in
high places - both at home and abroad - to support his cause, Bishop
Pelayo’s horizons appear to have been more circumscribed.23 By the
end of his career one not only gets the impression that his presence
was seldom in demand at the royal court, but also that he lacked the
international connections and the financial wherewithal which might
have enabled him to fight a successful rearguard campaign at the papal
court to retain the privilege of exemption for his see. In these straitened
circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Pelayo should have turned
to his cathedral scriptorium to provide him with the ammunition he
needed if the rights of his church were to be successfully defended.
21 J L , nos 6039, 6931.

22 C. Erdmann (ed.), P a p stu rk u n d en in P o r tu g a l (Göttingen, 1927), no. 12, pp. 164-5;
J L , no. 6934.
23 Fletcher, S a in t J a m es's C atapu lt, pp. 195ff.
Bishop Pelayo was far from being the only Iberian churchman
prepared to forge documents in order to exalt his church and buttress
the rights and privileges - real or imagined - of his see.24 W hat set
Pelayo apart from his contemporaries, however, was the sheer scale
and ambition of this activity. Pelayo of Oviedo, it has been said, was
the prince of falsifiers’, who elevated the activity to a virtual art-
form.25 The interpolations and outright forgeries carried out by Pelayo
or, at any rate, under his supervision, were so many and so varied that
they cannot be listed here in full. Among the most egregious inven
tions, however, were the various adulterated texts which sought to
establish that far from being a ‘new’ see, the church of Oviedo was in
fact descended from that of Lugo de Asturias, supposedly founded in
the era of the Vandal invasions of the fourth century; a collection of
forged charters which purported to uphold Oviedo’s territorial claims
in jurisdictional disputes with the sees of Burgos and Lugo; and a
number of documents which even claimed that Oviedo had itself once
enjoyed metropolitan status.26 Among the latter texts were a forged
epístola of Pope John VIII granting metropolitan status to Oviedo, and
the spurious acta of the councils supposedly held in Oviedo in 821 and
872, which not only listed Lugo and Braga as suffragans of Oviedo,
but went so far as to state that after the Islamic conquest, in punish
ment for sin, God had transferred all the rights and privileges of the
church of Toledo, as well as its splendid collection of relics, to Oviedo.27
To enhance the prestige of his see yet further, Pelayo composed a
separate account of the Pilgrimage of the Area Santa (the celebrated
reliquary housed in the cathedral of San Salvador) from Jerusalem to
Oviedo via Toledo, which was subsequently copied into the Liber
Testamentorum, and interpolated into the Chronicle o f Sebastian that is
24 McCluskey, 'Malleable accounts', p. 219. On the efforts of the twelfth-century

church of Palencia to strengthen its claim to metropolitan status, for example, see
A. D. Deyermond, E p ic P o e try a n d the C lergy: S tu d ie s on the ‘M o ced a d es de R o d r ig o '
(London, 1969), pp. 97ff; Linehan, H is to r y a n d the H isto ria n s, pp. 177-9.
25 The phrase was coined by P. A. Linehan, 'Religion, nationalism and national
identity in medieval Spain and Portugal', in R e lig io n a n d N a tio n a l Id e n tity , ed. S.
Mews, S tu d ie s in Church H is to r y 18 (Oxford, 1982), 161-99, at p. 162.
26 For a detailed study of the Pelagian forgeries, see Fernández Conde, L ib r o d e los
T estam en tos, p a ssim . See also L. Vázquez de Parga, L a D iv is ió n de W a m b a (Madrid,
1943); D. Mansilla, 'La supuesta metrópoli de Oviedo', H isp a n ia S a c ra 8 (1955),
259-74.
27 García Larragueta (ed.), Colección, nos 4 and 9; Pérez de Urbel, S a m p iro , pp. 289-
302.
C H RON ICO N R E G U M L E G I O N E N S I U M 71
included in the Liber Chronicorum.a8 Pelayo was nothing if not

ambitious. By recreating such a glorious and ancient past for his
cathedral church, the bishop sought not simply to protect his see from
the unwelcome attentions of the archbishops of Braga and Toledo,
and to strengthen its claim to metropolitan status, but to reinforce
Oviedo’s credentials as a major centre of veneration and pilgrimage.
In short, Bishop Pelayo hoped that the collection of holy relics housed
within the cathedral of San Salvador would do for the see of Oviedo
what the body of St James had done for Santiago de Compostela.
Pelayo’s Chronicon is one of the very few original works contained

within the celebrated Corpus Pelagianum. It survives in some two
dozen manuscripts, the earliest of them dating from the late twelfth
century.a9 Intended as a continuation of the work of Sampiro, which
was copied, extensively interpolated and finally truncated by the
scriptorium of Oviedo cathedral, the Chronicon is, in many respects, a
strange and sadly laconic text. Pelayo’s Latin is unsophisticated and
workmanlike. His writing altogether lacks the verve and the rhetorical
flourishes which are so characteristic of his contemporary the author
of the Historia Silense; and although, to judge by the contents of the
Corpus, the bishop of Oviedo was presumably an exceedingly well-
read man, his Chronicon displays none of the conspicuous erudition
that is such a hallmark of the Silense and the Chronica Adefonsi
Imperatoris. Indeed, the handful of phrases which appear to have been
copied from the Chronicle o f Sampiro are the only clear indication we
have that Pelayo undertook any preparatory reading at all.28293031The
Chronicon gives every impression of having been put together with
some haste.
When did Pelayo compose his history? The preface to the Liber
Chronicorum, dated 1 1 3 2 , which lists the bishop's work amongst its
contents, provides us with a clear terminus ante quern.3' There is a
28 On the supposed origins and contents of the A re a S a n ta , see Garcia Larragueta

(ed.), Colección, no. 217; L. Vázquez de Parga, J. M. Lacarra and J. Uria Riu, L a s
peregrin acion es a S a n tia g o de Com postela, 3 vols (Madrid, 1948—49), 11, pp. 479ff.
29 For a full discussion of the manuscript tradition, see Sánchez Alonso (ed.), Crónica,
pp. 17-33; Pérez de Urbel, S a m p iro , pp. 165-96.
30 For all that, the Preface to the L ib e r C hronicorum assures us that Pelayo had based
his C hronicon ‘sicut a maioribus et predecessoribus suis inquisiuit et audiuit’: Pérez
de Urbel, S a m p iro , p. 480. On the use that Pelayo made of the C hronicle o f S am piro,
see Sánchez Alonso (ed.), C rónica, pp. 43-4; Pérez de Urbel, S a m p iro , pp. 43ff.
31 Pérez de Urbel, S a m p iro , pp. 479-80.
further clue in the text of the Chronicon itself, where reference is made
to the marriage of the Infanta Sancha Alfonso, daughter of Alfonso
VI, to Count Rodrigo González. We know that the latter was not
elevated to the countship until 1121 and that his marriage to the
infanta had certainly taken place by July 1 1 2 2 .32 Elsewhere, the fact
that Alfonso VII is referred to as rex might be taken to indicate that
the Chronicon must have been composed after March 1 1 2 6 when
Alfonso’s mother Urraca died. But this argument is not conclusive, for
Alfonso VII had assumed regal status in 1111, well before his mother’s
death. Accordingly, we can only narrow down the date of composition
of the Chronicon to some time between 1121 and 1 1 3 2 .
The Chronicon is a work of limited scope and ambition. Pelayo provides
a brief sketch of events between 9 8 2 and 1 1 0 9 , but his focus is often
narrowly ecclesiastical, some of the events he narrates are clearly
legendary, and he evinces precious little interest in the political and
military deeds of the Leonese kings. Moreover, his narrative tends
towards the superficial.33 Thus, while roughly half of his work is
given over to a damning account of the reign of Vermudo II, which
was designed to supersede the positive portrayal provided by Sampiro’s
Chronicle, his coverage of that of Alfonso V covers barely a dozen lines
of printed text; and his description of the notable feats of arms of
Fernando I and Alfonso VI amounts to little more than a bald list of
the towns they conquered. Yet, for all its weaknesses as a narrative
work of history, the Chronicon is not without interest. Pelayo’s
admiring account of the reign of Alfonso VI, ‘the father and defender
of all the Spanish churches’, short though it is, is the only surviving
contemporary account to cover the reign in its entirety. The highly
critical portrayal of Vermudo II, whom Pelayo blamed for his extra
marital affairs and the consequent invasion of the Leonese kingdom
by al-Man§ur (Almanzor) in the late tenth century, as well as for the
rough justice meted out to Pelayo’s predecessor, Bishop Godesteo of
Oviedo, may be highly tendentious stuff, but it tells us much about the
attitudes and interests of Pelayo himself.34 In particular, Pelayo’s
account of the imprisonment of Bishop Godesteo, as well as his
entirely fictional description of the testing of Bishop Adaúlfo of
Santiago de Compostela, were clearly designed as a warning to other
32 Barton, A risto cra cy , p. 292 .
33 See the crushing verdict of B. Sánchez Alonso, H is to r ia de la h isto rio g ra fía española
(Madrid, 1947) , p. 117.
34 On the reasons for Pelayo's negative portrayal of Vermudo II, see Pérez de Urbel,
SampirOy pp. 46- 52 .
C H RON ICO N R E G U M L E G I O N E N SIU M 73
‘tyrant kings’ to respect the Church and its leaders. The bishop dis
plays in abundance the providential sense of history common to most
writers of this period: thus, according to Pelayo, it was on account of
the sins of Vermudo II that God was provoked to inflict a long drought
on Spain, to allow the attacks on the Leonese kingdom by Almanzor,
and even to inflict the king with gout. Similarly, the miracle Pelayo
claimed to have witnessed in the church of San Isidoro in León was
said to have been nothing less than a portent of ‘the sorrows and
tribulations that befell Spain’ after the death of Alfonso VI: a clear
reference to the wars of Queen Urraca’s reign. Elsewhere, Pelayo’s
detailed account of the descendants of Vermudo II and of the matri
monial strategy of Alfonso VI reveals a keen interest in genealogy
which can be glimpsed elsewhere in the Corpus Pelagianum.35 And
needless to say, Pelayo was never slow to spot an opportunity to
enhance the reputation of his see, as can be seen from his account of the
translation of the holy remains of St Pelagius from León to Oviedo, and
those of St Froilán to nearby Valle César in the Asturian mountains, as
well as from his detailed description of the royal pantheon that was
established in the church of St Mary in Oviedo.
Brief and idiosyncratic though it may seem to the modern eye, Pelayo’s
Chronicon was widely used and copied by later historians. The author
of the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris, for one, drew a limited amount of
material from the Chronicon and from the Pelagian version of the
Chronicle of Sampiro, and many of Pelayo’s writings (and inventions)
were extensively incorporated into the late twelfth-century compila-
tory work known as the Crónica Najerense, and into the thirteenth-
century ‘general histories’ of Lucas of Tuy and Rodrigo Jiménez de
Rada, and from them into Alfonso X’s vernacular Estoria de Espanna.36
Modern scholars have been far more critical of Pelayo’s work as a
historian.37 But that is perhaps to misunderstand the man and the
35 See Fernández Conde, L ib r o de los Testam entos, p. 60 and n. 102; M. Calleja Puerta,
‘Una genealogía leonesa del siglo XII: la descendencia de Vermudo II en la obra
cronística de Pelayo de Oviedo’, in L a n obleza p en in su la r en la E d a d M e d ia (León,
1999), 527-39. Pelayo’s outline of the genealogy of the Leonese royal house was
not without error, however: see below, Chronicon, nn. 28, 30, 32, 34.
36 See F. J. Fernández Conde, ‘La obra del obispo ovetense D. Pelayo en la
historiografía española’, B o letín d e l In stitu to de E stu d io s A stu ria n o s 25 (1971), 249-
91, at pp. 250-55.
37 See above, n. 33; Fernández Conde, ’La obra’, 256-90. A notable exception to the
rule was A. Blázquez y Delgado Aguilera, ‘Elogio de Don Pelayo, obispo de Oviedo
y historiador de España’, M e m o ria s de la R e a l A ca d em ia de la H isto ria 12 (1910),
439-92.
sense of purpose that underlay his scholarly activity. The very brevity
of Pelayo’s Chronicon suggests that in the wider scheme of things
reconstructing the past per se was never central to the bishop’s
concerns. The priority for Pelayo was always to defend the interests
of Oviedo and in doing so, to provide his see with the glorious history
that he felt it deserved.
Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, Chronicon Regum Legionensium

(Chronicle of the Kings of León)
V ermudo ii
On the death o f Ramiro [III], Vermudo [IIJ the son o f Ordoño [III]
entered León and acquired the kingdom peacefully} That king was foolish
and a tyrant in everything he did.* Without any reason, he imprisoned
Bishop Godesteo of Oviedo123 in the castle which is called Peña Reina4
on the borders of Galicia, and for three years he kept him in chains.
During that time the Saviour of the world gave such a drought on
earth, that no man could either plough or sow, which caused great
famine in all of Spain. Then some God-fearing men said to the king:
‘Lord King, some of God’s servants have seen a vision, and have told
us that you sinned before God when you imprisoned the bishop of
Oviedo, and that it will not rain nor will famine leave your kingdom
until you release the bishop and send him away in peace’. When he
had heard this, the king sent messengers to Bishop Jimeno of Astorga,
to whom he had entrusted the church of Oviedo,5 and he ordered that
the bishop of Oviedo be freed, and he restored him to his church.
1 This phrase, which also appears in the text of the H is to r ia S ilen se , was in all
likelihood drawn from the C hronicle o f S a m p im see the introduction to this text, n.
30; cf. the introduction to the H S , p. 11, and ch. 30* and preceding comments.
Ramiro III, king of León (966-85) had been ousted from the throne towards the
end of his reign by his cousin Vermudo II (982-99), son of King Ordoño III (951-
56), and died shortly afterwards.
2 Pelayo's extremely hostile portrayal of Vermudo II should be compared with the
more sympathetic assessment in the H S , ch. 30*, most but not necessarily all of
which was probably penned by Bishop Sampiro. On the reasons for Pelayo's
hostility towards the Leonese monarch, see the introduction to this text: pp. 72-3.
3 Godesteo, bishop of Oviedo (992-1012).
4 Peña Reina has not been identified.
5 Jimeno, bishop of Astorga (992-1028), administered the affairs of the diocese of
Oviedo between 996 and 999: A. Quintana Prieto, E l obispado de A s to r g a en los s ig h s
I X y X (Astorga, 1968), pp. 495-9.
CHRO NIC ON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S IU M 75
From that day, therefore, Lord Jesus gave rain over the face of the
earth, the earth gave forth its fruit, and famine was expelled from his
kingdom.
Then that tyrant king did a worse thing. Three servants of the church
of St James the Apostle, whose names were Zadón, Cadón and Ensión,
falsely accused their lord, Bishop Adaúlfo, of the very worst of crimes
before him. And since Vermudo was foolish, he readily lent his ears to
those very false accusations and believed them. He swiftly sent
messengers to command the bishop of Santiago that on Palm Sunday,
after the consecration of chrism, he should leave Compostela and go
to Oviedo on the day of the Lord’s Supper,6 where he himself was. In
the meantime, the king ordered several wild bulls to be brought to
him and he chose a very fierce one, which he ordered to be kept until
the bishop arrived. So the bishop came to Oviedo on the appointed
day. The king's soldiers told him that he should go first to the king
before he entered the church. But he, supported by God, said: ‘First I
shall go to the King of Kings and Our Saviour, and afterwards I shall
come to your tyrant king’. He entered the church of Our Saviour and
put on the sacred pontifical robes, and when he had celebrated Mass
he left the church dressed in this way and came to the place where the
bull was, in front of the portals of the king’s palace, where nearly all
the Asturians had gathered to witness the spectacle. Then the king
ordered the bull to be set loose and it ran very swiftly and surrendered
its horns into the hand of the bishop. Turning back, it killed many
scoffers, and afterwards returned to the woods from whence it had
come. Then the bishop returned to the church, threw down the horns
that he was holding in front of the altar of Our Saviour and
excommunicated Cadón, Ensión and Zadón. And he prayed and said
that of their seed right up until the end of the world some would be
lepers and others blind, some lame and others crippled, because of the
false crime they had laid upon him. And he cursed the king and said
that this crime had openly arisen in his seed whilst all of them were
living. Then the bishop, having laid aside his sacred vestments, did
not want to see that tyrant ever again, but stayed there in that same
see for four days. On the second day after Easter he left Oviedo with
his followers and came to the church of Santa Eulalia in the valley of
Pravia,7 and there he remained. He was struck down by sickness in
6 Maundy Thursday.
7 Pravia had been one of the chief royal centres of the eighth-century Asturian
kingdom prior to the foundation of Oviedo, 20 kilometres to the south-east.
that place, and took the body and blood of the Lord, and on the
Wednesday at daybreak he entrusted his spirit to the Lord. Then those
who had come with him immediately made a coffin in which they
wished to carry him to the church where he had been bishop. But Our
King in heaven made him so hard to move, that the hands of a
thousand men were unable to move him even a little. Then, having
deliberated together, they buried him in a very fine stone tomb in the
shrine which is on the north side of the aforementioned church of the
Virgin Eulalia. Then each of them returned to his own home.8
Then that most abominable prince did another wicked deed. There
were two noble sisters, by one of whom he fathered the Infante Ordofio,
and by the other the Infanta Elvira. The Infante Ordofio fathered many
children by the Infanta Fronilde Peláez: their names are Alfonso
Ordóñez, Pelayo Ordóñez, Vermudo Ordóñez, Sancho Ordóñez and
Jimena Ordóñez.9 By Count Muño Rodríguez, Jimena bore Count
Rodrigo Muñoz, who was later slain at the battle of Sagrajas.101The
same prince (Wermudo^ also fathered the Infanta Cristina by a country
girl named Velasquita, who was the daughter of Mantello and Bellalla
from Mieres near Monte Copián." Cristina bore many sons and
daughters by the son of the Infante Ramiro, the Infante Ordoño,12 who
8 Little credence need be attached to Pelayo's account of the testing of Bishop

Adaúlfo of Santiago-Iria; it is a standard twelfth-century topos: Linehan, H is to r y
a n d the H isto ria n s, pp. 118-19; E. Falque Rey (trans.), H is to r ia C om postelan a
(Madrid, 1994), p. 71, n. 50. The H is to r ia C om postellana, which places these events
in the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias (850-66), states that the bishop was falsely
accused of sodomy: H C , pp. 9-10; cf. E. Flórez (ed.), C hronicon Irien se, E S 20
(Madrid, 1765), 598-608, at p. 602. According to the later account of Rodrigo
Jiménez de Rada, which embroiders Pelayo's version of events yet further, Bishop
Adaulfo's reported crime was to have entered into negotiations with the Muslims
with the promise that he would embrace Islam and deliver Galicia into their hands:
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, H is to r ia de rebus H isp a n ie siv e H is to r ia G oth ica, ed. J.
Fernández Valverde, CCCM 72 (Turnhout, 1987), p. 161.
9 Fronilde Peláez was the daughter of Count Pelayo Rodriguez. On 18 September
1042 Fronilde, her husband Ordoño, and their children Vermudo, Sancho,
Fernando and Jimena endowed the monastery of Santa María de León, which they
had founded, and placed it under the authority of the bishop of that city: Ruiz
Asencio (ed.), Colección docum ental, vol. IV, no. 1002.
10 See below, n. 74.
11 Mieres lies about 15 kilometres south-east of Oviedo. On Velasquita, see below n.
16.
12 The Infanta Cristina accompanied her mother Velasquita to Asturias after her
mother s divorce from Vermudo II c. 989. On the death of her husband, Ordoño
Ramírez, who was probably the son of Ramiro III, Cristina may have entered the
nunnery of San Pelayo de Oviedo: see A. Sánchez Candeira, Ta reina Velasquita de
León y su descendencia, H isp a n ia 10 (1950), 449-505, at pp. 480-6.
C H RON ICO N R E G U M L E G I O N E N S IU M 77
was blind, namely Alfonso Ordóñez, Sancha Ordóñez and Countess

Eldonza, who was the wife of Pelayo Froilaz,13 who was a deacon, and
he fathered by her Count Pedro Peláez, Ordoño Peláez, Pelayo Peláez,
Muño Peláez, and the mother of Count Suero and his brothers,14 and
Countess Teresa of Carrión who built the church of San Zoilo.15 The
aforesaid prince [Vermudo]] also had two legitimate wives. One was
named Velasquita, whom he divorced while she was living;16 the other
woman whom he took as his wife was called Elvira,17 by whom he
fathered two children, Alfonso18 and Teresa. After the death of her
father, Teresa was given away in marriage by her brother Alfonso to
a certain pagan king of Toledo for the sake of peace, although she was
herself unwilling. But as she was a Christian, she said to the pagan
king: ‘Do not touch me, for you are a pagan. If you do touch me the
Angel of the Lord will slay you’. Then the king laughed at her and
slept with her once, and just as she had predicted, he was immediately
struck down by the Angel of the Lord. As he felt death approaching,
he summoned his chamberlains and his councillors and ordered them
to load up camels with gold, silver, gems and precious garments, and
to take her back to León with all these gifts. She stayed in that place
in a nun's habit for a long time, and afterwards she died in Oviedo and
was buried in the monastery of San Pelayo.19
IS On Count Pelayo Froilaz, his wife Countess Eldonza Ordóñez and their offspring,
see A. C. Floriano Cumbreño (ed.), Colección d ip lo m á tica d e l m onasterio de B elm onte
(Oviedo, 1960), pp. 301—S.
14 On Count Suero Vermúdez, and his brothers Alfonso and Gutierre, the sons of
Vermudo Ovéquiz and Jimena Peláez, see below CA I, i.2 and n. IS. It has been
speculated that by tracing Suero Vermúdez’s lineage back to the alleged
extramarital union between Vermudo II and the "country girl’ Velasquita, Bishop
Pelayo may have been seeking to besmirch the reputation of the Asturian count:
Calleja Puerta, ‘Una genealogía leonesa’, 527-39.
15 Teresa Peláez was married to Count Gómez Díaz of Carrión. The monastery of
San Zoilo de Carrión was granted by the countess to the Order of Cluny on 1
August 1076: J. A. Pérez Celada (ed.), D ocum entación d e l m onasterio de S a n Z o ilo de
C a rrió n (Burgos, 1986), no. 7.
16 Velasquita had married Vermudo II by October 981 and was probably repudiated
in 989. The Velasquita mentioned here and the concubine referred to above were
almost certainly one and the same person: see Sánchez Candeira, ‘La reina
Velasquita’, 449-505.
17 Elvira Garcés was the daughter of Count García Fernández of Castile (970-95).
Her marriage to Vermudo II took place c. 991.
18 The future Alfonso V, king of León (999-1028).
19 Pelayo’s account of the supposed marriage of the Infanta Teresa Vermúdez to a
Muslim ruler of Toledo passed into a number of later chronicles. Not all historians
have been equally convinced, however: see J. M. Fernández del Pozo, ‘Alfonso V, rey
de León’, in L eón y su historia: miscelánea histórica 5 (León, 1984), 9-262, at pp. 36-8.
On account of the sins of Prince Vermudo and the people, the king of
the Hagarenes, whose name was Almanzor,20 together with his son
Adamelch212and some exiled Christian counts,122prepared to come and
destroy and lay waste the kingdom of León. When the citizens of
León and Astorga heard and realised that this blow was about to fall
upon them, they gathered up the bones of the kings who were buried
in León and Astorga, together with the body of Saint Pelagius the
Martyr, and they went to Asturias and they buried them with great
honour in the church of Saint Mary in Oviedo. They placed the body
of Saint Pelagius on the altar of the Blessed John the Baptist. Some of
the citizens of León carried the body of Bishop Saint Froilán to Valle
César in the Pyrenean mountains23 and placed it on the altar of Saint
John the Baptist.24 Then the aforesaid king of the Saracens came with
a big army as he had planned and destroyed León, Astorga and
Valencia de Don Juan, and he devastated the surrounding area.25 He
did not enter Asturias, Galicia and the Bierzo, and he was unable to
capture certain castles, namely Luna, Alba, and Gordón.26 They buried
the bodies of the kings of whom we have already spoken, outside and
in front of the tombs of the previous kings. In the first coffin, which is
in the middle, they laid to rest the bodies of King Alfonso [III^27 and
20 Muhammad b. Abi 'Amir, known by his honorific title a l-M a n $ ü r (whence Almanzor),
'the Victorious', was the effective ruler of al-Andalus between 981—1002. On his
career, see H. Kennedy, M u slim S p a in a n d P o r tu g a l : a p o litic a l h isto ry o f a l-A n d a lu s
(London, 1996), pp. 109-22. On Hagarenes, see p. 175 n. 76.
21 ‘Abd al-Malik, a l- M u z a f f a r held the reins of power in al-Andalus between 1002 and
1008: Kennedy, M u slim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, pp. 122-4.
22 On the support lent by Christian magnates to Almanzor, see J. M. Ruiz Asencio,
'Rebeliones leonesas contra Vermudo IT, A rc h iv o s L eoneses 23 (1969), 215-41.
23 Manuel Risco identified U a lle C esar as Valdecésar in the mountains of León, where
on 9 January 916 King Ordoño II of León (914-24) granted property to Abbot
Servando so that he might found a monastery on the site. Risco further observed
that by P irin e o s m ontes Bishop Pelayo was referring to the Cantabrian chain in
general, and to the Leonese mountains in particular: M. Risco, E S 34 (Madrid,
1784), pp. 191-93. This is confirmed by a spurious document attributed to King
Alfonso II ‘the Chaste', produced under Pelayo's supervision, which sets out the
limits of the see of Oviedo and refers to to ta s scilicet A stu ria s p e r P iren eo s m ontes
usque S u m ro stru m et usque T ra n sm e ra e t usque a d litu s mans'. Fernández Conde, L ib r o
de los T estam en tos , p. 379.
24 The repetition of the phrase e t p o su e ru n t eum su per a lta re S a n c ti Io h a n n is B a b tiste is
probably due to a copyist's blunder.
25 The campaign took place in 986.
26 The castles of Luna, Alba and Gordon lay in the mountainous districts to the north
of the territory of León.
27 Alfonso III, king of Asturias-León (866-910).
C HRO NICON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S IU M 79
his wife Queen Jimena. In the second coffin, which is on the right-
hand side, they placed the bodies of King Ordoño pi]], the son of
Alfonso p i I]] and Jimena, together with his wives Mummadonna and
Sancha.*8 In the third coffin they buried the bodies of King Ramiro
pi]],*9 the son of Ordoño p i ] and Mummadonna, with their sons
King Ordoño p i I] and his wife Elvira,282930 and King Sancho p ] and his
wife Teresa.31 And in the second coffin to the left they laid to rest the
bodies of King Fruela p i] , the son of Alfonso and Jimena, together with
his wife Queen Mummadonna.3* And next to them they buried in a
third coffin Queen Elvira, called the Chaste, the daughter of Ramiro
p i ] and Teresa.33 And in the fourth coffin, which is high up, they
buried Queen Teresa, the wife of the aforesaid King Ramiro p i ] . 34 At
the head and at the side of the tomb of King Alfonso the Chaste3536they
buried the bones of the sons and daughters of these kings in the Era
1035 [= AD 997].
But the heavenly king, with His customary piety, remembering His mercy,
wrought vengeance on His enemies: that very people of the Hagarenes began
tofa ll away ceaselessly by sudden death and by the sword, and day by day
to come closer to annihilation.3fi The Lord struck down King Vermudo
with gout because of all the sins that he had committed, so that he
was unable from that time forward to climb into any carriage, but
whilst he lived was carried from place to place on the shoulders of
humble men. He ended his life in the Bierzo and was buried in
Villabuena,37 and after several years he was translated to León. He
reigned for 17 years.
28 Ordoño II was married three times: first to Elvira Menéndez, then to Aragonta,
and finally to Sancha Sánchez, daughter of Sancho Garcés I of Navarre (905-25).
29 Ramiro II (931-51), was the son of Ordoño II and Elvira Menéndez.
30 Pelayo is mistaken. Ordoño III married Urraca Fernández, daughter of Fernán
González, count of Castile (931—70).
31 Sancho I ‘the Fat’ (956-66) married Teresa Ansúrez, daughter of the Castilian
magnate Asur Fernández.
32 Fruela II (924—5) was in fact married twice: first to Nunilo and then to Urraca.
33 Elvira, daughter of King Ramiro II and his second wife, Urraca Sánchez, served as
abbess of the convent of San Salvador in León. Between 967 and 975 she exercised
the regency for her nephew Ramiro III.
34 Pelayo is again in error. Ramiro II was married first to the Galician Adosinda
Gutiérrez and then to Urraca Sánchez, daughter of Sancho Garcés I of Navarre.
35 Alfonso II ‘the Chaste’, king of Asturias (791-842).
36 Here, Pelayo again appears to be drawing upon the testimony of the Chronicle of
Sampiror. see above, n. 1.
37 Villabuena lies in the heart of the Bierzo on the borders of León and Galicia.
A lfo nso v
On his death his son Alfonso, being five years o f age, succeeded to the kingdom
in the Era 1037 £= AD 999]].38 He was raised in Galicia by Count
Menendo González and his wife Countess Mayor, and they gave him
their daughter Elvira in marriage,39 by whom he fathered two sons,
Vermudo93 and Sancha.
At this time King Fernando, the son of King Sancho the Fat,41
married Sancha, the daughter of King Alfonso.42 Then King Alfonso
came to León and held a council there with all his bishops, counts and
magnates. He resettled the city of León which had been laid waste by
King Almanzor of the Hagarenes and he bestowed upon León
precepts and laws which are to be preserved until the end of this
world, and they are written at the end of the History of the Kings of
the Goths and of the Aragonese.43 He reigned for 26 years44 and was
killed by an arrow at the town of Viseu in Portugal.45 He was buried
in León with his wife Elvira.
38 Yet another apparent borrowing from Sampiro. For details of the reign, see
Fernández del Pozo, ‘Alfonso V', 9-262.
39 The marriage of Alfonso V and Elvira Menéndez took place c. 1017; the queen died
on 2 December 1022. In 1023 Alfonso V remarried, this time to Urraca Sánchez,
daughter of Sancho III Garcés ‘the Great* of Navarre (1004^-35).
40 The future Vermudo III, king of León (1028-37).
41 Fredenandus Rex,filius Sancii Grassi Regis. Pelayo is referring to Sancho Garcés III
of Navarre, on whom see above, HS, ch. 74 and n. 100. Grassi may well be the
result of a copyist's mistranscription of Garsiae.
42 The marriage of Fernando and the Infanta Sancha Alfonso took place in 1032.
43 The council of León was held under the auspices of Alfonso V in July 1017. The
decrees promulgated at that meeting, the Fuero de León, to which Pelayo refers,
were later copied into the Liber Testamentorum, the cartulary commissioned by the
bishop r.1120, and later into the Corpus Pelagianurm J. M. Pérez Prendes, ‘La
potestad legislativa en el reino de León. Notas sobre el Fuero de León, el Concilio
de Coyanza y las Cortes de León de 1188*, in E l reino de León en la alta Edad Media.
I: Cortes, Concilios y Fueros (León, 1988), 497-545. The phrase et sunt scripte infinem
Hystorie Regum Gothorum, siue et Arragonensium, which appears in the thirteenth-
century manuscript of Pelayo’s Chronicon (BN MS 1513), upon which Sánchez
Alonso largely based his edition, but not in the earlier copies (BN MSS 1358,
2805), seems to be a later interpolation. The reference to the Hystorie Regum
Gothorum, siue et Arragonensium echoes the Preface to the Liber Chronicorum, where
it is stated that Bishop Pelayo de Gotis et Arragonensibus regibus prout potuit
plenissime scripsit Pérez de Urbel, Sampiro, p. 480. Manuel Risco suggested that
arragonensibus may simply have been a misrendering of legionensibus: M. Risco, ES
38 (Madrid, 1793), p.133.
44 In fact, for 29 years. The king was killed in July or August 1028: Fernández del
Pozo, ‘Alfonso V*, 160-1.
45 See above, HS, ch. 73.
CH RO N IC ON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S I U M 81
V e r m u d o III
On his death, his son Vermudo QUI]] succeeded to his father’s

kingdom.*6 Then King Fernando, having gathered a great army,
fought with his brother-in-law King Vermudo in the Tamarón valley,
and King Vermudo was killed there and was buried in León, in the
Era 1060 [= AD 1022]].4647 He reigned for 10 years.
F ernando i
After these things had happened, King Fernando came and besieged
León, and after a few days he captured it and entered with a very
great number of soldiers. He accepted the crown there and was made
king in the kingdom of León and Castile.48 Then he confirmed the
laws that his father-in-law King Alfonso had given to León and added
others which are to be preserved.49
This king was a good and God-fearing man, and he fathered by the
aforesaid Queen Sancha five children: Urraca, Sancho, Alfonso, García
and Elvira.50
He then made a great slaughter of the Saracens and each and every
year he received from their kings the appointed tribute.51 Waging war
46 Some twenty charters of Vermudo III have been edited by L. Núñez Contreras,
‘Colección diplomática de Vermudo III, rey de León’, H isto ria . Instituciones.
D ocum entos 4 (1977), 381-514.
47 The battle of Tamarón in fact took place on 4 September 1037. For a fuller
account, see H S , chs 77-9.
48 Fernando I was anointed king in León on 22 June 1038: see above, H S y ch. 80 and
n. 119.
49 This is a reference to the decrees of the Council of Coyanza, held under the
auspices of Fernando I in 1055, which, like the F u ero of 1017, were subsequently
copied (and interpolated) at Bishop Pelayo's behest: A. Garcia Gallo, ‘El Concilio
de Coyanza: contribución al estudio del Derecho Canónico español en la Alta Edad
Media’, A H D E 20 (1950), 275-633, at pp. 286-302.
50 That is, the Infanta Urraca Fernández (d. 1101), the future Sancho II, king of
Castile (1065-72), Alfonso VI, king of León-Castile (1065-1109), García I, king of
Galicia (1065-73), and the Infanta Elvira Fernández (d. 1099). Cf. H S y ch. 8 and n.
39, and ch. 81.
51 By the end of his reign, Fernando I was receiving regular payments of p a r ia s , or
tribute, from the Muslim rulers of Badajoz, Toledo and Zaragoza, and occasional
ones from the rulers of Seville and Valencia, too. If the payment of 5000 gold
dinars that Fernando was reportedly promised by al-Mu?affar of Badajoz was
typical, then it is likely that by the time of his death the Leonese-Castilian king
was in receipt of an annual income of at least 25,000 gold dinars: Ibn ‘Idharl, L a
ca íd a d e l C a lifa to de C órdoba y los reyes de T a ifa s (a l-B ty a n a l-M u g rib ), trans. F.
he captured Lamego, Viseu, Coimbra, Seia and many other cities and
castles of the Hagarenes.52 Joining battle at Atapuerca he killed his
brother King García53 and captured his kingdom in the Era 1095
AD 1057].54
He translated the body of the bishop Saint Isidore from the metropol
itan see of Seville to León, through the agency of the bishops Alvito of
León and Ordofto of Astorga in the Era 1096 £= AD 1058J.55 He
translated the holy martyrs Vincent, Sabina and Cristeta from Avila:
Vincent to León, Sabina to Palencia, and Cristeta to San Pedro de
Arlanza.5657
He lived in peace and reigned for 18 years, and he died and was buried
in the city of León with his wife Queen Sancha in the Era 1103 Q= AD
1065^].57 Before he died, he divided his kingdom among his sons in
this way: he gave Sancho all of Castile as far as the River Pisuerga,
Nájera, and Pamplona, with all the royal rights pertaining to them; he
gave Alfonso León as far as the River Pisuerga, and all the Asturias
de Trasmiera as far as the River Eo, Astorga, Campos, Zamora, Campo
de Toro, and the Bierzo as far as the town of La Uz on Monte
Maíllo Salgado (Salamanca, 1993), p. 198. Fernando Y s son and successor Alfonso
VI may have realised an annual income well in excess of 70,000 dinars from his
Muslim tributaries: Reilly, T h e Contest, p. 58.
52 These, and the other campaigns waged by Fernando I, are related in greater detail
in the H S , chs 85-93, 95.
53 García Sánchez III, king of Navarre (1035-54).
54 Correcting Sánchez Alonso, who renders the ‘x a s p a d o , or ‘x with tittle' (which was
employed in Spain to abbreviate the numerals XL, and which is copied faithfully in
several of the manuscripts of the C hronicon) simply as X, with the result that thirty
years have disappeared from the date: Sánchez Alonso (ed.), C ró n ica , p. 74. The
battle of Atapuerca, near Burgos, in fact took place on 15 September 1054. On the
background to the campaign, see H S , chs 82-4.
55 Sánchez Alonso again mistranscribes the date. The formal translation of the relics
of St Isidore in fact took place on 21 December 1063. A far fuller account is given
by the H S , chs 96-102, following the anonymous T ra n sla tio S a n c ti I s id o r i
56 The mortal remains of Sts Vincent, Sabina and Arteta were initially donated to the
cathedral church of Palencia. Then, in 1062, having had second thoughts about the
matter, Fernando I shared them out between the monastery of San Juan Bautista in
León and the Castilian abbey of San Pedro de Arlanza near Burgos, and
compensated the church of Palencia for its loss: C D F e rn a n d o I, nos 62 and 72.
57 Fernando I died on 29 December 1065 having reigned on the throne of León for 28
years. A far fuller account of the final days of the king is provided by the H S , ch.
106. Queen Sancha died on 7 November 1067.
C H R O N I C O N R E G U M L E G I O N E N S I UM 83
Cebrero; he gave Garcia all of Galicia, together with the whole of

Portugal.58
S ancho ii
After this King Sancho began to fight against his brother King Alfonso
in order to take his kingdom. They agreed a day and appointed a place
at Llantadilla59 so that they might fight each other, and whoever
should be victorious would receive his brother's kingdom. They came
on the appointed day and fought each other, and King Alfonso was
defeated there, and he returned to León. Again they engaged in their
quarrel at Golpejera, and King Alfonso was captured there in that
battle and put in chains and taken to Burgos.60 Then he went into exile
with King Alimemone61 of Toledo and he remained in exile with him
until the death of his brother King Sancho. Then King Sancho seized
the kingdom of his brother King Alfonso and crowned himself in
León.62 He was a very handsome man and a valiant soldier. He travelled
throughout the Asturias, Galicia and Portugal.63 He reigned for six
years and was killed by treachery by a soldier named Vellito Ariulfo
outside the walls of Zamora which he had besieged.64 He was buried in
Castile in the monastery of San Salvador de Ofta.65
58 The River Eo marked the border between Galicia and Asturias de Oviedo. Cebrero,
on the pilgrim-road to Compostela, was the principal mountain pass linking the
Bierzo and Galicia. On Fernando I's decision to divide his kingdom, see above H S ,
ch. 8 and n. 40 and ch. 103; cf. Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 14-22. A slightly later source,
composed after 1126, records that in addition Sancho was allotted th e p a r ia s from
the taifa of Zaragoza, Alfonso those from Toledo, and Garcia those from Badajoz:
E. Flórez (ed.), Chronicon C om postellanum , E S 20 (Madrid, 1765), 608—13, at p. 609.
59 The clash at Llantadilla, near the Pisuerga, about 50 kilometres due west of
Burgos, is said to have taken place on 19 July 1068: E. Flórez (ed.), A n n ales
Com plutenses, E S 23 (Madrid, 1767), 310-14, at p. 313.
60 The battle of Golpejera, about 30 kilometres west of the Pisuerga, appears to have
been fought in January 1072: Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 49-50 and n. 58.
61 Al-Ma’mOn, ruler of Toledo (1044-75). Cf. H S , chs 9, 11—12 and n. 44.
62 Pelayo’s statement that King Sancho crowned himself in León may have stemmed
from the unwillingness of Bishop Pedro of León to perform the task: Reilly, A lfonso
VI, pp. 50, 63.
63 Sancho II invaded the Galician and Portuguese territories of his brother Garcia
some time in the spring of 1072 and forced the latter to seek asylum in Seville:
Flórez (ed.), C hronicon C om postellanum , p. 609; cf. Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 32—3.
64 See H S , ch.10 and n. 50.
65 H S, ch. 11 and n. 54.
A lfonso vi
When he had heard this, King Alfonso came quickly and took the
kingdom of his brother King Sancho and his own kingdom which he
had lost. After a few days he resolved to seize the kingdom of his
brother Garcia, and by a cunning trick King Garcia was captured
without a fight and was kept in chains for twenty years and more.
And there in captivity he £Garcia^] wanted to let his blood, and after
he had bled himself he fell onto his bed and died and was buried in
León.66 May he rest in peace. In this way the aforesaid king seized his
brothers’ kingdoms.
Then King Alfonso swiftly sent messengers to Rome to Pope Hilde
brand, known as Gregory VII, and he did this because he wanted to
have the Roman rite in all his kingdom. So the Pope sent Cardinal
Richard, abbot of Marseilles, to Spain, and he held a council in the city
of Burgos, and confirmed the Roman rite in all the kingdom of King
Alfonso in the Era 1114 £= AD 1076^.67
Since the aforesaid king had many armies of soldiers, he traversed all
the towns and castles of the Saracens, and whilst he lived he received
from them the appointed tribute every year.68 He laid waste,
devastated and plundered many of their towns, and he besieged and
captured many towns of the Saracens and many castles as well. He
captured Toledo, Talavera, Santa Olalla, Maqueda, Alamin, Argenza,
Madrid, Olmos, Canales, Calatalifa, Talamanca, Uceda, Guadalajara,
Hita, Ribas, Caracuel, Mora, Alarcón, Albendea, Consuegra, Uclés,
Masatrigo, Cuenca, Almodóvar, Aledo and Valencia;69 and on the other
66 Cf. H S, ch. 13 and commentary thereon.

67 Alfonso VTs decision to replace the so-called Mozarabic liturgy with the Roman
rite, in response to papal pressure to enforce liturgical standardisation throughout
the Latin West, provoked a long and bruising dispute which was not resolved until
the council of Burgos, held in 1080: see the collected studies in B. F. Reilly (ed.),
S a n tia g o , S a in t-D e n is , a n d S a in t P eter: T h e R eception o f the R o m a n L itu r g y in L e ó n -
C astile in 1 0 8 0 (New York, 1985); Reilly, A lfo n so VI> pp. 95-115.
68 ’Abd Allah, the ruler of the Taifa of Granada, for example, undertook to pay Alfonso
VI 10,000 gold mithqals per annum. For an illuminating account of the negotiations
that led to the agreement, see 'Abd Allah, T h e T ibydn . M e m o irs o f A b d A lld h b.
B uluggin, la st Z ir id a m ir o f G ra n a d a , trans. A. T. Tibi (Leiden, 1986), pp. 89-90.
69 The conquest of Toledo in 1085 enabled Alfonso VI to capture most of the towns
in the Tagus valley that had previously owed allegiance to the ruling family of
Toledo. The Taifa kingdom of Valencia, which had formerly been incorporated
within the Toledan domains, was annexed in March 1086, and the erstwhile ruler
of Toledo, al-Qadir, who also retained a lordship around Cuenca, was installed as
its ruler. Aledo, 45 kilometres south-west of Murcia, was captured in 1086.
C HRO NIC ON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S I U M 85
side Coria, Lisbon, Cintra and Santarém.70 He also settled all of

Extremadura, the castles and towns of Salamanca, Avila, Coca,
Arévalo, Olmedo, Medina ([del Campo], Segovia, Iscar and Cuéllar.7'
After this, he reached such a pitch of elation because of such good
fortune that at the instigation of King Abenabet72 some foreigners
called Almoravids73 were summoned from Africa to Spain, with whom
he fought many battles, and whilst he lived he suffered many attacks
by them. In the Era 1124 [[= AD 1086] was the battle on the field of
Sagrajas with King Yusuf.74
This Alfonso was the father and defender of all the Spanish churches,
and he did this because he was a Catholic in all respects. He was so
terrifying to evil doers that they never dared to show themselves in
his sight. All the magnates, both the nobles and those not of noble
However, the Almoravid advance after 1090 led to the evacuation of all the
territories south of the Tagus: J. González, R epoblación de C a stilla la N u eva , 2 vols
(Madrid, 1975-6), I, pp. 81-99.
70 Coria, which guarded the access route to the trans-Duero from the territory of
Badajoz, was conquered by Alfonso VTs forces in 1079. The strongholds of Lisbon,
Cintra and Santarém, in central Portugal, were ceded to the Leonese monarch in
1093 by the ruler of the Taifa of Badajoz, al-Mutawakkil, in return for a military
alliance against the Almoravids (on whom see below n. 73). However, Badajoz fell
to the Almoravids the following year, and Lisbon and the other towns soon
followed suit.
71 The resettlement of the trans-Duero was a gradual process which began with the
repopulation of Sepúlveda, just to the north of the Guadarrama mountains, in 1076.
By the early twelfth century an entire defensive frontier system, stretching from
Salamanca to Soria, had been established; a string of strategically situated fortress
towns designed both to bear the brunt of Muslim attacks and to act as a
springboard for future campaigns of conquest. The best guide to the process is L.
M. Villar García, L a E x tre m a d u ra castellano-leonesa: guerreros, clérigos y cam pesinos
(711-1252) (Valladolid, 1986), pp. 9 iff.
72 A ben abetis a rendering of Ibn 'Abbäd, the family name of the ruling dynasty of
Seville. Pelayo is referring to Al-Mutamid, ruler of Seville (1069-91): cf. H S , ch.
90.
73 The Almoravid movement is said to have had its origins in the teaching of a
Malikite scholar and misssionary, Ibn Yäsln, among the tribes of the Senegal and
upper Niger rivers. Ibn Yasins followers, the a l-M u rä b ifü n , from which
‘Almoravid' derives, aspired to live a life of religious purity and were committed to
extending the frontiers of Islam by jih ä d , or holy war. The Almoravid ruling
dynasty held sway over much of north-west Africa between c. 1055 and 1147, and
brought al-Andalus under its control between 1090 and 1110: for details, see
Kennedy, M u slim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, pp. 154—88.
74 YQsuf b. Tashufln, emir of the Almoravids (1087-1106), on whom see Kennedy,
M u slim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, pp. 159-72. The battle of Sagrajas, or Zalaca, near
Badajoz, was fought on 23 October 1086 and resulted in a crushing victory for the
Almoravids.
birth, the rich and poor, who were in his kingdom, did not dare to
quarrel with one another, nor to carry out any wrong deed. There
was such peace in the days in which he reigned that a woman alone,
carrying gold or silver in her hands through all the land of Spain,
whether inhabited or uninhabited, through the mountains or fields,
would not encounter anyone who would touch her, or do any wrong
to her. Merchants and pilgrims crossing his kingdom had nothing to
fear, for there was no one who would have dared to take away even a
pennyworth of their goods.75 On top of this, lest any moments of his
life were lacking in good works, he had built all the bridges that there
are from Logroño to Santiago.76
When the time of his death was very near, he took to his bed and was
ill for a whole year and seven months. Although he was ill he rode a
little every day by order of his doctors, so that he might have some
relaxation for his body. But eight days before he passed away from
this life, God worked a great wonder in the church of Bishop Saint
Isidore in the city of León. On the feast day of the nativity of Saint
John the Baptist,77 at the sixth hour of the day, water began to flow
through the stones which are in front of the altar of Saint Isidore,
where the priest stands when he celebrates Mass; not through the
cracks between the stones, but through the middle of the stones. This
was seen by all the citizens, both by the nobles and by those not of
noble birth, together with the bishops Pelayo of Oviedo and Pedro of
León.78 And this happened for three days on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday. Then on the fourth day, which was Sunday, the afore
mentioned bishops put on their episcopal robes, and all the clergy
likewise put on their holy vestments, and carrying candles in their
hands they went in a procession from the church of Saint Mary to the
altar of Saint Isidore, accompanied by all the citizens — men and
women - and they entered the church of Bishop Saint Isidore tearfully
shouting and praising the miracles of Our Saviour. When the bishop
75 This was a common topos in earlier-medieval historical writing: see T. Reuter, ‘Die
Unsicherheit auf den Strassen im europäischen Früh- und Hochmittelalter: Täter,
Opfer und ihre mittelalterlichen und modernen Betrachter’, in T r ä g e r u n d
In stru m en tarien des F rie d e n s im H o h en u n d S p ä te n M itte la lte r, ed. J. Fried, Vorträge
und Forschungen XLIII (Sigmaringen, 1996), 169-202, esp. pp. 174-5, n. 16. I am
grateful to Professor Janet Nelson for bringing this article to my attention.
76 That is, on the pilgrim-road to Compostela. On Alfonso Vi’s support for the
infrastructure of the pilgrimage, see Vázquez de Parga, Lacarra and Uria Riu (eds),
L a s peregrinaciones, II, pp. 20-2.
77 24 June.
78 Pedro, bishop of León ( 1087?—1 111P).
C H RON ICON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S IU M 87
of Oviedo had completed the sermon, and Mass had finished, the
bishops went to the place where the water was and drank from it, and
so did many other men. They placed the water that remained in a
glass vessel and there it remained for a long time in witness. This
sign presaged none other than the sorrows and tribulations that befell
Spain after the death of the aforesaid king; that is why the stones wept
and the water flowed forth.
This man had five legitimate wives: the first was Ines;79 the second
was Queen Constance,80 by whom he fathered Queen Urraca,81 the
wife of Count Raymond,82 who fathered Sancha83 and King Alfonso
£VII3;8+ the third was Berta, who was of Tuscan descent,85 the
fourth was Elizabeth,86 by whom he begat Sancha, the wife of Count
Rodrigo,87 and Elvira who married Duke Roger £IF] of Sicily;88 the
fifth was Beatrice,89 who returned to her own country after his
death. He also had two concubines, although they were most noble:
the first was Jimena Muñoz,90 by whom he fathered Elvira, the wife
79 Inés, daughter of Duke William VIII of Aquitaine, was married to Alfonso VI in

1074. The marriage was dissolved three years later, probably because of the
queen’s failure to provide Alfonso with a male heir. On the purposes of the
marriage alliance, see Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 79-82.
80 Constance, sister of Duke Eudes I of Burgundy, was married to Alfonso in 1079,
and died late in 1093.
81 Urraca, queen of León-Castile (1109-26).
82 Raymond, cousin of Eudes I of Burgundy, was probably betrothed to Urraca in
1087. He ruled the county of Galicia from about 1090 until his death in 1107. For
details of his career, see Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 194-5, 217, 247—54, 333—4, 341.
83 On the Infanta Sancha Raimúndez, see García Calles, D o ñ a Sancha.
84 Alfonso VII, king of León-Castile (1126-57).
85 Alfonso married the Italian Berta in 1094; she died in January 1100 without having
borne the king any children.
86 The family background of this Elizabeth is obscure, but Bernard Reilly has
suggested that the new queen ‘was drawn from some cadet line of the house of
Burgundy’: Reilly, A lfonso VI, pp. 296-7. She was married to Alfonso in 1100 and
died in 1107.
87 The Infanta Sancha Alfonso and Count Rodrigo González de Lara were married
some time before July 1122. The infanta had died by 10 May 1125 by which time
she had already borne the count three daughters: Barton, A ristocracy, p. 292, n. 4.
88 The marriage between the Infanta Elvira Alfonso and Duke Roger II of Sicily took
place some time after 1118.
89 Beatrice was another French noblewoman, but her family origins are unknown.
She had married Alfonso VI by May 1108: Reilly, A lfon so VI, pp. 345—6.
90 Jimena Muñoz was the daughter of a magnate of the Bierzo, Count Muño
González. Alfonso Vi’s liaison with Jimena may have taken place in 1081 or the
following year according to Reilly, A lfon so VI, p. 193. Cf. J. M. Canal Sánchez-
of Count Raymond [TV] of Toulouse,*91 who was the father by her of

Alfonso Jordan,9“ and Teresa, the wife of Count Henry,93 who was the
father by her of Urraca, Elvira and Afonso;94 the second was Zaida,
the daughter of King Abenabeth of Seville, who was baptized and
named Elizabeth,95 by whom he fathered Sancho who died at the
battle of Uclés.96
This glorious king lived for 79 years, and reigned for 43 years and six
months. He died in Toledo on the first of July in the Era 1147 [= AD
11093, early on Thursday morning, whereupon all the citizens wept
and shouted: ‘O shepherd why have you deserted your sheep? Now
the Saracens and evil men will fall upon the flock which has been
entrusted to you and your kingdom'. Then the counts, knights (both
the nobles and those not of noble birth),97 and citizens tore out their
hair and rent their clothes, the women scratched their faces, and they
Pagín, ‘Jimena Muñoz, amiga de Alfonso VT, A n u a rio de E s tu d io s M e d ie v a le s 21

(1991), 11-40; J. de Salazar y Acha, 'Contribución al estudio del reinado de Alfonso
VI de Castilla: algunas aclaraciones sobre su política matrimoniar, A n a le s d e la R e a l
A ca d em ia M a trite n se de H e rá ld ic a y G en ea lo g ía 2 (1992-93), 299-343, at pp. 310-16.
91 The Infanta Elvira Alfonso had married Raymond of Toulouse by 1094. On the
latter s death in 1105 she returned to the peninsula and by July 1117 had married
a Leonese nobleman, Fernando Fernández, from whom she later separated. She
was still alive in 1157. Details in J. M. Canal Sánchez-Pagín, Ta Infanta Doña Elvira,
hija de Alfonso VI y de Gimena Muñoz, a la luz de los diplomas', A rch ivo s Leoneses 33
(1979), 271-87; Barton, A ristocracy, p. 236, n. 3; Reilly, A lfon so VIIy pp. 142-3.
92 On Alfonso Jordan, so-called because he was reputedly baptised in the river of that
name, see below C A Iy i, 2, n. 14.
93 Count Henry (d. 1112), the nephew of Duke Eudes I of Burgundy, may have joined
the court of Alfonso VI in 1087. His marriage to the Infanta Teresa Alfonso (d.
1130) and the grant to the couple of the county of Portugal in 1096 appears to have
been engineered by Alfonso VI as a means of driving a wedge between Henry and his
cousin Count Raymond, both of whom had the previous year plotted to partition the
kingdom on the king s death: for details, see Reilly, A lfon so VIy pp. 251-5.
94 The future Afonso Henriques, king of Portugal (1128-85). His sister Urraca was
married to the Galician magnate Vermudo Pérez in 1122: Barton, A risto c ra c y , pp.
308-10.
95 The relationship between Alfonso VI and Zaida, who was in fact the daughter-in-
law of al-Mu tamid of Seville, probably began in late 1091 or early 1092. In March
1106 the couple married, thereby legitimising their son Sancho, born in 1093:
Reilly, A lfon so F Iy pp. 234^-5, 338-40. On Abenabeth, see above, n. 72.
96 Uclés lies just south of the Tagus, about 100 kilometres east of Toledo. The battle
took place on 29 May 1108.
97 m ilites , nobiles e t innobiles. The distinction being made here is between the
in fa n zo n es , who enjoyed noble rank by hereditary right, and the caballeros v illa n o s ,
whose privileged status was determined exclusively by their military function:
Barton, A risto cra cy , pp. 33-5.
C H RON ICON R E G U M L E G I O N E N S I U M 89
sprinkled ashes and with great moaning and heaviness of heart they
shouted to the heavens. After 20 days they bore him into the region of
Cea989 and all the bishops and archbishops, representatives of the
ecclesiastical as well as the secular order, buried the aforesaid king in
the church of the saints Facundus and Primitivus" with praise and
hymns. May he rest in peace. Amen.
98 Cea lies about 50 kilometres south-east of León.

99 That is, the monastery of Sahagún, about 50 kilometres south-east of León, which
enjoyed close ties with the Leonese royal family, and to which Alfonso VI made at
least seventeen generous benefactions during his reign. On the origins of the
abbey, see above, H S , ch. 71, n. 86.
Ill: HISTORIA RODERICI
Introduction to the Historia Roderici

The anonymous Latin work known to historians of Spain as the
Historia Roderici or ‘History of Rodrigo’ (henceforward HR) has a
claim to be regarded as one of the earliest biographies of a layman
who was not a king, like Charlemagne, nor a saint, like Gerald of
Aurillac, to have been composed in medieval Christendom. The
Rodrigo whom it commemorates was an eleventh-century Castilian
nobleman who enjoyed a strikingly successful career as a military
adventurer. He is better known to posterity as El Cid.
Rodrigo was born near Burgos c. 1045. As a young man who showed
promise as a soldier he was attached to the household of King Sancho II
of Castile (1065—72). After Sancho’s murder he transferred to the
service of his brother, Alfonso VI (1065—1109). In the mid-1070s he
married Jimena, reputedly a member of an aristocratic family from
Asturias. After several years of profitable service to the king, Rodrigo
fell from favour, partly by undertaking an unauthorised military
campaign, partly owing to the calumnies of enemies he had made at the
royal court. In 1081 he was sent into exile by the king, a not infrequent
occurrence in the career of a warrior-aristocrat of that epoch. During
the following five years Rodrigo took service as a mercenary captain
with the Muslim dynasty of the Banit HudT. rulers of the "Taifa
principality of Zaragoza in the valley of the River Ebro. Reinstated in
Alfonso’s favour when the king was desperate for troops lifter the
Almoravid invasion and the defeat at Sagrajas in 1086, Rodrigo
remained in his service for the ensuing three years. A further breach
with the king occurred in 1089. For the remainder of his life Rodrigo
acted as an independent commander in the eastern parts of Spain. Skilful
exploitation by diplomacy and force of the fractious Taifa principalities
enabled him to become a tribute-taker on a princely scale. His greatest
prize was secured in 1094 when he captured Valencia, the main city of the
Spanish Levante. For the last five years of his life Rodrigo defended his
vulnerable principality. He died in Valencia, peacefully, in July 1099.'
1 A fuller treatment of Rodrigo’s career is to be found in Fletcher, The Quest for El
Cid, chs 8-11.
H I S T O R I A RODE RIC I 91
Rodrigo’s truly remarkable career was made possible by the distinctive

circumstances of his age: the instabilityôf the Taifk principalities; the
acceptability of <|ribute-taking^ as the primary mode of Christian—
Islamic relationship in Spain; the ease ofLçrossing çultural frontiers;
the absence of any ideology of crusade; thé availability of mercenary
knights. Roughly comparable circumstances made possible the approxi
mations to his career that we can see in other frontier zones of
contemporary Christendom; for example, among the Normans who
adventured in southern Italy and Sicily and in the Byzantine Empire.
Yet his fame was more than that of a particularly talented and
fortunate condottiere in the coastlands of the Spanish Levante. His
Muslim enemies respected and admired him even as they hated him;
his death was noted by a French chronicler writing hundreds of miles
from Valencia, in Poitou. Rodrigo had become a hero in his own
lifetime. This heroic aspect would be developed obscurely after his
death until it yielded the portrait, or vision, that we find in Spain's
greatest medieval epic, the Poema de Mio Cid, composed perhaps in
the last quarter of the twelfth century, certainly in existence by 1207.
A legendary Cid had been launched upon the world, to be further
elaborated and celebrated as the centuries passed in chronicle, ballad,
drama, painting, sculpture and film.
The Historia Roderici is our principal fX r h j g - a«¡
opposed to his legendary — career. It can now be consulted in the
exceilenFedition by Emma Falque Rey.2 The author focused attention
on Rodrigo’s chief claim to fame, his warlike exploits, but his
coverage of them was uneven, as is immediately apparent when we
break the text down into its component blocks as follows.
1 Chs 1-6 provide a brief narrative of the first thirty-odd years of
Rodrigo’s life, until his marriage: the author evidently knew little
about his subject’s early career.
2 Chs 7-24 narrate in considerably more detail the events leading
up to Rodrigo’s exile in 1081 and the years spent in Zaragoza
between 1081 and 1086.
3 Chs 25-7 furnish a very sketchy account of Rodrigo’s return to
2 C hronica H isp a n a saeculi X I I eds E. Falque, J. Gil and A. Maya [[= Corpus
Christianorum, Continuado Mediaevalis vol. lxxQ (Turnhout, 1990) at pp. 47-98.
Dr Falque’s introduction (pp. 1-46) contains details of manuscripts and previous
editions (pp. 25-37). The only complete translation into a modern language we
also owe to Dr Falque: 'Traducción de la "Historia Roderici’”, B o letín d e la
In stitu ción F ern á n G o n z á le z 62 (1983), pp. 339—75.
Alfonso Vi’s favour and to his Castilian homeland in the years

1086—8. Ch. 27 seems to register a break in the flow of the text.
4 Chs 28-63 constitute a detailed narrative of Rodrigo’s doings in
eastern Spain between 1089 and 1094, culminating in the con
quest of Valencia and its defence in the battle of Cuarte.
5 Chs 64-75 chronicle selectively Rodrigo’s activities as prince of
Valencia from 1094 until his death in 1099.
6 Chs 76—7 form an epilogue in which Rodrigo’s widow Jimena
evacuated Valencia in 1102 and took her husband’s body back to
Castile for re-interment at the monastery of Cardefta.
The most notable feature to emerge from this analysis of the
structure of the HR is the degree to which the author’s attention was
upon the non-Castilian doings of his hero: the geographical slant of the
text is towards the Ebro valley and th^ T.pv^ntpJ away from Rodrigo’s
native Castile. The authordisplayed a particularly informed knowledge
of the Mediterranean coastal regions. Certain passages (for example,
in ch. 36) contain such abundant detail of dates and of places that one
may not unreasonably suspect the testimony of an <jye-witness^
The author wrote in a plain, spare, unadorned Latin. There are several
reminiscences of biblical phraseology.3 Knowledge of Latin and of the
text of the Bible render it likely, though not certain, that the writer
was a cleric. There are indications of a concern with documents: see
ch. 1, n. 2 and ch. 7, n. 18. In three places (chs 35, 38, 39) documents
were copied verbatim into the text, and one may suspect their
background presence elsewhere (e.g. in chs 23, 25, 26, 73). Notarial
connections on the part of the author are not to be ruled out.
Generally favourable to the hero of his work, the author was at one
point - and only one point - critical of him. This occurs in ch. 50,
where he sharply condemned Rodrigo’s devastation of the Rioja in
1092. This has suggested to some that the author could have been a
native of that region. An origin in the Rioja, along the upper waters of
the Ebro, might help to explain author’s eastern-facing gaze.
When did he write? The penultimate chapter furnishes termini both
post and ante quern. Composition must post-date the latest event
mentioned in the text, the evacuation of Valencia in 1102; and since
the author mentions that the city was still in Muslim hands at the
3 More than I realised when I published T h e Q u est f o r E l C id in 1989 (see p. 94).

They have been noted by E. Falque.
H I S T O R I A ROD E RI C I 93
time of writing, it must pre-date the conquest of Valencia by James I of

Aragon in 1238. (The earliest surviving manuscript was copied c. 1230,
possibly in the Rioja. Dr Falque judges it to be at least two removes
from a lost original.) Various attempts have been made to pinpoint the
time of composition between these terminal dates of 1102 and 1238.
An early date of composition was expounded and defended by the
eminent Spanish authority on Cidian matters, Ramón Menéndez Pidal
(1869-1968), in successive editions of his celebrated work La España
del Cid, first published in 1929.4 Noting that the author of the HR
drew attention (ch. 76) to the continuing Muslim possession of the
city of Valencia, why, asked Menéndez Pidal, did he not allude to the
Christian conquest of Zaragoza in 1118? Plainly, he argued, because it
had not yet occurred at the time of writing. Pressing this line of
argument even further, he found similar significance in the author’s
omission of any reference to the Almoravid take-over of Zaragoza in
July 1110. He concluded that the HR was composed within at most
eleven years of Rodrigo’s death.
Menéndez Pidal’s scholarly authority was such as to persuade most
readers of the accuracy of his dating for a generation or so after the
first publication of La España del Cid However, in the second half of
the twentieth century many scholars have voiced reservations and
proposed alternatives. The most influential protagonist of a date of
composition about the middle of the twelfth century was the Aragon
ese historian Antonio Ubieto Arteta. Ubieto believed that he could pin
it down to the years between 1144 and 1147 because of verbal usages
in references to the Almoravids, the manner of rendering the title of
the king of Aragon and a mistake made by the author in referring to
one of the rulers of the Taifa states.5 Ubieto’s arguments, on close
examination not well founded, have been oddly influential. Though
few have shared his bold precision of dating, under his influence an
approximate date for the composition of the HR round the middle years
of the twelfth century has commended itself to many noted historical
and literary scholars in Spain, France, Britain and the United States.6
4 I have worked from the last edition revised by the author, the seventh, of 1969. In
the notes to my translation of the HR this is referred to as RM P.
5 A. Ubieto Arteta, ‘La "Historia Roderici” y su fecha de redacción’, S a ita b i 11 (1961)
241-6; reprinted in his E l 'C a n ta r de M io C id ’ y algunos p ro b lem a s históricos
(Valencia, 1973), pp. 170-7.
6 For example, M. Lacarra, J. Horrent, C. Smith and B. F. Reilly in various
publications scattered between 1964 and 1988. References to the H R in P.
Linehan’s H is to r y a n d the H isto ria n s o f M e d ie v a l S p a in (Oxford, 1993) are prudently
non-committal in the matter of dating.
An even later date of c. 1170 was initially favoured by the distin

guished Dutch orientalist Reinhardt Dozy in a justly famous essay,
‘Le Cid d’après de nouveaux documents’ first published in 1849 in his
Recherches sur l’Histoire et la Littérature de l’Espagne pendant le Moyen
Age. But in the second (1860) and third (1881) editions of that work
Dozy had changed his mind and opted for the middle years of the
century.
In a book published in 1989 I admitted to finding an earlier dating
more plausible than a later one.7 The suggestions there tentatively
advanced have not (to my knowledge) been decisively refuted. Accord
ingly I advance them again here, with some changes of emphasis, and
some amplifications, reflecting continuing ruminations over the last
ten years. I stress at the outset that these are suggestions only. A
precise dating of the HR which would command general assent is
unattainable. Readers are encouraged to speculate for themselves.
This reader, at any rate, is struck by four features of the text.
I A PALAEOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATION
In ch. 23 the earliest and best MS contains the word ‘Suggiz’ where
the reading should be ‘Saggiz’, probably a slip for ‘Säggiz’ with a
mark of abbreviation indicating ‘Sanggiz’: it is a patronymic, whose
modern rendering is ‘Sánchez’ meaning ‘son of Sancho’. The (correct)
letter ‘a’ is replaced by the (incorrect) letter ‘u’. It appears to be no
more than a trivial slip of the pen, but there is more to it than meets
the eye.8 During the later eleventh century and the earlier twelfth the
traditional script employed in Spain, known as ‘Visigothic’ script, was
gradually being ousted by the script known in Spain as francesa,
‘French’ writing, whose letter-forms were devised in the Frankish
kingdom during the Carolingian renaissance: in all essentials the
letter-forms offrancesa script, better known outside Spain as Caroline
or Carolingian minuscule, are those that we still use today (as printed,
for example, on this page). The use of Visigothic script in Aragon,
Castile, León - and the Rioja - was rare by about 1125 and to all
intents and purposes obsolete by the 1140s. One point of difference
between Visigothic and francesa scripts lay in the rendering of the first
letter of the alphabet in minuscule or lower case. In Visigothic script
the letter ‘a’ was open at the top and looked remarkably like the letter
7 T h e Q u est f o r E l C id , pp. 9S-8.

8 And it did not escape the vigilance of Menéndez Pidal: R M P , p. 907.
H I S T O R I A RODE RICI 95
V as written in francesa. Where scribal error occurs in which the

open-ended ‘a’ is rendered as ‘u’ there is a reasonable presumption
that the manuscript from which the scribe was copying was in
Visigothic script. Anyone who has worked on Spanish manuscripts of
this epoch will know this as a very frequent error. It would therefore
seem likely that the text of the HR from which the scribe of c. 1230
copied —or its (original?) exemplar —had been written in Visigothic
script. This does not of course prove that the original had been
committed to writing before c. 1125, but it renders it likely. The
obvious objection to this argument is that a single slip of this
character in a text of this length, offering several possibilities for
similar slips on practically every page, is precious little to go on.
ii T he author’s omissions
As we have seen, Menéndez Pidal considered that the author’s

omissions held clues to the dating of the work. The unknown author
not only failed to allude to changes in the fortunes of Zaragoza in
1110 and 1118; he failed in addition to register the death_¿>f King
AJfonso VI in H09 ¿hd that of Rodrigo’s widow in (probably) 1116.1
haveêfsexvheré'stTgmatízeJlîêgât1ve'evtdeftee-ofLthis^rÿpë as ‘nearly
always slippery’.9 But when all is said and done, I do find that the
omission of any reference to the Christian conquest of Zaragoza in
1118 is extremely singular. Zaragoza had played a significant part in
Rodrigo’s life as the scene of his exile for five years between 1081 and
1086 when he first acquired fame and fortune as a soldier outside his
Castilian homeland. Only one other city - Valencia, for obvious
reasons a special case - was mentioned more frequently in the text of
the HR. Rodrigo’s ally in later life - and a very important one - had
been King Pedro I of Aragon (see chs 64-66 and 70 and relevant
notes), and the conqueror of Zaragoza was Pedro’s younger brother
Alfonso I, el Batallador, ‘the Battler’. It is surely very odd indeed that
this famous Christian conquest of the year 1118, just down the valley
of the Ebro from where our author may have written in the Rioja,
went unregistered by him - if it had indeed taken place when he
composed his text.
9 T h e Q uest f o r E l C id, p. 97.

hi T he treatm ent of R o d r ig o ' s f in a l r e s t in g - p l a c e
The re-interment of Rodrigo's body at the Castilian monastery of

Cardeña three years after his death was reported laconically in the
last chapter of the HR. The monks of Cardeña were later on to make
a great deal —in every sense —out of their possession of the bodies not
only of Rodrigo but also of his wife, his son, his servant and his horse.
The author’s failure to linger on his hero’s last resting-place strengthens
the case for an early date of composition.
IV A POLEMICAL EDGE?
As already indicated, the anonymous author’s treatment of Rodrigo

was favourable, with the single exception of the criticism recorded in
ch. 50. He provided Rodrigo with an improbably distinguished ancestry
andim probably dashing youthful exploits. He presented him as
always with right on his side, for instance in his stormy dealings with
Alfonso VI. He exaggerated the size of the enemy armies which
Rodrigo invariably defeated. This protective tone seems to me to take
on a slightly more polemical edge in the later chapters of the work
which deal with the last, Valencian, phase of Rodrigo’s career. The
author went out of his way to portray his enemies as men of bad fajth
who dishonoured agreements and thereby put themselves culturally
beyond the pale (chs 59, 71, 72 and see also the comments in note 103
on the phrase mixti conmanebant which occurs in ch. 54). He laid
unprecedented stress on Rodjigo^sJChristian^devotion (chs 62, 66, 68,
73). He drew'áíténtion to his building and embellishment of churches
(chs 67, 72, 73). He was also suggestively reticent about the years 1095
and 1096, those in which Rodrigo consolidated his hold over Valencia
by a series of harsh and rapacious measures of which the most brutal
was the burning alive of the formerj[ädi Ibn Jahhäf.10 One has the sense
that the unknown author was concerned to answer critics. If this were
the case, it is surely permissible to surmise that they were near
contemporary ones; for the passage of time raised Rodrigo above
criticism. Who might the critics have been? We have not the faintest
idea.
The author’s purposes remain opaque. Somewhat unusually, the HR is
not prefaced by a dedication (at any rate in the form in which it has
come down to us) and the text yields no clue as to the identity of the
10 I b id , pp. 180-2.
patron, if any, for whom it was composed. The small number and the
brevity of the references to Doña Jimena render it unlikely that the
work was commissioned by Rodrigo’s widow. It has been shown that
the text displays some indebtedness to hagiographical literary conven
tion (which strengthens the case for clerical authorship)." And it has
rather remote analogies with other secular biographies of this period
such as Ralph of Caen’s Gesta Tancredi. But these possible models or
analogues convey us no closer to the author’s motives. All that we can
say is that his memorial was intended to honour Rodrigo’s memory,
and in part perhaps to defend him against calumny.
The author’s recourse to documents raises questions about how and
where he gained access to them. It was Ramón Menéndez Pidal who
first launched the notion of an archivo cidiano, a ‘Cidian archive’, and it
is entirely credible that in a society which held the written word in
high regard —as eleventh-century Spain did —a military commander
would accumulate documents as well as treasure and booty.'* What
might have happened to this archive after the evacuation of Valencia
in 1102? It has long been surmised that custody might have been
entrusted to Rodrigo’s nominee to the see of Valencia, Bishop Jerónimo.
(It is one of the puzzles of the HR that there is no mention of the
bishop in it.) That will direct our attention to Salamanca, to which see
Jerónimo was translated in 1102 and over which he presided until his
death in 1120. It is indeed in the cathedral archive of Salamanca that
there survive to this day two diplomas, the one issued by Rodrigo in
1098 and the other by his widow in 1101, recording grants to the
cathedral church of Valencia. (These have been claimed as part of the
archivo cidiano: strictly speaking they belonged to the episcopal rather
than the Cidian archive, though this may be a distinction without a
difference.) Colin Smith suggested that a cleric of Salamanca was the
unknown author of the HR; and in one of his last articles he even
went so far as to propose the name of Berenguer, bishop of Salamanca
from 1135 to 1150.1 123 Among the difficulties about such a localisation
is the fact that the author chose neither to quote nor to refer to the
Salamanca diplomas when he discussed the endowment of the
bishopric of Valencia.
11 G. West, ‘Hero or Saint? Hagiographie elements in the life of the Cid’, J o u rn a l of
H isp a n ic P h ilo lo g y 7 (1983), pp. 87-105.
12 R M P , p. 910.
13 C. Smith, T h eM a k in g o f the 'P o em a de M io Cid" (Cambridge, 1983), p. 58; see also
his ‘A conjecture about the authorship of the H isto ria R o d e ric i, J o u rn a l o f H isp a n ic
Research 2 (1993-*), pp. 175-81.
However he might have gained his access to documentation, the tone

of vividness and immediacy in many passages of the authors work
suggest that he also had access to the witness of persons, or a person,
who had lived through some of the events described.14 My guess -
and it's only a guess - is that he had spoken to someone who had
listened, scared, to the Almoravid troops as they prowled outside the
walls of Valencia, ‘shrieking and shouting with a motley clamour of
voices' (ch. 62) in 1094. Perhaps he had heard those voices himself.
We shall never know.
Historia Roderici
Here begin the deeds of Rodrigo the Campeador.1
C hapter l
The flux of years is vast and ceaseless: if the doings of this mutable
world are not fixed in written form, they will without doubt be con
signed to oblivion.2 We have therefore determined to embody and
establish by the light of the written word the descent of that most noble
14 T h e Q u est f o r E l C id, p. 96.
1 This is the title given to the work in the earliest surviving manuscript, Madrid,
Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la Historia, A -189, fol. 75r. There is no
manuscript authority for the title H is to r ia R o d e ric i by which the work is generally
known: a more appropriate title might be G esta R o d erici, T h e Deeds of Rodrigo*;
but the traditional title is retained here to avoid confusion. The division of the text
into chapters has no manuscript authority but was introduced by successive editors
for the reader s convenience. The Spanish term ca m p ea d o r renders the author s
cam pidoctus . This in turn derives from the Late Latin c a m p i doctus , meaning ‘a
regimental drill instructor*. Never a common word outside Roman military circles,
it seems to have dropped out of use altogether in the west after the dissolution of
the imperial armies in the fifth century. Its re-appearance in eleventh-century
Spain is puzzling. We do not know when the title was first adopted by or applied
to Rodrigo. Its first securely datable appearance, in the form cam peator, occurs in
Count Berenguer of Barcelonas letter to Rodrigo of 1090 (below, ch. 38). Its second,
in the form cam pidoctor, is in the diploma of 1098 recording Rodrigo's donation of
endowments to the cathedral church of Valencia; and it was used of him again by
his widow in an analogous grant of 1101 (R M P , pp. 869, 872). To these formal
usages in letters or legal documents may be added the literary usage of the
unknown author of the C arm en C a m p id o cto ris (‘Song of the Campeador*), a Latin
panegyric poem on Rodrigo, which may have been composed as early as 1083.
2 This opening sentence has verbal affinities with one among the standard types of
formal opening preamble, technically known as an arenga, to be found in many Spanish
legal documents of this period. Its employment in this context might just possibly
suggest that the author had had some experience in the drafting of such documents.
H I S T O R I A ROD ER ICI 99
and warlike man, Rodrigo Díaz, and the battles heroically fought by
him.
C hapter 2
This then seems to be the origin of his stock. Lain Calvo fathered
many sons, among them Fernán Lainez and Bermudo Laínez. [Ternán
Lainez begat Lain Fernández;^)3 Bermudo Lainez begat Rodrigo
Bermúdez; Lain Fernández begat Ñuño Lainez; Rodrigo Bermudez
begat Fernán Rodríguez; Fernán Rodríguez begat Pedro Fernández
and a daughter named Eylo. Ñuño Laínez took this Eylo for his wife,
and from her he fathered Lain Núñez, who was the father of Diego
Lainez. Diego Lainez fathered Rodrigo Diaz the Campeador from the
daughter of Rodrigo Alvarez —the brother of Ñuño Alvarez who held
the castle of Amaya and several other regional provinces. Rodrigo
Alvarez held the castle of Luna and the provinces of Mormojón,
Moradillo, Cellorigo and Curiel, and many other estates on the meseta:
his wife was the lady Teresa, the sister of Ñuño Lainez of Relias.4
3 Editors are agreed that there are gaps or lacunae in the text of the H isto ria R o d erici
as it has come down to us, and some of them, notably Ramón Menéndez Pidal,
have tried to fill them from later sources allegedly dependent on the H isto ria . Some
of these attempts are less convincing than others. The readings supplied will be
placed within square brackets in this translation, and commented upon if this
seems necessary. The phrase supplied here is drawn from the L ib e r R egu m of c.
1200 and seems unexceptionable: see further R M P , p. 921. The author reports
Rodrigo's genealogy with more than a hint of doubt (‘seems'), which we may well
share. Whoever concocted its upper reaches was evidently motivated by a wish to
trace Rodrigo's descent from Lain Calvo, one of the semi- or perhaps wholly
legendary ninth-century ‘judges' of Castile to whom patriotic Castilians looked
back as the founding fathers of their principality. Dr E. Falque in her edition of the
text has drawn attention to the analogies between this chapter and biblical
genealogies such as that in Matthew i.1-16.
4 We are on firmer ground when we reach the generation of Rodrigo's grandparents.
They were important people in the Castilian establishment during the reign of
Fernando I (1037-65). His paternal grandfather Lain Núñez can be traced in
documents between 1045 and 1063: he subscribed royal diplomas issued by the
king in 1049, 1056, 1059 and 1063: C D F ern a n d o 7, nos 38, 49, 52, 63. His maternal
grandfather Rodrigo Alvarez, traceable between 1038 and 1066, subscribed royal
diplomas in 1038 and 1039 (ibid., nos 8, 11) as well as a number of later and less
reliable ones from the same reign. The places held by Rodrigo Alvarez under the
king were close to Castile's eastern and southern marches. Nothing at all is known
of Rodrigo's unnamed mother. The fact that he was given a name that was current
in her family but not in his father's might indicate that he was not the eldest son:
see also n. 6 below. Professor Janet Nelson has suggested to me that it might
alternatively indicate that Rodrigo’s mother’s family was of higher status than his
father's, directing my attention to the discussion of such marriages - technically
known as hypogamous - in R. Le Jan, F a m ille et p o u v o ir d a n s le m onde f r a n c ( V ile -
X e siècle) (Paris, 1995), at pp. 298-305.
C h a pter 3
Diego Lainez, father of Rodrigo Diaz the Campeador, with great and
unflagging courage seized from the Navarrese the castle of Ubierna,
and Urbel and La Piedra.5 He fought the Navarrese too in open battle,
and defeated them. After he had thus triumphed over them, never
again could they prevail against him. On his death his son Rodrigo
Diaz succeeded by the destiny of paternal ruling.15
C h a pt er 4
Sancho, King of Castile and lord of Spain,7 brought Rodrigo Diaz up

in his household and girded him with the belt of knighthood. When
King Sancho went to Zaragoza and fought with the Aragonese king
at Graus, whom he defeated and killed there, he took Rodrigo Diaz
with him: Rodrigo was a part of the army which fought the victorious
battle/ After this triumph King Sancho returned to Castile.
5 Little is known of Diego Lainez from other sources. His name features among the
witnesses to a grant by his wife’s uncle Ñuño Alvarez to the monastery of Cardeña,
near Burgos, in 1047. Ubierna, Urbel and La Piedra, all places in northern Castile,
were among territories ceded by King Fernando I to his brother Garcia III of
Navarre in 1037-38. Their recovery by Diego Lainez is hard to date, but the
operations probably belonged to the years after King Garcia’s death in 1054.
6 in paternalis iuris sorte, literally ‘in the fortune of paternal law’, or ‘in the allotment
of paternal right’. Emma Falque translates the phrase simply en la heredad paterna,
‘in the father’s property'. But the author’s use of this curious phrase suggests
something a little less straightforward. It is possible that Rodrigo was preferred
over his sibling(s) in the interests of preserving the integrity of the family
property. This was a strategy traceable elsewhere in the aristocratic circles of
western Christendom at this period. For the legal background see A. Otero, ‘La
Mejora’, AHDE 33 (1963), pp. 5-131.
7 Sancho, eldest son of Fernando I, received Castile in the division of his father's
dominions, over which he ruled as Sancho II between 1065 and 1072. The author
applies these grandiose titles to Sancho with reference to a period two-and-a-half
years before his father’s death, whereas the formal decison to divide the kingdom
was. noLtaken until 1.064: see the Historia Silense chs~8 and 103 and commentary
thereupon^The title ‘lord of Spain’ translates dominator Hyspanie. At this period the
tern? Hispanja\\b\\d\\y indicated that part of Spain under Islamic rule, not the whole
Iberian landmass. The only part of Hispania so defined of which Sancho could
properly be regarded as the dominator was the neighbouring amirate of Zaragoza
(see following note).
8 The Graus campaign of 1063 furnishes a good example of the complicated
diplomatic relationships of eleventh-century Spain. Sancho was sent by his father
Fernando I to support the Muslim ruler of Zaragoza, al-Muqtadir, against the
territorial aggrandisement of the Christian Aragonese under their King Ramiro I,
younger brother of Fernando I and thereby Sancho’s uncle. The battle in which
Ramiro met his death was fought on 8 May 1063.
H I S T O R I A RODERICI 101
C h a pter 5
King Sancho valued Rodrigo Díaz so highly, with great esteem and
affection, that he made him commander of his whole military
following.'1So Rodrigo throve and became a most mighty man of war,
and Campeador in the household of King Sancho. In every battle
which King Sancho fought with King Alfonso, at Llantada and
Golpejera, and defeated him, Rodrigo bore the king’s royal standard,
and distinguished himself among all the warriors of the king’s army,
and bettered himself thereby.910123When King Sancho besieged Zamora"
it happened that Rodrigo Diaz fought alone with fifteen enemy
soldiers: seven of them were in chain-mail; one of these he killed, two
he wounded and unhorsed, and the remainder he put to flight by his
spirited courage. Afterwards he fought with Jimeno Garcés, one of the
more distinguished men of Pamplona, and defeated him. He fought
with equal success against a certain Saracen at Medinaceli, whom he
not only defeated but also killed.
C h a pter 6
After the death of his lord King Sancho, who had maintained him and
loved him well, King Alfonso received him with honour as his vassal
and kept him in his entourage with very respectful affection.1- The
king gave him one of his relatives to wife, the lady Jimena, daughter
of Count Diego of Oviedo. She bore him sons and daughters."
9 constituit eum principem, ‘made him commander’, echoing Daniel ii.48. On the
problems connected with Rodrigo’s alleged tenure of the court office of armiger or
alfirez see Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 114-15.
10 The strife between the sons of Fernando I in the course of the years 1065-72 has
been carefully surveyed in Reilly, Alfonso VI, chs 2—4. The encounters referred to in
this chapter occurred respectively on 19 July 1068 and early in January 1072.
11 Sancho II met his death while besieging Zamora on 7 October 1072 in mysterious
circumstances involving treachery: brief discussions of the possibilities are to be
found in Reilly, Alfonso VI, pp. 65-8 and Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 116-18; see
also Historia Silense, ch. 10 and commentary thereupon.
12 Alfonso VI ruled over the combined kingdoms of León, Castile and Galicia from
1072 to 1109.
13 The marriage probably took place in 1074 or 1075. Jimena is well-attested in
several reliable contemporary documents, but her ancestry is more problematical:
it is investigated, somewhat speculatively, in RMP, pp. 721-6. It is just possible
that she was a great-grandaughter of King Alfonso V (d. 1028). Her father Count
Diego is otherwise unknown. The document recording the settlement of property
in favour of the bride at the time of her marriage, technically known as a carta de
arras, or dower charter, has survived: it presents problems as to authenticity and
date. It is printed in RMP, pp. 837-42 and discussed by Reilly, Alfonso VI, p. 83 and
102 T H E W O R L D OF EL CID
C h a pt er 7
In due course*14 King Alfonso sent him as his ambassador to.-the.Jung

of Seville and the king of Córdoba to collect the tribute due to him.15
At that time al-Mu'tamid king of Seville and 'Abd Allah (.Almudafar)
king of Granada16 were [enemies. And with the king of Granada were]
Garcia Ordóñez, and Fortún Sánchez the son-in-law of King Garcia of
Pamplona, and Lope Sánchez the brother of Fortún Sánchez, and
Diego Pérez, one of the magnates of Castile: each of these men with
his following of warriors came to fight against the king of Seville.17
When Rodrigo Diaz came to al-Mu'tamid he was at once told that the
king of Granada with his Christian allies was advancing upon al-
Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 121-3. We know of two daughters and a son who
were born to Rodrigo and Jimena. Cristina married a Navarrese magnate named
Ramiro, a grandson of King Garcia III of Navarre (1035-54): their son Garcia
became King of Navarre in 1134. Maria married Ramón Berenguer III, Count of
Barcelona (1096-1131). The son, Diego, is attested only in the Liber Regum of c.
1200: for what it is worth, it records that Diego was killed in the battle of
Consuegra in 1097.
14 The Cabra campaign which occupies chs 7-9 probably occurred in 1079. B. Powell,
Epic and Chronicle (London, 1983) p. 13, is sceptical about the account in the
Historia Roderick perhaps unduly so; for a more indulgent treatment see Fletcher,
Quest for El Cid, pp. 128-30.
15 The author implies that there were two separate amirs - almost invariably referred
to as 'kings’ in Christian sources - of Seville and Córdoba. But they were^neând
the same: al-Mu‘tamid of Seville (1069-91) had absorbed the Taifa principality of
Cordoba a few years before, in 1076.
16 'Abd Allah, amir of Granada from 1073 until 1090, has left a most remarkable
autobiography, translated and extensively annotated by A. T. Tibi, The Tibyän.
Memoirs of'Abd Allah b. Buluggin, last Zirid amir of Granada (Leiden, 1986). On the
use in this chapter of the correct title Almudafar- properly al-Muzaffar - see, in the
last-named work, p. 193, n. 32. The immediately following phrase in square
brackets, which the sense requires, was plausibly supplied by Menéndez Pidal from
the thirteenth-century Primera Crónica General (RMPy II, p. 921).
17 Garcia Ordóñez, contemporary and rival of Rodrigo Diaz, was among the leading
magnates of Alfonso Vi’s realm: alfirez to the king in 1074, count of Nájera
certainly by 1081, active as a warrior and resettler of conquered lands (for example
at Miranda de Ebro), nutritor or tutor to Alfonso’s son, the Infante Sancho, whom
he died trying vainly to protect in the disastrous battle of Uclés in 1108; see further
Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 249-50 and references cited. He married Urraca, daughter
of Garcia III of Navarre (or Pamplona). Thus he was a brother-in-law of Fortún
Sánchez, another son-in-law of King Garcia as our author correctly states, who had
married Urraca’s sister Ermesenda. Fortún and his brother Lope were natives of
Alava who were prominent in the service of Sancho IV of Navarre, the son of
Garcia III. After Sancho’s murder in 1076 and Alfonso Vi’s annexation of the Rioja
they seem to have gravitated into the service of the latter. Diego Pérez is otherwise
unknown, just possibly the father of Count Froila Diaz on whom see Barton,
Aristocracy, p. 245.
Mu'tamid and his kingdom. So he sent letters18 to the king of Granada

and to the Christians who were with him, [[requesting thenf] for the
love of their lord King Alfonso not to come against the king of Seville
nor to enter his kingdom. But they, trusting in the great size of their
army,19 not only refused to listen to his requests but even altogether
rejected them. Instead they advanced laying waste all the land as far
as the castle known as Cabra.20
C hapter 8
When Rodrigo Diaz heard and checked the truth of this, he at once
went out with his army to confront them. A hard-fought battle took
place, lasting from the third hour of the dayjuntifthe sixth. The army
of the king of Granada, Both Saracens and Christians^ suffered very
great carnage and casualties. Eventually, defeated and disordered, all,
fled from the face of Rodrigo Diaz. There were captured in that battle
Count Garcia Ordóñez and Lope Sánchez and Diego Pérez and many
others of their fighting men. After his victory Rodrigo kept them
captive for three days: then he deprived them of their tents and all
their booty and set them free to go their way.
C hapter 9
Rodrigo returned in triumph to Seville. Al-Mu tamid gave him the
tribute for the lord King Alfonso, and added over and above this many
presents and gifts which he delivered to his king. These tributes and
presents were accepted and peace was made between Alfonso and al-
Mu'tamid. Rodrigo returned with honour to Castile and to his lord
King Alfonso. In return for this success and victory granted him by
God, manyjnen both acquaintances and strangers became jealous and
accusecfhim before the king of many false and untrue things
C hapter 10
After Rodrigo had returned with honow-as aforesaid to Castile, King
Alfonso at once ordered him to ^ landôf the Saracens that was in
18 The first of several references in the H isto ria R o d e ric i to written communications,
evidently a subject of interest to the author.
19 Dr Falque has caught here an echo of Judith ix.9.
20 Cabra is just to the north of Lucena, about two-thirds of the way from Granada to
Córdoba.
104 T H E W O R L D OF EL CI D
rebellion, to lay it waste with his army and amplify and pacify his
kingdom. Rodrigo, however, was lying ill in Castile at the time. The
Saracens meanwhile invaded and fell upon a castle named Gormaz
where they seized no little Loo ty.121 When this came to the ears of
Rodrigo he was consumed with great anger and bitterness and said, ‘I
shall go after those robbers and with any luck I shall take them.’-12So
he gathered together his army and all his well-armed knights, and
pillaged and laid waste the land of the Saracens in the region of
Toledo.-1 He rounded up 7000 captives, both men and women, nith-
lessly laying hold of all their wealth and possessions, and brought
them back home with him.
C hapter 11
However, when King Alfonso and the elders of his court heard of this
exploit of Rodrigo they were very gravely displeased. The courtiers
who were envious of him held it against him and said with one voice
to the king, ‘Lord King, your Highness must surely know that Rodrigo
perpetrated this in order that,all of us who live together in Saracen
territory to take tribute from it will be killed by the Saracens and die
there.’121The king was unjustly impressed and angered by this wicked
and envious accusation. He expelled Rodrigo from his kingdom.12’21345
21 The castle of Gormaz, on the Duero, had been conquered by Fernando I: see
Historia Sítense, ch. 91. A few years after the action described in the present chapter
Alfonso VI entrusted it to Rodrigo's care: below, ch. 25. Or did he re-entrust it? If
the latter, this would explain why Rodrigo felt protectively responsible for Gormaz
in this earlier year of 1081. It may be significant that the author assumed that his
primary audience did not need an explanation.
22 There seems to be a reminiscence here of I Samuel xxx.8.
23 We know nothing of his route. The natural one to take, and that which offered the
richest pickings, would have been along the axis Medinaceli—Sigüenza—
Guadalajara.
24 The castles of Brihuega, Canales and Zorita, which lay to the south of the
Medinaceli-Guadalajara line, had been ceded to Alfonso VI by al-Qâdir, amir of
Toledo, in 1080. The author of the Historia Roderici was either ignorant of, or
chose to say nothing about, Alfonso’s treaty with al-Qadir, a fragile pact
threatened by Rodrigo’s maverick reprisal raid. For the context see Reilly, Alfonso
VI, pp. 127-9 and Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 126-8, 130-32.
25 For a comparable account of Alfonso Vi’s punishment of those who broke the peace
by unauthorised attacks on the Saracens see La ‘Vita Dominici Siliensis' de
Grimaldo, ed. V. Valcarcel (Logroño, 1982) ii.26 (pp. 316 - 8 ): this was composed
between 1088 and 1109.
C hapter 12
So Rodrigo, leaving his sorrowing friends behind him, departed from

Castile and came to Barcelona.26 Then he went to Zaragoza, whereaL»
Muqtadir was then reigning. QRodrigoâve hi^s^êîance to al-
Muqtadir of Zaragoza, who received him with great honour and
treated him with much respect. While Rodrigo was residing
contentedly at Zaragoza, al-Muqtadir fell ill] and died.27 His realm
was divided between his two sons, al-Mu’tamm ~and al-Häyib: al-
Mu’tamin reigned in Zaragoza, his brother al-Häyib in Dénia.28 This
al-Mu’tamin was very fond of Rodrigo and set him over and exalted
him above all his kingdom and all his land, relying upon his counsel in
all things.29 A dreadful and most bitter quarrel broke out between al-
Mu'tamin and his brother al-Häyib, and they agreed a time at which
they might do battle__together. NowCSancKck king ofjAragon) and
Pamplona, and Berenguer^ count oCBj*rcelqna> accompanied al-Häyib
as his_allies.30 With al-Mu'tamin was RodrigouDiaz, who served him
faithfully and guarded and protected his kingdom and land. Because of
this King Sancho and Count Berenguer were especially hostile to him
and on the lookout for him.
C hapter 13
When King Sancho heard that Rodrigo Diaz wished to go from

Zaragoza to Monzón he swore an oath and said that in no manner
26 This is the point at which the action of the epic P o em a de M io C id begins.

27 The obvious lacuna here was supplied by Menéndez Pidal from the P rim e ra C rónica
G e n e ra l
28 For the fullest treatment of the family Afif Turk, E l R ein o de Z a r a g o z a en e l sig lo X I
de C risto ( V de la H é g ira ) (Madrid, 1978). There are chronological problems arising
from this chapter. R M P (p. 270) suggests that Rodrigo’s exile began in ‘1081,
agosto?’, which seems as good a guess as any. Dr Turk (pp. 119-21) suggests that
al-Muqtadir delegated power to his sons on account of illness in Yumada I of 474
AH, i.e. between 7 October and 5 November 1081, but did not die until 475 AH, i.e.
between 1 June 1082 and 20 May 1083. In the territorial division of the amirate of
Zaragoza the eldest son of al-Muqtadir, YOsuf al-Mu’tamin received the city of
Zaragoza and the western parts of the principality, while the younger, Mundhir al-
Häyib, received the eastern parts comprising Lérida, Tortosa and Dénia.
29 This is almost certainly an exaggeration. It is likely that Rodrigo was but one of
several Christian mercenary captains in the service of al-Mu’tamin.
30 Sancho Ramírez, king of Aragon 1063-94; Berenguer Ramón II, count of
Barcelona 1076—97.
should he dare to do that. " When Rodrigo heard of the king’s oath his
spirit was moved and with his whole army [Tie left Zaragoza and went
a day’s journey as far as the village of Peralta] where he set up camp
within eyesight of his enemies, the whole army of al-Häyib. On the
next day he entered Monzón under the eyes of King Sancho Qby
arrangement with the Saracens of the castle]. But the king did not
dare to come against him. (]After this the Cid left Monzón and went
to Tamarite and stayed there for a few days. One day he left the town
with ten knights and encountered nearly a hundred and fifty knights
of King Sancho: and he defeated them all, and captured seven knights
with their horses, and the rest fled. Afterwards these knights asked
Rodrigo to release them, which he did, and also gave back their
horses.]iJ Meanwhile aí-Mu’tamin and Rodrigo decided to restore
and fortify an old castle called Almenar; and this was done at once.™
Soon afterwards the quarrel between al-Mu’tamin and his brother al-
Häyib flared up again, to the point that they began to prepare for war.
C h a pter 14
Al-Häyib, however, entered into an agreement with Count Berenguer

and the count of Cerdaña, and with the brother of the count of Urgel,
and with the lords of Besalú, Ampurdán, Rosellón and Carcassonne.™
Al-Häyib made this arrangement with them, that all of them should
come and join him in laying siege to the castle of Almenar; which they
immediately did. They besieged and attacked it for many days, until
those who were inside the castle lacked for water.3124
31 Monzón was one of the strongpoints which guarded the northern marches of the
principality of Zaragoza. For its strategic significance see A. Ubieto Arteta,
Colección Diplomática de Pedro I de Aragón y Navarra (Zaragoza, 1951), pp. 55-6.
The Christian rulers of Aragon had long harboured designs on it which were
finally realised when it fell to King Sancho Ramírez in 1089.
32 Lacunae supplied by Menéndez Pidal from the Primera Crónica General The first
phrase (‘by arrangement with the Saracens of the castle’) seems inoffensive, even
necessary. The second is a more speculative addition which has the air of a later
embroidery designed to exalt the Cid’s prowess and magnanimity.
33 Almenar and Tamarite were strongpoints a little to the east of Monzón. They fell
to the Aragonese in 1093 and 1104 respectively.
34 These were modest Catalan lordships scattered to south and north of the eastern
end of the Pyrenees. For a brief introduction see T. N. Bisson, The Medieval Crown
of Aragon. A Short History (Oxford, 1986), pp. 19-30 with map at p. 20.
C hapter i 5
Now Rodrigo was based at that time at the castle of Escarp, between
the two rivers Segre and Cinca, which he had boldly taken earlier on
and made all its inhabitants captive.*5 From there he sent a messenger
to al-Mu’tamin to tell him of the sufferings of and the threat to the
castle of Almenar and to let him know that all those who were in the
castle were worn out and starving*6 and almost at the end of their
tether. Again Rodrigo, gravely anxious, sent other messengers bearing
his letters to al-Mu’tamin, [[imploring him[] to come and relieve the
castle which he had built. Al-Mu’tamin came at once to Rodrigo and
found him at the castle of Tamarite. There they took counsel together.
Al-Mu’tamin asked Rodrigo to fight against the enemies who were
besieging the castles Q«?fof Almenar. But he replied, ’It is bettgr-that
you pay al-Häyib money to abstain from attacking the castle than to
offeF battle with him¡ for he Tías come with a great multitude of
troops.’ÂI- mu tamin willingly agreed to this. So Rodrigo at once sent
a messenger to the aforesaid counts and to al-Häyib, proposing that
they accept money and depart from the castle. But they were unwill
ing to accede to this proposal and did not cease from attacking the
castle. So the messenger came back to Rodrigo and told him all that
he had heard from them.
C hapter 16
Greatly worried, Rodrigo ordered all his soldiers to arm and prepare
themselves bravely for battle. He led his army out to a place where
both sides - the counts and al-Häyib, and Rodrigo Diaz - faced each
other. With a great noise of shouting and weaponry on both sides the
troops advanced and joined battle. The aforesaid counts and al-Häyib
at once turned their backs and fled from the face of Rodrigo in
confusion and defeat. The greatest part of them were killed: a few,
however, escaped. All their goods and booty passed by custom into
the hands of Rodrigo. He led the count of Barcelona and his warriors
captm Tfirrhe castle of Tamarite, and there in the wake of victory
delivered them into the hands of al-Mu’tamin. After five days he set
them free to depart to their own country. .356
35 The present-day Granja de Escarpe, some thirty kilometres to the south-west of

Lérida. Presumably Rodrigo had taken it from al-Hayib.
36 An emendation from the tautological defessi to (fame) defecti has been accepted by
most editors: see R M P , p. 928 and E. Falque’s edition, p. 53.
108 T H E W O R L D OF EL CI D
C h a p t e r 17
Rodrigo Diaz returned with al-Mu’tamin to Zaragoza, where he was

received by the citizens with the greatest honour and respect. In those
days al-Mu’tamin raised Rodrigo up above his own son and over his
kingdom and over all his land. He seemed to be as it were the lord of
the whole realm.'7 Al-Mu’tamin showered him with innumerable
presents and many gifts of gold and silver.
C h a pt er 18
After many days had passed it occurred that a certain unworthy man
named Albofalac, who then held the castle of Rueda near Zaragoza,
withdrew himself and the castle from the authority and lordship of
King al-Mu’tamin and rose in rebellion there in the name of al-
Muzaffar, the uncle of al-Mu’tamin, who had been imprisoned in the
castle by his brother al-Muqtadir. ‘KBecause of this the aforesaid al-
Muzaffar besought the Emperor Alfonso with many prayers to come
and help him. In response the Emperor Alfonso sent the Infante
Ramiro and Count Gonzalo and several other magnates with a huge
army to assist him."’ When they reached him they agreed together
that they should send to the emperor and ask him to come in person:
which was done. He came with his army at once and stayed there for
a few days. And then al-Muzaffar died. Albofalac, the rebel of the
castle of Rueda, took counsel with the Infante Ramiro about handing
Rueda over to the Emperor Alfonso. Albofalac went from there to the
emperor and addressed him with peaceful words, but deceitfully,
imploring him with many prayers to come to Rueda and take over the
castle. However, before the emperor could go to the castle, Albofalac
allowed the emperor’s magnates to enter it, he himself remaining
nearby. When they entered, Albofalac’s deceit and treachery were at3789
37 Compare n. 29 above.
38 The background to the massacre of Rueda on 6 January 1083 is briefly outlined in
Reilly, Alfonso VI, p. 165 and Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 137-8. The man
referred to as Albofalac is otherwise unknown. Rueda, in the valley of the Jalón
some 33 km west of Zaragoza, was a strongpoint on the important line of commu
nication between the Ebro valley and Calatayud, Medinaceli, Guadalajara and
Toledo.
39 Ramiro was the brother of Sancho IV of Navarre, and brother-in-law of Garcia
Ordóñez and Fortún Sánchez on whom see ch. 7 and n. 17 above. Count Gonzalo
Salvadórez was one of the leading magnates of Castile and a patron of the
monastery of Oña: on him see Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 45, 87, 204, 251 and
references cited.
once revealed: for the knights and footsoldiers who garrisoned the
castle pelted the emperor’s men with stones and rocks, killing many of
those noblemen [Including the Infante Ramiro and Count Gonzalo^.
The emperor returned to his camp in great sorrow.
C hapter 19
Rodrigo was in Tudela at the time. When he heard of this business he

went to see the emperor. Alfonso received him honourably and
earnestly pressed him to follow him back to Castile. So Rodrigo
followed him. But the emperor still harboured jealous thoughts in his
heart, and evil designs of expelling Rodrigo from his land.40 Rodrigo
learnt of this and did not want to go on into Castile, so he left the
emperor and returned to Zaragoza, where King al-Mu’tamin welcomed
him fittingly.41
C hapter 20
After this indeed divine clemency granted a. great victory to the

Emperor Alfonso. He doughtily took Toledo, the famous city of
Hispania, which he had for long —for seven years indeed —invested
and attacked. He incorporated it into his empire with its dependent
settlements and territories.42
C hapter 21
Meanwhile King al-Mu’tamin ordered Rodrigo Diaz to gather his

troops and invade the land of Aragon with him to lay it waste. They
ravaged theTaricTof Aragón arid strîppêcTit of its riches and led off
many of its inhabitants captive with them. After five days they
returned victoriously to the castle of Monzón. The Aragonese king
40 Echoing Proverbs xxvi.24 and Ecclesiastes ix. 1.
41 The story told in this chapter is implausible. It is surely more likely that Rodrigo’s
motive in visiting the court of Alfonso VI was to exculpate himself from any
suspicion of responsibility for the treachery at Rueda.
42 This is an odd place, between events which occurred in 1082-S (ch. 19) and those
which were to take place in 1084 (chs 21-3), to insert a notice of the fall of Toledo
in 1085. Perhaps the author wanted to signal the beginning of Alfonso’s final siege
of Toledo, or to indicate that the king would be offstage for a while as the H isto ria 's
action shifted back to the east. Alfonso VI made his triumphal entry into Toledo on
25 May 1085, which was also, by coincidence, the date of the death, in exile, of
Pope Gregory VII.
no THE WORLD OF EL CID
Sancho was indeed present at that time in his land and kingdom but
in no manner did he dare to resist Rodrigo. After this Rodrigo fell
upon the land of al-Mu’tamin’s brother al-Häyib, and ravaged it. He
wrought much damage and desfructTon there, especially in the
mountains of Morelia and thereabouts. There was not left in that
region a house which he did not destroy, nor property which he did
not seize. He campaigned too against the castle of Morelia, and fought
his way up to the gate of the castle and inflicted great damage on it.
Al-Mu’tamin asked him by means of letters and a messenger to
rebuild the fortress of Olocau, over against Morelia. He at once rebuilt
and fortified it and stocked it well with all necessary provisions, and
men and weapons.43
C h a pter 22
When King al-fläyib heard this he went to see the Aragonesejung

Sancho and made a great complaint about Rodrigo. They made an
agreementftogether to help one another to defend their kingdoms and
lands stoutly against Rodrigo, and then to fight bravely with him in
open battle.44 Both rulers gathered their armies and fixed their joint
camp beside the River Ebro. Rodrigo was near them. King Sancho at
once sent envoys to Rodrigo []telling him]] to retire from the spot,
where he was without delay and not to return there afterwards. But
he was in no way prepared to acquiesce in their instructions. Instead
he gave this reply to the messengers: ‘If my lord king wishes to pass
by me in peace, I shall willingly permit him £to do so]]; and not only
him, but all his men as well. Furthermore, should he wish it, I shall
give him a hundred of my troops to attend upon him and be the
companions of his journey.’45 The envoys returned to the king and
gave him Rodrigo’s message.
C hapter 23
However, when King Sancho heard that Rodrigo would not fall in
with his wishes nor retire from the spot where he was, he was
possessed with anger. Together with al-Häyib he set off as fast as he
43 Morelia lies about 60 km south-west of Tortosa; Olocau is some 22 km due west of

Morelia.
44 The agreement may have been committed to writing like the two treaties
illuminatingly studied by J. M. Lacarra, ‘Dos tratados de paz y alianza', pp. 77-94.
45 As Dr Falque has pointed out, the last phrase echoes Genesis xxxiii.12, xxxv.3.
could until he had almost reached Rodrigo’s encampment. When

Rodrigo saw this he swore to resist them to the end, and never to flee
their face: constant and brave he remained there. On the following
day King Sancho and al-Häyib and their troops armed themselves and
advanced their formations against him. Battle was joined. The fight was
long. Eventually King Sancho and al-Häyib turned their backs and
fled from Rodrigo’s face defeated and disordered. Rodrigo pursued
them for a long way and captured many of them. Among the prisoners
were Bishop Ramón Dalmacio, Count Sancho Sánchez of Pamplona,
Count Nufto of Portugal, Gudesteo González, Ñuño Suárez of León,
Anaya Suárez of Galicia, Calvet, Iñigo Sánchez of Monclús, Jimeno
Garcés of Buil, Pepino Aznar and García Aznar his brother, Lain
Pérez of Pamplona the nephew of Count Sancho, Fortún Garcés of
Aragon, Sancho Garcés of Alquézar, Blasco Garcés the king’s mayor
domo, and also García Díaz of Castile.46 In addition to these he
captured more than 2000 men whom later heallowed to go free to their
own land. These men indeed he capturedby brave fighting, and
sacked all their camp and goods. After this overwhelming victory he
returned to Zaragoza with unreckonable booty and those very noble
prisoners named above. Al-Mu’tamin and his sons and a great
46 This is a most remarkable assemblage of prisoners. They fall, roughly speaking,

into three categories. (A) Grandees. The two most imposing names are those of
Ramón Dalmacio, Bishop of Roda (de Isábena) from 1076/7 until 1094 (on whom
see A. Durán Gudiol, L a Iglesia de A ra g ó n d u ran te los rein ados de Sancho R a m ír e z y
P e d ro / (Rome, 1962), pp. 34^-6, 56-7, 61) and Count Sancho Sánchez of Pamplona,
said to have been the son of a bastard brother of Sancho IV of Navarre (see A.
Ubieto Arteta, Colección D ip lo m á tic a de P e d ro I de A ra g o n y N a v a r r a (Zaragoza,
1951), p. 175). (B) Less exalted but still distinguished vassals of the king of
Aragon, all of them traceable among the tenentes of the crown in the late eleventh
or early twelfth centuries with the aid of the invaluable work of reference by A.
Ubieto Arteta, L o s ‘Tenentes* en A ra g o n y N a v a r r a en los siglos X I y X I I (Valencia,
1973). Shortage of space precludes lengthy demonstration here; a single example
must suffice: Iñigo Sánchez is traceable as the tenente of various places between
1082 and 1116, including Calasanz, Estada (with whose re-settlement he was
charged after its conquest in 1087) and Monzón, as well as Monclús where he can
be traced between 1082 and 1093. (C) Natives of the dominions of Alfonso VI,
presumed to have been voluntary or involuntary exiles in the kingdom of Aragon:
namely, Count Ñuño of Portugal, Gudesteo González, Ñuño Suárez of León,
Anaya Suárez of Galicia and García Diaz of Castile. How did our author, assumed
to have been writing perhaps some thirty or more years later, know the names of
prisoners taken in battle in 1084? It is difficult - and perhaps it is not necessary -
to resist the obvious and natural answer, that he had a written list of names in
front of him. This speculation may gain support from the consideration that it is
here, and here alone in the H isto ria R oderick that we have in the unanimous reading
of both MSS ‘Ennecus S u g g iz de Montecluso’ (= Iñigo Sánchez de Monclús) a
strong suggestion that the author was transcribing a document in Visigothic script
which he misread. See further my comments in the introduction.
multitude both of men and women from the city of Zaragoza,

rejoicing and exulting with tremendous joy in his victory, came out to
meet him at the village of Fuentes, which is distant fifty stadia from
the city.47
C hapter 24
Rodrigo Diaz stayed at Zaragoza until the death of al-Mu’tamin.
After his death his son al-Musta‘în succeeded him as king. Rodrigo
remained with him at Zaragoza in the greatest honour and respect for
nine years Qm[].48
C hapter 25
After this he returned to his native land of Çastile. King Alfonso
received him honourably and gladly. Soon afterwards the Icing gave
him the castle of Duáñez with its dependents, and the castle of
Gormaz, and Ibio and Campóo and Igufia and Briviesca, and Langa
which is in the western parts, together with all their territories and
inhabitants.49
47 Fuentes de Ebro is about 25 km downriver from Zaragoza. The unknown site of

the battle must have been somewhere to the east of that. R M P (pp. 742-3)
presented a case for dating the encounter to 14 August 1084.
48 The death of al-Mu'tamin cannot be fixed more closely than ‘approximately, the
autumn of 1085* (Turk, R e in o de Z a r a g o z a , p. 143). Al-Musta‘In governed Zaragoza
from 1085 to 1110. All commentators agree that the author s (or copyist's) reading
nine years' must be a mistake for ‘nine months'.
49 It is plausible to suppose that Rodrigo returned to Castile late in 1086 in the wake
of Alfonso Vi's defeat at the hands of the invading Almoravids at Sagrajas on 23
October. The king was desperate for troops to defend his vulnerable southern
frontier. In this vassal's market Rodrigo could negotiate favourable terms for his
rehabilitation. There is disagreement over the identification of some of the places
mentioned. The author's D o n n a s is usually taken to be Dueñas on the River
Pisuerga between Palencia and Valladolid: but this seems implausibly far to the
west; might the place not be Duáñez, just to the east of Soria and about 60 km
north-east of Gormaz? For Gormaz, see above ch. 10 and n. 21. It is generally
agreed that the author's C am pos should be identified with Campóo. If his Ib ia be
taken as Ibio and his E g u n n a as Iguña, we have in these three district-names three
regions in northern Castile adjacent to the landholdings known to have been in
Rodrigo's possession at the time of his marriage; as also is Briviesca. L a n g a is
assumed to be Langa de Duero, significantly - about 35 km - to the west of
Gormaz, itself the most westerly of the Duero holdings. The writer's ‘gave' {d e d it)
is ambiguous, perhaps deliberately so. I have suggested an interpretation
elsewhere: Fletcher, Q u est f o r E l C id , pp. 152-3.
H I S T O R I A RODE RIC I lis
C hapter 26
Furthermore, Alfonso p a r d o n e d h im a n d gave him this privilege in his

kingdom, written and confirmed under seal, stipulating that all the
land or castles which he might acquire from the Saracens in the land
of the Saracens, should be absolutely his in full ownership, not only
his but also his sons' and his daughters’ând all Ills descendants’.50
C hapter 27
The wars and rumours of wars in which Rodrigo engaged with his
knights and companions are not all written in this book.51
C hapter 28
In the Era 1127 (= AD 1089,1 at that season at which kings were

accustomed to set out with their army to wage war or to subdue land
in revolt agair^fthëmJKing Alfonso departed from the city of Toledo
and set out on campaign with his army.52 Rodrigo the Campeador,
however, remained then in Castile, handing out payment to his troops.
C hapter 29
v
Having distributed wages and assembled a multitude of his army in
Castile - 7000 fully-armed men - Rodrigo went to the frontier region
adjoining the River Duero, and crossing by the middle ford he ordered
his camp to be made at the place called Fresno. Proceeding from there
50 Some commentators have found this chapter incredible, though what it records
appears to have analogies with the legal process of pressura, the ‘taking possession'
of conquered land, which is well-documented in the early phases of the Christian
reconquest of Spain from the Muslims. The author might have been summarising
or quoting from a royal charter. The words ‘under seal’ translate the Latin sigillo.
It is important to bear in mind that at this date the word sig illu m in Leonese-
Castilian usage did not indicate what we normally understand by the word ‘seal’
today and that therefore the verbal usage in this chapter is not, as some have
claimed, anachronistic: on these matters see R. Fletcher, ‘Diplomatic and the Cid
revisited: the seals and mandates of Alfonso VII’, J M H 2 (1976), pp. 305-337.
51 As Dr Falque has pointed out, there are reminiscences here of Matthew xxiv.6,
Mark xiii.7 and John xx.30. Whatever might be thought of the author’s curious
disclaimer in this chapter, its positioning here seems to mark some sort of
deliberate break in the flow of the text.
52 This is the first of only three occurrences of a year-date in the entire work (the
others are in chs 62 and 75): it seems to herald a new section; cf. previous note.
There is also a clear recollection of II Samuel xi.l.
1 14 T H E W O R L D OF EL CID
with his army he came to the place called Calamocha. There he

encamped and celebrated the feast of Pentecost.51 Envoys from the
king of Albarracin came to him there, requesting a face-to-face meet
ing. After this meeting had taken place the king of Albarracin became
a tributary of King Alfonso and remained at peace with him.51
C h a pter 3 0
Rodrigo left that region behind and went on into the territory of
Valencia. He set up camp in the valley called Torres, which is near
Murviedro. Now at that time the count of Barcelona, Berenguer by
name, was encamped with all his army near Valencia. He was
attacking the city, and was building [the castles of] Cebolla and Liria
against it. When Count Berenguer heard that Rodrigo the Campeador
was approaching him with hostile intent, he trembled with great fear:
for the two were mutual enemies. But Count Berenguer’s knights began
to boast, and to utter many curses against Rodrigo, and to scorn him
with much mockery. They threatened him with many threats of
capture and imprisonment and death —which afterwards they were
unable to fulfil. This talk came to Rodrigo’s ears. However, he was
unwilling to fight against the count: for he respected his lord King
Alfonso, whose relative the count was, Count Berenguer, shaken with
fear, left Valencia in peace and speedily returned to Requena; from
there he went to Zaragoza, and at length returned to his own land
with his followers. ’5
C h a pt er 31
Rodrigo, however, remained at the place where he had fixed his tents,
attacking his enemies on all sides. Moving on from there he
approached Valencia, and pitched camp. At that time al-Qâdir was534
53 Calamocha is some 25 km south of Daroca, roughly midway between Calatayud

and Teruel. Pentecost fell on 20 May in 1089. Reilly, Alfonso VI, p. 201, places this
campaign in 1088.
54 Abu Marwän Abd al-Malik b. Hudhayl Ibn Razln ruled the principality of Albarracin
from 1045 to 1103: on him see further J. Bosch Vilá, Albarracin Musulmán (Teruel,
1959), pp. 140-70.
55 The places mentioned in this chapter are grouped round Valencia. Murviedro, the
ancient Saguntum and the modern Sagunto, is on the Mediterranean coast some 25
km to the north, with Torres about 15 km inland up the valley of the river
Palancia. Cebolla is between Valencia and Murviedro, Liria about 25 km to
Valencia’s north-west and Requena about 60 km due west.
H I S T OR I A RODE RI CI 115
ruling as king of Valencia.w He at once sent his envoys with innum

erable and very valuable presents to Rodrigo. He became a tributary,
and so did the commander of Murviedro. Afterwards Rodrigo the
Campeador arose and entered the mountains of Alpuente. He fought
fiercely there and mastered and laid waste the country, and remained
there for not a few days. Then he left the region and established his
camp at Requena, where he stayed for many days.
C h a pter 32
While he was there he learned that .Yusuf the king of the Ishmaelites’7
and many other Saracen kings of Spain had come with the Moabites ’8
to lay siege to the castle of Aledo which was then in the hands of the
Christians; Then these aforesaid Saracen kings besieged that castle of
Aledo and invested it so closely that those who were inside defending
the castle ran seriously short of water.79 When King Alfonso heard this
he sent a letter to Rodrigo ordering him to join him at once to relieve
the castle of Aledo and bring help to its defenders by attacking Yusuf
and all the other Saracens who were fiercely besieging it. Rodrigo gave
this reply to the king’s messengers who delivered this letter to him: ‘Let
my lord the King come as he promised. According to his command I am
ready with good heart and will to succour that castle. When he is
pleased that I should set out with him, I request his majesty that he
should deign to inform me of his coming.’
C h a pter 33
Rodrigo the Campeador at once left Requena and went to Játiva.

There a messenger from King Alfonso found him, and told him that
the king was in Toledo with a very large army - an infinite multitude56789
56 Al-Qädir, formerly of Toledo, had been installed as a puppet ruler of Valencia by
Alfonso VI in 1085.
57 Ilysmaelitarum. The author normally referred to the fvluslmis.uí Spam as ’Saracens'
(e g. chs 5, 8, 10, 11, 13 etc.). The adoption of new terminology, Ishmaelites and
Moabites - both of them terms borrowed from the Old Testament - signals the
appearance of a new group on the scene, namely the Almora_ykb, the Berber
sectarians from Morocco, led By Yüsiif b. Tashutm from 1Ö62 to 1106. The author
was not absolutely consistent in his verbal usage, sometimes referring to them as
'Saracens’ or simply 'barbarians’.
58 cum gentibus Moabitarum. see previous note.
59 Aledo lay far to the south-east of Alfonso Vi's dominions, between Murcia and
Lorca. For some suggestions about the king's decision to instal a garrison there see
Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, pp. 15W).
of horsemen and footsoldiers. On hearing this Rodrigo went up to

Onteniente and waited there for tidings of the king's coming. For the
king had ordered Rodrigo by messengers beforehand to wait for him
at Villena, through which place he had stated that he would certainly
pass. Meanwhile Rodrigo remained at Onteniente so that his army
should not lack for provisions, awaiting the king. He sent out scouts
from there to Villena and to the region of Chinchilla, who were under
orders to inform him as soon as they should hear of the king’s
approach. While the scouts were thus confidently awaiting the royal
arrival, the king took a different route and reached Hellin.60 When
Rodrigo heard that the king had already accomplished the journey
and arrived before him, he was deeply dismayed. He set out with his
army for Hellin, and went ahead of his troops in his eagerness to
discover the truth about the king’s movements. When he knew for
certain that the king had completed his journey he left his army which
was coming along after him and went on with a few companions as far
as Molina. Yüsuf king of the Saracens, however, and all the other
Ishmaelite kings of Spain and all the other Moabites who were there,
learning of King Alfonso’s arrival, left the fortress of Aledo in peace.
They turned in flight at once, terrified by fear of the king even before
his arrival, and fled before his face in confusion. When Rodrigo
reached Molina the king, seeing that he could not possibly pursue the
Saracens, had already set out with his army on the return journey to
Toledo. Rodrigo, greatly sorrowing, returnçchto his camp which was
at Elche. There he allowed certain of his knigh/s whom he had brought
with him from Castile to return to their homes.61
/
C hapter 3 4
Then the Castilians^jealous^bf him in. all things, accused Rodrigo

before the king. ^They told Alfonso that Rodrigo was not a faithful
vassal but an evil man and a traitorTThey falselyjand lyingly claimed
that Rodrigo had been unwilling to go to the assistance of the king, in
60 The MSS read a d f lu v iu m , ‘to the river, which makes no sense in a context
concerning a part of Spain where rivers do not exist during the summer months.
R M P (p. 936) plausibly emended to a d F elin , ‘to Hellin*, following readings in the
C rónica de 1344. From Játiva in the north, a line through Onteniente, Villena and
Hellin forms a sickle-shaped trajectory curving to the south-west, a little inland
from the Mediterranean coastline between Dénia and Cartagena.
61 Elche is between Murcia and Alicante. The author here loyally attempts to fudge
the fact that some of Rodrigo's followers were deserting him in the autumn of
1089.
order that the king and all who were with him should be killed by the
Saracens. When the king heard this false accusation he was possessed
and fired by very great rage. He at once gave orders that that the
castles, estates and all the honour which Rodrigo.held from him should
be confiscated.6* In addition he ordered [[his men[) to enter upon
ítódrigo’s own hereditary lands and, what was still worse, he ordered
his wife and children, arrested by trickery, to be cruelly retained in
cusfodÿT The king-also ordered [[his men[) to take charge of all Rodrigo’s
goods - gold and silver and everything that could be found of his
possessions. Rodrigo considered the matter carefully and fully under
stood that the king had thus been roused to anger against him by the
crafty tales and false accusations of his enemies; that this monstrous!
injury and unheard-of dishonour had been thus wickedly inflicted on \
him by their manoeuvres. Forthwith he sent one of his most distin
guished knights to the king, to defend him firmly against the unjust
charge and the false accusation of treason, and completely to clear his
name. On being shown into the lord king’s presence, this man spoke
asyfollows: ‘O renowned and ever-worshipful king, my lord Rodrigo,
your most faithful vassal, has sent me to you to kiss your hands on his
behalf and request that you accept in court his defence against and
clearance of the charge which his enemies have falsely laid against
him in your presence. My lord himself will fight in person in your
court against another equal and similar to him; or his champion will
fight on his behalf against another equal and similar to him. All those
who proclaimed to you that Rodrigo was guilty of any deceit or any
treachery towards you in the course of your journey to relieve Aledo
such that the Saracens might kill you and your troops, have lied as
false and evil men and lack good faith. Rodrigo intended to participate
in that campaign. There is no count nor magnate nor knight faithful
to assist you among all those who accompanied you to the relief of
that castle, of greater fidelity in your aid against those Saracens and
against all your enemies, than he, so far as lies within his power.’
However the king, strongly enraged against them, would not only not
accept his defence, although it was most just - he would not even give
it a fair hearing. He did, howeverKj)ermit jlodrigo’s wife and children
to reiuni-to-him.62
62 The Latin word hon or had several shades of meaning at this epoch, among them
‘landed wealth held by a vassal from a lord in return for service’, which is clearly
the sense intended here. See J. F. Niermeyer, M e d ia e L a tin ita tis L ex ico n M in u s
(Leiden, 1976), s.v. hon or at pp. 495—8.
C h a pte r 3 5
When Rodrigo saw that the king did not deign to accept his defence,
he personally drafted his own pleas of defence and innocence and then
sent them to the king in proper written form.63
‘This is the plea which I Rodrigo submit concerning the accusation
with which I am charged before King Alfonso. My lord the king was
holding me in such love and honour as beforehand he was wont to
hold me. I will fight in his court against one equal and similar to me,
or my champion will fight against one equal and similar to him, stating
as follows: “I Rodrigo swear to you who wishes to fight with me and
who accuses me in connection with that expedition which King
Alfonso made to Aledo to fight the Saracens, that the fact that I was
not with him sprang from no other cause but this, that I did not know
of his route, and could have learned it from no man. This is the very
truth of the reason why I was not with him. On that campaign I was
guilty of no lie, but obeyed the king’s commands transmitted by his
messenger64 and by letter: no mandate of his did I disregard. During
that campaign, whatever the king intended to do against the Saracens
who were besieging the aforesaid castle, I was guilty of no deceit
towards him, no conspiracy, emphatically no treachery, and no evil
63 The documents which constitute chapter 35 of the Historia Roderici present various
difficulties. These cannot be discussed in detail here, but some brief indications of
both the problems and possible approaches to solving them are in order, (l) Are
these unique documents authentic? We can show that Rodrigo, unsurprisingly for
a person of his rank, possessed a good working knowledge of the law: on at least
two occasions that we know of, in 1073 and 1075, he was appointed to a panel of
judges by Alfonso VI (see RMP , pp. 836, 849-53 and references). The documents
bristle with technical legal jargon and must have been drafted by someone who had
had a legal training. The most recent authority on trial by battle judges that this
originally Frankish mode of proof had spread into Spain ‘at some indeterminate
date before 1000' (R. Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water. The Medieval Judicial Ordeal
(Oxford, 1986), ch. 6, Trial by Battle', pp. 102-26, quotation from p. 105): several
more citations from Spanish documents might be added to those assembled by
Bartlett. No less a person than Count Berenguer of Barcelona was found guilty of
fratricide after a trial by battle before the court of Alfonso VI in the winter of
1096/7. There is therefore a plausible context for these documents. (2) How did
they survive? Given the gravity of the charges and the cultural context of a society
which had a high regard for the written word, it is surely reasonable to suppose
that a prudent man would keep copies of such documents as these. How, where and
by whom they were preserved in the longer term is a good deal more problematic;
though I see no inherent difficulty in Menéndez Pidal's postulated archivo cidiano
which survived Rodrigo's death (see discussion in the introduction). (3) If genuine,
what do these documents have to tell us about the Aledo campaign of 1089? The
reader is free to speculate.
64 portariuSy literally carrier, porter', Spanish portero.
thing for which my body stands dishonoured or deserves to stand

dishonoured. No-one among the counts or magnates or knights, who
ever were in the army which accompanied the king, had greater
fidelity towards the king to assist him to fight the aforesaid Saracens
than I, as far as lies within my power. I swear this to you, that what
ever I say to you is entirely true. If I lie, may God deliver me into your
hands to do your will upon me. If not, may God who judges justly
deliver me from a false accusation.” A similar oath will be sworn by
my champion against the knight who wishes to fight with him over
this charge.’
This is the second oath of Rodrigo’s plea which he drafted: ‘I Rodrigo
swear to you, the knight who wishes to fight with me, who accuses
me concerning the king’s arrival at Aledo, that I had no reliable
information about the king's arrival and could by no means discover
that he was before me, until I heard reports that he was already on his
way back to Toledo. If I had known, when I advanced as far as
Mostellim,651 tell you in truth that unless I had been ill or a captive or
dead I would have presented myself before the king at Molina and
accompanied him to Aledo and been at his side in any engagement he
might have had with the Saracens, in good faith and truly without any
evil intent. I swear to you concerning this by God and his saints that
I never either thought nor spoke any evil against the king for which
my body might stand dishonoured. If in anything touching these
matters I lie, may God deliver me into your hands to do your will
upon me. If not, may God who judges justly deliver me from a false
accusation. Let my champion swear the same and maintain the same
against the knight who wishes to fight with him over this charge.'
This is the third oath: ‘I Rodrigo swear to you the knight who accuses
me concerning the king’s arrival at Aledo to fight there with the
Saracens who were besieging that castle, that I sent him the letters in
good faith and truthfully without any evil intent or without any evil
design. I did not send the letters to the end that he should be defeated
or made captive by the Saracens his enemies. For when he set out
with his army for the aforesaid town he sent his messenger to me at
Villena telling me to await his arrival there. This I did according to
his order. In truth I swear to you and state that I never thought nor
spoke against the king, nor was I guilty of treason nor evil design for
which my body might stand dishonoured, or for which I deserve to
65 Unidentified.
lose my land66 or my money, or for which the king should serve me

with such great and unheard-of shame, as he has. Thus I swear to you
by God and his saints, for what I swear is the truth. If in anything
touching these matters I lie, may God deliver me into your hands to
do your will upon me. If not, may the just and pious Judge deliver me
from so very false an accusation. Let my champion swear the same
and maintain it against the knight who wishes to fight with him over
this charge.’
This is the fourth oath: ‘I Rodrigo swear to you, the king’s knight
who wishes to fight with me, by God and his saints, that from the day
on which I acknowledged the king as my lord in Toledo, until the day
when I discovered how unreasonably and cruelly- he had imprisoned
myv^fe^ndJiadjaornplete.ly .stripped me of afi the property67 which I
had in his kingdom, I spoke no evil of him, thought no evil, neither
did anything against him for which I might become of ill-repute or for
which my body might stand dishonoured. Unjustly and unreasonably
he took from me who was blameless my property and imprisoned my
wife. He inflicted great and very hurtful shame upon me. I swear to you,
the knight who wishes to fight with me, that what I have said above is
true, and that if I lie may God deliver me into your hands to do your
will upon me. If not, may the truest and most pious Judge free me
from so very false an accusation. This and no other let my champion
swear and maintain against the knight who wishes to fight with me.’
‘This indeed is the plea which I Rodrigo confidently indite and
unhesitatingly subscribe. If the king should wish to accept one of
these four statements under oath aforewritten, let him choose which
ever one he wishes and I shall willingly take the oath. If however he
should not so wish, I am ready to fight with a knight of the king who
shall be my equal and the equivalent of what I was in the king’s eyes
when I was in his favour. I acknowledge that thus I should defend
myself against the king and emperor, if he accuses me. If however he
should wish to disregard me and censure me concerning this plea, and
to offer a better and more just procedure than this one touching this
accusation, let him have it committed to writing and send it to me,
[explaining]] how I may defend and clear myself. If I should recognise
it to be more equitable and just than mine, I shall acknowledge it
willingly, and according to it let me defend and clear myself. If not, I
shall fight for my plea, or my champion on my behalf. If the king
66 honorem, cf. n. 62 above.
67 honorem, cf. nn. 62 and 66 above.
should be defeated, let him concede my case. If I should be defeated,

let me receive my sentence.’
But the king did not wish to accept this plea submitted by Rodrigo
himself, nor his defence and innocence.
C h a pte r 3 6
After the king returned to Toledo, Rodrigo camped at Elche: there he

celebrated Christmas Day. After the feast he departed from there and
made his way along the coast until he reached Polop where there was
a great cave full of treasure.68 He laid siege to it and invested it closely;
after a lew days he overcame its defenders and boldly entered it. He
found inside it much gold and silver and silk and innumerable precious
stuffs. Loaded thus, with thç ficHes he needed^rom what he had found,
he left Polop and moved on until he came to Portum Tarvani, and out
side the city of Dénia, at Ondara, he restored and strengthened a
castle.69 He fasted there for the holy season of Lent and celebrated at
the same place the Easter of tñe Resurrection of Jesus Christ our
Lord.70 While he was there al-Häyih. who at that time was king of that
land and reigned over it, sent an embassy to discuss terms of peace
with him. When peace had been agreed and firmly established between
them the Saracen envoys returned to al-Häyib. Rodrigo left Ondara
with his army and moved towards Valencia. King al-Häyib left the
region-of Lérida and Tortosa and made his way to Murviedro. When
^Î-Oâdir,3^ho was then king of Valencia, heard that King al-Häyib
Tñíamade peace with Rodrigo he was greatly terrified and extremely
apprehensive. After taking counsel with his advisers he sent messengers
to Rodrigo with very g reat and innumerable gifts of money. They
heaped the many, the innumerable presents which they bore upon
Rodrigo, and thus amicably brought jibout-peaee between him and the
king of Valencia. In the same fashion, from all the castles which were
rebelling against the king* of Valencia in an attempt to throw off his
rule, Rodrigo accepted many and innumerable tributes and gifts.
When King al-Häyib heard that al-Qädir king of Valencia had made
peace with Rodrigo he was struck with great fear and retreated from
Murviedro by night; thus, terrified, he fled from that region.
68 Polop is about 32 km south-west of Dénia and lies a little inland some 10 km north
of the modern Benidorm.
69 P o rtu m T a r v a n i has not been identified. Ondara is 5 km due west of Dénia.
70 In 1090 Lent began on 6 March and Easter Day fell on 21 April.
122 •i , THE WORLD OF EL CID
r
C hapter 37
Rodrigo left the Valencia area and went to Burriana.71 There he heard
a trustworthy report that al-Häyib of Lérida and Tortosa was
attempting to bring together Sancho king of the Aragonese and
Berenguer count of Barcelona and Ermengol count of Urgel72 in a
coalifion against him, in order to expel him from the kingdom of al-
Häyib. But King Sancho and Count Ermengol would not accede to al-
Häyib's request nor help him~ágainst~Rodrígo7 Meanwhile Rodrigo
remained in Burriana as still as a stone.73 Soon afterwards he left
Burriana and went up into the mountain region of Morelia. There was
great abundance of food there and innumerable plenty of livestock.
Count Berenguer of Barcelona held discussions with al-Häyib - he
had already accepted an enormous sum of money from him - and at
once set out from Barcelona with a huge army. He travelled through
the Zaragoza region and then encamped ait Calamocha in the lands of
Albarracin. Then the jcount. accompanied by a few men, visited al-
M nsta’in, king of Zaragoza at Daroca, and held discussions with him
there about making peace between them. He took tribute from al-
Musta'In and they were at peace. At the count’s request al-Musta'In
accompanied him to King Alfonso who was then near Orón.74 The
count earnestly implored the king to lend him the help of his troops
against Rodrigo. But the king refused his request. So the count with
his commanders - Bernardo, Giraldo Alemán and Dorca - went to
Calamocha with an immense army.7576A very formidable alliance of
warriors was gathered there against Rodrigo. Rodrigo was lurking at
the time in the mountains, at a place called (fber. King al-Musta’In
sent a messenger to him there, to tell him that the counFof Barcelona
71 Burriana is about SO km north of Murviedro, a little to the south of the modern

Castellón de la Plana.
72 Ermengol IV (1065—92)
73 This simile, theônly figureôf speech in the entire work (used again in ch. 50) is
drawn from (ïxodus xv.16. j
74 Near Miranda de Ëbro in the north-east of Castile.
75 These were noted Catalan magnates. I have emended the MS reading D o re a to
D orca. R M P , p. 948 suggested that the d o m in u s B e m a ld u s of ch. 40 should be
emended to D e u sd e d it B e m a ld i and that he be identified with the ‘Bernard’ of ch. 37.
On Deudonat Bernat de Claramunt, Guerau Alemany de Cervelló and Dorca de
Castellvell - to give the Catalan name-forms - see S. Sobreques i Vidal, E ls G ra n s
C om tes de B arcelo n a (2nd edn., Barcelona, 1970) pp. 132, 135, 144, 194, 210; P.
Bonnassie, L a C atalogn e d u m ilieu d u X e à la f i n du X l e siècle: croissance e t m utation s
d ’une société (Toulouse, 1976), vol. II, pp. 788, 848, 857-8, 867—8; and references cited.
76 On the localisation of this place, a little to the north of Morelia, see RM P, pp. 757-9.
H I S T OR I A RODE RI CI 123
was all prepared to fight against him. Rodrigo made this cheerful
reply to the messenger: ‘To al-Musta'in, king of Zaragoza, my faithful
friend, I give my hearty thanks since he has disclosed to me the
count’s plans and his intention of waging war against me in the near
future. I altogether contemn and despise the count and the multitude
of his warriors. With God’s help I shall willingly await him here in
this place. If he comes, I am confident that I shall defeat him.’ Count
Berenguer came with his huge army through the mountains to a place
near to where Rodrigo was, and pitched camp not far from him. One
night he sent out scouts, who reported that Rodrigo’s camp had a
high mountain rising above it [?... and that] his tents were pitched
below this mountain.7778
C h a pter 38
On the next day the count had a letter composed as follows which he
sent by messenger tO-Rodrigor* ‘I Berenguer count of Barcelona with
my knights tell you Rodrigo that we have seen your letter which you
sent to al-Musta'in and told him to show to us, which scorned and
gravely insulted and moved us to great frenzy. Beforehand you had
done us many injuries, for which we should be hostile to you and
mightily angered; so much the more should we be your enemies and
adversaries for the insult with which by your letter you have scorned
and derided us. You are still in possession of our money, which you
stolejrom us. God who is mighty will avenge such injuries which you
have shown us. Yet another and worse insult and scorn you have
inflicted on us, when you likened us to our wives. We abstain from
mocking you and your followers with such despicable insults: but we
pray and implore the God of heaven to deliver you into our hands and
power; then we can show you that we are worth more than our wives.
You have told King al-Musta’in that if we come to do battle with you,
you will come out to meet us more quickly than he could get back to
Monzón; and that if we delay in coming against you, you will meet us
in the way. We earnestly ask of you that you do not already scorn us,
because we have not today come down to you; for we have acted thus
77 One or more words appear to be missing in the second half of this sentence, though
the general sense is clear enough.
78 The most recent defender of the authenticity of the extremely curious letters which
occupy chs 88 and 89 is E. Falque Key, ‘Cartas entre el Conde Berenguer de
Barcelona y Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar’, H a b is 1L2 (198 1) pp. 1^8-87: 1 am grateful to
Dr K. Wright for sending me a photocopy of this article.
because we want to know more of your troops and dispositions. We

see moreover that you trust in your mountainous position and want to
fight us there. We see and understand that your gods are mountains,
ravens,7'' crows, hawks, eagles and nearly every sort of bird: you trust
more in their auguries than in God. But we believe in and worship the
one true God, who will avenge us on you and deliver you into our
hands. Know this for very truth, that tomorrow at dawn, God willing,
you shall see us next you and before you. If you will abandon your
mountain and come out to meet us on the plain, you will indeed be the
Rodrigo whom men call the warrior and the Campeador. If you do not
do this you will be what they call in Castilian alevoso £= traitorous]]
and in French bauzador and fraudator Q= deceiver^JTMt will profit you
nothing to show that you have the equivalent of our strength. We
shall not withdraw nor depart from you until you have come into my
Qs/c] hands either dead or a captive in chains. Then at length we shall
exult over you just as you yourself have over us. God will avenge his
churches which you have broken into violently and violated.’
C h a pt er 39
This letter was read to Rodrigo and he listened to it. Then he at once
ordered this letter to be written and sent to the count, containing his
reply. ‘I Rodrigo, together with my companions, to you Count Berenguer
and your men, greeting. Know that I have heard your letter and
understood everything contained in it. In the course of it you say that
I wrote a letter to al-Musta'ln in which I derided and reviled you and
your men. Indeed you have spoken the truth. For I did revile you and
your men and I still do so. Let me tell you why I insulted you. When
you were with al-Musta’ïn near Calatayud you spoke insultingly in his
presence, saying to him that for fear of you I did not dare to enter that
region. Moreover your men, Ramón de Barbarán and the other knights
who were with him, said the same to King Alfonso in Castile, insult
ing me in the presence of the Castilians. Further you yourself, as al-
Musta'In who was present witnessed, told King Alfonso that you would7980
79 The text may be corrupt here. Dr Falque suggests emending montes et corvi,
mountains and ravens', to montenses corvi, the mountain ravens’ or the ravens of
the mountains’. In the Poema de Mio Cid Rodrigo is portrayed as seeking auguries
in the flight of birds: see lines 11—12, 8 5 9 , 2615.
80 On the term alevoso see J. García González, ’Traición y alevosía en la alta edad
media’, AHDE 32 (1962), pp. 323—45. On bausia as ’treason’ see Bonnassie, La
Catalogne, pp. 777-8; bauzador thus signifies ’traitor’
do battle with me and having defeated me would drive me out of the

lands of al-Hayib; and that I should never dare to face you in those
lands. But for love of the king you let off doing all this and have not
as yet molested me; and because I was his vassal, therefore you have
held back from and been unwilling to inflict shame on me. For these
insults shown so scornfully to me I reviled and will revile you and
your men, and for your womanly courage I likened you and made you
equal to your wiv°y Rut now y^ni can make no excuse for not doing
battle with me you dare to fight J f however you refuse to come to
me, all men will think the better of me.8182If you dare to come against
me with your army, I am already here with mine and do not fear
combat. But make no mistake about what I shall do to your men, the
damage I shall inflict upon you. I am aware that you have entered into
an agreement with al-Häyib that in return for his money you would
expel me and drive me out of his territory. But I think that you are
frightened of fulfilling your promise and that you simply do not dare
to come and engage me. Do not be shy of advancing against me because
I am drawn up in a flatter place than anywhere else round here. I tell
you for certain that if you and your men come against me it is not Qthe
terrain] that will betray you. I’ll pay you the wages I usually pay you,
if you will only dare to advance. If you refuse to, if you daren’t fight
with me, I shall send letters to the lord King Alfonso and messengers
to al-Musta'In. I shall tell them that what you promised to do with
boasting and arrogance, you could not perform for fear of me. I shall
make this known not only to these two rulers, but to all the nobility
both Christian and Saracen. Already Christians and Saracens alike
know that you were made captive by me and that you and your men
were ransomed for money. Now I await you on level ground, calm of
mind and strong of spirit. If you will attempt to come against me,
here you will see a part of your money - not for your profit but rather
to your hurt. You have hurled boastful words at me, saying that you
would defeat me and possess me as a captive dead or alive: but this
lies in the hand of God, not yours. You have most falsely made sport
of me in saying that I have acted aleve, in the speech of Castile, or
bauzia, in that of Gaul, an obvious lie uttered by your own mouth.
Never have I acted thus. Rather has he who is already renowned for it
in such'stories as you well know: and what I refer to is widely known
to many both Christian and pagan.8“ But it is enough that we have
81 The text is corrupt here but this seems the likely sense.
82 This is an oblique reference to the widespread belief - subsequently proven by ordeal,
see above, n. 63 - that Count Berenguer had murdered his brother Ramón in 1082.
contended with words. Let us leave words behind, and as befits brave
knights settle this quarrel between us with the noble encounter of
weapons. Come, do not delay. You will be paid the wages which I
usually deal out to you.’88
C h a pt e r 4 0
When Berenguer and all his followers heard this letter, they were one
and all filled with mighty rage. They held a council of war and then
sent some soldiers under cover of night to climb and take possession
unobserved of the high ground which rose above Rodrigo’s camp.
Their plan was to attack Rodrigo’s position from above, to fall upon
his tents and capture his lines. So they came by night and scaled the
higher ground and held it. Rodrigo was unaware of this manoeuvre.
On the next day, at dawn, the count and his armed men surrounded
Rodrigo’s encampment and fell upon it with much shouting. When
Rodrigo saw this he began to grind his teeth,81 and ordered his troops
to don their mail coats at once and form their ranks bravely against
the enemy. Rodrigo himself charged fiercely against the count’s
formation and with this first charge shifted and broke it. But in this
skirmish, while fighting valiantly, Rodrigo fell from his horse and was
immediately struck and wounded on the ground. But his soldiers did
not give up the fight: they battled on courageously until they had
defeated and bravely overcome the count and all his army. Many —
indeed an innumerable multitude - of the enemy were slain and met
their deaths. Finally they took the count himself and led him captive
to Rodrigo with nearly five thousand of his men who had been taken
prisoner in the battle. Rodrigo orderecT that certain of them —Deusdedit
Bernard, Giraldo Alemán, Ramón Mir, Ricart Guillem and very many
other most noble men —should be held apart under rigorous custody.8’’
Thus was accomplished that victory ever to be extolled and remem-8345
83 It may be significant that in this detailed rebuttal of the count’s accusations

Rodrigo did not attempt to defend himself against the charge of being a despoiler
of churches.
84 Psalm cxii.10; Job xvi. 10; Lamentations ii. 16.
85 On Deudonat Bernat and Guerau Alemany see above n. 75. There were several
prominent Catalan magnates named Ramón Mir at this period. Ricart Guillem has
been described as ‘a gentrified Barcelona real estate speculator’ by S. B. Bensch,
B arcelona a n d its R u lers 1 0 9 6 - 1 2 9 1 (Cambridge, 1995), p. 107. The remark may not
give us the entire man, but it usefully points to the adroitness with which the
Catalan aristocracy ploughed the spoils of war into entrepreneurial urban invest
ment.
bered of Rodrigo over Count Berenguer and his army. Rodrigo’s troops
sacked Count Berenguer’s encampment. They seized all the plunder
they could find there — many vessels of gold and silver, precious
textiles, mules, horses, palfreys, spears, coats of mail, shields and all
objects of worth whatsoever they could find. All of it they faithfully
brought and presented to Rodrigo.
C h a pte r 41
Count Berenguer, realising that he had been chastised and con

founded by God and made captive at the hands of Rodrigo, humbly
seeking his mercy came before Rodrigo who was seated in his tent
and earnestly craved his indulgence. Rodrigo, however, would not
receive him mercifully nor allow him to be seated at his side in the
tent. He ordered the count to be kept under guard by his troops
outside in the open air. Magnanimously, however, he gave orders that
the count be fed there in abundance. At length he allowed him to
return a free man to his own land. When, after a few days, Rodrigo ,
recovered his bodily health he negotiated an agreement with the lord j
Berenguer and Giraldo Alemán that they should pay him a ransom of j
80,000 gold marks of Valencia.86 All the other captives bound them
selves and promised to pay sums - in aggregate, innumerable - for their—
ransoms. These were individually fixed at precise amounts according
to Rodrigo’s wish. They soon returned to their homes. And then
without delay there flowed back to Rodrigo an enormous quantity of
gold and silver, together with children and relatives and their escorts
as pledges for payment of the ransoms agreed; and they undertook
that everything would without fail be fully paid over in Rodrigo’s
presence. When Rodrigo saw this he consulted his followers and,
moved by a spirit of charity, not only did he allow them to depart in
freedom to their own land, but he went so far as to remit all the
ransom. They for their part returned most devoted thanks to his
86 The MSS read m arcas / marcos, the latter reading hinting at a copyist’s
misinterpretation of the abbreviation of the word mancusos, the standard term in
the Christian north for the gold coin of al-Andalus in the pre-Almoravid period.
Bonnassie, L a C atalogne, p. 868, suspects a considerable exaggeration on the
author’s part here. True, it is a very large sum indeed, but not quite impossibly so.
One must remember that the sum raised was divided between the two individuals,
perhaps in the proportion of - at a guess - something like 60,000 for Berenguer
and 20,000 for Giraldo. For purposes of comparison, al-Muqtadir of Zaragoza
undertook in 1069 to make monthly payments to Sancho IV of Navarre of 1000
gold m ancusos of Zaragoza: see the article by Lacarra cited in n. 44 above.
nobility and piety on account of so great mercy, and promising to

serve him they returned rejoicing with all their goods and with great
honour to their land.
C hapter 4 2
Rodrigo journeyed to the Zaragoza region and stayed there for nearly
two months at the place called Sacarca.87 Leaving there he went to
Daroca where he stayed for many days. There was there a great
quantity of food and plentiful livestock. There Rodrigo was seriously
ill. Then he sent some of his warriors to King al-Musta'In of Zaragoza
bearing letters. They found the king at Zaragoza and delivered to him
the letters which they carried. They also found Count Berenguer there,
seated with al-Musta'In, accompanied by his noble knights. When the
count heard that Rodrigo’s knights and messengers were present he
at once invited them to his presence and respectfully gave them this
message to convey to Rodrigo: ‘Greet well Rodrigo my friend on my
behalf and emphasise to him that I wish to be a true friend and a helper
in all his necessities.’ The messengers made their way back to Rodrigo,
who was by now recovering his health, and delivered the count’s
message. Rodrigo, however, gave no credence to it and vigorously
denied that he wished to be the count’s friend and live at peace with
him. To him his knights and captains said, ‘W hat is this? W hat ill has
Count Berenguer ever done to you, that you do not wish to be at
peace with him ? You have defeated and overcome him, you have held
him in your power as a captive, you have ruthlessly despoiled his
goods and riches - yet you don’t want to live at peace with him! It is
not you who are asking him, but he who is asking you for peace.’ At
length Rodrigo was persuaded by the advice of his knights and noble
men and promised that he would live at peace with the count. So his
messengers went straight back to Zaragoza and told Count Berenguer
and his noblemen that Rodrigo would be his friend and live at peace
with him. When they heard this the count and his men were over
joyed. Then the count left Zaragoza at once and came to Rodrigo at
his camp. Peace and friendship between the two of them was publicly
and amicably proclaimed. Then the count placed in Rodrigo’s hand and
protection that part of Hispania which was subject to his overlordship.88
87 Outside Zaragoza.
88 On the term H isp a n ia see n. 7 above. Count Berenguer surrendered - at any rate
temporarily - his claims to lordship over the Muslim principalities (Tortosa,
Albarracin, Valencia etc.) of the Mediterranean seaboard or Spanish Levante.
Afterwards the two together went down to the coast. Rodrigo estab
lished his camp at Burriana. Berenguer, leaving Rodrigo, crossed the
Ebro and returned to his own land.
C h a pte r 4 3
Rodrigo stayed at Burriana near Valencia. He celebrated Christmas at

Cebolla. Then he laid siege to Liria, a castle near Valencia, and there
handed out enormous wages to his troops.
\ x> i ^ ,,
C h a pte r 4 4
While he was there letters reached him from the queen,89 King
Alfonso’s wife, and from his friends. They informed him as a matter of
certainty that the king was undertaking a campaign against the
Saracens and was determined to bring them to battle. For already the
Saracens had taken Granada and all its territories.90 This indeed was
the reason why the king was going out to fight them. In their letters
Rodrigo’s friends advised him to go as quickly as possible - putting
all else aside - with his army to the king and to accompany him in
battle against the Saracens, and to merge his own forces with the royal
army in bringing help to the king: by doing this he would undoubtedly
at once recover the king’s love and favour. Rodrigo bowed to his
friends’ advice. He left the castle of Liria —even though he believed that
its defenders were on the point of surrender, so weakened were they
by fighting, hunger and thirst — and at once undertook the long
journey to the king with all his forces. He found the king at Martos,
near Córdoba.
C h a pte r 4 5
When the king heard that Rodrigo was on his way he immediately
went out to meet him and received him in peace with great honour.
Together they journeyed towards the city of Granada. The king gave
89 Constance of Burgundy, sister of Duke Eudes of Burgundy and niece of Abbot

Hugh of Cluny, had married Alfonso VI in 1079: she died in 1093. Reilly, A lfon so
VI, p. 228, finds the narrative of chs 44—45 ‘fantastic ... totally at variance with the
known facts’. But given that the king’s movements in 1091 are untraceable for the
three months between 18 April and 19 July (ib id ., pp. 222-3) there is plenty of time
for an expedition to al-Andalus.
90 The Almoravids had taken over Granada in September 1090, banishing its ruler
'Abd Allah into exile in Morocco where he composed his autobiography.
ISO THE WORLD OF EL CID
orders for his camp to be made in a mountainous region known as

Libriella.91 Rodrigo on the other hand fixed his tents on level ground
in front of the royal encampment. He did this to be out of the way of
and to protect the king's camp. But it seriously displeased the king.92
Led astray by jealousy the king said to his followers: ‘Look at the
insult and shame which Rodrigo inflicts upon us! Today indeed he
tagged along after us as though worn out by the long journey; but
now he usurps precedence over us and fixes camp in front of us.’
Nearly all his courtiers, influenced by jealousy, replied together that
the king had spoken the truth. Because they were in all things envious
of Rodrigo they accused him before the king of acting with over-bold
presumption. The king remained there for six days. King Yusuf of the
Moabites and Saracens did not dare to wait for King Alfonso and fight
against him, for he was terrified of him. He retreated secretly from the
region, fleeing with his army. When King Alfonso was certain that the
Saracen king Yusuf had fled from him out of fear and had retired
secretly from the area, he immediately ordered his forces back to Toledo.
On the way back to Toledo King Alfonso came to the castle of Ubeda,
on the River Guadalquivir. Rodrigo ordered his men to pitch camp
next to the river. There the king attacked Rodrigo brusquely with
angry and provocative words. He reproached lïilTr indeed for many
and various causes - But untrue ones. So vehemently was Alfonso
moved and inflamed against Rodrigo that he wished and decreed that
he should be put under arrest. When Rodrigo grasped clearly what
was going on he bore patiently all the hurt of the king’s words. In the
course of the following night, not without fear, Rodrigojyithdrew and
at once returned to his own camp. Many of his troops then left him
and transferred themselves to the king’s camp: abandoning their lord
Rodrigo they gave themselves into the service of the king.93*9The king
was stirred up by a number of quarrelsome men not to receive
Rodrigo’s exculpation of himself from the accusations launched at
him. Filled with violent anger, Alfonso went back to Toledo with his
army.
91 Unidentified, possibly a corruption of Iliberris, the name of the settlement which

had preceded relocation to a more defensible site at Granada: evidently not far
from Granada.
92 The observance of a strict order of precedence in the positioning of tents has been
a matter of serious military etiquette since at least the Roman period. For a
modern example, from the British army in Tibet in 1904, of the friction which may
be caused by failure to observe conventions, see P. French, T o u n g h u sb a n d (London,
1994) ch. 14, p. 207. I am grateful to Sir John Keegan for advice on this point.
9S Desertions reminiscent of those of 1089: cf. above ch. S3 and n. 61.
C h a pte r 4 6
Greatly troubled and distressed, Rodrigo withdrew at once to the

Valencia region: it was a difficult journey. He stayed there for many
days. There was a castle there named Peña Cadiella, which the Saracens
had completely demolished.94 Rodrigo rebuilt it, surrounding it with a
very strong wall and reconstructing its many solid defensive build
ings. At length the castle was effectively fortified. Rodrigo garrisoned
it with a huge number of horsemen and footsoldiers well-equipped
with all sorts of arms, and stocked it with an ample supply of bread
and wine and meat. Then he left the castle and went down towards
Valencia. From there he moved on to Morelia where he stayed for a
few days and solemnly observed Christmas Day.
C h a pte r 4 7
While he was there a man came to him and promsied to give him by
stealth the castle of Borja near Tudela.95 Rodrigo took counsel and
immediately set off for Borja with his men. There came to him suddenly
a messenger from al-Musta'in king of Zaragoza reporting that he was
being much coerced ancTmolested by the Aragonese king Sancho.
After this messenger left, Rodrigo travelled to Zaragoza* secretly by
night with a small following and there discovered that the man who
had promised to give the castle of Borja to him had been telling a lie.
Nevertheless he did not want to go back to his base; he stayed where
he was. When news of this got about the citizens of Zaragoza both
great and small came to him. They besought him with many prayers
to have love and friendship and peace with their king. So it came
about that al-Musta’inând Rodrigo had an interview and established
a_very firm peace between themselves.945
94 Peña Cadiella is a peak in the Sierra de Benicadell about 55 km west of Dénia and
65 km south of Valencia, not far from Onteniente where Rodrigo had waited in
vain for the king during the Aledo campaign of 1089 (above, ch. 33).
95 Borja - from which the Borgia family later took its name - lies a little to the south
of the Ebro between Tudela and Zaragoza. The significance of the Borja episode is
unclear, though it is evident enough that the unnamed castellan of Borja was intent
on setting Rodrigo and his ally al-Musta'ln at loggerheads. In view of the
imminent events of 1092 (see ch. 50) it is tempting to speculate about the possible
role of Rodrigo’s Castilian enemies in stirring up trouble for him.
C hapter 48
By then Rodrigo had already brought his army to Zaragoza. He

crossed the river there and made camp at Fraga.96 When he heard this
the Aragonese King Sancho together with his son King Pedro ordered
an immense army to be mustered. When the army had assembled he
ordered it to camp at Gurrea.97 The king and his son then sentjæaçe-
ful ambassadors to Rodrigo, conveying proposals of love and peace.
When he heard what was afoot Rodrigo received them honourably
and with pleasure, and in reply to their proposals told them that he
wished in all things to be at peace with King Sancho and his son. He
at once despatched his own messengers to transmit these words of
peace to the king and his son. Finding themselves of one accord, King
Sancho and his son and Rodrigo established peace and love among
themselves most firmly by an indissoluble bond. At Rodrigo’s request
King Sancho also made peace with al-Musta'In. Rodrigo acted as
mediator and th e tw o entered amicably into pacification. After this
King Sancho returned at once to his own land. Rodrigo, however,
remained in Zaragoza for not a few days, being treated with the
greatest honour at the court of al-Mustain.
C hapter 49
Menéndez Pidal persuaded himself that there had once existed a chapter
recounting Alfonso Vi’s campaign against Valencia in 1092. There is no
evidence that this was so. The most recent editor of the text, Dr Emma
Falque, does not even deign to consider the possibility. However, to avoid
confusion, the numbering of the blank ‘chapter’ has been retained here (as it
was by Dr Falque both in her edition of the Latin text and in her Spanish
translation of it). See also chapter 51 below.
C hapter 50
At length Rodrigo left Zaragoza with a very great and innumerable
army and entered the regions of Calahorra and Nájera, which were in
Alfonso’s kingdom and subject to his authority. Stoutly fighting, he
took both Alberite and Logroño.98 Most savagely and mercilessly
96 Between Zaragoza and Lérida.
97 Gurrea del Gállego, some 40 km north of Zaragoza.
98 Logroño was (and is) the principal town of the Rioja region; Alberite is its near
neighbour to the south. The passage immediately following is difficult to
translate. There is no evidence of textual corruption. Rather, as I have observed
elsewhere (Quest for E l C id , p. 97), ‘the author’s stylistic discipline breaks down’.
H I S T O R I A ROD ER ICI 1S3
through all those regions did he lay waste with relentless, destructive,
irreligious fire. He took huge booty, yet it was saddening even to tears.
With harsh and impious devastation did he lay waste and destroy all
the land aforesaid. He altogether stripped it of all its goods and wealth
and riches, and took these for himself. Then leaving the region behind
him he went with an enormous army to the castle called Alfaro, which
heçjjravétyâttacked and captured." While he was there messengers
came to him from Garcia Ordóñez and all his kinsmen.*9100 They
announced to Rodrigo on behalf of the count and his family that he
should wait there for seven days and no longer: if he were to do this,
the count and his kinsmen would assuredly come to fight with him.
Rodrigo cheerfully replied to the messengers that he would wait
seven days for the count and his kinsmen and would willingly fight
with them. So Count Garcia Ordóñez summoned all his kinsmen and
chief supporters - the great men who held lordships over all the land
which stretches from the city called Zamora as far as Pamplona. Having
gathered an immense, innumerable army of knights and footsoldiers,
the aforesaid count together with that multitude of men made his way
to the place called Alberite. Greatly timid and fearful of advancing
further and joining battle with Rodrigo, he went back without delay,
terrified, to his own land with his army. Rodrigo however waited
there as motionless as a stone,101 cheerful and brave of heart, until the
seventh day as agreed. Then it was reliably reported to him that the
count and all those who were with him, fearing to fight with him, had
withdrawn from the promised conflict and had already dispersed and
returned to their homes. They had left Alberite empty, denuded of all
troops. At that time Count Garcia, Rodrigo’s enemy, was lord by
appointment of King Alfonso of Calahorra and of all the region which
Rodrigo had laid waste. Because of the count’s enmity and because of
his insults Rodrigo burnt that land with flame of fire, and laid it
waste, and almost destroyed it. When Rodrigo heard, as was related,
that for fear of him the count had already gone back to his own
country with his followers, and had left Alberite stripped of troops, he
left Alfaro with his army and went back to Zaragoza.
In this, the only part of the H isto ria where he was openly critical of his hero, he
wrote with a passion which overcame his usual literary bleakness. It is on the
strength of this passage that some have supposed that the author was a native of
the Rioja.
99 Alfaro is on the Ebro between Calahorra and Tudela.
100 On whom see above, n. 17, and references there cited.
101 See above, ch. 37 and n. 73.
C hapter 51
As with chapter 49, so here too M enéndez Pidal believed that an additional
chapter had once existed. As in the earlier instance, there is no evidence
which m ight support this view, but the num bering o f the chapters is retained
for the same reason.
C h a pt er 52
He stayed there for many days with immense honour. He collected

and garnered to his own use the yield of all that land which was not
subject to the authority of al-Musta'în.
C h a pter 53
Leaving Zaragoza with his army he began to journey towards

Valencia. While he was on the way there a messenger met him and
told him that the barbarian Saracen peoples had penetrated to the
eastern regions and laid them waste most savagely; that they had
even got as far as Valencia, and had already obtained control of it; and
what was worse, that those barbarian peoples had already killed all
the men of Valencia, betrayed by al-Qädir king of Valencia, and were
carrying on with their evil deeds.102 When Rodrigo heard this he went
swiftly to the town of Cebolla and at once laid siege to it. If he had not
moved so quickly those barbarian peoples would already have overrun
the whole of Hispania as far as Zaragoza and Lérida, and taken
complete control of it.
C h a pt e r 54
The castle of Cebolla was closely invested on all sides and he soon
captured it. He established a settlement there, surrounding and defend
ing it with fortifications and very strong towers. Many people came
from the surrounding villages to live in his new settlement. The men
of Valencia who had escaped death were subjected to those barbarians
102 Wild rumours were evidently flying about as the Almoravids advanced in the
south-east and there must have been plentiful scope for misunderstanding. What
had actually happened in Valencia was a coup in the Almoravid interest led by the
qâdï of the city, Ibn Jahhäf. Al-Qädir was not the instigator of violence but its
victim; captured by Ibn Jahhäf s partisans he was summarily executed on 28 October
1092. Other editors have been reckless here. Menéndez Pidal drastically emended
the sentence; E. Falque chose to omit it altogether. I prefer to leave the text as it
stands in the MSS. The Almoravids did not in fact set foot in Valencia until 1102.
who are known as Moabites and lived under their rule and were mixed
together with them.103 In the month of July, at harvest time, Rodrigo
encamped beside Valencia. He began to devastate their crops with his
horses and to destroy their houses which were outside the walls. When
the inhabitants of Valencia saw this they sent envoys to him there,
asking and indeed beseeching him to be peaceable towards them and to
allow the Moabites to live with them. But he would in no wise allow
himself to live at peace with them unless they cut all connections with
the Moabites and expelled them from the city altogether. But they were
not willing to do this and shut themselves up together in the city.
C h a pt e r 5 5
Rodrigo attacked a certain part of Valencia called Villanueva so

vigorously that he took it. He thoroughly ransacked all the money and
riches which he found there. Then he attacked and captured another
part of the city known as Alcudia. The men who lived in that district
submitted and bowed at once to his authority.104 Rodrigo restored
those who had submitted to him to their houses and lands and all their
goods, freely and in peace.
C h a pte r 5 6
The remaining inhabitants of the city of Valencia, apprised of what

was going on, were thoroughly scared. They immediately expelled
the Moabites from their city, just as Rodrigo had ordered, and
surrendered to his authority. He allowed them to go free and in peace
to Dénia, and to dwell there unmolested.105
103 By ‘Moabites' the author means the Almoravids: see above, n. 57. The last phrase
of the sentence, a p u d illos m ix ti conm anebant - this reading itself the result of a
small but plausible emendation, see RM P> p. 958 and Falque, p. 84 - is puzzling.
The word m ix ti would normally imply some biological, sexual ‘mixture’. Did the
author want to put the Valencians beyond the pale by the alleged intimacy of their
connection with the Almoravids, the better to justify Rodrigo’s aggression? One
may suspect some such polemical edge to the author’s account at several points
over the next few chapters. The sentence containing this phrase fits awkwardly
into the chapter: was it perhaps an interpolation as a result of second thoughts?
104 These were extra-mural suburbs of Valencia.
105 At first sight thoroughly confused, this chapter makes sense if taken as referring
to other extra-mural suburbs: cf. the verbal usage of the previous chapter, where
p a r te m urbis , ‘part of the city’, undoubtedly refers to a suburb. The ‘Moabites’ who
were expelled would then become the supporters of the pro-Almoravid Ibn Jahhäf,
on whom see above, n. 102.
C h a pt er 57
Shortly before this Yusuf had sent letters to him strictly forbidding
him to dare to enter the land of Valencia. When he heard this Rodrigo
was mightily angered. Warmed by the flame of his rage he spoke of
Yusuf in terms of the strongest contempt and mocked him with
jeering words. He sent letters to all the princes and leaders of the
Spains,"’“ telling them that for fear of him Yusuf did not dare to cross
the sea and come to Valencia. When Yusuf heard this he ordered that
an immense, innumerable army be gathered and prepare to cross the
Straits without delay. Meanwhile Rodrigo spoke words of mildness to
the inhabitants of Valencia, thus: ‘Men of Valencia, I freely offer you a
period of truce until the month of August. If Yusuf should come in the
meantime to your assistance, and should defeat and expel me from
these lands and liberate you from my dominion, serve him and remain
beneath his rule. But if he should not do this, serve me and be mine.’
This message was pleasing to all the men of Valencia. They at once
sent letters to Yüsuf and to all the leaders of Hispania under his
authority in which they asked them to come to Valencia with a huge
army to liberate them from the hand and authority of Rodrigo. If this
were not done before the month of August, they emphasised, they
would undoubtedly have to bow to Rodrigo’s power and serve him in
all things. Meanwhile Rodrigo left Valencia free in peace and went
with his army to Peña Cadiella. He ravaged as far as Villena and the
land round about. He took many captives and plunder and quantities of
provisions. He sent everything to Peña Cadiella and stored it there with
the greatest part of his treasure. Then he went straight back to Valencia.
C h a pt er 58
Then, leaving that region behind, he went up into the land round
Albarracin, whose people had defaulted on the payment of tribute to
him. He laid waste all that land and ordered all the provisions which
he found there to be sent to Cebolla. He meanwhile returned to
Cebolla with immense plunder.
C h a pter 59
When the month of August had gone by the people of Valencia heard
a reliable report that the Moabites were coming to their aid with a
106' Yspamarum, i.e. Muslim Hispania and Christian Hispania.

huge army under the command of Yusuf, to help to free them from
the lordship of Rodrigo. So they dishonoured the agreement which
they had made with him. In being unfaithful to their agreement they
made themselves in every way rebels against Rodrigo and [became]]
his enemies: and he well understood this. So he again laid siege to
Valencia with intense hostility, and pressed the city from every side
with the most aggressive tactics possible. It became known that severe
food shortages were being experienced inside the city.
C h a pte r 6 0
Meanwhile, however, the army of the Moabites, swiftly on its way to

relieve the siege, approached Valencia. But they did not dare to
commit themselves to battle with Rodrigo. Greatly fearful of him they
dispersed by night and retired to their bases in confusion.
C h a pte r 61
Rodrigo continued to press the siege of Valencia ever more closely for
no little time. At long last he valiantly took it by assauljJL°L%t once he
subjected it fö'säCk. He ibuñd and took possession of vast and innum
erable riches: immense, uncountable quantities of gold and silver,
precious jewellery, gems set in fine gold, treasures of various sorts,
silken textiles decorated with precious gold. So vast were the hoards
of riches which he seized in the city that he and his followers were
rendered wealthier than it is possible to say.
C h a pte r 6 2
Yüsuf king of the Moabites, hearing that Valencia had been captured
and sacked by Rodrigo in this very savage fashion, was powerfully
moved to anger and bitterness. After taking counsel with his followers
he appointed as general to command in Spain a kinsman named
Muhammad, his sister’s son. He sent him with an infinite multitude of
barbarians and Moabites and Ishmaelites drawn from all over Hispania
to besiegeJValeneia and to bring Rodrigo to him captive and in chains.
They arrived at the place called Cuarte, about four miles from the city
of Valencia, and pitched camp there. [The inhabitants of] all the
region round about constantly went to them with the necessary food107
107 Valencia fell on 15 June 1094: RM P, pp. 793-4.

and provisions: some of these victuals they gave to them and some
they sold. Their number was nearly 15 0 ,0 0 0 mounted men and 3 0 0 0
footsoldiers."’* When Rodrigo saw that so vast and innumerable a
multitude had come to fight against him, he was very apprehensive.
This Moabite army lay about Valencia for ten days and as many nights,
and remained inactive. Every day indeed they used to go round the city,
shrieking and shouting with a motley clamour of voices and filling the
air with their bellowing. They often used to fire arrows at the tents
and dwellings of Rodrigo and his soldiers, provoking them to imme
diate combat. But Rodrigo, stout of heart as ever, comforted and
strengthened his men in a manly fashion, and constantly prayed
devoutly to the Lord Jesus Christ that he would send divine aid to his
people. There came a day when the enemy were as usual going round
outside the city yelling and shouting and skirmishing, confident in the
belief that they would capture it, when Rodrigo, the invincible warrior,
trusting with his whole mind in God and His mercy, courageously
made a sortie from the city: he was accompanied by his well-armed
followers, and they shouted at the enemy and terrified them with
threatening words. They fell upon them and a major encounter ensued.
By God’s clemency Rodrigo defeated all the Moabites. Thus he had
victory and triumph over them, granted to him by God. As soon as
they were defeated they turned their backs in flight. A multitude of
them fell to the sword. Others with their wives and children were led
captive to Rodrigo’s camp. Our men seized all their tents and equip
ment, among which they found innumerable treasure of gold and
silver and precious textiles. They thoroughly plundered all the wealth
they found there. Rodrigo and his men were greatly enriched thereby
- with much gold and silver, most precious textiles, horses, palfreys
and mules, various sorts of weaponry: they were amply stocked with
quantities of provisions and treasures untold. This victory took place
in the Era 1132 Q= AD 1094^].108109
C h a pt er 63
After this triumph Rodrigo took the castle called Olocau. There he
found a great treasure which had belonged to King al-Qädir. He
108 The MS reading CL is quite plain, and the proposal by Menéndez Pidal to read
c.L for circa L miha, ‘about fifty thousand' is unconvincing. The figure is wildly
exaggerated: no Almoravid army could possibly have numbered 150,000.
109 Probably towards the end of October.
H I S T O R I A ROD ER ICI 1S9
divided this in good faith with his men. Then he took another town
called Serra."0
C hapter 64
Then died Sancho, king of Aragon, of happy memory. He had lived
fifty-two years and afterwards went to Christ in peace. He was buried
with honour in the monastery of San Juan de la Peña.11011 After his
death his son Pedro was raised up as king over the Aragonese kingdom.
All the noblemen of his kingdom were gathered together at one time.
Then they addressed the king as follows: ‘Renowned king, we unani
mously beseech your majesty to deign to listen to our counsel. We
believe this policy to be sound and useful to you, that you should have
friendship and love with Rodrigo the Campeador. We offer you this
advice with no dissentient voice.’ This advice of his aristocracy was
very pleasing to the king and he at once sent envoys to Rodrigo to
negotiate an alliance.112 The envoys sent to Rodrigo said: ‘Our lord
the king of Aragon has sent us to you, that you may join with him and
institute in friendly fashion the firmest possible peace and love; that
you may be of one mind in campaigning against your enemies, and
may render each other every assistance against our common foes.’
This was greatly pleasing to Rodrigo, and he replied to them that he
would willingly do it. King Pedro then travelled down to the coast at
a place called Montornés.113 Rodrigo left the city of Valencia and went
to Burriana to meet him. In the course of their meeting at the latter
place they decided to have the firmest possible peace between them
and undertook with good and sincere intent to help one another
before all other men against their enemies. After this the king at once
went back to his land and took measures to ensure that his kingdom
should live in accordance with good justice by the sanction of the law.
Rodrigo made his way back to Valencia.
110 This is Olocau de Valencia, some 25 km inland from Murviedro/Sagunto (not to

be confused with the Olocau near Morelia of ch. 21 above): Serra is nearby.
111 Sancho Ramírez died on 4 June 1094. The monastery of San Juan de la Peña,
about 10 km to the south-west of Jaca, was the mausoleum of the Aragonese royal
family.
112 It makes more sense to suppose that Rodrigo, rather than King Pedro, was the
suppliant: see Fletcher, Quest for El Cid, p. 171. The renewal of the alliance
between Rodrigo and the Aragonese first formed in 1092 (above, ch. 48)
presumably occurred shortly after Pedro's accession.
113 The modern Puebla Tornesa, just to the north of Castellón.
Chapter 65
Some time later King Pedro came to Valencia with his army to help
his ally Rodrigo, who received him with the greatest honour."4
Having mustered their forces they left Valencia together and set out
towards the town of Peña Cadiella. They intended to send foodstuffs
there and supply it adequately with provisions. As they approached
Játiva they encountered Muhammad, the nephew of Yüsuf, king of the
Moabites and Ishmaelites. He had a huge army of(ÔOO^vell-armed
soldiers and was intent on battle. However, that day the Ishmaelites
and Moabites did not offer battle with them but throughout the day
remained in the mountains thereabouts howling and shouting. King
Pedro and Rodrigo boldly sent all the foodstuffs which they could find
in the region, together with all the booty they had taken, to the town
of Peña Cadiella. Thus they stocked the town most amply with victuals
for its defence.
C hapter 6 6
Moving southwards from there, they went down together to the coast
and made camp at Bairén. On the next day Muhammad prepared to
engage the king and Rodrigo in battle, with his huge and innumerable
forces of Moabites and Ishmaelites and all barbarian peoples. There
was in the place a big hill extending in length about forty stadii. Here,
on the hill, was the Saracen camp.11415 Opposite it was the sea, and on it
a great number of Ishmaelite and Moabite ships, from which they
harrassed the Christians with bow and arrow. And from the mountain
quarter they attacked them with other weapons. When the Christians
realised what was happening they were not a little afraid. When
Rodrigo saw how frightened they were, he at once mounted his horse
and armed himself, and began to ride among his army, greatly cheering
114 The author’s vagueness as to chronology conceals the fact that he has skipped two
years. He reports nothing of his hero’s doings during the years 1095 and 1096.
The Bairén campaign described in chs 65-6 took place in the spring of 1097. It is
referred to in two documents of Pedro I belonging to that year: A. Ubieto Arteta,
Colección D ip lo m á tic a d e P e d r o I d e A ra g o n y N a v a r r a (Zaragoza, 1951), nos SI
(q u a n d o v e n it re x d e P e n n a C a tiella ) and 39 (eo an n o quo d e v ic ta e st m u ltitu d o
p a g a n o ru m a p re d ic to rege).
115 On the localisation of Bairén, near Gandía, between Dénia and Valencia, see R M P ,
pp. 81S-15, who also ingeniously explains away the author’s slip in asserting that
Bairén was ‘southwards’ of Peña Cadiella. In actual fact it lies to the north-east.
The classical sta d iu m measured 606 feet and 9 inches, or 202.25 yards: forty s ta d ii
is therefore about 4.5 miles or 7 km. In the eleventh century the sea came in much
closer to the mountains than it does now.
them with these words: ‘Listen to me, my dearest and closest

lS5ffipariions. You must be strong and powerful in battle. Take a firm
grip on yourselves. You must be fearless. Do not quail before the enemy
numbers. Today our Lord Jesus Christ will deliver them into our hands
and into our power.’ At the middle of the day the king and Rodrigo
With all the Christian army fell upon them and engaged them in
strength. At length by God’s clemency they defeated them and turned
them in flight. Some were killed by the sword, some fell in the river,
and enormous numbers fled into the sea where they were drowned.
After the Saracens had been defeated and slaughtered the Christian
victors plundered all their goods. They took all the spoil they could —
gold and silver, horses and mules, excellent weapons and many rich
goods. They glorified God with full-hearted devotion for the victory
which He had granted them. After this memorable and ever-to-be-
praised triumph King Pedro and Rodrigo returned with their army to
Valencia praising God. But they stayed in the city only a few days.
They left together for the castle of Montornés which was in the king’s
territory and was rebelling aginst him. After arriving there they laid
siege to it. They besieged and boldly assaulted it and brought it back
to its allegiance. Then the king returned rejoicing to his kingdom,
and Rodrigo returned to his city of Valencia.
C h a pt e r 6 7
One day Rodrigo left the city to reconnoitre the doings of his enemies.
While he was on his journey the alcaide of Játiva, a certain Abü-1-
Fafah, left his city and entered Murviedro. When Rodrigo learnt this
he turned after him and pursued him until he managed to shut him up
in the town of Almenara.116 He besieged the town, investing it closely
on every side for three months, after which he conquered it. He
allowed all the men whom he captured inside it to go free to their own
homes. He ordered a church with an altar dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin Mary lo-beJmilt there.
C hapter 68
After things had thus fallen out by God’s grace, Rodrigo left
Almenara with his troops, letting it be known that he was going to
return to Valencia: but secretly he intended to besiege and conquer
116 Just to the north of Murviedro.

Murviedro."7 Meanwhile he prayed to God, his hands upraised to

heaven, saying ‘O eternal God, who knows all things before they come
to pass, from whom no secret is hid: Thou knowest, O Lord, that I do
not wish to enter Valencia before I have with the aid of thy power
secured Murviedro by siege and conquest and sack; and if the town by
thy gift will fall under our possession and authority, there I will cause
Mass to be celebrated to Thee and thy praise, O God.’ After praying
in this fashion he laid siege to the town of Murviedro, attacking it
with swords, arrows, javelins and all manner of weapons and siege-
engines."8 Rodrigo pressed hard upon and sternly afflicted (The defen
ders of the fortress and its inhabitants]] and altogether prevented entry
to or exit from the place.117819
C h a pt er 69
The inhabitants and the defenders of the castle, perceiving themselves

to be under attack and hard-pressed on every side, said among
themselves, ‘What shall we poor wretches do? This tyrant Rodrigo
will completely prevent us from carrying on living in the castle. He
will treat us as he lately treated those inhabitants of Valencia and
Almenara who could not resist him. Let us see what we can do. Already
we and our wives and our sons and our daughters are about to die of
hunger. But there is no-one who can deliver us from his hands.’ Aware
of this, Rodrigo began to press the siege more strongly and relent
lessly than before, and the plight of the defenders became very serious.
When they found themselves in such bitter straits they appealed to
Rodrigo as follows: ‘Why do you inflict such unbearable ills upon us?
Why kill us with spear and arrow and sword? Soften your heart and
have mercy upon us. Together we implore you'to heed the prompt
ings of pity and give us a few days’ truce. In the meantime we shall
send our messengers to the king and our lords,120 asking them to
come to our aid. Should no one come by the agreed term to free us
117 The narrative of the siege and conquest of Murviedro contained in chs 68—72 has
been translated by Smith in his Christians and Moors in Spain,, no. 25, pp. 124-9.
Murviedro was an immensely strong fortress: for a brief description see Fletcher,
Quest for El Cidy p. 176 and plate 14.
118 machinamentis: this is the only reference to siege-engines in the Historia.
119 A line seems to have been omitted from the text here and the bracketed words
have been supplied.
120 ad regem et ad dominos nostros. The implication is that King Alfonso VI is to be
understood, which would seem to be confirmed by the information of the
following chapter. Smith’s ‘to our King and other rulers’ is misleading.
from your hands, we shall be yours and will serve you. You should
know for very truth that the town of Murviedro is of such name and
fame among all peoples that we shall never surrender it quickly to
you. Rather than surrender without a term of truce, we should all of
us sooner die. Only after every one of us is dead will you be able to
have this place.’ Rodrigo knew well that this course would avail them
nothing, yet he offered them a truce of thirty days.
C hapter 70
They sent messengers to King Yusuf and the Moabites, and to King
Alfonso, and to King al-Musta In of Zaragoza, and to the king of
Albarracin, and to the count of Barcelona,121 imploring them to come
to their relief within thirty days: if they did not do so, when the thirty
days were up they would surely surrender the town to Rodrigo and
faithfully serve him as their lord thereafter. When King Alfonso saw
and heard the envoys from Murviedro he replied to them thus: ‘You
must believe that I speak the truth when I tell you that I will not
come to your aid, because I prefer that Rodrigo should have the town
of Murviedro rather than any Saracen king.’122 When the envoys heard
this they returned home disconsolate. To the messengers who had
been sent to Zaragoza al-Musta'in made this reply: ‘Go and do what
you can to help yourselves. Be brave in resisting him by fighting.
Rodrigo is a hard man, a very brave and invincible fighter, such that
I do not care to engage with him in battle.’ Now shortly beforehand
Rodrigo had sent messengers to him, saying: ‘Be it known to you, al-
Musta'ln, that if you dare to come against me with your army and
engage me in battle, you and your noblemen will in no manner escape
death or captivity at my hands.’ Being mightily afraid of Rodrigo, he
did not dare to come. The king of Albarracin addressed the messengers
who presented themselves to him in this fashion: ‘Do your utmost to
have confidence and stand up to him, for I cannot be of assistance to
you.’ The Moabites replied to the messengers sent to them: ‘If our
king Yüsuf shall choose to come, we shall all together accompany him
and willingly come to your aid. But without him we should never dare
to fight against Rodrigo.’ The count of Barcelona, who had received a
121 Ramón Berenguer III (1096-1131).

122 That the people of Murviedro should have appealed to Alfonso VI a g a in st Rodrigo
is one of the strongest indications that Rodrigo as self-styled Prince of Valencia
was acting as an independent ruler rather than as a vassal of Alfonso VI: see
Fletcher, Q uest f o r E l C id, p. 179.
vast tribute from them, replied thus to the envoys sent to him: ‘Know
that I do not care to fight against Rodrigo. However, I shall come
quickly and surround his castle named Oropesa, and while he is
approaching to attempt battle with me you can send sufficient
foodstuffs into your castle from the other direction.’123As he had under
taken, the count soon laid siege to the castle [of Oropesa[]. When he
heard this Rodrigo considered it a matter of no importance and
refused to go to its relief. Meanwhile a certain knight addressed the
count while he was besieging the castle, saying, ‘Most noble count, I
have heard for a certainty that Rodrigo is coming against you and
intends to fight with you’. When he heard this the count was not
prepared to test the truth of the report, immediately retired from the
siege of the castle and for fear of Rodrigo fled in terror to his own
land.124
C hapter 71
When the thirty days of truce were up, Rodrigo spoke to the barbar
ians in the castle of Murviedro: ‘Why do you delay in surrendering
the town to me?’ They replied to him deceitfully as follows: ‘Lord, the
messengers whom we sent out have not yet returned to us: accordingly
we unanimously implore your nobility to extend by a little the term of
truce.’ Rodrigo realised that they addressed him treacherously and
deceitfully, and that they had made up this tale just to gain time, so he
said: ‘In order to make it plain to all men that I fear no king of yours,
I shall extend the truce by twelve days so that they may have no
pretext for not coming to your aid. When the twelve days have
expired - and I tell you of a truth125 - if you do not at once surrender
the castle to me, as many of you as I can lay hands on I shall burn
alive or execute after torture.’ The appointed day came. Rodrigo
addressed the men in the fortress: W hy do you continue to delay and
123 Oropesa, about 18 km north of Castellón, was in the hands of the Aragonese at
this date. The Catalan attack on it may indicate that Aragonese troops were
assisting Rodrigo in the siege of Murviedro under the terms of the alliance of
1094.
124 It was presumably in the wake of the Oropesa incident, and in a diplomatic move
to allay Catalan hostility, that Rodrigo arranged a marriage between his daughter
Maria and the count of Barcelona.
125 Luke iv.25. Rodrigo's threats were not idle: in 1095 he had burned alive the
former q ä d l of Valencia, Ibn Jahhäf. Ibn 'Idhärl's account of this atrocity is to be
found translated in Charles Melville and Ahmad Ubaydli, C h ristia n s a n d M o o rs in
S pain , volu m e I I I (Warminster, 1992) at pp. 102-5.
H I S T O R I A RO D ER IC I 145
not surrender the castle to me as promised?’ They replied: ‘Look, your

feast of Pentecost is now close. On the day of the feast we shall
surrender the castle to you, for our kings are unwilling to come to our
aid. You and your men may enter in safety and deal with the place as
you wish.’ Rodrigo replied to them: ‘I shall not enter the castle upon
the very day of Pentecost, but I offer you a truce until the feast of St
John the Baptist.126 In the meantime take your wives and children and
servants and all your household goods, and go in peace with your
possessions wheresoever you wish. Evacuate the castle and leave it to
me freely and without trickery. I shall enter the castle, divine clemency
being my aid, on the Nativity of St John the Baptist.’ The Saracens
returned many and grateful thanks for such loving mercy.
C h a pte r 72
On the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist Rodrigo sent his
soldiers ahead of him to enter the castle with orders to climb up to it
and take possession of it. They at once made their entry and taking
possession of the castle’s topmost point they gave joyful thanks to God.
Shortly afterwards Rodrigo himself entered the castle, and devoutly
ordered a Mass to be celebrated at once and an offering to be made.
He gave orders for the building there of a handsome church in
honour of St John. He ordered his soldiers to guard well the gates of
the city and alTlts defensive walls and everything that was in the
town and the fortress. In the castle itself, although it had been
evacuated, they found many riches. Some of the Saracen inhabitants
of Murviedro still remained there. Three days after the taking of the
town Rodrigo addressed them as follows: ‘Now I tell firmly that you
must return into my hands all that you have kept back from my men
and that you have taken from the Moabites, against my will and to
my loss and shame. If you do not do this, believe me, you will be
imprisoned and strongly bound in iron chains.’ Those who would not
surrender what was sought were on Rodrigo’s orders completely
stripped of their possessions, chained together and despatched
immediately to Valencia.
126 In 1098 Pentecost fell on 16 May. The Nativity of John the Baptist is celebrated
on 24 June.
C h a pt er 73
After these doings Rodrigo returned to Valencia. In the Saracen

building which they call a mosque1'27 he built a fine and seemly church
in honour of St Mary the Virgin, Mother of our Redeemer. He gave to
the same church a golden chalice worth a hundred and fifty marks. He
also gave to the aforesaid church two very precious hangings woven
with silk and gold, the like of which, it was said, had never been seen
in Valencia.127128 Everyone then celebrated Mass in that church with
most sweet and agreeable and melodious songs of praise. Then with
joyful hearts they praised our Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ, to
whom is due honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever, amen.129
C h a pt er 74
It would take too long - and perhaps would tax the patience of readers
- to narrate in order all the battles which Rodrigo and his com
panions fought and won, or to list all the lands and settlements which
his strong right arm wasted and destroyed with the sword and other
weapons. What our limited skill can do we have done: written of his
deeds briefly and in a poor style, but always with the strictest regard
for truth. While he lived in this world he always won a noble triumph
over the enemies who fought him in battle. Never was he defeated by
any man.
C h a pt er 75
Rodrigo died at Valencia in the month of July in the Era 1137 \j= AD
1099^).130 After his death his sorrowing wife remained in Valencia
with a great company of knights and footsoldiers. When the news of
his death spread all the Saracens who lived across the seas mustered a
considerable army and marched against Valencia. They laid siege to it
on all sides and attacked the city for seven months.
127 mezquitam. It was common practice in Spain for Christian conquerors to re
consecrate mosques as churches.
128 He also gave endowments in landed property. The diploma recording this endow
ment has survived in its original form in the cathedral archive of Salamanca. The
best edition of it is to be found in RMPypp. 868-71; part of the document has been
translated into English in Smith’s Christians and Moors, no. 26, pp. 130-33.
129 Romans xvi.27; I Timothy i.17.
130 Later sources would date his death to 10 July.
C hapter 76
His wife, deprived of so great a husband, finding herself in her
affliction so hard-pressed and unable to find the remedy of consolation
in her unhappiness, sent the bishop of the city131 to King Alfonso to
ask him for pity’s sake to help her. On receiving this appeal the king
came swiftly to Valencia with his army. Rodrigo’s unhappy wife
received him with the greatest joy, and kissed his feet. She implored
him to help her and all the Christians who were with her. But the
king could find no one among his men who might hold the city and
defend it from the Saracens; for it was far removed from his kingdom.
So he returned to Castile, taking with him Rodrigo’s wife with the
body of her husband, and all the Christians who were then there with
their household goods and riches.132 When they had all left Valencia
the king ordered the whole city to be burnt: then he led all these
people to Toledo. The Saracens, who had fled the king’s arrival and
abandoned the siege, re-entered the city soon after the king’s depar
ture, although it was burnt, and resettled it and all its territories.
They have never lost it since that day.
C hapter 77
Rodrigo’s wife, accompanied by her husband’s knights, bore his body
to the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. There she gave it honour
able burial, granting for the sake of his soul no small gifts to the
monastery.133
131 Jerónimo, bishop of Valencia 1098-1102, subsequently bishop of Salamanca 1102-

20. His transfer to Salamanca explains why the muniments of Valencia have
survived in the Salamanca archives (above, n. 127). For a brief account of
Jerónimo see Fletcher, Quest fo r El Cid, pp. 182—3.
132 1102, probably April: see Reilly, Alfonso VI, pp. 309-11.
133 No record of these has survived among the muniments of Cardeña. Doña Jimena,
last traceable in 1113, is thought to have died in 1116. For a sketch of the
posthumous history of the Cid and of the part played by the monks of Cardeña in
cultivating his memory, see Fletcher, Quest for E l Cid, ch. 12.
IV: C H R O N I C A A D E F O N S I I M P E R A T O R I S
Introduction to the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris
The Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris, or Chronicle of the Emperor Alfonso,

(henceforward CAT) is a panegyric in prose and verse devoted to the
deeds of Alfonso VII of León-Castile (1 126-57), from his accession to
the throne in 1126 down to the campaign to conquer the port city of
Almería in 1147.12 To all appearances a contemporary (or near
contemporary) witness to the events it describes, the CAI furnishes
the principal narrative account of the political and military affairs of
the Leonese monarchy during the period in question. Despite its
undoubted importance as a historical source, however, the Chronicle
positively bristles with difficulties. For one thing, the text of the CAI,
as it has come down to us, is far from satisfactory. The nine surviving
manuscripts, all of which contain significant lacunae, are late paper
copies of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The
three most important of them (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional 1279, 1505
and 9237), upon which Antonio Maya Sánchez has based his recent
edition, appear to have derived from a (now lost) glossed archetype of
the fourteenth or fifteenth century, apparently written on parchment
in ‘letra gótica’, held in the library of the cathedral of Toledo.*
Textual difficulties aside, the knotty question of the authorship of the
CAI remains unresolved, and we cannot even be sure of when or
where it was composed.
1 Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris, ed. A. Maya Sánchez, in Chronica Hispana saeculi XII,
109-248. This supersedes the earlier editions by P. de Sandoval, Chronica del ínclito
Emperador de España Don Alfonso VII deste nombre, rey de Castilla y León, hijo de Don
Ramón de Borgoña y de Doña Hurraca, reyna propietaria de Castilla (Madrid, 1600),
127-38, which included only the poetic colophon to the CAI, F. de Berganza,
Antigüedades de España, II (Madrid, 1721), 590-624; E. Flórez (ed.), Chronica
Adefonsi Imperatoris, ES 21 (Madrid, 1766), 320-409; A. Huici Miranda (ed.), Las
crónicas latinas de la Reconquista, 2 vols (Valencia, 1913), II, 171-430; and L.
Sánchez Belda (ed.), Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris (Madrid, 1950). There is a
Spanish translation of the chronicle by M. Pérez González, Crónica del Emperador
Alfonso VII (León, 1997). The CAI was the object of an illuminating, yet sadly
unpublished, study by G. West, History as Celebration: Castilian and Hispano-Latin
Epics and Histories, 1080-1210 AD (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1975), ch. 4.
2 CAI (ed. Maya Sánchez), pp. 120-32.
CHRONICA A D E F O N S I I M P E R A T O R I S 149
The CAI is divided into two books. The first, which is subdivided into
95 chapters, is principally concerned with Alfonso VII’s attempts to
impose his authority over the kingdom after the death of his mother
Queen Urraca in March 1126, and to re-establish the pre-eminence of
León—Castile among the Christian realms of the peninsula after the
political turmoil of his mother’s reign. The narrative begins with a
relatively comprehensive roll-call of the most powerful members of
the lay élite of León and Castile who pledged their loyalty to the
young king in 1126 (chs 1-8), before going on to describe the various
rebellions that were subsequently launched against Alfonso VII's rule
by important sections of the aristocracy (chs 18—23, 30-2, 43-6), and
the campaigns that the king was forced to wage against his hostile
neighbours in Aragon, Navarre and Portugal (chs 9-11, 13-17, 24-6,
73-91). In addition, there is coverage of such matters as the sub
mission of the Muslim ruler of Rueda de Jalón, Sayf al-Dawla (chs 27-
9), the raiding expedition that was led into al-Andalus by Alfonso VII
and Count Rodrigo González in 1133 (chs 33—42), the crushing defeat
suffered at Almoravid hands by Alfonso I of Aragon at Fraga in July
1134, and his death two months later (chs 49-61); the separation of
the realms of Aragon and Navarre in 1134, the subsequent occupation
of Nájera and Zaragoza by Leonese forces, and the submission of
García Ramírez IV of Navarre, Ramiro II of Aragon, Count Alfonso
Jordan of Toulouse, and other trans-Pyrenean magnates (chs 62—8);
and the imperial coronation of Alfonso VII in León in May 1135 (chs
69—72). The book concludes with an elaborate description of the
wedding of the emperor’s illegitimate daughter Urraca and King
García Ramírez IV of Navarre in León in June 1144 (chs 92-4), and
the subsequent entry to the cloister of Alfonso VII’s former
cortcubine, Guntroda Pérez (ch. 95).
With the notable exception of the account of the submission of Sayf
al-Dawla to the Leonese crown and of the raiding party that Alfonso
VII led into al-Andalus in 1133, the attention of the first book of the
CAI is focused squarely on the area north of the River Duero.3 Book
II, however, which is subdivided into 111 chapters, is given over to
3 It is possible that these episodes originally formed part of Book II and were later
inserted into the first part of the chronicle. The dramatic style and rhythm of these
sections, and the quantity and particular type of biblical phrases that they contain
(for example, the adaptation of the Book of Judith in i, 35, which is repeated in ii,
36, 82), are closely in keeping with the narrative of the second book. Moreover, the
account of the expedition of 1133 refers to the raid having avenged defeats which
are subsequently described in the second book (i, 33, 42).
'the conflicts and battles which he £Alfonso VII]], the nobles of

Toledo and the commanders of Extremadura had with King 'All, with
his son Täshuftn, and with the other kings and princes of the Moab
ites and Hagarenes'. The chronicler details the bloody campaigns that
were waged by Christian and Muslim armies from the death of
Alfonso VI in 1109 down to the conquest of Córdoba by Alfonso VII
in the spring of 1146. Particular attention is devoted to the raids on
Toledo and the Tagus valley that were launched by Almoravid forces
after 1109 (chs 1-8, 12-18), the various military expeditions that were
led into Muslim territory by Alfonso VII (chs 36-9, 40-4, 51-63, 64—
6, 81-2) and by the governors of Toledo, Count Rodrigo González
and Rodrigo Fernández (chs 24-6, 31-4), the campaigns that were
waged by the Galician warlord Muño Alfonso (chs 17, 49, 67-79, 84—
90), and, finally, the preparations that were made for the Almería
campaign (chs 107-8). In an important digression, there is also an
account of the Muslim uprising that took place against Almoravid
rule in 1144—6, the overthrow of the Almoravid empire in the
Maghreb by the Almohads, and the first arrival of Almohad forces in
the peninsula in 1146 (chs 92-105, 109).
At the end of Book Two, the chronicler, anxious, he tells us, to avoid
boring his audience, launches into a poetic celebration, consisting of
385 and a half lines of rhythmic hexameters, of the campaign that was
led by Alfonso VII and his allies to conquer Almería in 1147.4 In the
opening verses of the Poem, o f Almería (henceforward PA) the narrator
sets out the theme of his work and refers to the crusading nature of
the Almería expedition, before proceeding to paint a series of eulo
gistic portraits of eleven of the chief lay personages who accompanied
the emperor on the expedition, and to briefly outline the preliminary
military operations that were carried out in the region of the Upper
Guadalquivir. The poem is then sadly interrupted in mid-line just as
the bishop of Astorga gets up to harangue the emperor’s troops prior
to the final assault on Almería.5
The Latin of the CAI has been considered deficient by a number of
commentators. Prudencio de Sandoval, writing in 1600, went so far as
4 Prefatio de Almario, ed. J. Gil, in Chronica Hispana saeculi XII, 249-67. There is an
excellent study of the poem by H. Salvador Martínez, E l Poema de Almería y la
épica románica (Madrid, 1975). See also F. Castro Guisasola (ed. and trans.), E l
Cantar de la conquista de Almería por Alfonso VIL un poema hispano-latino del siglo XII
(Almería, 1992).
5 On the reasons for the truncation of the PA, see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, p. xx; cf.
Salvador Martínez, Poema de Almería', pp. 121-2, 126-8.
to describe the verse of the PA to be ‘barbarous’, and others since

have been equally scathing.6 But that is to judge the work by
classical norms. Viewed in the cultural context of its times, the CAI
is a far from aberrant work.7 Besides, for all his supposed short
comings as a literary stylist, our author was clearly a learned man.
A glance at the notes to our translation of the prose part of the CAI
will reveal the extent to which the chronicler drew inspiration from
the Bible, and more particularly from the canonical and apocryphal
books of the Old Testament Vulgate. Quite apart from the very
large number of Biblical phrases that were incorporated wholesale
into the narrative of the C A I, the influence of the Vulgate is every
where conspicuous in the author’s style, syntax and vocabulary.8
With good reason the CAI has been dubbed ‘a veritable biblical-
medieval epic'.9 Although it is conceivable that the author’s account
of the early years of the reign of Alfonso VII may have expanded
upon on an earlier set of annals,101and although the influence of the
Vulgate is more overt in the second book than the first, the stylistic
similarities between the two parts of the prose chronicle are such
that there can be little doubt that both are the product of the same
pen." Equally, far from consisting of a ‘series of popular tales
originally composed separately and only subsequently tacked to
gether’, as one historian has recently suggested, the second book of
6 Sandoval, C hronica, p. 127. Cf. N. Antonio, B iblioth eca h ispana vêtus (Rome, 1696),
lib. 7, ch. 4, n. 77; Flórez (ed.), C hronica A d efo n si Im peratoris, pp. 318-19; Sánchez
Alonso, H is to r ia de la h isto rio g ra fía , pp. 123-4; Salvador Martínez, ‘P o em a de
A lm e r ía ’, pp. 124-5.
7 Pérez González, Crónica, pp. 14-18. The metre of the Poem of Almería has been
the object of a number of important studies by M. Martinez Pastor: see, for
example, ‘La rima en el "Poema de Almería’”, C uadernos de F ilo lo g ía C lásica 21
(1988), 73—95; ‘Virtuosismos verbales en el P o em a de A lm e r ía , E p o s 4 (1988), 379-
87; ‘La métrica del “Poema de Almería": su carácter cuantitativo’, C uadernos de
F ilo lo g ía C lásica (E stu d io s L a tin o s) 1 (1991), 159-93.
8 M. Pérez González, ‘Influencias clásicas y bíblicas en la C hronica A d efo n si Im p era
to ris’, in I C ongreso N a c io n a l de L a tín M e d ie v a l, ed. M. Pérez González (León, 1995),
349-55, at pp. 351~*.
9 Salvador Martínez, ‘P o e m a d e Alm ería", p. 243.
10 A. Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias sobre la C hronica A d rfo n si Im peratoris', C H E 25-6
(1957), 317-26, at pp. 319-20. Cf. Salvador Martínez, ‘P o e m a de A lm e r ía ’, pp. 184,
207.
11 Compare, for example, the account of Alfonso VII’s triumphal entry into Zaragoza
in 1134 (i, 65) with the description of the emperor’s arrival in Toledo in 1139 (ii,
62); the various references to the singing of the T e D eu m lau dam u s (i, 70; ii, 34, 59,
75); or the incorporation of quoted extracts of Bishop Pelayo’s Chronicon or the
Pelagian version of Sampiro (i, 61, 69, 72; ii, 7). There are also a number of explicit
references from one book to the other (i, 47; ii, 34, 59, 75).
1 52 THE WORLD OF EL CID
the CAI, conceived and composed in the style of a historical book of

the Old Testament, is remarkably homogenous in style and inspira
tion.,s Moreover, although, in keeping with its epic tone, the PA
contains a small number of classical reminiscences, notably from the
works of Virgil and Ovid, the poem appears to have been inspired
chiefly by the Parallelistic verse of the Old Testament.1213 The chron
icler also demonstrates a degree of acquaintance with peninsular
works of historiography, notably the Chronicon of Bishop Pelayo of
Oviedo and the Pelagian version of the Chronicle of Sampiro.
In an Iberian context, the CAI is a strikingly original piece of histor
iography. In marked contrast to most of the other Latin historical
works produced in the north-west of the peninsula during the early
Middle Ages, from the Asturian royal chronicles of the late ninth
century to Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada's De rebus Hispanie of the mid
thirteenth, our chronicler did not hark back to the rebirth of the
Visigothic monarchy in León; indeed, he had nothing whatsoever to
say of the deeds of any of the royal ancestors of Alfonso VII.14
Instead, the author of the CAI set himself a more limited objective:
‘to describe the deeds of the Emperor Alfonso, just as I have learned
and heard of them from those who witnessed them’ (i, Preface).
Unlike his near-contemporary, the author of the Historia Silense, our
chronicler was less concerned with legitimacy and orthodoxy than
with the all-consuming task of taking the fight to the Muslim
Almoravids and their allies. Taking the Old Testament as his guide
and inspiration (particularly in Book II of the prose chronicle), our
author infused his heroic biography with a profound religious spirit.
Alfonso VII, the ‘terror of the Ishmaelites' (ii, 107), was portrayed
not merely as an instrument of divine will, but as the leader of a
chosen people, a latter-day Israelite king. Time and again, the
chronicler emphasised the support lent by God towards Alfonso VII
and his people (for example, i, 10, 17, 27; ii, 6) and the way in which,
on account of their sins, the ambitions of the emperor’s enemies
(and even those of some of his supporters) were thwarted through
divine arrangement (for example, i, 38, 46, 53, 55; ii, 7, 27-9, 90). It
is made abundantly clear that the many campaigns which the
Leonese monarch was forced to wage against the rebels in his own
12 Reilly, King Alfonso VII, p. 65 (cf. pp. 40, n. 76, 41, n. 80).
13 Pérez González, ‘Influencias’, 350-1; Salvador Martínez, 'Poema de Almería’, pp. 210ff.
14 The one ruler with whom Alfonso VII is compared is the Emperor Charlemagne
(PA, vv. 18-20).
kingdom, or against his Christian neighbours in Aragon, Navarre

and Portugal, amounted to nothing less than a deflection from the
true destiny God had prepared for him (ii, 19—20): to make war on
‘that abominable people’, as the Muslims of al-Andalus are dubbed
(ii, 7).
At the very heart of the CAI lies a deepfelt sense of revenge (i, S3, 42).
Central to the ‘reconquest' ideal was the widely-articulated belief that
the Christians were waging a campaign to reverse the wrongs that
they had suffered at the hands of the Muslims in times past, and above
all to restore to Christian hands the territories that had been lost.15
Our chronicler takes particular delight in enumerating the many
victories that were won over the Almoravids and their allies, the vast
booty that was seized, the mosques and sacred Islamic texts that were
burned, the prisoners that were taken, and the Muslims who were put
to the sword (i, 36—7, 39—40; ii, 36, 72—9, 82, 92). The truncated PA
continues in similar mood. In apocalyptic tones the author refers to
‘the evil pestilence of the Moors, whom neither the ebb and flow of
the sea nor their land protected... their life was wicked, and thus they
were defeated. They did not recognize the Lord, and rightly perished.
This people was rightly doomed.’ (vv. 21-2, 24-6). Elsewhere, the
final destruction of the Almoravids is heralded (v. 58); omens predict
that ‘the evil people was about to perish’ (v. 164); and we are assured
that once battle was joined the Christian troops would have no
qualms about slaughtering their enemies (v. 355). In addition to the
vein of hatred for the Muslims that runs throughout the whole poem,
the PA is suffused with the spirit of crusade. We are told that the
bishops of the kingdom summoned the faithful to battle, pardoning
the sins of those who joined the expedition, and promising them the
reward of both lives, as well as the prospect of earthly riches (w. 38-
45). The peoples of Spain yearned to make war on the Saracens, the
poet tells us, as the trumpet of salvation rang out throughout all the
regions of the world (v. 53); and when the bishop of Astorga got up to
harrangue the emperor’s weary troops, he assured those present that
the gates of Paradise were open to them (v. 382).
The author’s decision to divide his account of the reign of Alfonso VII
into two separate books, the latter devoted almost wholly to the mili
tary struggle against Islam, and against the Almoravids in particular,
was therefore a deeply significant act. Warfare against the Muslims
15 See, in this context, McCluskey, ‘Malleable Accounts’, p. 219.

was presented as ‘a distinctive and specially important kingly activity’.16

But not just a kingly activity. For whereas previous chronicles had
centred almost exclusively upon the deeds of the Leonese monarchy,
the CAI also devotes considerable space to the military activities of
the warrior aristocracy of the realm. With only a handful of excep
tions, the nobles are presented as loyal and willing servants of the
crown, eager to restore Alfonso VII’s authority within his own
kingdom, extend his power against his external foes, and, above all,
take the fight to the Muslims. Thus, of the 111 chapters that make up
Book II, very nearly a quarter are devoted to the exploits of Muño
Alfonso. W ith the struggle against the Muslims in the peninsula now
being viewed in the same light as the crusading campaigns being
waged in the Holy Land, the lay magnates with their economic and
military clout were recognised as key players if the campaigns of
reconquest in al-Andalus were to be prosecuted successfully.17
As a historical record of its times the CAI is not without weakness.
For one thing, it contains a number of factual errors: for example, the
marriage of Alfonso VII to Berengaria of Barcelona (i, 12), the death
of Alfonso I of Aragon (i, 58), the grant of Zaragoza to Ramón
Berenguer IV of Barcelona (i, 67); the imperial coronation of Alfonso
VII (i, 69), and the conquest of Coria (ii, 66) are all misdated; Alfonso
VII was 21, not 19, at the time of his succession (i, l); the see of
Pamplona was occupied by Bishop Sancho, not Pedro, in 1128-9 (i,
15); and Viscount Gaston IV of Béarn lost his life in action near
Valencia in 1130, not on the battlefield of Fraga (i, 57). Doubtless
some of these errors, particularly those of a chronological nature,
were the result of copyists' blunders, and the same may be true of the
erroneous references to one Count Lope López (i, 82) and to Fernando
Fernández de Hita (ii, 18). In other respects, the CAIs coverage of
events is occasionally found wanting: thus, its account of the wars
16 R. A. Fletcher, ‘Reconquest and Crusade in Spain c. 1050-1150', Transactions of the

Royal Historical Society, 5th series, 51 (1987), 31-47, at p. 41. It is worthy of note,
however, that the chronicler was careful to distinguish between good' Muslims
who were allies of the Leonese, notably Sayf al-Dawla of Rueda, and those who
were the sworn enemies of the Christians, the Almoravids and their supporters: see
further below, C A Iy i, 27-9 and n. 83.
17 These matters are examined in further detail in S. Barton, ‘From Tyrants to
Soldiers of Christ: the nobility of twelfth-century León-Castile and the struggle
against Islam', N o ttin g h a m M e d ie v a l S tu d ie s , (forthcoming). On the introduction of
crusading ideology into the peninsula, see Fletcher, ‘Reconquest and Crusade', 4 2 -
7; M. Bull, K n ig h tly p ie ty a n d the lay response to the F ir s t Crusade: the L im o u sin a n d
G ascon y , c. 970-c. 1130 (Oxford, 1993), pp. 96-114.
waged by Alfonso VII in Portugal and Navarre is confused both as to

the chronology and sequence of the events it describes (i, 73—91);
and the positive ‘spin’ which the chronicler endeavours to put on
Alfonso VII’s clashes with Alfonso I of Aragon in 1 127—9 (i, 9—11 , 13-
17), and with Afonso Henriques of Portugal in 1141 (i, 83—6) can be
shown from other sources to be less than wholly accurate. Elsewhere,
the large-scale incorporation of Old Testament phraseology by the
author often makes it difficult for us to distinguish straightforward
historical narrative from biblical pastiche (for example, i, 35; ii, 33, 84, 89).
These weaknesses notwithstanding, the importance and overall reliability
of the CAI as a historical source are beyond question. Not only do the
broad lines of its narrative concord with what can be reconstructed
from other narrative and documentary evidence, but thère is a whole
wealth of incidental detail which can be shown to be accurate: it can,
for example, be demonstrated that Osorio Martinez was elevated to
comital rank soon after the aborted siege of Coria in 1138, as the
chronicler states (ii, 43), and that Pedro Alfonso achieved the same
rank early in 1148, shortly after his return from the Almería cam
paign (PA, v. 132); Bishop Pedro Dominguez was indeed killed during
the siege of Cordoba on 24 June 1146 (ii, 106); and far from amount
ing to a conventional description which owes very little to actual
historical fact, as has been claimed, the catalogue of the lay magnates
who took part in the Almería campaign given in the PA can be shown
from documentary sources to be wholly accurate.18
The question of the authorship of the CAI has generated considerable,
yet inconclusive, scholarly debate. Various candidates have been put
forward (and subsequently rejected), including the secretary of Peter
the Venerable of Cluny, Pierre de Poitiers19, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada,
archbishop of Toledo (1209-47)20, and Julián Pérez, the fictitious
creation of the seventeenth-century arch-forger Román de la Higuera.21
The dominant tendency among recent scholarship, however, has
been to attribute the work to Bishop Arnaldo of Astorga (1144-52),
who is mentioned both at the end of the prose section of the chronicle
18 Salvador Martínez, ‘P o em a de A lm é r ia ’, pp. 180-1; cf. Barton, A ristocracy, p. 178.

19 A. Ferrari, ‘El Cluniacense Pedro de Poitiers y la C hronica A d efo n si Im p era to ris y
P o em a d e A lm e r ía , B R A H 153 (1963), 153-204. Ferraris thesis has been ably
demolished by Salvador Martínez, ‘P o em a de A lm e r ía ’, pp. 87—108.
20 F. Sota, C hronica d e los P rín cip es de A stu ria s y C a n ta b ria (Madrid, 1681), p. 559. The
attribution was rejected by Sánchez Belda, C hronica, pp. xvi-xvii.
21 C A I (e d. Maya Sánchez), p. 114.
(ii, 108) and at the end of its poetic colophon (w. 374-86).122However,
important doubts have recently been raised on that score. Peter
Linehan has conjectured, rather, that the prose section of the CAI may
in fact have been refashioned and interpolated by ‘a patriotic Toledan’,
active during the latter part of the reign of Alfonso VIII of Castile
(1158-1214), who was also responsible for tacking the poem about the
Almería campaign onto the unfinished chronicle.223
The CAI itself provides us with only a handful of clues as to the
author’s background. First of all, given his providential view of
history, his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures, and his frequent
references to hymn-singing (for example, i, 70; ii, 34, 59, 75), we may
safely assume that we are dealing with a cleric (a bishop, perhaps,
given his extensive knowledge of Leonese court and military activi
ties), and a cultured one at that. Second, it appears more than likely
that our author was a contemporary, or at least a near-contemporary,
to most of the events he described. True, as we have seen, the
chronicler is guilty of a number of factual errors (not all of which may
be ascribed to scribal blunders), and his recollection of events is
sometimes hazy to say the least. Yet, although, in a verbal echo of the
introduction to the Gospel of St Luke, the author declares that his
account is based upon what he has learned and heard ‘from those who
witnessed them’ (i, Preface), the detail and immediacy of many of the
sections of the prose CAI - from the account of the aborted siege of
Coria in 1138 (ii, 40-4) to the description of the nuptials of the Infanta
Urraca with King Garcia of Navarre in 1144 (i, 92-4) - strongly
suggest that, if not necessarily an eye-witness, the chronicler was at
least writing soon after the events he narrated. Similarly, the lengthy
verse description of the preliminaries to the Almería campaign, and of
the nobles who took part, gives the impression of having been penned
by someone who had first-hand knowledge of the campaign, or who
may even have accompanied the military expedition south. Then there
are the opening lines of the PA itself to consider, in which the author
declares: ‘Sages have written of the wars of the kings of old, and we
22 The attribution first appears in J. Ferreras, Synopsis histórica chronológica de España,

XVI (Madrid, 1775), appendix, p. 10. See also, Sánchez Belda, Chronica, pp. xvii-
xxi; Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias’, 321-6; Salvador Martínez, *Poema de Almería, pp.
109-22; A. Quintana Prieto, E l obispado de Astorga en el siglo XII (Astorga, 1985),
pp. 295-9; Pérez González, Crónica, pp. 24-5.
23 P. Linehan, review of Chronica Hispana saeculi XII. Part I, in Journal of Theological
Studies 43 (1992), 731-7.
too must write of the famous battles of our Emperor, for they are
anything but tedious. If it please the Emperor, let the writer be
granted the greatest facilities so that he can recount the battles to
come’ (w. 5—9). If we take these verses at their face value, the
inference is clearly that Alfonso VII was still alive at the time of the
poem’s composition. We can therefore narrow down the date of the
composition of the CAI to some time between the end of the Almería
campaign in 1147 and the emperor’s death in 1157. Moreover, the fact
that the author omits to make any reference to the death of the
Empress Berengaria in February 1149, has led Antonio Ubieto Arteta
to conclude that the CAI must have been substantially completed by
that date.
There are other indications in the text which may tell us something
about the background and attitudes of its author. On the one hand,
the CAI displays clear Leonese sympathies. The chronicler knew and
admired the royal city of León (i, 92-4; PA, vv. 79-99), expressed
admiration and praise for some of the leading members of the Leonese
aristocracy (i, 2, 16; ii, 18, 42-4; PA, vv. 100-13) and regarded with
evident satisfaction the ‘taming’ of Castile by Alfonso VII (PA, w .
150-7). Moreover, his references to the frontier region ‘which is
situated beyond the River Duero’ (i, 5), and to the region of the
Transierra (trans Serrant) (ii, 1, 7, 13, 20, 25, 49, 50, 51), that is, the
territory between the Sierra de Guadarrama and the River Tagus,
appear to reflect the vantage point of somebody writing in the north
of the kingdom. None the less, the author is sometimes rather less
than well-informed about political and military events in the north of
the peninsula. In particular, his uncertain knowledge of Castilian
affairs, and his ambivalent attitude towards the Castilians in the PA,
demonstrate that he could not possibly have been of Castilian
extraction. By contrast, the chronicler was extremely well-acquainted
with the topography of the city and region of Toledo (for example, ii,
3—4, 62-3, 74), and was remarkably knowledgeable about the feats of
arms of the military leaders of that region.
It is possible that the author of the CAI was not a native of the
Leonese kingdom at all. It has been conjectured that the chronicler
may have been one of the many French clerics who entered the
Iberian realms during the twelfth century, and that he perhaps served24
24 Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias’, S25.

as a monk at the Cluniac abbey of Sahagun.25 However, two con

siderations militate against such a suggestion. First, the incorpora
tion into the CAI of a sizeable number of lexical items of
Hispano-Arabic origin (aleaydes, adalid, azecutis, azemelias, etc.)
including four (algaras, alcaceres, celatas, and the placename Jerez,)
which the author explicitly refers to as being of nostra lingua, would
appear to indicate a peninsular writer.26 Second, if not overtly
Francophobie in the manner of the author of the Historia Silense, the
chronicler displays a clear ambivalence towards Alfonso VII’s trans-
Pyrenean allies (PA, vv. 337-60). On the other hand, his evident
admiration for the Catalans Gaucelm de Ribas (ii, 35), Viscount
Reverter of Barcelona (ii, 11 , 101—3), Count Ponç de Cabrera (PA,
vv. 176-98) and Count Ermengol VI of Urgel (PA, vv. 272-8), not
to mention his relatively detailed knowledge of Mediterranean
geography (ii, 9, 107), suggest that our author might well have been
of Catalan origin. Perhaps, Antonio Ubieto Arteta has speculated, he
was a cleric attached to the court of Count Ramón Berenguer III of
Barcelona who took up residence in León at the time of marriage of
the count’s daughter Berengaria to Alfonso VII in 1127.2728
These clues do not take us very far. More to the point, if our author
were a Catalan churchman, how is it possible to reconcile his intimate
knowledge of the Toledan frontier with his Leonese sympathies and
viewpoint? At this point let us consider the figure of Bishop Arnaldo
of Astorga, who has been linked by a number of scholars to the
authorship of the CAL38 Several factors have encouraged such an
identification: the bishop features at the end of both the prose
chronicle and its poetic continuation; the Astorgan prelate was a
regular visitor to the court of Alfonso VII (including the royal wed
ding celebrations of 1144) and was well-rewarded by the emperor
for his loyal service; it was Arnaldo who in 1146 was dispatched as
the Leonese monarch’s special envoy to the counts of Barcelona and
25 Sánchez Belda, C hronica, pp. xix-xx. On the possible Sahagún connection, see
Salvador Martínez, ‘P o e m a de A lm e r ía ’, pp. 109-22. On the monastery of Sahagun,
see above H S , ch. 71, n. 86; Pelayo, C hronicon, p. 89, n. 99.
26 See the discussion in R. Wright, ‘Twelfth-century Metalinguistics in the Iberian
Peninsula (and the C hronica A d e fo n si Im p era to ris)’, in E a r ly Ib ero -R o m a n ce (Newark,
Delaware, 1994), 277-88, at pp. 282-6.
27 Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias’, 326. On the prominent role played by Catalan church
men in the so-called ‘Europeanization’ of the Leonese church, see D. W. Lomax,
‘Catalans in the Leonese Empire’, B u lle tin o f H isp a n ic S tu d ie s 59 (1982), 191-7.
Montpellier with the task of concerting an anti-Muslim coalition for

the forthcoming attack on Almería; and charter evidence confirms
that, just as the PA tells us, the bishop was present with Alfonso
VII’s army during the crusading campaign of 1147.a9 Unfortunately,
the background of Bishop Arnaldo cannot be established with any
certainty. His name, which is neither Leonese nor Castilian,
suggests a French or a Catalan origin: Luis Sánchez Belda and H.
Salvador Martinez plumped for the former;2930 Antonio Ubieto Arteta
and Augusto Quintana Prieto for the latter.31 Quintana Prieto went
further, speculating that Arnaldo of Astorga was the same priest of
the diocese of Gerona ‘skilled in composing verse’ who was active in
1088 and who must have travelled to León in the entourage of
Queen Berengaria in 1127.32 But this hypothesis may be challenged
on numerous counts: Arnaldo was an extremely common name in a
Catalan context and there is not a shred of evidence to demonstrate
that the priest of Gerona and the bishop of Astorga were one and
the same man; there is likewise no evidence that a priest of that
name accompanied Berengaria of Barcelona to León in 1127; and
even if he had done, and had subsequently been elevated to the see
of Astorga, the priest of Gerona would presumably have been well
into his eighties at the very least by the time of the Almería crusade.
Alternatively, and rather more plausibly one would suggest, there is
the possibility that Bishop Arnaldo had served at the abbey of San
Servando in Toledo prior to his election to the see of Astorga. The
fortress-monastery at San Servando, which stood on the south bank of
the Tagus, protecting the bridge that led to the Puerta de Alcántara,
had been founded, or rather refounded, by King Alfonso VI, who on
11 March 1088 granted the monastery to the Holy See with the
proviso that thereafter it be administered by the abbot of the
Benedictine house of St Victor of Marseilles.33 St Victor could boast
over a dozen daughter-houses in Catalonia and it is likely that the
earliest inmates of San Servando hailed from one or more of these
29 For a detailed study of the career of Bishop Arnaldo, see Quintana Prieto, O bispado,
sig lo X II, pp. 251-SOO.
5 1 Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias’, 321-6; Quintana Prieto, Obispado, siglo X II, pp. 253-5.
32 Quintana Prieto, O bispado, s i g h X II, pp. 253—5.
33 F. Fita, ‘El monasterio toledano de San Servando en la segunda mitad del siglo XI:
estudio crítico’, BRAH49 (1906), 280-331, at pp. 281-3. On the subsequent history
of San Servando, see J. F. Rivera Recio, L a iglesia de T o led o en e l s i g h X I I (¡086-
1208), II (Toledo, 1976), pp. 153-70.
institutions.34 However, their tenure proved short-lived. In 1109 the

monks were forced to flee the house when it was attacked and
destroyed during the Almoravid siege of Toledo (ii, 2). Four years
later, Queen Urraca restored the monastery and placed it under the
authority of the church of Toledo, only for Alfonso VII to reaffirm the
affiliation of San Servando to St Victor of Marseilles in 1129.35
Between at least 1127 and 1143, the community of San Servando was
ruled by its prior, Arnaldo, who was granted two generous
endowments by Alfonso VII, in 1136 and 1143 respectively.36 After 22
January 1143, however, Prior Arnaldo disappears from the record. His
namesake, Arnaldo, bishop of Astorga, had been installed in that see
by late February 1144, presumably at royal behest.37 The chronology
dovetails rather too neatly to be dismissed as mere coincidence; the
most logical conclusion to be drawn is that the new incumbent of the
Astorgan see was none other than Arnaldo of San Servando.
To sum up, although we cannot be sure who composed the CAI there
is none the less a body of circumstantial evidence to attribute the
work to Bishop Arnaldo of Astorga. If, as appears likely, the prelate
had served previously as prior of the monastery of San Servando, he
would have been resident in Toledo for nigh on two decades until his
elevation to the see of Astorga in 1144, and would doubtless have
been well-informed about military operations in the Tagus valley and
beyond. After his transfer to Astorga, Bishop Arnaldo became a
leading court figure who played an important diplomatic and military
role in helping to bring the crusading plans of Alfonso VII to fruition,
and who, given the ample rewards he received in return, had good
reason to hold the emperor in particular esteem.38 One can easily
34 A. M. Mundó, ‘Monastic movements in the East Pyrenees’, in C lu n ia c M o n a stic ism

in the C en tra l M id d le A ges, ed. N. Hunt (London, 1971), 98-122, at pp. 111-18. It is
worthy of note that in a charter of San Servando issued in July 1148, some sixty
years after its foundation, none of the monks who witnessed appear to have been of
Leonese-Castilian birth, and one of them —the monk Carbonell - was definitely of
Catalan origin: F. J. Hernández (ed.), L o s C a rtu la rio s de T oledo: ca tá lo g o do cu m en ta l
(Madrid, 1985), no. 62.
35 J. A. García Luján (ed.), P r iv ile g io s reales d e la c a te d ra l d e T o le d o (1086-1462), 2 vols
(Toledo, 1982), II, no. 4; M. Guérard (ed.), C a rtu la ire de l ’abbaye de S a in t-V ic to r d e
M a rseille, 2 vols (Paris, 1857), II, no. 830.
36 On the priorship of Arnaldo, see Hernández (ed.), L o s C a rtu la rio s, nos 27, 31, 34,
37, 42, 44-5; Rivera Recio, L a iglesia, II, pp. 162—*.
37 Quintana Prieto, O bispado, siglo XII, p. 255.
38 For examples of the largess granted by Alfonso VII to Bishop Arnaldo and the see
of Astorga, see Quintana Prieto, O bispado, siglo XII, pp. 679-81.
imagine why such a bishop might have been prompted to pen a pane
gyric of the characteristics of the CAL
We can take this hypothesis a stage further. If Amaldo of San Servando/
Astorga was the author of the CAI, one is led to wonder where he
would have been educated before taking over the priorship of San
Servando, for given its turbulent early history and limited resources
he is hardly likely to have acquired his book-learning at the Toledan
monastery. Instead, the likelihood is that Arnaldo would have been
recruited from one of St Victor’s daughter-houses in Catalonia.
Among these, by far the most prominent was the abbey of Ripoll. By
the twelfth century Ripoll had already firmly established itself as one
of the premier seats of learning in the Latin West. Home to a splendid
library, the monastery had produced a distinguished school of writers
working in such fields as mathematics, science and music.39 But Ripoll
also stood out among the monastic houses of the Iberian peninsula for
both the quantity and quality of the poetry its monks composed.40
When the author of the PA (vv. 233—4) made reference to those who
sang of the deeds of El Cid, he may well have had in mind the Carmen
Campi Doctoris (c. 1083), a Latin hymn of praise to Rodrigo Diaz
displaying classical and ecclesiastical resonances, then held in the
library of Ripoll.4142This is pure speculation, of course. But if the monk,
and later bishop, Arnaldo had served his education within the hallowed
walls of Ripoll, it might go some way towards explaining why it was
that the author of the CAI, when he came to narrate the crusade to
Almería, had the technical ability and the cultural background to pen
the ambitious and vibrant poetic celebration that he did.4a
39 The classic guide remains R. Beer, ‘Die Handschriften des Klosters Santa Maria de
Ripoll’, Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisck-historiche Klasse der Kaiserlichen Akademie
der Wissenschaften in Wien 155 (1908), III. Abhandlung; 158 (1908), II. Abhandlung.
40 See L. Nicolau D’Olwer, ‘L’escola poética de Ripoll en eis segles X-XIII’, Anuari
del Institut dEstudis Catalans 6 (1915—20), S—84.
41 A possibility raised by R. Wright, Late Latin and Early Romance in Spain and
Carolingian France (Liverpool, 1982), p. 232; and Fletcher, The Quest for El Cid, p.
190. There is a detailed study of the Carmen Campi Doctoris by R. Wright, ‘The
first poem on the Cid - the Carmen Campi Doctoris', in Papers of the Liverpool Latin
Seminar, II, ed. F. Cairns (Liverpool, 1979), 213-48; repr., with an updating
postscript, in Wright, Early Ibero-Romance, pp. 221-64.
42 Nevertheless, Salvador Martinez emphasises the technical inferiority of the PA to
the Ripoll compositions: Poema de Almería ', pp. 247, 266.
Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris

(The Chronicle of the Emperor Alfonso)
H E R E B EGINS T H E C H R O N I C L E OF T H E E M P E R O R AL F ON S O
P reface
Forasmuch as the record of past events, which is composed12by historians
and handed down to posterity in writing, makes the memory of kings,
emperors, counts, nobles and other heroes live anew, I have resolved
that the best thing I can do is to describe the deeds of the Emperor
Alfonso, just as I have learned and heard of them from those who
witnessed them. In particular those things which omnipotent God
worked through him and with him so that the salvation of the people
of Christ in the midst o f the earthf might be achieved, starting with the
beginning of his reign, which commenced after the death of Queen
Urraca, the daughter of King Alfonso and Queen Constance34, as will
become clear in what follows.*
Book O ne
1. It is to be noted, therefore, that Queen Urraca died on 15 March in
the Era 1164 [= AD 1126]], after she had reigned for sixteen years,
eight months and seven days.5 She was buried with honour in the city
of León alongside her ancestors in the royal pantheon6. Alfonso, her
son by Duke Raymond7, by then a young man of 19 years old8, who
with God’s dispensation reigned on the day after his mother died, like
1 There is a lacuna at this point in most of the manuscripts, with the exception of
MSS A (BN MS 1505) and L (BN MS 1279), which insert semper and scripte
respectively; the latter is rendered here.
2 Psalm lxxiv.12.
3 See above, Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 87, nn. 80-1.
4 The Preface contains unmistakable echoes of Luke i. 1-S.
5 All the manuscripts give the queen’s death as occurring on idus martii (15 March),
but this is probably the result of an earlier copyist’s error. Other sources (including
Urraca’s own epitaph in León cathedral) state that she died on 8 March, that is,
exactly sixteen years, eight months and seven days after her accession to the
throne, just as the chronicler states: see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, pp. 4 -5 , n. 1.
6 A reminiscence of II Kings ix.28. The pantheon of the Leonese royal dynasty was
housed in the monastery of San Isidoro de León. However, Urraca’s father, Alfonso
VI, chose to be buried in the abbey of Sahagún.
7 See above Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 87, n. 82.
8 In fact, the future Alfonso VII was probably born on 1 March 1105, so he would have
just turned 21 on the death of his mother: see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, p. 5, n. 2.
CHRONICA A D E F O N S I IM P E R A T O R I S 163
a promise sent downfrom on high?, came to the city of León from where
the kingdom is governed, at the time of the blessed Jubilee Year,10 led
by the Lord. As the news of his imminent arrival was announced to the
Leonese citizens, Bishop Diego,11 together with all the clergy and people,
set out to greet him with great joy as to their king, and in the church
of Saint Mary on the appointed day they proclaimed him king, and
they carried the king's banner in accordance with the proper custom.12
2. Then, after three days, Count Suero, a man who was firm in judge
ment and a seeker of truth, who held Astorga, Luna, Gordón with part
of the Bierzo, together with Babia, Laciana and all the valley as far as
the banks of the River Eo and as far as Cabrufiana, came to him with
his friends and relatives, namely his brother Alfonso and the latter’s son,
Pedro Alfonso, whom the king later made a count, together with Rodrigo
Vermúdez, Rodrigo González, Pedro Rodriguez and Pedro Braoliz,
and many others whose names it would take too long to mention.13
9 Luke xxiv.49.
10 The reference to a year of Jubilee has baffled many commentators. It clearly cannot
refer to a ‘Holy Year, during which the Pope grants a special Indulgence to the
faithful on certain conditions, for that practice was not instituted until 1300 by
Boniface VIII. Prior to that date, however, the term iubileus was used to refer to
regularly recurring feasts in honour of a saint. The year 1126 may have been
regarded as a Jubilee because it marked the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of
the cathedral and shrine of Santiago de Compostela, or else because the feast day of
St James (25 July) fell on a Sunday: see B. Schimmelpfennig, ‘Die Anfänge des
Heiligen Jahres von Santiago de Compostela im Mittelalter, J M H 4 (1978), 285-
303, at pp. 290-1; Flórez (ed.), Chronica A d efo n si Im peratoris , p. 316. Alternatively,
the chronicler may simply have been referring to Lent: Huici Miranda, L a s crónicas
la tin a s , II, p. 172.
11 Diego, bishop of León (1112/13-1130).
12 The enthronement of Alfonso VII must have taken place soon after the death of
Urraca. By the time Archbishop Diego Gelmirez of Santiago de Compostela arrived
in León on Holy Saturday (10 April), the king had already left the city: H C y p. 384.
13 On Count Suero Vermúdez, see Barton, A ristocracy , pp. 300-1. As the chronicler
indicates, the principal power-base of Count Suero lay in the mountainous districts
in western Asturias and the extreme west and north of the province of León,
although he also enjoyed property interests in Galicia, the Tierra de Campos and
even as far south as Toro on the Duero. All the other nobles mentioned were
prominent figures in the territories of León and the Asturias. On Alfonso
Vermúdez, see J. de Salazar Acha, ‘Una familia de la alta Edad Media: Los Velas y
su realidad histórica', E stu d io s G enealógicos y H erá ld ico s 1 (1985), 19-64, at pp. 44-
7. On Count Pedro Alfonso, see Barton, A ristocracy , pp. 273-4. On Rodrigo
Vermúdez and Pedro Braoliz, see C. Estepa Diez, E stru ctu ra social de la ciu d a d de
L eó n (siglos X I - X I I I ) (León, 1977), pp. 283-4, 296. Pedro Rodríguez is perhaps the
Asturian nobleman of that name who was associated with the monastery of Corias
and who was a frequent visitor to the court of Urraca: Reilly, A lfonso VIIy p. 16.
The identity of the Rodrigo González mentioned by the chronicler is uncertain: see
Sánchez Belda, C hronica , p. 252.
Moreover, the count of Toulouse, Alfonso Jordan, a relative of the

king, who was the son of Count Raymond (TV] of Toulouse and the
Infanta Elvira, the daughter of King Alfonso [VI], was already present
with him.14
3. After many discussions, the king sent the two counts, Alfonso
[Jordan] and Suero ([Vermudez], together with Bishop Diego, to
those who were still in rebellion in the towers with the following
message: T shall receive you in peace and you will be great in my
kingdom if you hand over the towers to me without a fight.’ But those
who were in the towers, after they had sworn an oath many times that
they would not give up the towers, asserted that they would not have
him to reign over them,15 for their hearts had placed their hopes16 on the
Castilians Count Pedro of Lara and his brother Count Rodrigo
González, who preferred to be at war rather than at peace with their
king.17
4. The next day, the king, with counts Alfonso and Suero and others
who had joined him, together with the citizens of the same city, attacked
the towers and captured them. However, by a prudent and necessary
arrangement, he allowed those who had been captured in the towers
to go free, a deed which greatly terrified the king's enemies. When they
heard this, all the chief men of the territory of León, that is to say
Rodrigo Martinez, his brother Gsorio and Ramiro Froilaz, who were
later made counts by him, and Count *** Ramirez18, Pedro López and
his brother Lope López, Count Gonzalo Peláez and Pedro Peláez de
Valderas, came to him together, and in accordance with the king’s
14 On the career of Alfonso Jordan, so-called because he was reputedly baptised in the
river of that name, see E. Benito Ruano, 'Alfonso Jordan, Conde de Toulouse*, in
E stu d io s sobre A lfo n so V I y la reconquista de T o le d o (Toledo, 1987), 83—98; Sánchez
Belda, C hronica, pp. 222-3. In 1125 the count had undertaken a pilgrimage to
Santiago de Compostela, which might explain his presence with Alfonso VII in
March of the following year. On the Infanta Elvira Alfonso, see above Pelayo,
C hronicon, pp. 87-8 and n. 91.
15 Luke xix.14, 27.
16 There is an echo here of Susanna 35.
17 On the Castilian counts of Lara, Pedro and Rodrigo González, see J. González, E l
reino de C a stilla en la época de A lfo n so V III \ 3 vols (Madrid, 1960), I, pp. 265-8, 260-
2; Barton, A risto cra cy , pp. 280, 292-3. By the 'towers* of León the author was
referring to the royal fortress of that city; during the twelfth century the castellan
of León was customarily styled tenens tu rres L egion is: Estepa Diez, E stru c tu ra social,
pp. 439-45.
18 All the manuscripts omit the first name of this nobleman. However, no count of
León or Castile bore the patronymic Ramirez during the reign of Alfonso VII; it is
clearly the result of a copyist's error.
wishes they made peace with him.1920***i0 Gonzalo Peláez, who was lord
of the region of Asturias, [made peace with him ancT] was made a count
by him; he was accompanied by the most distinguished among all the
knights of Asturias and many [others who are not[] named.21
5. Then the king went to Zamora and had a meeting at Ricobayo
with Teresa, queen of the Portuguese, and with Count Fernando, and
he made peace with them for a fixed period of time.22 Garcia Iftiguez,
who held Cea, Diego Muñoz de Saldaña, Rodrigo Vélaz, count of
Galicia, who held Sarria, Count Gutierre, the brother of Count Suero,
who had made peace with the king in Galicia, together with the sons
of Count Pedro Froilaz, among whom were Rodrigo, who was later
made count by him, and also Velasco and Garcia and Vermudo, who
held great lordships2324in Galicia, together with Count Gómez Núñez,
Fernando Yáñez and Archbishop Diego of the see of Compostela, and
many other bishops and abbots of Galicia, came before the king in
Zamora and with humble devotion they placed themselves under his
authority.2* In the same manner, all the frontier region which is situ
ated beyond the River Duero was placed under the king’s authority by
the hands of its magnates.
19 On the careers of the counts Gonzalo Peláez, Osorio Martínez, Pedro López,
Ramiro Froilaz and Rodrigo Martinez, see Barton, A ristocracy , pp. 259, 271-2, 281,
288-9 and 294-5 respectively. On Lope López, see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, p. 240;
Reilly, A lfon so VII, pp. 187-8. On Pedro Peláez de Valderas, see Sánchez Belda,
C hronica, pp. 247-8. In 1126 Gonzalo Peláez had yet to be awarded the rank of
count.
20 There is a lacuna at this point in all the manuscripts.
21 There are further lacunae here, with the exception of MS A , the renderings from
which are placed within square brackets.
22 On Teresa of Portugal, see below i, 73. Ricobayo lies about 20 kilometres west of
Zamora close to the modern border of Portugal. The Count Fernando referred to
here is Count Fernando Pérez de Traba, Teresa’s consort between c. 1120 and
1128, on whom see Barton, A ristocracy , pp. 241-2.
23 honores-, see above, H R , p. 117, n. 62. Throughout my translation, honor is rendered
as lordship'.
24 With the exception of Garcia Iftiguez and Diego Muftoz, both of whom held
tenancies on the borderlands between León and Castile, the nobles listed here
comprised the secular élite of Galician society. The only absentee of any
consequence was Count Mufto Peláez, lord of Monterroso. On counts Gómez
Núñez, Gutierre Vermudez, Pedro Froilaz, Rodrigo Pérez and Rodrigo Vélaz, see
Barton, A ristocracy, pp. 256, 262, 278-9, 297-8 and 299. On Garcia Iftiguez and
Diego Muftoz, see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, pp. 231-2, 227-8; Reilly, A lfonso VII,
pp. 206-7. On Fernando Yáñez, and Garcia and Vermudo Pérez, see Sánchez
Belda, C hronica, pp. 229-30, 232-3, 257; Barton, A ristocracy, pp. 36-7, 175-8, 316-
17; Reilly, A lfon so VII, pp. 188-9. On the career of Archbishop Diego Gelmirez
(1100-40), see Fletcher, S a in t Jam es's C a ta p u lt
6. When the Castilian counts Pedro de Lara and his brother Rodrigo
González, who dwelled in the land which is called Asturias de
Santillana25, and Jimeno Iñiguez who held Coyanza26 in the region of
León, saw that the powers of the king were growing day by day, they
became very afraid and, whether they wanted to or not, they made
their way to the king to speak with him of peace. And they made
peace with him, although they did so deceitfully on account of the
king of Aragon27, whom they esteemed above all others.
7. The king of Aragon held Carrión, Castrojeriz, and other fortified
castles in the region, the city of Burgos, together with Villafranca-
Montes de Oca, Nájera, Belorado and other fortifications, and many
moated and walled towns in the area, all of which he had seized from
Queen Urraca through war and terror.28 From these he violently
attacked others, for he hated the Castilians, who supported the Leonese
king and loved peace. Other Castilian magnates, apart from those
named above, came to the king of León, even though the Aragonese
king was attacking them, as has been described, and they made peace
with him in their hearts. Among them were Rodrigo Gómez, who was
later made count by him, and his brother Diego, Lope Diaz, who later
received the title of count with a lordship, García Garcés, together
with Gutierre Fernández, his brother Rodrigo, Pedro González and
his brother Rodrigo de Villaescusa.29
8. However, when the citizens of Carrión and Burgos and those who
lived in Villafranca, saw that they had made themselves odious to the king
of León, who was their natural lord, they sent30 messengers to him so
that he might come quickly to recover their towns. After he had come
and retaken them as he had promised, everyone submitted to him. But
the castle of Burgos was held by an Aragonese knight named Sancho
Arnaldi. Since he was unwilling to deliver the castle peacefully to the
king, it was attacked by the Jews and Christians and he was wounded
25 Roughly conterminous with the modern province of Santander.

26 The modern Valencia de Don Juan, about 35 kilometres due south of the city of
León.
27 Alfonso I 'the Battler of Aragon (1104-34).
28 All the places named lay on the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela as it
passed through Castile.
29 On counts Lope Diaz and Rodrigo Gómez, see Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 263, 291. On
García Garcés, and Gutierre and Rodrigo Fernández, see Sánchez Belda, Chronica,
pp. 232, 236-8, 251; González, E l reino de Castilla, I, pp. 294-5, 321-4; Barton,
Aristocracy, pp. 32-3; Reilly, Alfonso VII, pp. 186-7, 189-91.
30 I Chronicles xix.6.
by an arrow, as a result of which he died. Consequently, the castle

which he held was captured and delivered to the king.31 When he
heard this, the king of Aragon became angry and troubled.
9. In the month of July in the Era 1165 Q= AD 1127^, the king of
Aragon went to Castile to fortify Nájera, Castrojeriz and many other
castles which were in the area. But it was of no use to him. For when
he heard of this, Alfonso, king of León, quickly ordered the voices of
the royal criers to ring out in Galicia and Asturias and throughout the
whole of the land of León and Castile. When he had mustered a great
army, he set out to confront him. They drew up their troops on either
side between Castrojeriz and Hornillos at the place called Valle de
Támara.3* But Count Pedro de Lara, who stood in the vanguard of the
king of León, did not wish to fight against the king of Aragon because
his heart was with the latter and he had disagreements with the
former.33
10. However, the king of Aragon realised that the Lord was with the
king of León and he retreated so as not to have to fight with him and
he returned to his camp. And when he realised that there was no way
that he could return to his land without giving battle, he sent his chief
men, namely Gaston of Béarn and Centulle of Bigorre34, as ambas
sadors to the king of León to whom they said: ‘Your uncle35 the king
SI The castle of Burgos was captured on 30 April 1127, according to a charter issued
by Alfonso VII on that day: L. Serrano, E l obispado de B urgos, y C a stilla p r im itiv a
desde el siglo V a l X III, 3 vols (Madrid, 1935), III, no. 87. As the chronicler
indicates, Burgos, like many other urban centres on the pilgrim-road to
Compostela, contained a sizeable Jewish community. The loyalty of the Jews of
Burgos to the Leonese crown had similarly been demonstrated in 1113, at the
height of the war with Alfonso I of Aragon: see H C , p. 138.
32 Hornillos del Camino lies about 18 kilometres due west of Burgos on the pilgrim
road to Compostela. From Hornillos, Castrojeriz lies a similar distance to the
south-west. On 31 July 1127 Alfonso I was at Isar, about 3 kilometres downstream
from Hornillos: see below, n. 38.
33 serm onem cum illo h a b e b a t on this interpretation of the chronicler’s words see Pérez
González, C rónica, p. 67, n. 23.
34 Viscount Gaston IV of Béarn and his half-brother Viscount Centulle II of Bigorre
had taken part in the siege and capture of Zaragoza in 1118 and had been well
rewarded by Alfonso I for their efforts, Gaston receiving the lordship of Zaragoza
itself, and subsequently those of Huesca, Monreal de Ariza and Uncastillo, and
Centulle that of Tarazona. When Gaston was subsequently killed in 1130, his
lordships at Zaragoza and Uncastillo also passed to Centulle: see Ubieto Arteta,
L o s ‘T en en tes’, pp. 202, 224; Bull, K n ig h tly p ie ty , pp. 99-103; Stalls, P ossessin g the
L a n d , pp. 20-1, 124-9, 167-8.
35 Alfonso VII and Alfonso I of Aragon were related by common descent from Sancho
III ‘the Great’ of Navarre: see Pérez González, C rónica, p. 67, n. 24.
of Aragon says to you: “Allow me to go peacefully to my land, and I

will not turn to the right hand nor to the left,96 but I will walk along the
straight road, and I will swear to give to you all the castles and cities
which I hold and which ought to serve you by hereditary right. And
within forty days, I will give back to you all your kingdom, just as it
was under your fathers, so that there may be peace and rectitude
between you and me.’”
11. When he heard this, the king of León perceived that they spake
deceitfully unto him37 and he did not wish to hear the words of the
ambassadors. But having deliberated with his nobles, he acquiesced to
the words of the supplicant. The king of Aragon swore with many
great men of his court that everything would be carried out just as he
had said earlier, and he was allowed to go to his land in peace.38 But
the king of Aragon broke his oath and plundered the areas he went
through, and having lied he became a perjurer.
12. In the month of November in the Era 1166 []= AD 1128]], Alfonso,
the lord king of Léon, took as his wife, who travelled by sea,39 the
daughter of Ramón, count of Barcelona, whose name was Berengaria.40
She was a very beautiful and extremely graceful young girl who loved
chastity and truth and all God-fearing people. He married her at
t
36 Numbers xx.17, xxii.26; Deuteronomy v.32, x v ii.ll, xxviii.14; Joshua i.7; I Samuel
vi. 12; II Samuel ii. 19; II Kings xxii.2; II Chronicles xxxiv.2; Proverbs iv.27; Isaiah
ix.20, xxx.21.
37 I Maccabees xiii.17.
38 The agreement is referred to in a charter of Alfonso I, dated 31 July 1127, drawn
up at Isar In illo rigo de Fornellos, ubi fuerunt facías illas iuras per illos conuenios
quos fecimus ego predictus rex Adefonsus et rex Adefonsus de Castella : Lema
Pueyo (ed.), Colección d ip lo m á tica , no. 176. The precise terms of the treaty of
Támara are glossed over by our chronicler, but a fourteenth-century Aragonese
source, the C rón ica de S a n J u a n d e la P eñ a , later claimed that the agreement
provided that Alfonso I was to retain the territories from the Ebro up to near the
city of Burgos and that he would renounce the imperial title which the kings of
León claimed for their exclusive use. These matters are discussed in depth by R.
Menéndez Pidal, 'Sobre un tratado de paz entre Alfonso el Batallador y Alfonso
V ir, B R A H 111 (1943), 115-31; and J. M. Lacarra, 'Alfonso el Batallador y las
paces de Támara’, E stu d io s de E d a d M e d ia d e la C orona de A ra g ó n 3 (1947-48), 461-
73. Cf. the comments by Reilly, A lfo n so VII, pp. 21-3.
39 This is not inconceivable if Alfonso I of Aragon had refused to allow the princess
free passage across his territory.
40 Count Ramón Berenguer III of Barcelona (1097-1131). The nuptials between Alfonso
VII and Berengaria were in fact celebrated in November 1127. The previous summer,
one Pedro, archdeacon of the church of Barcelona, had travelled throughout Castile
securing oaths of allegiance to Berengaria as queen of León-Castile from the
leading magnates of the region: Reilly, A lfo n so VII, pp. 19-20.
Saldaña and, by the grace of God, he fathered sons by her.41 In
everything that the king did he first consulted with his wife and with
his sister the Infanta Sancha,48 who possessed great and prudent judge
ment, and all their advice turned out favourably for the king and they
acted with foresight in many matters. They were very God-fearing,
builders of churches of God and monasteries of monks, protectors of
orphans43 and poor people, and lovers of all God-fearing people.
13. In the Era 1167 Q= AD 1129]], when the year was expired,** the
king of Aragon, having again gathered a great number of knights,
foot-soldiers and crosssbowmen, came to the frontier at Medinaceli,
besieged Morón and began to attack the castles and towns that were
in the area.45 The inhabitants of Medinaceli and Morón, seeing that
they were being overwhelmed, sent messengers to the king of León,
saying: ‘The king of Aragon is besieging us and wishes to subdue us,
our wives and sons and all our property by violence. Come and free us
from his hands and we will serve you surely.’ When he heard this, the
king replied to the messengers: ‘Go and tell the inhabitants of Medina
celi and Morón: “Be strong, fight and be ofgood courage?6 and I will come
to your aid without delay and with God’s help I will set you free.’”
41 Berengaria bore Alfonso VII at least four sons and two daughters: Raimundo,
Sancho (later king of Castile, 1157-8), Fernando (later king of León, 1157-88),
García, Constanza and Sancha. A fifth son, Alfonso, may also have been born to the
couple: Reilly, A lfon so VII, pp. 27-8, n. 38. The king s second wife, the Polish noble
woman, Rica, whom he married in 1152, bore two further children: Sancha and
Fernando. In addition, the monarch had at least two illegitimate children: Urraca,
the daughter of Guntroda Pérez; and another unnamed daughter whom he fathered
by Countess Urraca Fernández, the widow of Count Rodrigo Martinez: see below
i, 32, 91-2; M. Mafiueco Villalobos and J. Zurita Nieto (eds), D ocum entos de la
Ig lesia C o leg ia l de S a n ta M a r ía la M a y o r de V a lladolid, 3 vols (Valladolid, 1917-20),
I, no. xxxv.
42 On the Infanta Sancha Raimúndez (d. 1159), García Calles, D o ñ a Sancha; Reilly,
A lfon so VII, pp. 139-41.
43 Among them Urraca Rodríguez, the orphaned daughter of Count Rodrigo
González de Lara and the Infanta Sancha Alfonso, who was brought up in the
household of the Infanta Sancha Raimúndez: L. Villar García (ed.), Documentación
medieval de la catedral de Segovia (1115-1300) (Salamanca, 1990), no. 60.
44 II Chronicles xxxvi.10; I Chronicles xx.l; Leviticus xxv.30; Judges xi.40.
45 Medinaceli, in the valley of the Jalón near the border of the modern provinces of
Guadalajara and Soria, was an important staging post on the line of
communication that ran northwestwards from Toledo to the Ebro valley. Morón
de Almazán lies about 25 kilometres further to the north. Reilly prefers to date
these events to 1128, although he concedes that it is possible that some of the
events narrated ‘stretched well into 1129’: Reilly, A lfon so VII, p. 26, n. 36.
46 Deuteronomy xxxi.6; Joshua i. 18; I Samuel iv.9; I Chronicles xix.13, xxii.13,
xxviii.20; II Chronicles x ix .ll, xxxii.7; Psalms xxvii 14; I Corinthians xvi.13.
14. Having mustered an army from the land of León and Galicia, and
a few men from Castile, the king of León gathered together seven
hundred brave knights and they assembled at Atienza.47 But Count
Pedro de Lara, his brother Count Rodrigo and their family and friends
were unwilling to go to the aid of the king of León. Nevertheless, the
king struck camp from Atienza and went to Santiuste and remained
there.48 The next day, having assembled his troops, he went from
Santiuste to Morón. When the king of Aragon heard that the king of
León was going to fight against him, he retreated from Morón and
made his way to Almazán,49 and he entered that town with all his host
and began to fortify it with a great high wall. But the king of León,
the day after he came to Morón, drew up his troops and stationed
them before Almazán from dawn until dusk.
15. When the king of Aragon saw that those troops were few in
number and that the men who were in them were brave and girded with
weapons o f war,50 and he saw himself with many thousands of knights
and foot-soldiers, he summoned his nobles and the leaders of the
people and the bishops who were with him and asked them for advice
as to what he ought to do. Then the bishop of Pamplona, whose name
was Pedro,5152said to the king: ‘Lord, if you command me to do so, I
shall speak.’ And the king answered: ‘Speak, sir.’ And he said: ‘Do you
consider that army to be very small? It is not small, but large. For
God is with it and God is its defender. He does not claim those things
that do not belong to him, but those that are his. He loves peace, he
seeks peace: for every lover of peace loves God. W ith God’s help it is
no hard matterfor many to be shut up in the hands o f afew. For the victory
o f battle standeth not in the multitude o f an host; but strength cometh from
heaven.5,1 O King, remember the pact you made last year with the king
of León: to give him Castrojeriz, Nájera and all the castles and towns
which you took from his mother Queen Urraca, and so to live in peace
with him. O King, do not fight with him! For if you fight with him,
you will be defeated and killed, and all those who are with you.’
47 Atienza was a strongpoint about 35 kilometres west of Medinaceli.
48 Santiuste is situated about 14 kilometres south-east of Atienza and the same
distance to the west of the cathedral city of Sigiienza.
49 Almazán, on the River Duero, about 35 kilometres north of Medinaceli, was
another important strongpoint on the route towards the Ebro valley.
50 Deuteronomy i.41; I Chronicles xii.33, 37.
51 The chronicler is mistaken; in 1128-9 the incumbent of the see of Pamplona was
Bishop Sancho de Larrosa (1122-42).
52 I Maccabees iii.18-19.
16. When they had heard the bishop’s counsel, the king and all his
nobles agreed with him, and he was unwilling to fight against the
king of León. The latter, seeing that the king of Aragon did not wish
to fight with him, sent messengers to him, namely Count Suero, who
was a lover of peace and truth and was a faithful friend of the king,
and Gonzalo Peláez, the leader of the Asturians, who said to him: ‘Our
king says this to you: you are aware of all the harm you have caused
in Castile and throughout his kingdom, and you know how you swore
an oath to him last year to give him the castles and towns which are
in your power and ought to be in his. If you do this, there will be
peace between you and him; and if you do not do so, fight with him,
and to whom the Lord gives victory, let him have the kingdom in
peace.’53 The king replied to them: ‘I will not fight with him, neither will
I give him the castles nor the towns except through a mighty hand.’5*
17. Then the king of León fortified Morón and Medinaceli and all the
castles and towns that were in the area, and all their inhabitants took
heart. The king returned to Castile and commanded the counts, nobles
and knights that each of them should return home with joy. Everyone
who heard that the king of Aragon with his multitude had been
besieged by the king of León, glorified God saying: ‘His mercy endureth
fo r ever.’55 And all the neighbouring peoples who heard this began to
fear the king and to obey him. The king of Aragon fortified Almazán
and returned to his land, to the city of Jaca,56 and from that day he
never returned to Castile nor to the frontier region,57 nor did he dare
to set his face against the face of the king of León. Now there was a great
war between the warriors of Castile, who supported the king of León,
and the men who defended the cause of the king of Aragon. But those
who followed the arms of the Leonese were always victorious. The
palace of the king of Aragon waxed weaker and weaker, while the palace
of the king of León, thanks to God, waxed ever stronger by the day.58
53 This is reminiscent of the words spoken by the messengers sent by Moses to the
king of Edom: Numbers xx. 14-16.
54 Numbers xx.20; Deuteronomy v.15, vi.21, vii.8, ix.26, xxvi.8; Judges iv.24.
55 See, for example, II Chronicles vii.S, 6; Psalm cvi.l, cvii.l, cxviii.1-4, 29, Jeremiah
xxxiii.ll; I Maccabees iv.24.
56 The city of Jaca, strategically situated just to south of the Somport pass across the
central Pyrenees, was a seat of the kings of Aragon and an important staging-post
on one of the two main routes taken by pilgrims to Compostela.
57 Extremo; in other words, the region south of the River Duero.
58 II Samuel iii.l. The CAI portrays the events of 1128/9 as a diplomatic triumph for
Alfonso VII, when in reality his inability to bring Alfonso I to battle or to achieve
the withdrawal of the Aragonese from Castrojeriz and Nájera, not to mention the
18. In the month of January in the Era 1168 Q= AD 1130]], the king
of León went to the city of Palencia and captured Count Pedro de
Lara and his son-in-law Count Bertrán,59 because they were opposed
to his rule. As a result, Count Rodrigo, and their relatives and friends,
immediately rebelled.60 The king led the counts captive to León and
kept them in prison there until they gave up all their castles and
towns. After this he sent them away stripped of their lordships. Count
Pedro de Lara wished to make war in Castile, but he was unable to,
and he made his way to the king of Aragon, who was besieging
Bayonne,61 with the intention of bringing him back to Castile to wage
war. But while he was there, the count of Toulouse, whose name was
Alfonso Jordan, came to that city in order to defend it. When he
became aware of this, Count Pedro challenged the count of Toulouse
to fight together6* and they both went out to do battle like two strong
lions. Count Pedro was wounded by Count Alfonso’s lance and falling
from his horse he broke his arm and died a few days later.63 But the
count of Toulouse remained unhurt.
unwillingness of the counts of Lara to come to his aid, must have represented a
considerable reverse: Reilly, A lfo n so VII, p. 27. For his part, Alfonso I had more
important fish to fry: in the latter part of 1128 he was engaged in the siege of the
nearby Muslim town of Molina de Aragón, which fell to him in December.
59 Count Bertrán of Risnel, cousin of Alfonso I of Aragon and half-brother of Alfonso
Jordan of Toulouse, had played a leading role in the political affairs of León-
Castile since the time of his arrival in the kingdom in I l l s . His principal power-
base was in the district of Carrión de los Condes, but from 1127 he held the
governorship of the city of Burgos on behalf of Alfonso VII: Sánchez Belda,
Chronica, p. 225; Reilly, U rraca, p. 195, 217, 285-6; Reilly, A lfo n so VII, 165, 172,
205-6. The count's marriage to Elvira Pérez, the illegitimate daughter of Queen
Urraca and Count Pedro González de Lara, may have been arranged by Alfonso
VII himself: J. A. Fernández Flórez (ed.), Colección d ip lo m á tic a d e l m o n a sterio de
S ah agú n , IV (1110-99) (León, 1991), no. 1360.
60 The rebellion of 1 ISO may have been prompted by the birth of a son, the Infante
Raimundo, to Alfonso VII and Berengaria. The birth of the male heir and the
subsequent confirmation of the legitimacy of his parents' marriage by the
ecclesiastical authorities, at the council of Carrión in February 1130, may have
decided Count Pedro González to take up arms to protect the rights to the throne
of his own son, Fernando Pérez, who had been born of the count's liaison with
Queen Urraca: see Reilly, A lfo n so VII, pp. 29-33.
61 On the River Adour in south-west France. On the siege of Bayonne, see below ch.
50, n. 126.
62 There is an echo here of the account of the duel between David and Goliath in I
Samuel xvii.10.
63 According to the o b itu a rio of Burgos cathedral, the count's death occurred on 16
October 1130: Serrano, O bispado, III, p. 390.
19. While this was going on, the king of León ordered Count
Rodrigo Martinez and his brother Osorio to go to the land of León
and besiege Pedro Diaz who was in rebellion in the castle of Valle
with a great mass of knights and foot-soldiers.64 They went and
besieged that castle, but those who were inside hurled many insults at
Count Rodrigo and his brother, and the count was unable to subdue
them decisively. When he heard this, the king came quickly and
ordered his servants to build mantelets, machines and many siege
engines65 around the walls of the castle. Those who were with the king
shot many arrows and stones at those who were within and the walls
were breached all the way round.
20. When Pedro Diaz saw that he was being utterly overwhelmed, he
began to shout and call to the king: ‘My lord king, I am the offender
against you and I am guilty: I ask you by God, who assists you in
everything, not to abandon me, nor my wife nor my children in the
hands of Count Rodrigo, but instead to take your revenge on me
according to your mercy.’ When he heard this, the king was moved to
pity, as usual, and he summoned him to his presence, together with
Pelayo Froilaz66 who was with him, and he sent them to his tent; and
after a few days, he let them go free. But Pedro Diaz, left to wander in
every direction without a king or protector, fell gravely ill and died
poor and wretched.
21. Count Rodrigo, having taken charge of the other knights, put
some of them in prison until they gave up all their possessions and he
obliged others to serve him for many days without payment. But those
who had insulted him he had yoked with oxen and made to plough,
feed on grass, drink water in troughs and eat straw in a manger. And
when he had stripped them of all their wealth, he allowed them to go
away wretched and unhappy. When those who were in Coyanza, who
supported Jimeno Ifiiguez, saw this, they surrendered the town and
the castle to the king.
22. After this, the king made his way to Castile and to Asturias de
Santillana against Count Rodrigo [González]] and against the other
64 On Pedro Diaz, see Estepa Diez, E stru ctu ra , pp. 259-60; Reilly, A lfon so VII, p. 193.
The castle of Valle (modern Valle de Mansilla) lay about 20 kilometres to the east
of the city of León.
65 uineas et m achinas e t m u lta ingenia. The C A I contains several revealing descriptions
of contemporary siegecraft: see below, for example, ii, 41-2, 51, 64. Cf. R. Rogers,
L a tin siege w a rfa re in the tw elfth century (Oxford, 1992), ch. 5.
66 On Pelayo Froilaz, see Barton, A ristocracy, pp. 73-80.
rebels. He captured their fortified castles, burnt up their estates and

had their vineyards and trees cut down.67 When the count saw that
there was no way that he could escape from the king’s clutches, either
in castles, in mountains or in caves, he sent envoys to the king requesting
he come to a meeting with him next to the River Pisuerga, with this
condition: that each of them would go with only six knights. The king
agreed to this and they immediately met and began to talk. But the
king, hearing from the count what it was not permitted for him to
hear, was greatly enraged and he seized the count by the neck and the
two of them fell from their horses to the ground. When they saw this
the count’s knights abandoned him and fled shaken with terror.
23. The king seized the count, took him captive and kept him in
prison until he surrendered to him all his lordships and castles. Then
he sent him away empty handed and without honour.68 But not long
afterwards, the count came to the king, submitted to him and admit
ted his guilt against him. The king, as always, was most merciful and
took pity on him, and granted him Toledo and great lordships along
the frontier and in Castile.69 And that count joined in many battles
against the Saracens, killed and took prisoner many of them and
seized great booty from their land.
24. In the month of May in the Era 1169 [[= AD 1131^, the king
went to Castrojeriz. Inside the fortress was a mighty knight of the
king of Aragon, Ariol Garcés,70 with a large number of knights and
foot-soldiers, who was waging war on a large area of Castile. The
king surrounded the castle all the way round with a great wall and
palisade, so that none of those who were inside the fortress could go
in or out. They were seized by great hunger and thirst and they asked
the king for a truce, and sent envoys to their lord, the king of Aragon,
asking him to come and free them from the hands of the king of León.
But the former did not dare to go nor to set foot in the land of the latter.
67 Judith ii.17 (Vulgate); cf. ii, 27 (Apocrypha). The campaign probably took place
during the summer of 1130; on 26 August of that year Alfonso VII was in Asturias:
Serrano, O bispado , III, no. 93.
68 The meaning of h on or here is ambiguous, perhaps deliberately so.
69 These lordships included Segovia, which the count is reported as holding by 3
February 1133, Aguilar de Campoo and Castilla la Vieja: Barton, A risto cra cy , pp.
292-3.
70 Ariol Garcés held the tenancy of Castrojeriz from at least October 1116 until its
conquest by Alfonso VII in October 1131; his other lordships included that of
Logroño in the Rioja between 1127 and 1130: Lema Pueyo (ed.), Colección
diplo m á tica , nos 75, 184, 231, 238; Ubieto Arteta, L o s *Tenentes\ p. 190.
25. When Ariol Garcés and those who were with him saw that they
could not rely upon the king of Aragon, that many of them were
dying of hunger and thirst, and that six months had already passed
since they had been besieged, in the month of October, which is the
sixth month after May, he asked the king to be at one with him and
with his own men. The king granted it to them and when he had put
them out o f thence, he installed a garrison in that place. 71
26. The other castles that were in the area, namely Herrera and
Castrillo, 72 surrendered to the king and he drove the foreigners out of
them and out of all Castile. Salvation and great peace prospered in all
his kingdom , 73 and all the inhabitants began to build houses, plant
vines and all kinds of trees, and to settle all the land which the king of
Aragon had destroyed. There was great happiness throughout his
kingdom such as there had not been up to that time since the death of
his grandfather King Alfonso.
27. At that time there was a Saracen king in Rueda74 called Zafadola. 7576
He was of the most illustrious lineage of the kings of the Hagarenes.7fi
All the deeds that had been performed by King Alfonso of León
against the king of Aragon resounded in his ears: how our king had
besieged him and how the king of Aragon had sworn to give him back
his kingdom, had lied and had become a perjurer. When he heard this,
King Zafadola summoned his children, wives, alguaziles,11 alcaides78
71 The siege of Castrojeriz is directly compared to Simon Maccabeus's campaign

against Jerusalem: I Maccabees xiii.50. The chronicler's chronology of events is
corroborated by a charter of Alfonso VII issued at Castrojeriz on 28 September
1131: AHN, Códices, 1002B, fol. 5r.
72 The identity of these places is uncertain, but likely candidates are Herrera de
Valdecañas, about 25 kilometres south of Castrojeriz, close to the road from Burgos
to Palencia, and Castrillo de Murcia 10 kilometres to the north-east of Castrojeriz.
73 I Maccabees iii.6.
74 Rueda de Jalón, 35 kilometres west of Zaragoza.
75 Sayf al-Dawla, known to the Christians as Zafadola, was the son of the last of the
Huddid rulers of Zaragoza before it was taken over by the Almoravids in 1110.
76 Our chronicler uses the term Hagarenos, that is, the descendants of Hagar,
Abraham's Egyptian concubine and slave, to denote Muslims of Iberian extraction
and to distinguish them from Alfonso VII's arch-enemies, the Moabitas, or Berber
Almoravids. See also below, n. 83.
77 From the Arabic al-wazlr, ‘minister, vizier’. In al-Andalus the alguacil was a civil
governor with responsibility for the administration of a town and its territory;
under the Christians the post of alguacil carried judicial functions.
78 From the Arabic al-qä’id, ‘chief, general’. In al-Andalus the term was used to refer
to a military commander; the Christians adopted the term to refer to the governor
of a town or a castle.
and all his nobles, and he said to them: ‘Do ye know of all the deeds
that have been performed by King Alfonso of León against the king of
Aragon and against his rebels?’ And they said: ‘We know.n9 And he said
to them: ‘What shall we do? For how long shall we be besieged here?'
For indeed they were confined by fear of the Moabites, because the
Moabites had killed all the descendants of the kings of the Hagarenes
and had also taken their kingdom. King Zafadola was confined there
in Rueda together with some of his people, who had sought refuge
with him and were there with him, and he said to them: ‘Listen to my
counsel: let us go to the king of León and let us make him king over
us, our lord and friend, for I know that he will rule over the land of
the Saracens, because God in heaven is his deliverer, and God on high
is his help.90 I know that with his assistance my children and I will
recover the other dominions that the Moabites plundered from me,
from my parents and from my people.’
28. When they had heard this, his nobles all said together: ‘Great is
your counsel; your advice pleases all of us welll’ 79808182 Meanwhile, Zafadola
sent his envoys to the king, saying: ‘Send some of your nobles to me
with whom I may come to you in safety.’ When he heard this, the
king rejoiced with great happiness and quickly sent to him Count
Rodrigo Martinez and Gutierre Fernández, who was one of the great
nobles of the king, on his behalf. They went to Zafadola in Rueda and
he received them with honour, gave them great gifts and went with
them to the king. Alfonso received him with honour, and made him sit
with him on the royal throne, and ordered that he be given quantities
of innumerable kinds of food. Seeing this, the nobles of King Zafadola
looked on with wonder and said to one other: ‘Who is like unto the king
of León among the kings?’81*
29. After King Zafadola had seen the wisdom and riches of the king
of León and the great peace that there was in his palace and in all his
kingdom, he said to him: ‘It was a true report that I heard about you in
Rueda, o f thy wisdom and of the mercy that is within you, and of the
peace that there is in your kingdom and of your riches. Happy are thy
men, happy are these thy nobles, both those who dwell with you and
those who are in your kingdom.’ And Zafadola gave the king great gifts
79 Tobit vii.4.
80 Exodus xviii.4.
81 I Maccabees i. 13.
82 Exodus xv. 11; I Samuel xxvi.15; I Kings iii.lS.
CHRONICA A DE F O N S I I M P E R A TO R IS 177
and very precious stones?3 He and his sons made themselves knights of
the king and promised to serve him all the days o f his life, and he granted
Rueda to him . 84 After he had accepted it, King Alfonso gave it to his
son King Sancho of Castile. It was settled by the Christians and they
began to invoke there the name of the Holy Trinity and the grace of the
Holy Spirit; none of the inhabitants had ever known that the name of
the Lord had been publicly invoked in Rueda until now. The king of
León gave to King Zafadola castles and towns in the land of Toledo, in
Extremadura and along the banks of the River Duero. And Zafadola
came and lived in them and served the king all the days o f his life?3
30. In the Era 1170 Q= AD 1132]] King Alfonso ordered his counts
and nobles that on the appointed day they should gather in Atienza
with their troops. 86 When they had already gathered, the king learned
that the Asturian Count Gonzalo Peláez had held a meeting with his
kinsman Rodrigo Gómez with the intention of rebelling. The king
captured Count Rodrigo Gómez, stripped him of his lordship and sent
him away. 87 Count Gonzalo fled, whereupon all his noble knights were
captured there. The king pursued him into Asturias and ordered that all
the captive knights be brought behind him under guard. He found
Count Gonzalo in rebellion in Tudela and besieged him there. And the
king’s knights captured the castle of Gozón and other castles. 88
83 This passage is strongly influenced by I Kings x.6-10 and II Chronicles ix.S-9.
Here, Sayf al-Dawla is likened to the queen of Sheba acknowledging Solomon’s
virtues. It is striking that such biblical language should have been put into the
mouths of ‘good’ Muslims, which suggests that the author of the C A I sometimes
preferred to judge different Saracens in terms of their attitudes towards the
Leonese, than to denounce Muslims as such.
84 I Kings iv.21.
85 Ibid. A substantially similar account of the submission of Sayf al-Dawla is given by
the Muslim historian Ibn al-Kardabüs, H isto ria de a l-A n d a lu s (K itä b a l-Ik tifö ), trans.
F. Maíllo Salgado (Madrid, 1986), pp. 145-7. The surrender of Rueda to Alfonso VII
probably took place some time after the fall of Castrojeriz in October 1131.
86 It is likely that from Atienza Alfonso VII planned to conduct a new campaign
against the Aragonese, either north-east into the districts of Almazán or Soria, or
east into that of Rueda de Jalón: Reilly, A lfon so VII, p. 38.
87 Count Rodrigo Gómez disappears from court records after 28 May 1132 and may
not have been readmitted to the Leonese curia until February 1135. The charters
of January 1133 which record his presence with Alfonso VII at Oña are far from
reliable: M. Lucas Alvarez, E l reino de L eó n en la A lta E d a d M e d ia . Vol. V: L a s
can cillerías reales (1109-1230) (León, 1993), p. 128; cf. Reilly, A lfon so VII, p. 39,
appendix, nos 158-62.
88 The castle of Tudela, by the River Nalón, lay about 10 kilometres south-west of the
city of Oviedo; that of Gozón about 25 km to the north, on the Cantabrian coast.
On the rebellion of Count Gonzalo Peláez, see Barton, A ristocracy, pp. 113-15;
Reilly, A lfon so VII, pp. 38—42, 46, 58-9.
31. Seeing that the king had captured his knights, in whom he placed
his trust, Count Gonzalo made the following agreement with him:
they were to be bound by a peace treaty for a whole year; the king
was not to wage war on him, nor was the count to plunder the land of
the king nor wage war on him. Count Gonzalo gave Tudela and other
castles to the king, but the count himself continued in rebellion in
Proaza, Buanga and Alba de Quirós, which were very strong castles.89
32. While this was going on, the king took a concubine named
Guntroda, the daughter of Pedro Diaz and Maria Ordóñez, who was
very beautiful and belonged to the greatest family of the Asturians
and Tinians.90 He fathered by her a daughter called Urraca who was
given to the king’s sister, the Infanta Sancha, to be weaned and fed.9192
33. In the seventh year of the reign of Alfonso, king of the Spaniards,
son of Count Raymond and the most serene Queen Urraca, in the
course of the Era 1171 £= AD 1133^), the king, having deliberated with
King Zafadola, summoned all the counts, chief men and commanders
of his kingdom and he communicated with them his secret counsel.9a He
announced that his mind was wholly fixed upon the following: that he
would invade the land of the Saracens in order to conquer them and
to avenge himself on King Täshufm93 and on the other kings of the
Moabites, who had invaded the land of Toledo and had killed many
leaders of the Christians, and had razed to the ground the castle of
Aceca94 and had put all the Christians they had found there to the
sword. Moreover, Tello Fernández, their leader, along with other
89 The three strategic castles of Proaza, Buanga and Alba de Quirós, situated in the
valley of the Trubia to the southwest of Oviedo, guarded the approaches to the
mountain passes of La Mesa and Ventana which linked Asturias and León.
90 Tineo lies in the western district of Asturias de Oviedo. On Guntroda Pérez, see
below i, 95 and n. 210.
91 Cf. above i, 12 and n. 4S. In 1144 the Infanta Urraca Alfonso was married to King
García Ramírez IV of Navarre: see below, i, 91-4. On the king’s death in 1150,
Urraca returned to León and three years later was awarded the tenancy of the
territory of Asturias de Oviedo: see F. J. Fernández Conde, ‘La reina Urraca “la
Asturiana’”, A stu rie n sia M e d ie v a lia 2 (1975), 65—94.
92 Judith ii.2.
93 Täshufln b. 'All, emir of the Almoravids (1143-45). In 1129 Tashufln was awarded
the governorship of Granada and Almería by his father, the emir 'All b. YQsuf b.
Tashufln (1106-43), and in 1131 that of Cordoba, as a result of which he became
the effective viceroy of the whole of al-Andalus, a position which he held until his
recall to Morocco in 1138: Kennedy, M u s lim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, p. 186.
94 The castle of Aceca lay by the River Tagus, some 20 kilometres upstream from
Toledo.
Christian prisoners, had been sent captive across the sea.95 Everyone
agreed with this pronouncement.
34. The entire army from the whole of his kingdom assembled in
Toledo and pitched camp by the River Tagus. The king set out with
Zafadola and his knights. He divided his forces into two, because
there was not sufficient water for them to drink nor grass for the
animals to graze on. The king and his army invaded the land of the
Moabites through Puerto Rey, and the other army under Count
Rodrigo González went through Puerto de Muradal.96 For two weeks
they marched through the wilderness, and the two armies met up near
the Saracen castle of Gallello.97 And from that day they found fodder
for the animals and huge quantities of grain for themselves. The
multitude of knights, foot-soldiers and archers was without number and
they covered theface o f the earth like locusts.98
35. From there, the king struck camp and began to advance across
the plain of Córdoba, raiding to the left and right. He occupied all that
land and plundered it, burning it as he went and taking many
prisoners. Reaching the River Guadalquivir, he crossed it and moved
away from the other bank, leaving Córdoba and Carmona99 on his left
and Seville, which the ancients called Hispalis, on the right. It was in
the time o f wheat harvest, so he burnt up all their fields and had all the
vines, olive groves and fig trees cut down. And dread of himfell upon all
the inhabitants of the land of the Moabites and Hagarenes.100 Gripped
by great fear, the Moabites and Hagarenes abandoned their towns and
95 Aceca fell to the Almoravids in the late summer of 1 ISO. For a fuller description
see below, ii.14. Tello Fernández hailed from the district of Saldaña, north of
Carrión. In 1116 he held the castle of Torremormojón, about 20 kilometres east of
Palencia: C. Monterde Albiac (ed.), D ip lo m a ta rio de la rein a U rraca de C a stilla y
L eón (1109-1126) (Zaragoza, 1996), no. 88.
96 Puerto de Muradal, better known as Despeñaperros, is the main pass across the
Sierra Morena into Andalucía. The identity of Puerto Rey is less certain. Sánchez
Belda suggested it lay in the vicinity of Despeñaperros, near the River Fresnedas:
C hronica, p. 271. However, this is unlikely given the chronicler’s assertion that the
two armies marched for a fortnight before meeting up. Instead, it is conceivable
that the force led by Alfonso VII marched south-west from Toledo and crossed
the Montes de Toledo through the pass still known today as Puerto Rey, from
where it could have continued south into the region of Córdoba.
' 97 The identity of Gallello is unknown.
98 The chronicler models his account on that of the campaigns waged by the
Assyrian general Holofernes in Judith ii.19—20.
99 Carmona lies on the main route from Córdoba to Seville, about 25 kilometres to
the north-east of the latter.
100 Judith ii.27-8 (cf. Vulgate, ii.17-18).
lesser castles, and shut themselves up in their strongest fortresses and

defended cities. They hid themselves in the mountains, in the mountain
caves and in the clefts o f the rock and in the islands of the sea.101102
36. Then the whole army encamped in the land of Seville and every
day large companies of knights, known as algaras102 in our language,
sallied out of the camp and rode to the left and right. They plundered
all the land of Seville, Córdoba and Carmona, burning the whole area,
together with towns and castles, many of which were discovered to be
deserted, for everyone had fled. They took captive countless men and
women, just as they plundered horses and mares, camels and donkeys,
as well as cattle, sheep and goats beyond reckoning. They took back
to the camp huge quantities of grain, wine and oil. They destroyed all
the mosques103 they came upon and when they encountered any
priests and doctors of their religion they put them to the sword. They
also burned all the books of their religion in the mosques. In the
course of their plundering, the knights travelled from the king's camp
for a week after which they returned to it with the booty.
37. Afterwards, as plunder began to run short in the surrounding
area, the king struck camp and went to a very rich city, which the
ancients called Tuccis, Jerez104in our language. This he then plundered,
demolished and destroyed. After that the king moved on and plundered
the surrounding area and reached the fortress called Gallice,1051067which
is on the coast.
38. But certain foolish knights, the sons of counts and magnates, and
many others who were not in their right mind}06 and did not walk after
the king’s counsel,107 heard that a nearby island was full of horses and
cattle and other great riches. They crossed over to it filled with greed,
but they were confronted by battle-lines of Moabites and Hagarenes
drawn up, and these joined battle with them. In payment for their
101 See I Samuel xiii.6; Revelations vi.15; Judges xv.8; Isaiah ii. 19, 21, vii.19; Jeremiah
xvi.16, xlix.16.
102 From the Arabic al-gâra, ‘a raiding party’. See also ii, 92.
103 Throughout the CAI mosques are referred to by the term synagoge. see also ii, 36,
93, 106.
104 Jerez de la Frontera, about 20 kilometres to the north-east of Cadiz. In fact, the
town known as Tucci to the Romans was not Jerez at all, but the town of Marios
near Jaén: Wright, ‘Twelfth-century Metalinguistics’, p. 283.
105 Modern Cadiz.
106 Mark v.15; Luke viii.35.
107 II Chronicles xxii.5.
sins, the Christians were defeated and the sons of the counts and
magnates and many others perished by the sword. Others fled back to
the camp and recounted to the army all that had happened to them.
Finally, then, the whole army began to fear the king, and to obey him,
and thenceforth no knight dared to go out from among the tents
without the royal command.
39. The king stayed there for many days. All the raiding parties
returned in great triumph, bringing with them many thousands of
Saracen prisoners, together with a huge numbers of camels, horses,
mares, oxen, cows, rams, sheep, goats and nanny-goats, which were
from the royal estates,108 and many other kinds of wealth.
40. Afterwards, the king struck camp and made his way to Seville,
crossing the River Guadalquivir. A great mass of Moabites and
Hagarenes, which had gathered there with their battle-lines drawn up
close to the city walls, was soon cut off by a few armed Christians. All
the lands around Seville were raided: they burnt up their crops and
houses, destroyed the vineyards, fig trees and olive trees, and cut
down many royal orchards, which were on both sides of the river.109
The Moabites did not capture anybody, but instead received the
ultimate penalty due to prisoners.
41. When the princes of the Hagarenes saw this, they secretly sent
messengers to King Zafadola, saying: 'Speak to the king of the
Christians and, with his aid, free us from the hands of the Moabites.
We will give to the king of León royal tributes larger than those our
forefathers gave to his, and with you we will serve him free from fear,
and you and your sons will reign over us.’ On hearing this, King
Zafadola, having deliberated with the king and with his loyal coun
sellers, replied to the messengers: ‘Go, and tell my brothers the
princes of the Hagarenes: “Take some strong castles and some strong
towers within the cities, wage war in all parts, and the king of León
and I will swiftly come to your aid".’
42. Then the king struck camp, crossed the Puerto de Amarela Pass
and went to his city Talavera.110 And having accomplished these
108 que erant regum et reginarunu literally 'which were of the kings and queens’.
109 See Judith ii.27 (cf. Vulgate, ii. 17).
110 The precise location of the Amarela pass is unknown to us. However, like Puerto
Rey, it is likely to have led across the western reaches of the Montes de Toledo.
A possibility would be modern Puerto de San Vicente, from where Talavera, 40
kilometres away on the Tagus, can be easily reached.
things, every one returned to his house111 with great joy and in triumph,
praising and blessing God, who had granted the king and his
followers punishment and revenge for Tello Fernández and his
comrades, who had perished at Aceca, and for Gutierre Armfldez, the
governor of Toledo, and for the other commanders whom the
Moabites had slain together with other Christian knights in the land
of Toledo."*
43. After a few days had passed, the king, mindful that Count
Gonzalo remained in rebellion, went to Asturias de Oviedo. He asked
Count Gonzalo for his castles, namely Buanga, Proaza and Alba de
Quirós, in which he remained in rebellion. But the count refused to
give him the castles and, if this was not enough, he also did battle
with him in Proaza and killed the horse on which the king was
mounted and many others. The king, seeing that Count Gonzalo was
set on evil,11213145left Count Suero, his nephew Pedro Alfonso and all the
Asturians to face him. The king went away to Castile.
44. Count Suero besieged Buanga and Pedro Alfonso Alba de Quirós,
while Count Gonzalo remained in Proaza. They hemmed them in
vigorously on all sides, set ambushes in the area around the castles,
on the roads and on the mountain paths, and whomsoever they came
across they sent away having cut off their hands or feet. This went on
for many days. Nevertheless, Count Gonzalo remained in rebellion
against the king for nearly two years.
45. Seeing that he was being completely overwhelmed, Count
Gonzalo made a pact with Count Suero, Pedro Alfonso and Bishop
Arias of León.11+ He went with them to the king, threw himself at the
king’s feet and admitted his guilt. The king received him peacefully
and spoke fine words to him, for as the holy author says: ‘The king's
heart is in the hand o f the Lord, as the rivers o f water!'15The count stayed
at the king’s palace in great honour for many days; afterwards he
asked the king with many entreaties for Luna.116 So the king summoned
his sister the Infanta Sancha, his wife Berengaria and other coun
sellors, whom he knew were prudent in such matters. Having taken
111 II Samuel vi.19, xx.22.
112 On the demise of Gutierre Armildez, see below ii, 15-16.
113 intentus esset ad malum, an echo of Genesis vi.5.
114 Arias, bishop of León (1130-35).
115 Proverbs xxi.l; cf. Pérez de Urbel, Sampiro, p. 316.
116 The castle of Luna, by the River Orbigo, was situated in the far north-west of the
territory of León.
counsel with them, he received Proaza, Buanga and Alba de Quirós

from the count, and ordered that he be given what he had asked for,
namely Luna. This was done so that he would not rebel again, just as
he had rebelled against Queen Urraca who had previously granted
him a lordship.
46. Afterwards, having made peace with the king twice, Count
Gonzalo lied and rebelled. Finally, Pedro Alfonso, together with some
of the king’s knights, captured Count Gonzalo, and Pedro Alfonso
sent him in chains to the castle of Aguilar."7 They held him until the
king ordered him to be freed, and commanded him that on an
appointed day he should leave his land. The count, obeying the king,
whether he wanted to or not, went to Portugal to King Afonso, who
was a relative of the king’s, the son of Queen Teresa and Count
Henry, with the intention that from there he could wage war by sea
on Asturias and Galicia.11718 But God, that seeth all things,119 did not wish
to arrange matters in this way. For his part, the king of Portugal
received him with great honour and promised him great fiefs, for he
trusted that he would make war on Asturias and Galicia. But by God’s
disposition, the count was seized by a fever and died a foreigner in a
foreign land. Nevertheless, his knights bore away his corpse and
buried him in Oviedo.120
47. In the Era 1172 Q= AD 1134^, in the month of October, while all
these things were going on, Count Rodrigo González realised that the
117 This may refer either to Aguilar, about 10 kilometres south-east of Oviedo, or else
to the castle of Aguilar de Esla to the north-east of the city of León. The
chronology of the Asturian rebellion, which in the C A I is vague to say the least,
may be tentatively reconstructed as follows: having first rebelled in 1132, Count
Gonzalo was readmitted to the Leonese court in the spring of 1135. However, the
count disappears from court records after June 1135 and in July Alfonso VII
confiscated his lands and granted them to Count Rodrigo Martinez and Count
Rodrigo González de Lara. In December, according to the dating clause to an
Asturian charter, Count Gonzalo was once more in revolt in the castle of Buanga.
The following spring, king and magnate were seemingly reconciled again, and
Count Gonzalo remained on the court scene until the autumn of 1136. His final
rebellion and capture probably occurred shortly afterwards: details in Barton,
A ristocracy, p. 114-15.
118 Count Gonzalo Peláez is almost certainly the G u n disalu u s comes who may be
sighted at the court of Afonso I of Portugal in October 1137: R. de Azevedo (ed.),
D ocum entos m ed ieva is portugueses: docum entos rêgios, I (Lisbon, 1958), pp. 197-8.
119 II Maccabees ix.5 (Vulgate), xii.22, xv.2.
120 According to an o b itu a rio compiled in Oviedo cathedral, the count’s death occurred
in March 1138: M. E. Garda García, ‘El conde asturiano Gonzalo Peláez’,
A stu rien sia M e d ie v a lia 2 (1975), 39—64, p. 64.
king’s countenance had changed121 for the worse, and he surrendered

Toledo and the towns and fortresses which he held to the king. When
the king had received them, he granted them straightaway to Rodrigo
Fernández and made him alcaide of Toledo. The latter joined in many
battles in the land of the Moabites and the Hagarenes. The battles
which Count Rodrigo González and Rodrigo Fernández waged with
the kings of the Moabites and Hagarenes were extremely hard-
fought, but they are not described in this book.
48. After Count Rodrigo González had kissed the king’s hand and
said farewell to his family and friends, he took a fa r journey122 to
Jerusalem where he joined in many battles with the Saracens. He built
a very strong castle at Toron opposite Ascalon, fortified it greatly
with knights, foot-soldiers and provisions, and entrusted it to the
knights of the Temple.123 Afterwards the count crossed the Adriatic
Sea and came to Spain, but he did not meet the king, nor was he
received in Castile on the estates of his family; instead he stayed with
Count Ramón of Barcelona and with Garcia, king of Pamplona.124
Then he went to Avengania,125 the prince of the Saracens of Valencia,
and stayed with him for several days. But the Saracens gave him a
potion and he caught leprosy. When the count realised that his body
had changed, he went again to Jerusalem and stayed there until the
day of his death.
121 D aniel vii.28.

122 M atthew xxi.SS; M ark x ii.l, xiii.S4; Luke xv.lS . T h e clear inference is th at the
count travelled as a p ereg rin a s, or pilgrim , to Jerusalem .
123 The castle near Ascalon the chronicler refers to is that of Toron des Chevaliers,
on which see D. Pringle, S e c u la r b u ild in g s in the C ru sa d er K in g d o m o f J eru sa lem
(Cambridge, 1997), pp. 64-5.
124 Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona (1131-62); García IV Ramirez of Navarre
(1134-50). Count Rodrigo’s movements during these years can be followed only
sketchily. Between at least 1139 and December 1141 he held the lordships of
Huesca and Jaca in the central Pyrenees; he can be traced on Castilian soil on 8
February 1141, when he made a grant of property to the monks of Arlanza; two
years later he had taken up residence in the Catalan county of Urgel: he is
probably the com es R o ricu s who witnessed the will that was drawn up by his
brother-in-law, Ermengol VI of Urgel, on 24 March 1143: see Ubieto Arteta, L o s
‘T en en tes’, p. 271; Barton, A risto cra cy, p. 116, n. 80.
125 Yabya b. Ghäniya was a leading figure among the Almoravid ruling élite of al-
Andalus. Having first held the governorship of Murcia, in 1133 he was appointed
to that of Valencia, and the following year commanded the Muslim army which
defeated Alfonso I of Aragon at Fraga: Kennedy, M u s lim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, pp.
186-7, 189-92, 203-4. See also below, i, 48, 51, 53; ii, 52, 53, 80, 94 (and n. 189),
99, 100 and 105.
49. Setting to one side the previous order of our narrative, so that we
may make a brief digression concerning the events that relate to the
subject, we shall undertake the history of the king of Aragon, so that
we may speak of his death and of what he did after he returned from
Morón and Almazán.
50. At that time, while the king of León waged war against his rebels,
and against Count Pedro de Lara and his brother Count Rodrigo, who
had joined them, and against other unfaithful men, so that he might
capture them in battle, the king of Aragon mustered a great army of
knights and foot-soldiers. Leaving his land, he made his way to the
borders of Gascony and besieged the town of Bayonne, which is situ
ated next to the River Garonne. He stayed there for many days and
devastated all the land in the area. He built catapults, machines and
many siege engines, and he attacked that town but was unable to take
it.1*6 Afterwards he returned to his land without honour.
51. He mustered a great army from his land and from Gascony.
Having taken counsel with the nobles of his region, he gathered some
very brave and powerful men to strengthen his forces, among whom
were the bishop of Lesear, whose name was Guy, and Bishop Dodo of
Jaca, the bishop of San Vicente de Roda, the abbot of San Victorián,
Gaston of Béarn and Centulle of Bigorre, other brave French troops
and many foreigners.126127 He moved his army and went to the great city
of Zaragoza and to the other towns and castles that he had captured
from the Saracens. Then he struck camp and invaded the land of the
Moabites, and besieged a very strong town called Fraga.128 All the
land of Valencia, Murcia and Granada was plundered and his raiding
parties invaded the land of Almería, made great slaughter and took
many prisoners and burned all that land. But Avengania, a Saracen of
the tribe of the Moabites and the supreme leader of Valencia and
126 Bayonne lies on the River Adour, not the Garonne. The siege of Bayonne, which
lasted from at least 26 October 1130 until October 1131, may have been
undertaken in support of Alfonso l ’s ally, Count Alfonso Jordan of Toulouse, who
in 1130 was at war with Duke William IX of Aquitaine: Lema Pueyo (ed.),
Colección diplomática, nos 232, 242; Reilly, The Contest, pp. 170-1.
127 The figures named may be identified as Guy, bishop of Lesear (1115—il), a friend
and ally of Archbishop Diego Gelmirez of Santiago de Compostela, whom he is
known to have visited in 1121 and 1138; Arnal Dodo, bishop of Huesca and Jaca
(1130-34); Pedro Guillem, bishop of Roda (1126-34); and Durando, abbot of San
Victorián de Sobrarbe (1125-34). On Gaston of Béarn and Centulle of Bigorre, see
above, n. 34.
128 Fraga is situated on the banks of the Cinca, about 25 kilometres south-west of
Lérida.
Murcia, gathered together many Moabites and Hagarenes and went

to Fraga to fight with the king of Aragon. Avengania was defeated
twice and, as he fled from the battlefield, left great spoils to the
Christians.
52. The king of Aragon always took with him on campaign a casket
made of pure gold, decorated with precious stones on the inside and
outside. Inside there was a cross made of the salvation-giving wood,
venerable among relics, on which our Lord Jesus Christ, the son of
God, was hanged in order to redeem us. The king had stolen it during
the time of war from the house of the martyr saints Facundus and
Primitivus, which is in the land of León, near the River Cea.129 He also
had other ivory caskets covered with gold, silver and precious stones,
full of the relics of Saint Mary and of the cross, and of apostles,
martyrs, confessors, virgins, patriarchs and prophets. They were kept
in the tents where the chapel was, which always stood next to the
king’s tent.130 The priests, deacons and a great many of the clergy
watched over and looked after them daily, and they always offered the
sacrifice to the Lord God over them.
53. The Moabites and Hagarenes, who were inside Fraga, wished to
surrender the town to the king so that he might let them go in peace.
However, he did not wish to receive it because God had hardened his
heart'31 in order that all the harm that he had inflicted upon the
Christians in the land of León and Castile should fall upon himself and
upon his own people, just as it later did. For he wished to capture the
town and swore by a royal oath that all the Saracen nobles were to
suffer the capital sentence, also that their wives and sons were to be
taken captive, and that they were to be stripped of all their wealth
without mercy.132 Finally, the Saracen Avengania gathered an army of
129 That is, the Cluniac monastery of Sahagun near León. The bejewelled lig n u m
cruris, to which the chronicler refers here, had been given to Alfonso VI by the
Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of Byzantium (1081—1118) in 1101, and
subsequently placed upon the altar of the abbey church of Sahagun; the cross had
then been appropriated by Alfonso I of Aragon in 1112: A. Ubieto Arteta (ed.),
C rónicas an ón im a s de S a h a g u n (Zaragoza, 1987), pp. 17-18, 52.
130 The Norman monastic chronicler Orderic Vitalis also makes mention of these
relics: Orderic Vitalis, T h e E cclesia stica l H isto ry , ed. and trans. M. Chibnall, 6 vols
(Oxford, 1969-80), VI, p. 410.
131 See, for example, Exodus ix.12, x.20, 27, xi.10, xiv.8.
132 A similar version of events is provided by Orderic Vitalis, who also reports that
the previous year, after the capture of nearby Mequinenza, the Muslim inhabitants
were beheaded by the soldiers of Alfonso I of Aragon: Orderic Vitalis, T h e
E cclesia stica l H isto ry , VI, pp. 410-16.
Moabites and Arabs from overseas, and the kings of Córdoba, Seville,
Granada, Valencia and Lérida, and all the peoples who were on this
side of the sea. And after Avengania had sent ambassadors to them,
countless thousands of horsemen, foot-soldiers and archers came to
Fraga. But in payment of his sins, all this was concealed from the
king, whom God did not wish to help, but to confound.
54. One day at dawn, on 17 July, when the king’s sentries, who
guarded the camp by night and day, looked up, they saw that innum
erable vast formations of Saracens were advancing. Running into the
camp they reported this to the king. The king commanded the arch
bishops, nobles, knights and foot-soldiers to remain in the camp ready
and armed to defend themselves and the camp. But many of the
Aragonese nobles and many other knights had already left the camp
by order of the king and were in Aragon with the intention of return
ing to the camp once they had prepared all the necessary things.
These men were not at the battle.
55. Then, through the agency of divine vengeance, the troops of the
Moabites and Hagarenes came and surrounded the camp and began to
fight. They hurled many spears, arrows, darts and stones at them, and
killed many men-at-arms and animals. When they saw this, the bishops,
clergy and all the Christian people began to beseech Lord God to
deliver them from the hands of the Saracens and not to remember the
sins of the king, nor those of his relations, nor those of them who
were with him, but to chastise them gently. But, in payment for their
sins, their prayers were not heard before God, because the Archangel
Gabriel, the most important messenger of God, did not carry them
before the judgement-seat of Christ; nor was Michael, the leader of
the celestial army, sent by God to help them in battle.
56. When the nobles and all the men-at-arms and bishops saw that
they could not continue the battle in the camp, they sallied forth onto
the battlefield towards them and the battle grew greatly worse. Then,
while they fought, troops of pagans who had been in hiding came up
from the rear and began to attack the camp, and they razed it to the
ground. They seized the golden casket in which was the cross of the
salvation-giving wood, and the other caskets already mentioned.
They stormed the royal chapel and pulled the king’s tents to the
ground and captured the bishop of Lesear, the priests, deacons and all
the clergy, and all the people who were in the camp, as well as the
members of the royal household. In the battle died Bishop Dodo of
Jaca, the bishop of San Vicente de Roda, and the abbot of San Victorián.
57. These are the leaders of the army Qwho died]]: Garsión of
Gabescán, Bertrán of Laon, Fortunel of Fol, Ogier of Miramont,
Raimundo of Talar, Calvete of Sua, Quio***133, Gastón of Béarn,
Centulle of Bigorre and Almaric of Narbonne.'34 Many French troops
and many foreigners and all the nobles and knights of the Aragonese
also died bravely. And seven hundred brave foot-soldiers of the king,
who protected him when he went on campaign, all fell together in the
same place.
58. Finally, the king fled with ten knights (one of whom was Garcia
Ramirez135), he passed through Zaragoza and made his way to the
monastery called San Juan de la Peña in Aragon.136 He went inside,
ordered the doors to be closed and on account of his great sorrow he
laid him down upon his bed137 After a few days, grieved at his heart,13* he
died in the same monastery and was buried with his forefathers in the
royal pantheon. After him, or before, there was no one equal to him
among the former kings of the Aragonese, nor as strong, nor as
prudent, nor as warlike as he. But he had made no arrangements for
his estate or for his kingdom, because he left no offspring.139 He died
on 25 August in the Era 1172 []= AD 1134]].140
133 There is a lacuna at this point in all the manuscripts.

134 In fact, Viscount Gaston of Béarn had been killed in action against the governor
of Valencia four years earlier: Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal p. 186.
135 On García Ramirez, see below n. 149. The size of Alfonso's escort is corroborated
by Orderic Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History, VI, p. 416. Shortly after his defeat at
Fraga, the king issued a charter expressing gratitude to those who had gained
control of his frightened horse in the battle: Lema Pueyo (ed.), Colección
diplomática, no. 280.
136 In fact, after his defeat at Fraga the Aragonese king fled north to Sarifiena, about
45 kilometres south-west of Huesca, where he remained until his death; he was
subsequently buried at the monastery of Montearagón: Lema Pueyo (ed.),
Colección diplomática^ no. 284.
137 I Maccabees i.5; vi.8.
138 Genesis vi.6.
139 Although Alfonso I died childless, it is not quite true to say that he had made no
provision for the succession. By the terms of the will he had drawn up during the
siege of Bayonne in October 1131, he divided his kingdom between three military
orders, the Templars, the Hospitallers and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and
he confirmed these provisions at Sariñena, on 4 September 1134, shortly before
his death. However, as the chronicler makes clear below, the terms of the will
were never carried out. For a detailed discussion of these matters, see E. Lourie,
‘The Will of Alfonso I, el Batallador, King of Aragón and Navarre: a reassessment',
Speculum 50 (1975), 635-51; A. J. Forey, ‘The Will of Alfonso I of Aragon and
Navarre', Durham University Journal 73 (1980), 59-65.
140 The chronicler is mistaken; the king died on 7 September 1134.
59. The bishop of Lesear was taken as a prisoner to Valencia. They

subjected him to immense torture so that he might renounce Him who
was hung on a cross for us and his baptism, so as to circumcise him in
accordance with their laws. After this, he gave hostages on his behalf,
paid three thousand gold morabetinos and returned to his see in Lesear.141
60. When the Christians who lived in the fortified castles and towns
beyond Zaragoza saw that the king had died, they fled for fear of the
Saracens and shut themselves up in Zaragoza. The Saracens came and
took possession of the towns that had been abandoned by the Christians
and made them ready for occupation.142 All the inhabitants of
Zaragoza and of all of the towns wept, particularly those of the castles
which King Alfonso had captured from the Saracens by the sword and
handed over to be settled by the Christians, and they said: ‘Great
Defender, whom have you left to defend us? The kingdom which you
with your royal power seized from the hands of the Saracens will now
be invaded by the Moabites and we will be taken captive without
anyone to defend us.’
61. Then the Aragonese, both nobles and commoners, citizens and
foreigners, gathered together in groups. They tore out their hair and
rent their clothes, and the women scratched their faces, and with great
weeping they cried to heaven:14314‘Oh king! How are youfallen, that made
us safA144 On account of the weight of our sins the wrath of God fell
upon us so that we would lose the liberator of the Christians. Now the
impious Saracens and our enemies will invade us.’
62. So the noble and commoner knights145 of all the land of Aragon,
the bishops and abbots and all the people gathered together in the
141 The morabetino or maravedí was the gold dinar minted by the Almoravid rulers of
North Africa and al-Andalus, and by their Almohad successors, but widely used in
Christian Spain too. Bishop Guy had secured his release by 26 December 1134,
when he joined the court of Alfonso VII at Zaragoza: Lacarra, ‘Documentos’, no.
86. On this and other accounts of the captivity of the bishop of Lesear, see P.
Carter, ‘The historical context of William of Malmesbury’s Miracles of the Virgin
Mary’, in The Writing of History in the Middle Ages. Essays presented to Richard
William Southern, eds R. H. C. Davis and J. M. Wallace-Hadrill (Oxford, 1981),
127-65, at pp. 154—8.
142 On the Almoravid territorial gains, see J. M. Lacarra, ‘La Reconquista y
repoblación del valle del Ebro’, in La Reconquista española y la repoblación del País
(Zaragoza, 1951), 39-83, at pp. 60-1.
143 This appears to be closely based upon Bishop Pelayo’s account of the death of
Alfonso VI of León: see above, Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 88.
144 I Maccabees ix.21; II Samuel i. 19, 25.
145 nobiles et ignobiles milites-, see above, Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 88, n. 97.
royal city of Jaca. They chose as their king a certain monk called
Ramiro, who was the king's brother, and they gave him as his wife a
sister of the count of Poitou.146 This sin was very great before the Lord,1*8411
but the Aragonese, having lost their dear lord, did this so that
children of royal descent should be raised up.148 However, the Pamp-
lonans and Navarrese gathered in the city of Pamplona and chose as
their king García Ramirez, the man who had fled from the battle of
Fraga with King Alfonso.149 King Ramiro went in unto his wife, who
conceived and gave birth}50 to a daughter whereupon, having consulted
with his nobles, he immediately betrothed her to Count [[Ramón]]
Berenguer [[IV] of Barcelona. He gave the kingdom to the count and
admitted that he was a sinner before God and did penance.151
63. After this, the king of León, having learned of the situation
regarding the kings, went to Nájera and they received him there; and
not only there, but in all the towns and castles which should have
been under the authority of the king of León. King Garcia came unto
his presence and promised to serve him for the rest of his life, and he
was made a knight of the king of León, who gave him gifts and a
lordship.152 When the king of León heard that the nobles of Aragon,
146 Ramiro II, king of Aragon (1134-37), had previously served as a monk of the
abbey of San Pedro el Viejo in Huesca; his bride Agnes of Poitou was the daughter
of William IX of Aquitaine. In the immediate aftermath of the debacle at Fraga,
Ramiro had been nominated to the see of Roda, following the death in battle of the
incumbent Bishop Pedro Guillem; however, within four days of the death of
Alfonso I he had been installed as king of Aragon: Lema Pueyo (ed.), Colección
dip lo m á tica , no. 281; A. Ubieto Arteta (ed.), D ocu m en tos de R a m ir o I I de A ra g ó n
(Zaragoza, 1988), no. 12. Ramiro's marriage to Agnes of Poitou took place in Jaca
on 13 November 1135.
147 I Samuel ii. 17.
148 There are echoes here of Genesis xxxviii.8; Deuteronomy xxv.5; II Samuel vii. 12;
I Chronicles xvii.ll; Matthew xxii.24; Luke xx.28.
149 García Ramírez IV of Navarre (1134-50) was a great-great-grandson of Sancho
Garcés el M a y o r of Navarre (1000-35), albeit through an illegitimate line. At the
time of the death of Alfonso I he held the lordships of Monzón and Tudela, among
others: Ubieto Arteta, L o s 4T e n e n te s\ p. 223. He had established himself as ‘king of
the Pamplonans' before the end of 1134.
150 Genesis xxx.5, iv.17, xvi.4; Exodus ii. 1; II Samuel xii.24.
151 Petronila, daughter of Ramiro II and Queen Agnes, was born in the summer of
1136 and betrothed to Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona in August 1137. The
following November, Ramiro II designated his future son-in-law regent for
Aragon on the understanding that any offspring of the couple would be heir to the
combined realms of Aragon and Barcelona. This political settlement achieved,
Ramiro retired to the cloister.
152 The meeting between Alfonso VII and García Ramírez IV in Nájera probably took
place in November 1134. The Leonese king recognized Garcia as the legitimate
King Ramiro and all the people were in great terror and dread, he said
to his nobles: ‘Let us go to Aragon and take pity on our brother King
Ramiro, and let us offer him advice and assistance.’
64. When King Ramiro, together with all the noble magnates of his
palace, the bishops, the abbots and all the people, heard that the king
of León was coming come to their land, they went out to greet him.
They received him with great honour and served him. The king of
León spake many fine and peacable words unto them,153451and he promised
that he would help them with all his heart and with all his mind154 King
Ramiro, having consulted with the bishops and with all the nobles of
his kingdom, gave Zaragoza to the king of León, so that it would
always remain under his dominion and that of his sons.155 And the
kings made their way there together in order that it might be
delivered to the emperor.
65. When all the people heard that the king of León was coming to
Zaragoza, all the nobles of the city and all the people went out to
greet him with drums, harps, psalteries and all kinds o f musick,156 singing
and calling ont:1Blessed is he that cometh, blessed is he and the kingdom
of his forefathers, blessed is the kingdom of León, and blessed is your
mercy and your patience.’157 And they led him into the city.
66. Afterwards, the bishop of Zaragoza158159went into the city square
with a great procession of clergy and monks. He greeted the king of
León and they went with him into the church of Saint Mary singing
and calling out: ‘Fear God, and keep his commandments,159 and so on.
Finally, having been blessed by the bishop, as is the custom of kings,
ruler of Navarre, in return for which he recovered the Rioja and the other
territories on the west bank of the Ebro that his mother Urraca had lost to
Alfonso I of Aragon. The following May, having briefly allied himself with
Ramiro II of Aragon, the Navarrese monarch renewed his oath of loyalty: see H.
Grassotti, 'Homenaje de García Ramírez a Alfonso VIT, CHE 37-8 (1963), 318-
29; Reilly, Alfonso VU, pp. 46-9.
153 I Maccabees i.30, vii.15, x.3; Exodus xviii.7; Judges xviii.15.
154 Mark xii.30; Matthew xxii.37; Luke x.27.
155 Alfonso VII entered Zaragoza in December 1134. Under the terms of his
settlement with Ramiro II, the Leonese king not only gained the lordship of that
city and its territory, but the lands around Almazán and Soria too.
156 Daniel iii.5, 7, 10, 15.
157 There are echoes here of Psalm cxviii.26; Matthew xxi.9, xxiii.39; Mark xi.10;
Luke xiii.35, xix.38.
158 García de Majones, bishop of Zaragoza (1130-36).
159 Ecclesiastes xii. 13. Cf. below ii, 63.
they accompanied him to the royal palace and gave him abundant
tribute. The king stayed in Zaragoza for several days and stationed a
large garrison of knights and foot-soldiers there to guard the city.
After this, at the king’s command, having received the blessing of the
bishop and of all the people, they returned to Castile praising and
blessing God, who gives peace to those who trust in him.
67. In the same year as these things happened, the king’s brother-in-
law, Count Ramón of Barcelona, and his relative, Count Alfonso of
Toulouse, came before the king of León and they promised to obey
him in all matters. They were made his knights, after they had touched
the king’s right hand to confirm their loyalty.160 The king gave
Zaragoza as a lordship to the count of Barcelona,161162as is the custom of
the king of León, and he gave to the count of Toulouse, in addition to
a lordship, a very fine gold cup of thirty marks in weight, many
horses and numerous other gifts.
68. In addition, all the nobles who dwelled in the whole of Gascony
and throughout all that land as far as the River Rhone, and William
£Vr] of Montpellier, came of one accord to the king and they received
from him silver and gold, many varied and precious gifts, and many
horses. They all submitted to him and obeyed him in all things. Many
sons of the counts of France, of dukes and nobles, and many Poitevins,
came before him and received from him weapons and many other gifts.
And the border o f the kingdom of Alfonso, king of León, was from the
great Ocean Sea, that is, from Padrón de Santiago, unto the River
Rhone.16a
69. After this, in the Era 1173 [= AD 1135^ the king appointed the
second of June, Pentecost Sunday,163 as the date to hold a council in the
royal city of León, with the archbishops, bishops, abbots, counts, nobles,
160 This was a typical gesture of homage in the twelfth century. See J. Le^ Goff, ‘Le
rituel symbolique de la vassalité’, in Le Goff, Pour un autre Moyen Age (Paris,
1977), S49-420.
161 The chronicler is mistaken. In September 1135 Alfonso VII ceded Zaragoza to
García Ramirez of Navarre who did homage for it; in August of the following year
the emperor returned the city to Ramiro II of Aragon. The grant to the count of
Barcelona occurred towards the end of 1137, that is, shortly after Ramiro II
appointed his future son-in-law as regent for Aragon: see Reilly, Alfonso VII, p. 51,
54-5, 61, n. 33.
162 A passage inspired by Genesis x.19; Joshua xiii.23, xvi.5, xix.10. Padrón, on the
Atlantic coast, about 20 kilometres south-west of the city of Santiago de
Compostela, was the reputed landing point of the disciples of St James when they
bore the apostle’s body by sea to Spain.
163 In 1135 Pentecost Sunday fell on 26 May.
governors and judges who were in his kingdom. On the appointed day, the
king arrived with his wife Queen Berengaria, his sister the Infanta
Sancha, and with them King Garcia of Pamplona; and, just as the king
had commanded, they all gathered in León. There also arrived a great
throng of monks and clergy, together with countless common folk, to
know, to hear or to speak the divine word.'6*
70. On the first day of the council,164165 all the nobles and commoners
gathered with the king in the church of Saint Mary, and there they
discussed those things which the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
suggested to them, and those which are proper for the salvation of the
souls of all the faithful. On the second day, on which the arrival of the
Holy Spirit to the Apostles is celebrated, having taken divine counsel,
the archbishops, bishops, abbots, all the nobles and commoners and all
the people assembled again in the church of Saint Mary, together with
King Garcia and the king's sister, to proclaim the king emperor,
because King Garcia, King Zafadola of the Saracens, Count Ramón of
Barcelona, Count Alfonso of Toulouse and many counts and magnates
from Gascony and France obeyed him in all things. Having dressed
the king in a fine cloak woven with wonderful skill,166 they placed on
his head a crown of pure gold and precious stones, and after having
placed a sceptre in his hands, King Garcia held him by the right arm
and Bishop Arias of León by the left, and together with the bishops
and abbots they led him before the altar of Saint Mary, singing the
‘Te Deum laudamus until the end, and calling out: ‘Long live the
Emperor Alfonso!’ Having given him the blessing, they held Mass
according to the custom of feast days.167 Afterwards each of them
returned to their tents. The emperor ordered a great banquet to be
164 This chapter is closely based upon the spurious account of the council of Oviedo
allegedly convoked by King Alfonso III of Asturias (866-910) which was
interpolated into Sampiro’s Chronicle by Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo: see Pérez de
Urbel, Sampiro, pp. 289-91. The witness-lists to the charters drawn up during and
immediately after the council of León reveal the names of some and the great and
the good who attended: the Infanta Sancha, King Garda of Navarre, the
archbishop of Toledo, thirteen bishops and five archdeacons, eight counts and at
least another eleven lay magnates. Archbishop Diego of Santiago de Compostela
also appears to have been present, although some doubts have been expressed on
that score: Fletcher, St James’s Catapult, p. 274, n. 34. Those from outside the
kingdom who attended included Bishop Guy of Lesear, Bishop Garda of
Zaragoza, Bishop Miguel ofTarazona and Count Ermengol VI of Urgel.
165 That is, Saturday, 25 May 1135.
166 A recollection of I Kings vii. 17
167 On the coronation of Alfonso VII, see Linehan, H isto ry a n d the H isto ria n s, pp. 235ff.
held in the royal palace, and the counts, nobles and governors served
at the royal tables.'68 The emperor also ordered large sums of money to
be given to the bishops and abbots, and to everyone else, and great
gifts of clothing and food to be given to the poor.
71. On the third day, the emperor and the others, as they were
accustomed to do, gathered again in the royal palace and dealt with
those matters which concerned the salvation o f the whole o f the kingdom o f
Spain.'69 The emperor bestowed customs and laws upon all his
kingdom, just as they had been in the time of his grandfather King
Alfonso; he commanded that all the estates and serfs which had been
lost without trial or justice be restored to all the churches; he com
manded that the villages and lands which had been destroyed during
wartime be repopulated, and that vines and all kinds of trees be
planted; and he commanded all the judges to eradicate severely vice in
those men who were discovered to be acting contrary to justice and to
the decrees of kings, nobles, authorities and judges. They, for their
part, judged justly, hanging some from the gallows, leaving others to
have their hands or feet cut off, not sparing the wealthy nor the high
born any more than the poor, but distinguishing everything according
to the level of guilt. Moreover, the emperor ordered that witches were
in no way to be tolerated, just as the Lord said to Moses 'Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live’.'’10 And in the sight of everyone some of these
workers o f iniquity171 were captured and hanged from the gallows.
72. The emperor commanded the governors of Toledo and all the
inhabitants from the whole frontier to form armies continually, to
make war on the infidel Saracens every year and not to spare their
cities or fortresses, but to claim them all for God and Christian law.
These things having been accomplished, once the council had dissolved they
all returned joyfully to their homes'7a singing and blessing the emperor
and calling out: “Blessed are you and blessed is the kingdom of your
forefathers and blessed is God on high, who made the heaven and the1689702
168 Acts vi.2. The celebrations were not confined to feasting. On 26 May 1135,
Alfonso VII granted the village of Varea near Logroño to one Ramiro Garcés in
recognition of the fact that the latter had held the monarch’s shield during the
coronation ceremony, and had bravely killed a bull during the subsequent
festivities: I. Rodríguez de Lama (ed.), Colección diplomática de la Rioja; Documentos,
923-1168, II (2nd edn., Logroño, 1992), no. 107.
169 Pérez de Urbel, Sampiro, pp. 304-5.
170 Exodus xxii. 18.
171 A reminiscence of I Maccabees iii.6; Luke xiii.27.
172 Pérez de Urbel, Sampiro, p. 305.
earth, the sea and all the things that are in them, because He has
visited us and shown us the mercy which He promised to those who
have faith in Him.’173
73. However, when one year of the aforementioned treaty had passed
by peacefully, King Garcia of Navarre and all his warriors rose up
against the lord emperor. King Afonso of the Portuguese, the son of
Count Henry and Queen Teresa, likewise rebelled at the same time.174
Teresa was the daughter of King Alfonso QVT], hut was born not of a
legitimate wife but of a concubine, though one greatly loved by the
king, called Jimena Muñoz.175 Because of his love and honour (Tor
Teresa]], the king gave her in marriage to Count Henry and gave her
a magnificent dowry by granting her the land of Portugal to hold by
hereditary right. When Count Henry died, the Portuguese proclaimed
her queen, and when she died, they proclaimed her son king, as indeed
he later was, in honour of her name.176
74. These two kings, as has been said above, waged war on the
emperor at the same time and each of them launched a campaign from
their own region: King Garcia in Castile and the king of Portugal in
Galicia. The king of Portugal marched to Galicia and captured the
city of Tuy177 and other castles. Count Gómez Núñez, who held many
castles and the territory of Toroño,178 and Count Rodrigo Pérez the
Hairy, who held castles in Limia179 and a lordship from the emperor,
deceived their lord the emperor and gave their castles and lordships
to the king of Portugal.180 If this was not enough for them, they also
waged war to their own cost, all of which caused the counts diffi
culties during all of the rest of the days of their lives.
173 This is redolent with biblical phraseology: see, for example, I Samuel xxv.32; II
Samuel xviii.28; Judith xiii.17-18; Mark xi.10.
174 Afonso 1 Henriques of Portugal (1128-85). The attacks against Alfonso VII were
probably launched in the spring of 1137, while the emperor was campaigning in
the upper Guadalquivir valley: Reilly, Alfonso VII, pp. 57-8.
175 non de legitima \jixorè], sed de concubina, following MS A. On Jimena Muñoz, see
above Pelayo, Chronicon, pp. 87-8, n. 90.
176 On Count Henry of Burgundy, see above Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 88, n. 93. On the
emergence of an independent realm of Portugal, see Reilly, The Contest, pp. 141-
3, 200-4.
177 Tuy lies in the lower valley of the Miño on the modern frontier between Spain
and Portugal.
178 Roughly conterminous with the diocese of Tuy.
179 The territory of Limia lies to the south of the modern province of Orense.
180 On counts Gómez Núñez and Rodrigo Pérez, see i, 5 (and n. 24), 77, 87.
75. At that time there was in Limia a noble named Fernando Yáñez,181
who was a brave knight and a faithful friend of the emperor. He held
the castle of Allariz182 and many others. For this reason, he and his
sons, brothers and friends bravely waged war against the king of
Portugal. And although they were exhausted by the war against the
king, they did not lose their honour but attained the greatest glory.
Already in times past the aforementioned king of Portugal had gone
to Galicia on many occasions and had been expelled from there by
Count Fernando Pérez, Rodrigo Vélaz and the other magnates of
Galicia, and had returned to his land without honour.183 He came to
Limia again and built a castle at Celmes.184185He reinforced it with noble
knights and the bravest foot-soldiers from his palace, and despatched
to it large supplies of bread, meat, wine and water, and returned to his
land of Portugal.
76. When the emperor heard this, having gathered a great army from
Galicia and León and many knights, he went quickly to Limia and
besieged the castle of Celmes. After a few days had passed, he stormed
it and captured there a large number of noble knights from the palace
of the king of Portugal, and he kept them under guard for many days.
This caused unbearable sadness in the palace of the king of Portugal,
because it had not befalien him as he lookedfor.'95
77. Having fortified the castle, the emperor was delighted that all
Limia had returned to him and he went back to the land of León. This
happened before he was proclaimed emperor, but after he was
proclaimed emperor, as we said earlier, Count Gómez Núñez and
Count Rodrigo, who was called the Hairy, rebelled in Galicia and
surrendered their lordships and castles to the king of Portugal, who
fortified them and returned to his land.
78. Again, having mustered his army, the king of Portugal went to
Limia. On hearing this, Count Fernando Pérez, Count Rodrigo Vélaz
and other of the emperor’s nobles in Galicia, having all assembled
with their knights at the same time, set out against the king and they
encountered him at the place called Cernesa. Once they had drawn up
181 On Fernando Yáñez, see i, 5, 81; ii, 100; PA, vv. 199-216.
182 Allariz lies about 15 kilometres south of the city of Orense.
18S On Fernando Pérez and Rodrigo Vélaz, see i, 5 (and nn. 22 and 24), 78; PA w . 74-8.
184 The castle at Celmes was erected near Ginzo de Limia, south of Orense.
185 I Maccabees vi.8. The chronology of the account of the Portuguese wars provided
by the chronicler is unclear to say the least; however, it is likely that the Celmes
campaign took place in the spring of 11S4: Reilly, Alfonso VII, pp. 42-3.
their troops, they began to fight and, in payment for their sins, the
counts took to flight and were vanquished. Count Rodrigo Velaz was
captured in the battle by some of the king’s knights, but he was
immediately freed by two of his armour bearers, who carried out an
ingenious plan, and he fled with them.186
79. After this victory, the king immediately returned to the land of
Portugal to relieve those who were in the castle of Erena. He had
built the castle opposite another, Santarém, which the Moors held, in
order to wage war on Santarém, Lisbon, Sintra and the other castles
of the Saracens which are in the surrounding area.187
80. At that same time the Moabites and Hagarenes went to the castle
of Erena and they took it by storm. All the Christian warriors, over
250 of them, and some of the king’s magnates, perished there by the
sword, which caused great sadness and alarm in the household of the
king of Portugal.188
81. While all this was going on, the emperor waged war in the land
of King Garcia. He captured his fortified castles and Count Ladrón189
of Navarre, the most noble of all the magnates of the household of
King Garcia. He destroyed, plundered and burned his land and had
the vines and trees cut down. Count Ladrón of Navarre, having sworn
an oath to the emperor, served him for many years. However, after
peace had been made between the emperor and Count Ladrón of
Navarre, there was war for several years between King Garcia and the
186 The location of Cernesa is unknown, although probably lay in the disputed border
territory of Limia. The date of the campaign described here is impossible to
establish with any certainty; see, however, Sánchez Belda, Chronica , pp. xlii-xliii.
It is striking that our chronicler has nothing to say of the emperor’s response to
the Portuguese invasion of 1137. According to the H isto ria C om postellana , when
Alfonso VII heard of the invasion he journeyed west from Zamora to Tuy in only
three days with a small escort of knights and swiftly forced the Portuguese to
come to terms: H C , p. 520. The peace treaty between the emperor and Afonso I of
Portugal was agreed at Tuy on 4 July 1137: Fernández Flórez (ed.), Colección
diplom ática, , IV, no. 1263.
187 Afonso I had begun to build the castle of Erena, better known as Leiria, about 70
kilometres south-west of Coimbra, in December 1135: see E. Flórez (ed.),
Chronicon L u sita n u m , E S 14 (Madrid, 1758), p. 409. Santarém lies on the Tagus,
about 80 kilometres upstream from Lisbon and nearby Sintra.
188 Leiria fell to the Almoravids in 1140: Flórez (ed.), Chronicon L usitanum , pp. 410-11.
189 The Navarrese campaign took place in October 1137. Count Ladrón Iñíguez,
whose principal power-base lay in the Basque territories of Alava and Guipúzcoa,
was an effectively independent magnate whose loyalties shifted between the
Leonese and Navarrese courts according to the political exigencies of the time. He
was a frequent visitor to the court of Alfonso VII between 1136 and 1140, and
again between 1151 and 1157: see Reilly, A lfonso VII, pp. 164-5, 181—2.
emperor. But the power of King Garcia against the emperor was small
or non-existent. Meanwhile, in Portugal, Fernando Yáñez, the lord of
Limia, together with others faithful to the emperor, made war on the
king daily, with whom he did battle and fought bravely. The king him
self was wounded by a spear that was bravely hurled by one of
Fernando Yáñez’s foot-soldiers, and he suffered for many days until he
was cured by doctors. In this war Fernando captured some of the king’s
nobles and released them once he had stripped them of great wealth.190
82. It came to pass that after all these things had happened, the
emperor ordered the counts of Castile, namely Rodrigo Gómez and
Lope López, and the magnate Gutierre Fernández and other magnates,
to be ready to make war on King Garcia daily.191 The emperor him
self, having mustered a great army in the land of León, went to
Portugal, captured many fortified castles, and destroyed and plundered
a large amount of territory. For his part, the king of Portugal, having
gathered his army, went to do battle with a few who had foolishly
gone away from the emperor’s army. After he had encountered Count
Ramiro [Troilaz], who was attacking his land, they both joined battle
and Count Ramiro was defeated and captured by the king.192
83. Afterwards, the emperor encamped outside the castle of Peña de
la Reina, in the place called Pórtela de Vez.193 The king of Portugal
pitched his tents opposite the emperor’s camp in a place that was higher
and more rugged, and there was a valley between them.194591Then, without
the emperor’s command, many nobles and knights, and the king’s
knights, left their camp and joined battle with one another, and many
were captured on both sides as they fell from their horses to the
ground.
84. Observing this battle, the high born among the Portuguese said
to their king: ‘Lord king, it is neither good nor useful to us to be at
war with the emperor, nor will we constantly be able to withstand so
great a multitude and so strong.'95 Tomorrow will not be like today for
190 Again, the chronology of these events is impossible to establish.

191 On the nobles mentioned, see i, 4, 7 and nn. 19 and 29. Lope López of Carrion
never held comital rank; the chronicler perhaps had in mind Count Lope Diaz, the
emperor’s right-hand man in the Rioja, on whom see i, 7 and n. 29.
192 The campaign took place in the summer of 1141. On Count Ramiro Froilaz, see i,
4 (and n. 19), 86; PA, vv. 100-13.
193 Near modern Arcos de Valdevez to the north of the River Limia.
194 I Samuel xvii.3.
us. If there had been peace between us, all our brothers who perished
at the hands of the Saracens in the castle of Erena would not have
died. You must ensure that the Moabites and Hagarenes do not by
any chance come again against our towns and castles which are
beyond the River Duero, and cause even worse damage than they
caused before. You must command some of us, therefore, to go to ask
the emperor to make peace with us. Let us give him all his castles
which we hold, and let him return to us those which his knights
captured from us. For it is better for us to have peace than war.’
85. When he had heard his nobles’ counsel, the king was pleased and
sent some of the chief men of his household as messengers to the
emperor to inform him of the discussions concerning peace between
the kings. The emperor heard them and was pleased by them. After
this, the king’s messengers received a pledge from the nobles that
there would be a truce between them until the said peace was either
fulfilled or, which God would not permit, was broken. Then, finally,
the emperor’s nobles went to the king’s camp and likewise received a
pledge from the king’s nobles in the same manner as had been given
to them.
86. The next day, the emperor’s counts met with the king’s nobles
and made peace between the emperor and the king, not absolutely for
ever, but for a few years. And they swore that they would establish it
more strongly on another occasion, so long as there was peace, if both
parties saw fit. All the castles which the king of Portugal had
captured in Galicia were returned to the emperor’s deputies, and
likewise those of the king, which the emperor’s knights had captured
from him in the war, were returned to him. Then Count Ramiro was
released and all the knights who had been captured on both sides
were set free.196
87. There was peace between them for many years, which, because it
was good for the Christians, was deemed to be advantageous. The
king expelled Count Rodrigo and Count Gómez Núñez from his
presence, because they had provoked discord between the emperor
and the king. Realising his guilt, Count Gómez Núñez was ashamed
196 If we are to believe the Portuguese version of events, the action at Valdevez may
have been far more of a reverse than our chronicler is willing to admit. The
C hronicon L u sita n u m reports not only that a number of other Leonese magnates,
including Ponç de Cabrera, Rodrigo Fernández, Vermudo Pérez and the
emperor's half-brother, Fernando Pérez de Lara, were captured in battle, but that
it was the emperor himself who was forced to seek terms: Flórez (ed.), Chronicon
L u sita n u m , p. 411.
and fled across the Pyrenean mountains, whether he wanted to or not,

because there was no place for him to live, and he became a monk in
the monastery of Cluny.197 The emperor, moved by pity for Count
Rodrigo, ordered him to eat bread in his presence in his palace and to
be given payments of gold and silver just like one of his nobles who
served him.198
88. The emperor decided to go to Santiago to pray, and after he had
done as he had vowed he returned to the land of León and Castile.
Then he went to Pamplona, in the land of King Garcia and, having
pitched camp on the plain of Pamplona, he sent raiding parties
throughout the territory of King Garcia. They set fire to much of the
land, cut down vines and trees, and returned to the emperor at the
camp carrying with them a great booty of oxen, cows, horses, mares
and vast riches.
89. While this was going on, King Garcia, having mustered his troops,
confronted a large army from Aragon and Barcelona under Count
Ramón of Barcelona. He joined battle with them, and King Garcia was
the victor on the battlefield and he captured their spoils. But while the
victors divided the spoils among themselves, the emperor arrived
suddenly with only thirty knights. Seeing the emperor's banners,
King Garcia and all his entourage fled, leaving all the booty in the
camp and the emperor pursued the fugitives as far as their city of
Pamplona.199
90. After this, the emperor and all his camp returned to his town of
Nájera with great triumph and joy. Afterwards he went to Castile and
ordered that royal proclamations should ring out throughout all the
197 The count's close relations with the Cluniacs dated from 26 July 1126 when, with
his brother Fernando, he had granted the monks the monastery of Budiño near
Tuy: A. Bruel (ed.), Recueil des chartes de Vabbaye de Cluny, 6 vols (Paris, 1876-
1903), V, no. 3993.
198 The reconciliation between Alfonso VII and Count Rodrigo Pérez may not have
been as immediate as the chronicler suggests. The evidence of the diplomas issued
by the emperor indicates that apart from a brief spell in 1146-8, when the count
can be traced at court, the Galician continued to maintain close links with Afonso
I of Portugal and did not rejoin the Leonese curia on a regular basis until 1152:
Barton, Aristocracy, p. 130 and n. 147.
199 The events described probably took place in the autumn of 1141. Alfonso VII may
be traced at Nájera on 3 November of that year, and another charter of the same
month records that it had been drawn up in the year that both the emperor and
the count of Barcelona had gone with their armies to Pamplona: A. Ubieto Arteta
(ed.), Cartularios (1, 77, y III) de Santo Domingo de la Calzada (Zaragoza, 1978), no.
12; A. Durán Gudiol (ed.), Colección diplomática de la catedral de Huesca, 2 vols
(Zaragoza, 1965), I, no. 157; cf. Reilly, Alfonso VII, p. 72.
land of León and Castile, so that in the middle of the month of May all
the knights and foot-soldiers would gather once again in Nájera to
make war on King Garcia. When King Garcia realised that there was
no way he could avoid war with the emperor, he was greatly saddened
and summoning his own counsellors he said to them: ‘Ponder what
decision we may take, because once again the emperor, having made
peace with the king of Portugal, wishes to come against us to destroy
us*00 and our land, either by battle or by siege.’ In the end, being unable
to come to any decision as to what they ought to do, Count Alfonso
Jordan of Toulouse,20201 who was going on a pilgrimage along the royal
road to Santiago in order to pray, turned up unexpectedly and on see
ing him the king, and those who were with him, rejoiced with great
happiness.
91. Having come to a decision, Count Alfonso and other nobles of the
king went to meet the emperor. First of all, they made peace between
the emperor and the king with the following agreement: King Garcia
would serve the emperor without deceit for all the days of both their
lives. When this had been done, the count of Toulouse and the king’s
nobles asked the emperor to give King Garcia his daughter, the
Infanta Urraca, whom he had fathered by Guntroda, the daughter of
Pedro Asturiano.202 When they heard this, all the magnates of the
emperor’s palace, together with Count Alfonso, advised the emperor
to confirm King Garcia as his son-in-law, once he had granted him his
daughter, the aforementioned lady, as his wife. The emperor heeded
their advice and was inwardly pleased and he promised to give her to
the king. As a result, they appointed 24 June203 as a suitable date to
hold the nuptials in the city of León.
92. Having dispatched messengers, the emperor commanded his own
knights, and all the counts, nobles and governors who were in all his
kingdom, that each of them should come prepared for the royal
nuptials with their escort of noble knights. This news was pleasing to
all, but especially to the Asturians and Tineans who, just as the
emperor had ordered, competed to come to the nuptials unsurpassably
prepared. The emperor arrived with his wife the Empress Berengaria
and a very great crowd of nobles, counts, governors and knights of
Castile. King Garcia also arrived with a not inconsiderable troop of

201 See above, i, 2—4 and n. 14.
202 See above, i, 32, 95.
203 The Feast of St John the Baptist.
knights, prepared and adorned as befits a king who is betrothed in

marriage. The most serene Infanta Sancha entered León through the
Puerta Cauriense204 with her niece the Infanta Urraca, King Garcia's
bride, with a great mass of noble knights, clerics, women and girls,
whom the nobles of all of Spain had begotten.
93. The Infanta Sancha installed the marriage bed in the royal palace
in San Pelayo,205 and around the marriage bed there was a great crowd
of minstrels, women and girls who sang with organs, flutes, harps,
psalteries and all kinds o f musick*06 Moreover, the emperor and King
Garcia sat on the royal throne in an elevated position in front of the
doors of the emperor’s palace, while the bishops, abbots, counts,
nobles and governors were on seats around them. Some of the nobles
- among the most illustrious, indeed, in Spain - in the custom of the
country spurred on their horses to gallop and they hurled their lances
at a construction made of planks to demonstrate both their own skill
and the strength of their horses. Others, with their spear at the ready,
killed bulls which had been provoked to anger by barking dogs.
Finally, in the middle of an open space they placed a pig among some
blind men, who vyould win it if they could kill it; but in trying to kill
the pig they often harmed each other, which caused great laughter
among all the spectators.207 So there was great joy in that city and
they praised God, who always brought good fortune to them in
everything. These nuptials were held in the month of July in the Era
1182 [= AD 1144].208
94. The emperor gave valuable gifts of silver and gold, horses and
mules and many other riches to his daughter and to his son-in-law,
King Garcia. He blessed them and he allowed them to return to their
204 The Puerta Cauriense, one of the main gateways into León, was situated to the
west of the city towards the banks of the River Bernesga.
205 The palace of San Pelayo was situated next to the church of San Isidoro.
206 Daniel iii.5, 7, 10, 15.
207 Entertainments of this kind appear to have been popular at weddings and other
festivities. The Poem of the Cid c. 1207, for example, records that on the occasion of
the wedding of the Cid’s daughters to the Infantes de Carrión the Cid had seven
plank turrets set up, which were all knocked down before the assembled company
went in to the wedding banquet: I. Michael (ed.), The Poem of the Cid (Manchester,
1975), vv. 2249-50. On the popularity of bull-fighting in this period, see above n.
168.
208 All the MSS indicate that the nuptials were celebrated in mense iulio. However, not
only does the chronicler himself earlier give the wedding date as 24 June, but two
charters issued by the emperor on 30 June 1144 indicate that the marriage had
taken place by that date: AHN, Clero, 518/15; 1481/6-9.
land with honour. For her part, the Infanta Sancha gave her niece
many gold and silver dishes, and mules and she-mules loaded with
royal riches. King Garcia and his men set out from León amid great
glory and he had in his retinue Count Rodrigo Gómez, Gutierre
Fernández and many other Castilian nobles, who accompanied the
king and his wife as far as their city of Pamplona.209 King Garcia held
a magnificent royal banquet for the Castilians who were with him and
for all the knights and nobles of his kingdom, and they celebrated the
royal nuptials for many days. The king gave the counts and nobles of
Castile great gifts and each one of them returned to his land.
95. The mother of the aforementioned queen, King Garcia’s wife,
whom above we called Guntroda, after she had seen the thing that she
wished for above all else, the immense honour of her daughter who,
having been made queen, had been doubly honoured by her marriage
to a king, having fulfilled her wordly desires, longed for heaven with
all her might. Now, offering herself to God, she so clung to his service
that, having become a nun in the city of Oviedo and joined with
others in the church of Saint Mary,210 the mother of God, whom she
had divined to be the author and mediator of her joy, she pleased God
by praising him unceasingly by day and night. And exerting herself at
this task and with pious longing, bedewing the floor of the church
with the fountain of her tears through her prayers, she awaited the
glorious end of her life.
HERE ENDS THE FIRST BOOK
209 On Gutierre Fernández, see above i, 7, 28, 82; ii, 50; PA, vv. 279—85. On Count
Rodrigo Gómez, see i, 7, 30, 82.
210 Guntroda Pérez granted a charter of endowment to the convent of Santa María de
Vega in Oviedo on 13 October 1153, although it is perfectly possible that she
entered the cloister well before that date. The nunnery was affiliated to the
French house of Fontevrault and was ruled by Guntroda Pérez until her death in
1186: Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 202-3.
Book T w o
HERE BEGINS BOOK TWO OF THE HISTORY OF THE EMPEROR ALFONSO. OF THE
CONFLICTS AND BATTLES WHICH HE, THE NOBLES OF TOLEDO AND THE
COMMANDERS OF EXTREMADURA HAD WITH KING *ALl, WITH HIS SON
TÄSHUFlN, AND WITH THE OTHER KINGS AND PRINCES OF THE MOABITES AND
HAGARENES.
1. Departing from the natural order of things, let us come to deal

with the wars which in times past were particularly hard-fought for
the Christians. After the death of King Alfonso £VI]], father of Queen
Urraca, who was the mother of the Emperor Alfonso QVII^, King ‘All,
who was the most powerful among the Saracens, and who as king of
Marrakesh ruled over the Moabites, and on this side of the sea over
the Hagarenes far and wide, and over many other islands and peoples
of the sea, like a serpent thirsting in the summer heat, raised his head
and, as if he would triumph everywhere after the death of such a great
man, summoned all the princes, commanders and soldiers of the
Moabites, together with a great army of Arab mercenaries, and many
thousands of horsemen, crossbowmen and great companies of foot-
soldiers, as numerous as the sand which is upon the sea shore.1 Having
received advice from his experts, he gathered an army and crossed the
sea with his son Tâshuftn and went to Seville. He commanded all the
kings, princes and commanders of the Moabites, who ruled over the
Hagarenes, that each of them, having assembled an army of horsemen,
crossbowmen and foot-soldiers according to his ability, should bring
scaling-ladders, siege-towers and great engines of iron and wood in
order to attack both the city of Toledo, towards which he was hasten
ing, and the other castles and towns which are in the Transierra.2
2. He struck camp from Seville and in a few days reached Córdoba
and there he was joined by all the peoples who were in the land of the
1 A common biblical metaphor: see, for example, Joshua xi.4; I Samuel xiii.5; and
Judges vii.12.
2 The term tr a m S e rra n t (literally ‘beyond the Sierra’) is used by our chronicler to
designate the territory that lies between the Sierra de Guadarrama and the River
Tagus. The chronology of this campaign is not altogether clear. The Christian
A n a les T o led a n o s refer to two distinct campaigns waged by ‘All: the first, in 1109,
which saw the fall of Talavera on 16 August; the second, the following year, during
which Toledo was unsuccessfully besieged: E. Flórez (ed.), A n a le s T oledan os, E S 2S
(Madrid, 1767), 381-423, at pp. 403, 387. However, the impression given by the
majority of the Muslim sources is that ‘All crossed to Spain in the summer of 1109
and that the assault on Toledo followed immediately after the fall of Talavera: J.
Bosch Vilá, L o s A lm o rá v id e s (Tetuán, 1956; repr. Granada, 1990), pp. 184-5; cf.
González, R epoblación, I, pp. 100-1 and n. 1.
CHRONICA A D E F O N S I I M P E R A T O R I S 20 5
Hagarenes. They struck camp from Córdoba and advanced through

the land of Alvar Fáfiez,3 capturing castles and towns, some of which
they destroyed, others which they fortified. Then they reached Toledo
and destroyed San Servando4 and Aceca. Then, approaching the city
itself, they set up siege engines in strategic places and for a long time
they attacked the city with arrows, stones, spears, darts and fire. But
in the city was the valiant leader of the Christians, Alvar Fáñez,
together with a great number of knights, archers, foot-soldiers and
strong young men, who, stationed on the tops of the city walls and
above the towers and gates, bravely fought against the Saracens.
Many thousands of Saracens fell there, as a result of which they were
forced by the valour of the Christians to flee far from the towers of
the city, so that they were no longer able to harm the city nor those
who were on top of the walls.
3. Seeing this, King ‘All commanded his foot-soldiers to bring up
large quantities of firewood from the vineyards and woods, and to
place it secretly by night at the foot of the very strong tower situated
at the head of the bridge5 opposite San Servando. Then at midnight
the Saracens began to shoot crossbow bolts and arrows with flaming
tar at the wood so as to burn down the tower; but the Christians who
were inside poured a large amount of vinegar onto the wood and the
fire went out. At the same time, inside the city with Alvar there were
a large number of old men wise in counsel and able to foresee what
was likely to happen, whom King Alfonso [VI] had left there to look
after the. city until there should arise a king of his own lineage who
might free it from war with the Saracens.
4. Seeing this, King ‘All was inflamed with great rage and the next
day at daybreak he ordered his army commanders to form up great
battle-lines of assecuti6 foot-soldiers with all their siege engines, then
3 Alvar Fáñez was a prominent figure on the Iberian political scene between c. 1080
and his death in 1114. Although later poetic legend, in particular the P o em a de m ió
C id, would portray him as the trusty lieutenant of the Cid during the latter’s long
periods of exile, there is no evidence that the historical Alvar Fáfiez ever became
estranged from the Leonese court. His main base of operations lay on the middle
and upper Tagus, and he enjoyed almost viceregal authority in Toledo between
1109 and his death in Segovia in 1114. The association of Alvar Fáfiez with the Cid
is first made in the P o em o f A lm e ría : see below, P A , w . 222—43.
4 On the monastic fortress of San Servando, see above pp. 159-60.
5 That is, the Puente de Alcántara, which links San Servando to Toledo.
6 The term assecuti, which derives from the Arabic al-saca, meaning ‘rearguard’,
probably refers to the crack troops who made up the military escort which
accompanied the Almoravid emir or his generals into battle.
others of the Hagarenes, and behind them yet others of the Moabites
and Arabs, bringing their engines to strategic places at the foot of the
city walls. They set by the Puerta de Almaquera7 and on all sides numer
ous artillery with engines and instruments to castfire and stones, and pieces
to cast darts and slings,89mantelets, battering rams with which to under
mine the city walls, and scaling-ladders to place against the towers.
5. Whereupon the Christians also made engines against their engines, and
held them battle9 for seven days without inflicting any harm upon the
city. On the seventh day, at sunset, the Christian warriors bravely
sallied forth out of the city through its gates and, as the assecuti and
Hagarenes had fled, they set fire to all the siege towers which those
who had fled had left behind, and to all the siege engines with which
King ‘All and his commanders had intended to undermine the city
walls. And with God’s help, the city remained unharmed.101
6. While these battles were going on, the archbishop of the church of
Toledo, Bernard," together with the clergy, monks, old men, women
and poor, prostrated on the floor of the church of Saint Mary, prayed
all with one consent to Lord God and to Saint Mary that the sins of the
kings and of their people should not be remembered, that they them
selves should not be handed over into captivity or to the sword, nor their
childrenfo r a prey, and their wivesfo r a spoil, and their city to destruction,
and the holy law of God to profanation and reproach and contempt.12134
And Lord God on high heard their prayers and took pity on His
people, and sent the Archangel Michael to guard the city of Toledo,
strengthen its walls so that they would not be broken down, comfort
the spirits of the warriors and defend the lives of the Christians. This
could not have happened had not God protected them, for as David
says: ‘Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.’1S
7. King ‘All, seeing that the battle went sore against4 the Saracens and
7 The Puerta de Almaquera, which still stands to this day, was situated in the
northern perimeter wall of the city.
8 I Maccabees vi.51.
9 I Maccabees vi.52.
10 The A n a le s T o led a n o s I record that the siege lasted for nine days: Flórez (ed.),
A n a les T oledan os , p. 387.
11 Bernard of Sédirac, archbishop of Toledo (1086-1124).
12 Judith iv.12; ix.4.
13 Psalm cxxvii.1.
14 I Samuel xxxi.3.
that his commanders and countless men were dying, withdrew from
the city with all his army and went to all the towns and castles which
are in the Transierra and attacked them. In payment for their sins, he
destroyed the walls of Madrid, Talavera,15 Olmos and Canales, and
many others, he took many prisoners and carried out great slaughter
and plunder. But the very strong towers of the aforementioned towns,
which in our language are called alcaceres,16 were not captured and many
survivors among the Christians remained in them.17 Guadalajara18 and
other towns and castles remained unharmed and their walls were not
breached, because the heavenly King, remembering His customary piety,
wrought vengeance on the Saracens. Indeed, that abominable people began
tofa ll away ceaselessly by sudden death and by the sword of the Christians,
and to come closer to annihilation,1920
8. Seeing this, King ‘All returned in haste to his city of Córdoba and
while he was there he summoned his son Täshuftn and said to him:
‘Take for yourself all the kingdoms of the Hagarenes and reign over
all the kings, princes and commanders that there are from the
Mediterranean sea as far as Toledo, the city of the Christians, and as
far as Santarém, and on the other side as far as Zaragoza, and after
that as far as Barcelona. First and foremost, my son, I command you
to cause Toledo tofa ll by the sword?0 and afterwards their other towns
and castles as far as the River Duero, because the people of Toledo
have scorned me and made ready for war against me. Also, send across
the sea any of the Christian warriors, slaves, boys, virtuous women and
girls whom you capture’. After this, King ‘All made his way to Seville
and afterwards he crossed the sea to his city of Marrakesh, in the land
of the Moabites. He took with him to Marrakesh all the Christian
prisoners whom he had captured and all the prisoners, both men and
women, that he had been able to find in the land of the Hagarenes.
15 According to Muslim sources, Talavera was stormed on 14 August 1109; the Christian
A n a les T oledan os I I assign the event to 16 August: see González, Repoblación, I, p.
102 n. 9; Flórez (ed.), A n a les T oledan os, p. 403.
16 From the Arabic a l-q a fr, ‘fortress’.
17 A similar observation was made by the Muslim historian Ibn al-KardabQs, H isto ria ,
p. 142.
18 Guadalajara, about 110 kilometres north-east of Toledo, was an important strong-
point on the route that led to Zaragoza and the Ebro valley.
19 Cf. Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 79.
20 Jeremiah xix.7.
9. In King ‘All's household there was a certain nobleman called Ali-

menon,21 an intrepid and expert sailor, who held the command of all
the men of this trade in his country. Realising that the time was ripe,
and having procured a very large number of ships, he crossed the
Ocean Sea to attack Galicia, then sailed through the English Channel
and across the Mediterranean to attack the area of Ascalon and the
regions of Constantinople, Sicily, the town of Bari and other coastal
towns, the region of Barcelona, and all the kingdoms of the Franks,
attacking and devastating, massacring and slaughtering the Christians.22
Those whom he captured at each of the towns and castles he led to
the court of his lord, King ‘All, and there were a great number of
Christians of noble and common birth, and of both sexes, men and
women, at the court of the king.
10. But at that time God granted His grace to the prisoners who were
in the royal court of their lord, King ‘All, and moved His heart
toward23 them in order to favour the Christians. ‘All regarded them
above all of the men of his own eastern people, for he made some of
them chamberlains of his private apartments, and others captains of
one thousand soldiers, five hundred soldiers and one hundred soldiers,
who stood at the forefront of the army of his kingdom.24 He furnished
them with gold and silver, cities and strongly-fortified castles, with
which they could have reinforcement in order to make war on the
Muzmutos and the king of the Assyrians, called Abdelnomen, who
attacked his territories without interruption.25
21 This is Muhammad b. Maymün, who was appointed commander of the Almoravid

fleet in 1116. For details of his career, see A. Huici Miranda, H is to r ia m u su lm an a de
V alencia y su región, 3 vols (Valencia, 1969-70), III, pp. 116-22.
22 For a graphic description of the havoc wrought on the coast of Galicia by such
seaborne attacks and on the steps taken by the Christians to defend themselves, see
H C , pp. 174— 6, 262—4.
23 An echo of II Samuel xiv.l.
24 This fanciful description of the military hierarchy of the Almohad army appears to
have been inspired by Exodus xviii.21; Deuteronomy i. 15. However, the presence
of Christian troops in the ranks of the Almoravid army is amply confirmed by other
sources: see J. Alemany, ‘Milicias cristianas al servicio de los sultanes musulmanes
del Almagreb’, in H o m en a je a D . F ran cisco C odera (Zaragoza, 1904), 133-69.
25 By M u z m u to s our chronicler is referring to the Berber MaçmQda tribes of the Atlas
Mountains who formed the bedrock of support for the Almohad movement
founded by Ibn TQmart c. 1120. A bdeln om en refers to Ibn Tümart’s successor, ‘Abd
al-Mu’min (1130-63), the first caliph of the Almohads, who, from his base at
Tlnmal in the Atlas Mountains, engaged in a bitter struggle for ascendancy with
the Sanhaja Almoravids which was to culminate in the fall of the capital Marrakesh
to his forces on 24 March 1147. Between 1147 and 1172 the whole of al-Andalus
was brought under Almohad authority: for details, see A. Huici Miranda, H is to r ia
11. Among King ‘All’s prisoners was an honourable counsellor26 from

Barcelona named Reverter, and that man was just and perfect, and one
that feared God?1 The king placed him in charge of the captive
Christian knights and the barbarians so that he would be the com
mander in all his wars, for he had never been defeated in battle. And
for this reason, throughout all the days of King ‘All’s life, all the
king’s wars were conducted by him and through his counsel. But King
‘All grew old and was gathered to hisfathers28 in great old age; and his
son King Täshufin reigned in his stead and favoured the Christians
during all the days of his life, just as his father King ‘All had done.
12. WHEN OREJA WAS CAPTURED BY THE KINGS OF THE MOABITES

It came to pass in the days of Queen Urraca that the king of Seville,
the king of Córdoba and the other kings and princes of the Moabites
who were in the„ land of the Hagarenes, having mustered a great
number of horsemen, foot-soldiers and crossbowmen, came to the
land of Toledo and took the castle of Oreja by storm; and they carried
out a great slaughter of the Christians and took others prisoner.29
They captured another castle, which is called Zorita,30 fortified it2678930
p o lític a d e l im perio A lm oh ade, 2 vols (Tetuán, 1956-57); M. J. Viguera Molins, L o s

reinos d e ta ifa s y la s in vasion es m agrebíes (A l-A n d a lu s d e l X I a l X III) (Madrid, 1992),
pp. 203 ff.; Kennedy, M u slim S p a in a n d P o rtu g a l, pp. 196ff.; cf. below, ii, 101-5. By
referring to ‘Abd al-Mumin as rex A sirio ru m the chronicler appears to be
comparing the Almohad caliph with King Nebuchadnezzar of the Assyrians.
26 A reminiscence of Mark xv.43.
27 Job i.l; i.8; ii.3. Reverter was the son of Gelabert Udalard of the viscomital house
of Barcelona, which, having emerged as a leading family among the Catalan
aristocracy in the late tenth century, suffered a precipitous decline in its fortunes
during the twelfth: see Bensch, B arcelona a n d its rulers, pp. 128-35. There are some
brief notes on his career in I. Frank, ‘Reverter, vicomte de Barcelone (vers 1130-
1145)’, B o letín de la R e a l A ca d em ia de B uenas L e tra s de B arcelona 26 (1954-56), 195-
204; S. Sobrequés i Vidal, E ls B a ro n s de C atalu n ya (Barcelona, 1957), pp. 31-2; Huici
Miranda, H isto ria p o lític a , I, pp. 117-20, 123-6, 128-9, 131-2. Our chronicler’s
knowledge of and admiration for Reverter may say something about his own
origins and loyalties: see above, p. 158, and below, ii, 101-5.
28 I Maccabees ii.69; The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon i; Acts
xiii.36. ‘All b. YOsuf died in 1143.
29 The castle of Oreja lay on the banks of the Tagus, about 50 kilometres upstream
from Toledo. Oreja was conquered by the Almoravids in the summer of 1113:
González, R epoblación, I, p. 103—1.
30 Zorita de los Canes, also on the Tagus, lies about 40 kilometres south-east of
Guadalajara. The conquest of Zorita is not reported by any other source - Muslim
or Christian - and a royal charter issued by Queen Urraca on 15 February 1114,
which is confirmed by A lb a r F a n n e z de Z o rita , suggests that at that date the for
tress remained in Christian hands: Monterde Albiac (ed.), D ip lo m a ta rio , pp. 118-19.
strongly with horsemen, foot-soldiers, supplies and many weapons

and crossbows, and then they returned to their land.
13. At that same time, some evil men, who said that they were
Christians but were not, surrendered Coria31 to the Saracens, who also
captured another castle in Extremadura called Albalate.32 They
fortified Coria and Albalate with a great number of horsemen and
foot-soldiers, who daily waged war throughout all Extremadura as far
as the River Duero. Those who were in Oreja attacked Toledo and the
other towns which are in the Transierra every day, carrying out many
massacres and seizing numerous spoils.33
14. After some years, King Täshufin, having gathered all his army,
went again to Toledo; but his arrival did not escape the attention of
the Christians and they fortified the city. King Täshufin and all his
army crossed the River Tagus and they made their way to the castle
called Aceca, which had been settled again by Tello Fernández, a
commander from Saldaña, and by other Christians.3435They attacked
that place from midnight until sunset, the castle was stormed and
captured, and they razed it to the ground. All the Christians, around
three hundred warriors, perished by the sword. Tello Fernández,
their leader, was taken prisoner along with many other captives. They
took him with them to the great city of Córdoba, and from Córdoba
he was sent across the sea to the palace of King ‘All, and he never
again returned to the land o f his nativity.55
15. In those days there was in Calatrava36 a commander called
31 Coria lies to the north of the modern province of Cáceres. On the campaigns led by
Alfonso VII to conquer the city, see below ii, 40-4, 64--6.
32 The castle of Albalate lay close by the Tagus about 75 kilometres east of Coria.
33 Muslim and Christian sources refer to a number of Muslim attacks on Toledo and
its territory in 1114: Ibn al-Kardabüs, Historia, p. 147; Flórez (ed.), Anales Tole
danos, pp. 387, 403-4.
34 See above, i, 33 and nn. 94-5
35 Genesis xi.28; xxiv.7; xxxi.13; Jeremiah xlvi.16; Ezekiel xxi.30; xxix.14. Aceca was
captured in the summer of 1130. The version of events provided by our chronicler
is broadly corroborated by the Anales Toledanos II, which date the campaign to
1128, although it gives the number of casualties as 180 men. The same source
states that after Aceca had fallen, the Almoravids went on to capture nearby
Bargas, where fifty men were put to the sword, and to launch an attack on San
Servando, outside Toledo, where a further twenty knights were killed: Flórez (ed.),
Anales Toledanos, p. 404.
36 Calatrava, in the modern province of Ciudad Real, was an important fortress town
dominating one of the main routes that led across La Mancha from Toledo to
Andalucía.
Farax,3738the adalid38 of the tribe of the Hagarenes; and there was in

San Esteban3940123567another who was called ‘All,10 of the tribe of the Moab
ites. These two nobles waged a mighty war and caused great slaughter
in the land of Toledo. They gathered together all the horsemen of the
Moabites and Hagarenes who were in Oreja, and in all the towns and
castles as far as the River Guadalquivir. When they had assembled,
they made their way stealthily by night to the outskirts of the towns
of the Toledans and in a hidden place they set ambushes, which in our
language are called celatas11 This escaped the attention of Gutierre
Armildez,12 the alcaide13 of Toledo, who was in Alamin.11
16. Early in the morning the next day, a few Moabite horsemen went
out into the countryside, rounded up a few oxen and then made as if
to flee. Gutierre Armildez pursued them with forty knights and they
came to the place where the ambush had been prepared. Seeing this,
the soldiers who were lying hidden in ambush suddenly emerged and
fought with Gutierre Armildez and with his knights. The fighting
intensified greatly and Gutierre Armildez was killed in the battle and
the majority of the knights who were with him were slain.15
17. A knight of Toledo, whose name was Muño Alfonso,16 who had
been born in Galicia and was the governor of Mora,17 was also captured
together with some other Christian knights in the aforementioned
battle. He was taken to Córdoba and they imprisoned him and tor
tured him with hunger and thirst. But after many days he ransomed
37 On this personage, see below ii, 35, 83, 85, 88, 95. On 9 January 1147, shortly after
the conquest of Calatrava, Alfonso VII would grant to the see of Segovia om en
h ereditatem P h a r a g ii A d a lil, qu am in C a la tra v a e t in ceteris v illis e t locis terre m au roru m
habuit: Villar García (ed.), D ocum entación, pp. 86-7.
38 From the Arabic a d -d a ltl, ‘guide, military commander’.
39 This has been identified as San Esteban del Puerto, near Iznatoraf, in the modern
province of Jaén: Sánchez Belda, Chronica, p. 272.
40 He later held the fortress of Oreja: see below ii, 5 l, 57-60.
41 Deriving from the Latin celare, ‘to hide, conceal, keep secret’.
42 Gutierre Armildez was a prominent figure in the territory of Toledo: see
Hernández (ed.), C artu larios, nos. 25, 28-9; L. Serrano, L o s A r m ild e z de T o led o y el
m on asterio de T ó rto le s (Madrid, 1933), p. 9.
43 See above, i, 27 n. 78.
44 The castle of Alamin was situated near Escalona, on the route that led across the
Sierra de Gredos from Toledo to Avila.
45 This action took place in l ISl: Flórez (ed.), A n a les Toledanos, p. 404.
46 The family origins of Muño Alfonso are unknown. On his subsequent activities, see
below ii, 46, 48-9, 67-79, 81, 83-91.
47 Mora lies about 30 kilometres south-east of Toledo.
himself with gold and much silver, mules, horses and many weapons;
and having ransomed himself he made his way to Toledo and then to
his castle of Mora. This man later waged many campaigns in the land
of the Moabites and Hagarenes and he slew famous kings and com
manders, as is written in this book.
18. The aforementioned Saracen commanders again went to the towns
of Toledo and fought with two brothers, Domingo Alvárez and Diego
Alvárez, who were the governors of Escalona, and with many Christian
knights from the other towns.48 In payment for their sins, the
Christians were defeated and the governors of Escalona together with
many Christians perished by the sword.49 On another occasion, they
slew Rodrigo González,50 a brave knight from the land of León who
had gone to Toledo with some other knights to help the Christians.
And again they fought with Fernando Fernández, the governor of Hita,
and he, having been defeated, perished and many others with him.51
19. At the same time as the aforementioned battles took place, the
sword and flame of King Alfonso of Aragon subdued all of Castile and
a great part of the land of León, and the aliens52 were in Castrojeriz, in
Herrera, in Castrillo, in the castle of Burgos, in San Esteban de Gormaz,53
48 On Escalona, see above, n. 44. D id a c u s A lv a r e z de E sca lo n a features among the

witnesses to the will that was drawn up on behalf of one Vermudo Pérez some time
between 1123 and 1131: Hernández (ed.), C a rtu la rio s , no. 31. The fu e ro , or charter
of privileges, which was purportedly granted to Escalona by the Alvarez brothers
on 4 January 1130 is a far from reliable text: T. Muñoz y Romero (ed.), Colección de
file r o s m unicipales y c a rta s p u e b la s (Madrid, 1847), pp. 485-9; Reilly, A lfo n so VII, p. 29
n. 41.
49 This may refer to the heavy defeat which Christian forces are recorded to have
suffered at M a ssa trig o , near Calatrava, in July 1132: Flórez (ed.), A n a le s T oledan os,
p. 338; González, R epoblación, I, p. 138.
50 Perhaps the noble of the same name who submitted to Alfonso VII on the kings
accession to the throne in March 1126: see above, i.2.
51 Hita lies about 25 kilometres north-east of Guadalajara. The chronicler almost
certainly had in mind Fernando Garcés de Hita, a lca id e of Medinaceli and
Guadalajara in 1107, who was granted Hita and nearby Uceda by Queen Urraca in
1119, and who remained a dominant figure in that region until his death c. 1125:
Hernández (ed.), C a rtu la rio s, no. 14; Reilly, U rraca, pp. 221-2, 299. On the family
background of Fernando Garcés, see J. de Salazar Acha, ‘El linaje castellano de
Castro en el siglo XII: consideraciones e hipótesis sobre su origen', A n a le s de la R e a l
A ca d em ia M a trite n se de H e rá ld ic a y G en ea lo g ía 1 (1991), 33-68. On his son, Martín
Fernández de Hita, see below ii, 48, n. 105.
52 An echo of I Maccabees iii.45.
53 San Esteban de Gormaz is situated on the banks of the River Duero, about 50
kilometres east of Soria.
in Villafranca, in Belorado, in Grañón,54 in Nájera and in many other

castles, against which the emperor and his followers waged war daily.
The emperor was not helped with all his heart by Count Pedro of
Lara, nor by his brother Count Rodrigo González, nor by Count
Gonzalo Peláez of Oviedo. Pedro Diaz was in rebellion in Valle and
Jimeno Iftiguez in Coyanza and on their tongues was mischief and
vanity.55 They were negotiating with King Alfonso of Aragon, and for
this reason they met a bad end, as has been written above.
20. When the war with the king of Aragon had finished, there arose
another war in Castile with King Garcia of Pamplona and with King
Afonso of Portugal, who attacked Galicia as we have described above.
On account of these wars the emperor did not campaign in the land of
the Saracens, and for this reason the Saracens prevailed over the land of
the Christians. The strength of the Saracens and their great power con
tinued until the Emperor Alfonso went to Jerez, and until he captured
Oreja and Coria.56 But although the Saracens waged mighty wars, it
was always the custom of the Christians who lived in the Transierra
and in all Extremadura every year to gather themselves frequently
into formations, which sometimes were of one thousand, two thousand,
five thousand or ten thousand knights, more or less. They would go
into the land of the Moabites and Hagarenes, carry out great slaughter,
take many Saracens prisoner, seize great booty, start many fires, and
kill many kings and commanders of the Moabites and Hagarenes, and
waging war they would destroy castles and villages. They inflicted
more harm than that which they received from the Saracens.57
21. King Täshufln, King Azuel58 of Córdoba and King Avenceta59 of
Seville, and the other princes and commanders of the Moabites and
Hagarenes, gathered an army as numerous as the sand which is upon the
54 Grañón lies roughly half-way between Logroño and Burgos, close by the pilgrim-
road to Compostela.
55 Psalm x.7; x.14; xc.10; Jeremiah xx.18.
56 On the Jerez campaign of 1133, see above i, 33-42; on the capture of Oreja and
Coria, see below ii, 50-61, 64—6.
57 The best guide to the activities and organisation of the militia forces of the frontier
territories is J. F. Powers, A S ociety O r g a n iz e d f o r W ar: the Iberian M u n ic ip a l M ilitia s
in the C en tra l M id d le A ges, 1000-1284 (Berkeley, 1988).
58 This is Al-Zubayr b. ‘Amr al-LamtQnl, who played a decisive role in the Almoravid
victory at Fraga in July 1134. See below, ii, 46, 52, 65, 67, 69, 72, 88.
59 The identity of this figure has not been established with any certainty. On his
activities, see below, ii, 46, 52, 65, 67, 69-71, 88. The chronicler refers to these
personages as reges, ‘kings', but they were of course provincial governors acting at
the behest of the Almoravid emir.
sea shore,60 and they planned to go suddenly against the towns of

Toledo, to destroy them and to win great fame for themselves. Having
left Córdoba, after a few days they came to the plain of Lucena6162and
they pitched camp there.
22. While they were there, it came to pass that on the same day one
thousand hand-picked and powerfully armed knights from Avila and
Segovia, together with a great number of foot-soldiers, were making
their way along the road which leads to the countryside of Córdoba.
As they went, they learned that King Täshuftn and his camp were in
the plain of Lucena; and they called out in prayer to the God of heaven
and earth, to Saint Mary and to Saint James so that they would help
and defend them. Having taken divine counsel, they pitched their
tents in the place where they were and, after they had divided the
foot-soldiers into two equal parts, they left half of them in their tents
to guard their baggage. However, the armed and well-equipped
knights and the other half of the foot-soldiers marched from midday
without stopping and at about the fourth hour of the night they
suddenly attacked the tents of King Täshuftn and caused great
confusion in the camp.6a
23. However, a great multitude of Moabites and Hagarenes rushed to
arms and began to fight, and the battle grew greatly worse. A large
number of the Saracens died and the rest fled this way and that. King
Täshuftn himself was wounded in the thigh by lances and he fled
having mounted a saddleless horse. Then the Christians seized their
tents, the royal standards, mules, camels, gold, silver and great wealth,
and they went back to their own tents. Afterwards they returned to
Extremadura, each one of them to their own towns, praising and
blessing God. But King Täshuftn returned in shame to Córdoba, was
attended to by doctors and after many days he was cured of his
wounds. However, he remained lame for the rest of his life.
24. After the death of Gutierre Armfldez, the commander of the army
of Toledo, which has been described above, Count Rodrigo González
obtained the emperor’s kindness63 and the emperor appointed him
commander of the army of Toledo and lord of all Extremadura.64 The
60 Cf. ii, 1, n. 1 .
61 This may refer to Luciana, by the River Guadiana, near Calatrava: González,
Repoblación, I, p. 140, n. 27.
62 The date of the battle of Lucena has not been established.
63 Esther ii.9; cf. Genesis vi.8; xxxix.4; Ruth ii. IS.
64 See above, i, 23.
count, having mustered a great army from Castile and Extremadura,

as well as knights and foot-soldiers from Toledo, and from the other
towns which are under the authority of Toledo, advanced into the
land of Seville and destroyed all that region, carried out many massa
cres and started many fires, and had all the fruit trees cut down.65 He
took countless men, women and children prisoner and captured im
mense spoils from them, gold and silver, abundant precious garments,
and countless numbers of horses, mares, asses, oxen and cows, and all
the beasts of the field.
25. Seeing this, the king of Seville6676mustered many thousands of
Moabites, Arabs and Hagarenes from the islands of the sea and from
the coastal areas, nêighbours, friends, and many princes and com
manders, and he set out to find the count’s camp. But this did not
escape the count’s notice and he removed his army out of their tents, and
stood over against the Saracens, the foot-soldiers of the Christians being
divided into two troops, and their slingers and archers with them; and they
that marched in the foreward were all mighty men.61 Then came the
company of knights from Avila against the troops of the Arabs, and
next was the company from Segovia against the troops of the Moab
ites and the Hagarenes. The count stood in the rearguard of the army
from Toledo, the Transierra and Castile, so that he might lend aid to
the helpless and consolation to the wounded.
26. Once the battle had begun, the Saracens cried out and appealed to
Mohammed with bronze trumpets, drums and voices. For their part,
the Christians cried out with all their hearts to Lord God, the Blessed
Mary and Saint James so that they would take pity on them and
forget the sins of their kings, their own and those of their relatives.
And many were slain on both parts. Finally, the count perceived that the
strength o f the army was with the king of Seville, he took with him to the
battle all the hardy men, and the king of Seville fell in the battle and
died, and many princes and commanders with him; all the battle lines
of the pagans were obliterated and they fled. The count pursued them
65 The campaign took place in the summer of 1132. Muslim sources reveal that the
count and his forces concentrated their attention on the territory of El Aljarafe, to
the west of the city of Seville: A. Huici Miranda, ‘Contribución al estudio de la
dinastía almorávide: el gobierno de Tasfln ben ‘Ali ben YOsuf en el Andalus’, in
Études d'orientalisme dédiées à la mémoire de Lévi-Provençal, II (Paris, 1962), 605—21,
at pp. 611-12.
66 This was Abo Haf$ ‘Umar b. al-Hajj al-LamtOnl, known as Wamagdz, who had
been appointed to the post in 1130: Huici, ‘Contribución’, pp. 611-2 and n. 34.
67 I Maccabees ix.l 1.
unto the gates of Seville, seized their spoils and booty and began the
return to his camp.68
27. At the same time, the nobles of Salamanca invaded the land of
Badajoz,69701saying to one another, when they saw that the count wished
to go to the land of Seville: ‘Let us also go to the land of Badajoz, let
us also get us a name70 and let us not surrender the prestige of our glory
to any noble or commander.’ Having mustered a great army, they
wentforth by the way that leadeth to71 Badajoz. They devastated all that
region and caused many massacres and fires, took many men, women
and children captive, took all their chattels, and abundant riches of
gold and silver. On top of this, they seized great wealth, horses,
mules, camels, asses, oxen, cows, and all the beasts of the field.7273
28. While this was happening, King Täshufin gathered an army as
numerous as the sand which is upon the sea shore73 in order to fight with
Count Rodrigo. But when he learned from a Saracen who had fled
from Count Rodrigo’s camp that the king of Seville had died with his
nobles, he feared to go against him. He also learned from the same
Saracen that the Christian camp was in the region of Badajoz, so he
pursued them and set up his camp opposite the Christian one. But he
did not join battle with them that day because nightfall was approach
ing. Seeing this, the Christians killed all the Saracen prisoners, both
men and women, in case, if they obtained weapons, they would throw
their camp into confusion. King Täshufin ordered his interpreters to
ask the Christians who was the commander or chief of their army. The
Christians answered them: W e are all commanders and chiefs of our
lives.’ When he had heard this, King Täshufin realised that they were
foolish and senseless, he was filled with great joy and said to those
who were nearby: ‘You should know that their God has abandoned these
foolish men.’ Many of the nobles of Salamanca, seeing what was going
to happen, left the camp and fled. In the morning, once battle had begun,
the Christians took to flight and all the knights and foot-soldiers were
68 The passage is heavily influenced by I Maccabees ix.14-17; v.21. According to Ibn
‘Idhärl, the battle took place on 1 June 1132 at Azareda, on the Guadalquivir, to
the north-east of Seville: Huici, ‘Contribución’, pp. 612—13. This is confirmed by
the Anales Toledanos /: Flórez (ed.), Anales Toledanos, p. 388.
69 That is, the southern half of the modern region of Extremadura. The town of
Badajoz lies on the Guadiana close by the frontier with Portugal.
70 I Maccabees v.57; iii. 14; II Samuel vii.9; viii.13.
71 I Maccabees ix.2; v.24.
72 This is reminiscent of Numbers xxxi.9; Joshua vii.24.
73 Cf. ii, 1, n. 1.
killed; only a few of them survived and they fled on horseback. The
defences of the camp were captured and a great slaughter among the74
Christians was brought about. King Tâshufïn, taking all the spoils of
the Christians, returned victoriously to his city of Córdoba.75
29. But this disaster was not enough for the men of Salamanca, for in
that same year and in those that followed the same thing happened to
them three times, because they trusted in their strength and not in
Lord God, and for this reason they perished wretchedly.76 After this,
they did penance for their sins, they called out to the Lord and gave
tithes and first-fruits to God. And God heard them and gave them
skill and courage toith which to wage war. With Count Ponç,77 and
with other of the emperor’s commanders, they always went to the
land of the Moabites and Hagarenes, they fought many battles, won
victory and took great booty from their land. And the city of
Salamanca became great and famous through its knights and foot-
soldiers and very wealthy.
30. However, Count Rodrigo [González] returned to Toledo with all
his army without any difficulty, praising and blessing the Lord, who
saveth them that trust in him78 The other battles that Count Rodrigo
fought with the kings of the Moabites and Hagarenes, and the
slaughter which he carried out, are not described in this book. Once
these things had been achieved, Count Rodrigo became a pilgrim and
went across the sea to Jerusalem to pray, as we have written above.79
31. Finally, the emperor gave Toledo and many towns and castles in
Extremadura and Castile to Rodrigo Fernández,80 and he appointed
74 1 Samuel iv.17.
75 The chronicler gives the impression that this action took place at the same time as
Count Rodrigo González’s expedition to Seville. However, not only do the Muslim
sources make no mention of such a campaign, but they record that in the late
spring of 1132 Täshufln and the governor of Córdoba suffered an important defeat
at Christian hands near the Portuguese town of Evora. The disastrous Badajoz
campaign which is described here appears to have taken place in March 1134:
Huici, ‘Contribución’, pp. 613, 616.
76 Two of the military failures alluded to may have occurred in October 1134 and
June 1136: Huici, ‘Contribución’, pp. 616-18.
77 On Count Ponç de Cabrera: see below ii.96; P A , vv. 176-98. For details of his
career, see S. Barton, ‘Two Catalan magnates in the courts of the kings of León-
Castile: the careers of Ponce de Cabrera and Ponce de Minerva re-examined’, J M H
18 (1992), 233-66; Barton, A ristocracy, pp. 284-5.
78 Susanna, 60.
79 See above i, 48.
80 On whom, see i, 7, 47 and n. 29; ii, 34, 36, 50, 60.
him commander of the army of Toledo. Mustering the army of Toledo

and Castile, both knights and foot-soldiers, he went to the land of the
Moabites and Hagarenes and carried out many massacres, started
many fires and took many prisoners. He captured much gold and silver,
precious garments, and all the beasts of the field, and every place
whereon the soles o f theirfeet trod remained devastated.8182
32. Hearing this news, King Täshuftn was angry, and gathered together
all hisfriends, and the captains o f his army, and those that had charge o f the
horse. There came also unto him from other kingdoms, andfrom isles o f the
sea, bands o f hired soldiers,** from the other side of the sea, great troops
of horsemen of the Arabs and Moabites, and there were countless
horsemen, crossbowmen and foot-soldiers. He resolved suddenly to
destroy the camp of the Christians and he went out to meet them at a
place called Almonte.83
33. When he saw them, the commander of Toledo said to the Christ
ians: ‘Fear ye not their multitude, neither be ye afraid o f their assault.
Remember how the lord king Alfonso and our fathers by waging war
captured Toledo and all the kingdom as far as the River Duero. Now
therefore let us cry unto heaven, i f peradventure our God will have mercy
upon us, and may God destroy them before ourface this dayZ84 When the
battle-lines of horsemen, foot-soldiers and crossbowmen had been
drawn up on both sides, they joined battle and it pleased God that
many thousands of Saracens were killed. King Täshufln was defeated
and he fled from that battlefield with all his army. The Christians got
much gold, and silver, and horses, mules, camels and great riches. After
this they went home to Toledo and sang a song o f thanksgiving, and praised
the Lord in heaven: because it is good, because his mercy endureth fo r ever*5
34. Again, for a second time, Rodrigo Fernández, the commander of
Toledo, having gathered an army, went to the land of the Moabites
and Hagarenes. Their kings went out to meet him at a place called
Serpa,86 and the commander of Toledo was the victor, captured great
81 Deuteronomy xi.24; Joshua i.3.

82 I Maccabees vi.28-9; iii.27.
83 Its location is unknown. The chronicler may be referring to the River Almonte
near Cáceres, or perhaps to Almonacid to the south-east of Toledo.
84 The speech is modelled chiefly upon that attributed to Judas Maccabeus before he
did battle with Gorgias: I Maccabees iv.8-10; iii.22.
85 I Maccabees iv.23-4.
86 This probably refers to the locality of the same name in the modern Portuguese
province of Beja.
spoils from the Saracens, and returned to Extremadura with great joy.
And again, for a third time, the commander of Toledo, having gathered
his army, went into the land of his enemies and inflicted great
slaughter, and killed many Moabites and Hagarenes. Whereupon their
kings, having mustered a great number of horsemen and foot-soldiers,
went to meet him at a place called Silves and, once battle had com
menced, the Moabites and Hagarenes took to flight, many thousands
of them were killed, and the rest fled in all directions.87 The comman
der of Toledo was the victor of the field, the Christians captured great
spoils of theirs and they returned to Toledo with great joy and glad
ness singing ‘Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur’ until the end.
35. At that time there was a knight in Extremadura, a warlike man
called Gaucelm de Ribas.88 He was very wealthy in gold, silver, bread
and wine, and in all the riches of this world. This knight went to the
emperor and asked him to instruct him to rebuild the castle of Aceca,
and the emperor agreed. So Gaucelm went to Aceca with his sons, his
wife, his sons-in-law and their wives, together with the commander of
Toledo and a large army. They pitched their camp at the foot of the
castle which had been destroyed by King Täshufm when he carried off
Tello Fernández from there, and they builded up the castle with high
walls and strong towers round about, lest the Moabites and Hagarenes
should come and tread it down, as they had done before. The same knight
set there with him many warlike knights and well-armed foot-soldiers
to keep it, and as the guardian of Toledo he also fortified it with every
kind of food, that the people of Toledo might have a defence against Oreja,
where there were many Moabites and Hagarenes who waged a great
war in the land of Toledo and in all Extremadura.89 They fought a
great battle with Farax, the adalid of Calatrava, and with those who
were in Oreja, often conquering and fleeing in turn.
87 The victory at Silves in southern Portugal, took place in 1142, according to an

entry in the A n a les T o led a n o s /, which also claims that Rodrigo Fernández seized
over ten thousand prisoners: Flórez (ed.), A n a les T oledan os, p. 388.
88 Given his Christian name, Gaucelm de Ribas was probably of Catalan extraction.
On 27 October 1136, Alfonso VII granted him rights to half of the rents owed in
the district of the castle of Calatalifa; on 12 May of the following year Gaucelm
witnessed a charter issued by the emperor in favour of the see of Toledo: Villar
Garda (ed.), D ocum entación, pp. 65-6; Hernández (ed.), C artu larios, no. 38. R ib a s
may conceivably be Rivas de Jarama near Madrid.
89 The passage is inspired by I Maccabees iv.60-1. The reconstruction of Aceca had
taken place by 1138; in that year the knight confirmed a charter of Archbishop
Raymond of Toledo as G oscelm us de Acecha : Hernández (ed.), C artu larios, no. 39.
36. In the month of May in the Era 1176 Q= AD 1138]], the Emperor
Alfonso took with him Rodrigo Fernández, the commander of the
army of Toledo, who was renowned in warfare, Count Rodrigo90 from
the land of León, and other men and nobles from his household,
together with a great army from Extremadura, and after they had set
off he pitched camp by the River Guadalquivir. Many raiding parties
travelled far away for many days and plundered all the land of Jaén,
Baeza, Ubeda, Andújar and many other towns.91 They set fire to all
the villages they found, destroyed their mosques and consigned to the
flames the books of the law of Mohammed. They put to the sword all
the doctors of that law that they encountered. They had the vines,
olive groves, fig trees and all the other trees cut down,92 and every place
whereon the soles o f their feet trod remained devastated.93 After many
days they returned to the emperor at the camp, bringing with them a
large number of men, women and children captive, gifts of gold and
silver, precious garments, all their riches and chattels, together with
large numbers of stallions, mares, oxen, cows, sheep and goats.94
37. While this was happening, part of the army of Extremadura
crossed the River Guadalquivir without the emperor’s command or
that of his nobles, and invaded the land of the Saracens. They took
great plunder and started many fires, and returned to the same place
where they had previously crossed the river; but through their slug
gishness and the abundance of the riches that they had captured, they
did not cross the river and stayed there. At midnight there was a
great downpour of rain and the water rose greatly. The next morning,
that people was unable to cross the river either by swimming or by
any other means.95
38. The emperor, forseeing what was going to happen, went far away
with his own army so as not to witness the death of his people. At
around the third hour of the day, that multitude, lifting their gaze,
saw great companies of horsemen and foot-soldiers of the Moabites
90 This almost certainly refers to Count Rodrigo Martinez.
91 All the towns mentioned lay in the region of the Upper Guadalquivir.
92 Judith ii.27-8 (cf. Vulgate ii. 17—18).
93 Deuteronomy xi.24; Joshua i.3.
94 Muslim sources date this campaign to 1137. However, what we know of Alfonso
VI Ts itinerary during that year renders that unlikely: Huid, ‘Contribución’, p. 619;
Reilly, A lfo n so F IIt pp. 344-6.
95 Heavy rainfall and flooding are also said to have hindered the progress of the
raiding party that Alfonso VII dispatched into the region of the Upper Guadal
quivir: Huid, ‘Contribución’, p. 619.
and Hagarenes drawn up, coming to destroy them. Seized with terror,
their courage and skill in warfare deserted them, and they shouted to
the commander of Toledo and to Count Rodrigo to have pity on them.
The nobles answered them: ‘You can see that between us and you there
is a great gulffixed, for neither can you pass over to us, nor can we pass
over to you.’9697Again the nobles said: ‘Confess yourfaults one to another,
and pray,91 and partake of the consecrated bread which you have with
you, and God will have mercy upon your souls.’
39. Then the Christians, well provided in faith and weapons, killed all
the Saracen captives, men, women and children, whom they had taken
prisoner, as well as the animals which they had with them. Then the
Saracens attacked them without delay and all the Christians were
slain, and none of them survived except for one Christian knight, who
flung himself into the water and emerged on the other side of the
river among the Christians. All the Christians and Saracens who saw
this miracle were astonished. The Saracens went away, taking with
them many heads of the Christians and their spoils. After things had
turned out in this manner, the counts struck camp and went to the
emperor and recounted to him everything that had happened; the
emperor was saddened and he returned to Toledo and everyone else
went back to their own land.
40. In July of the same year, the emperor summoned Count Rodrigo
of León, his own household troops, and the men of Salamanca, and he
set off to conquer Coria, and set ambushes far from its walls.98 Then
he sent raiding parties around Coria to seize the men, women and all
the beasts of the field, which they did. Seeing this, the Moabites and
Hagarenes bravely sallied forth out of the town gates in order to
pursue the Christians; the latter pretended to flee in terror, wishing to
draw them far from the town. When they passed the places where the
Christians were hidden, the emperor appeared on the field, and those
who were lying in ambush came out and killed all the Moabites and
Hagarenes and their commanders, and not one of them remained.
41. Seeing this, those who had remained inside the town blocked the
gates with a big, strong wall. Then the emperor ordered camps to be
set up around the town and he sent messengers throughout all the
land of Extremadura and the land of León, so that all the knights and
96 Inspired by Luke xvi.26.
97 James v.16.
98 This entire chapter is inspired by Judges xx.29-33; Joshua viii. 13-16. Again, the
chronicler is referring to Count Rodrigo Martinez.
222 T H E W O R L D O F EL C ID
foot-soldiers would go to the siege of the town; and he who did not go
would offend the emperor and his house would be confiscated. The
town was besieged in such a way that no Saracen could go in or out,
because the Christian commanders and nobles built very high wooden
towers, which rose up above the walls, and siege engines and mante
lets with which to assault the town.
42. One day, before sunrise, the emperor summoned the counts,
nobles and commanders, and ordered them to draw up the siege
towers to assault the town at daybreak. He himself went to the moun
tain with his hunters to kill deer, wild boar and bears. When day
broke, they began to assault the town, and Count Rodrigo Martinez
climbed up one of the wooden towers which he had built, and with
him went many knights, archers and slingers. Then a certain Saracen
shot an arrow by chance towards the siege tower which the count had
climbed. Alas! in payment for the count’s sins, the arrow struck
through the framework of the siege tower; the shaft lodged in the
frame, but the iron head was separated from the wood and, pene
trating his helmet and hauberk, it struck the count’s neck and
wounded him.
43. However, as soon as the count realised that he had been hit, he
hastily took hold of the arrowhead in his hand and drew it from the
wound, from which blood immediately began to flow; and neither the
skill of sorcerers nor doctors could staunch it that day. Finally he said
to those around him: ‘Take off my armour, for I am gravely wounded.’
They removed his armour straightaway and carried him to his tent,
and for the whole day they devoted themselves with the utmost
diligence to curing the wound, until at sunset all hope in medicine
was lost at the same time as his life. As soon as this became known in
the camps, there was great wailing and lamentation beyond reckoning
by all men. Hearing this, as he returned from the mountain and
discovered its cause from those whom he asked, the emperor came to
the camps and, summoning his nobles, in the presence of all of them
made the dead man’s brother, Osorio, count in his place."
44. The following day, the emperor, seeing himself overwhelmed by
many misfortunes and yielding to circumstance, withdrew from the
besieged town and all his nobles went away with him at the same
time. He travelled in safety to Salamanca, and the others returned to9
99 The chronicler's claim that Osorio Martinez was elevated to comital rank soon
after the siege of Coria is, supported by documentary evidence: Barton, Aristocracy,
p. 271, n. 4.
their homes. However, Count Osorio, who had recently been made a
count, as has been described, and his own escort of knights and that
part of the dead man’s which had joined him, having taken the body of
Count Rodrigo, made their way to León with great lamentation which
grew from town to town; and they buried him with every honour in the
sepulchre o f his fathers, next to the church of Saint Mary where the
episcopal seat is to be found.100
45. After this, King Tâshuftn went across the sea to the city of
Marrakesh, to the palace of his father King 'All, and he took with him
many Christians who are called Mozarabs, who had lived in the land
of the Hagarenes since ancient times.101 He also took with him all the
prisoners whom he had found in all the land that was under his
authority, and he settled them with other Christian captives in towns
and castles facing those people who are called Muzmutos,102 who were
attacking the whole of the land of the Moabites.
46. After a few years, King Azuel of Córdoba, King Avenceta of Seville
and other kings and princes, having gathered a great multitude of
horsemen and foot-soldiers who were in the land of the Hagarenes,
came again to the towns of Toledo. They caused great slaughter and
much harm in Escalona and Alamin, and they captured the castle of
Mora through the negligence of Muño Alfonso.1031 say it was through
negligence because he had not strengthened it with men and provi
sions as he should have done; and for this reason it was captured by
the Saracens, and they fortified it with strong warriors and supplies.
47. When they came to the land of Toledo or to its towns, the armies
of the Moabites and Hagarenes did not tarry there in combat for any
100 I Maccabees ix.19. The pantheon of Rodrigo Martinez and his kin may have been
situated in the monastery of San Pedro de los Huertos, close by León cathedral,
which the count’s parents, Count Martin Flainez and Countess Sancha Fernández,
had received from the royal infantas Urraca and Elvira Fernández in 1099: P.
Martínez Sopeña, ‘El conde Rodrigo y los suyos: herencia y expectativa del poder
entre los siglos X y XII’, in R elaciones de p o d er, de producción y paren tesco en la E d a d
M e d ia y M odern a , ed. R. Pastor (Madrid, 1990), 51—84, at p. 52, n. 3.
101 Mozarab, from the Arabic m u sta ’rib, meaning ‘Arabized’, was a term used to
denote Christians who lived under Muslim rule in al-Andalus. Tâshuftn b. ‘All left
the peninsula in January 1138 and reached Marrakesh the following March: Huici,
‘Contribución’, p. 619.
102 See above, ii, 10 and n. 25.
103 Escalona was stormed by Almoravid forces under the command of Tâshuftn b. ‘All
in December 1136: González, Repoblación, I, p. 139 and n. 25; Huici, ‘Contribución’,
p. 619. According to Ibn ‘Idharl, the castle of Mora was captured in 533 AH (9
September 1138 to 28 August 1139): González, Repoblación, I, p. 143.
more than a single day and night, and they immediately returned to
their own land for fear of the emperor and of the warriors who lived
in Avila, Segovia and in all Extremadura; and for this reason they
returned home without giving battle.
48. When the emperor heard that Mora had been captured, he went
there and built a better and stronger castle facing it called Peña
Negra.104 He garrisoned it with knights, warlike foot-soldiers and pro
visions, and entrusted it to the care of a nobleman whose name was
Martín Fernández,105 who daily attacked “those who were in Mora until
the emperor captured it.106 However, after the Saracens had captured
Mora, Muño Alfonso was ashamed and for many days he did not dare
to appear before the emperor. Instead he placed himself in great
danger, and with his friends, the warriors of Toledo, Guadalajara,
Talavera, Madrid, Avila, Segovia and other towns, he did not cease to
make war daily in the land of the Moabites and Hagarenes. He
inflicted great slaughter, fires and pillage, he fought with many of the
princes and commanders of the Moabites and Hagarenes, and he
vanquished and slew them, and captured their spoils.
49. Seeing that Muño Alfonso was a warlike man, the emperor sum
moned him to his presence, granted him his favour and appointed him
second-in-command,107 that is to say the deputy alcaide of Toledo, and
he commanded all the knights and foot-soldiers who lived in all the
towns and castles in the Transierra to obey him. Similarly, all the
warriors of the whole of Extremadura obeyed him, on account of his
honesty and his military expertise displayed in the many battles
which they fought with him in the land of the Saracens. But the
Moabites and Hagarenes who lived in Oreja caused great harm to
Toledo and to all its towns.
104 The remains of the castle of Peña Negra can still be seen today; for a rough sketch
of the ground-plan, see J. Porres Martin-Cleto, L o s A n a le s T o le d a n o s I y //(T oledo,
1993), p. 118.
105 Martín Fernández, son of Fernando Garcés de Hita, came to play a leading role in
the campaigns waged by Alfonso VII in al-Andalus and was rewarded with
tenancies in Calahorra and Peñafiel: see below ii, 81, 84-6, 96; P A , vv. 256-71;
Reilly, A lfon so VII, pp. 191.
106 Somewhat surprisingly, our chronicler omits to mention that Mora was
recaptured by the Christians in April 1144: Flórez (ed.), A n a le s T oledan os, p. 389.
107 secundum prin cipem . In other words, Muño Alfonso was to be second in command
to the acting governor, Rodrigo Fernández de Castro.
50. WHEN THE EMPEROR COMMANDED THE GOVERNOR OF TOLEDO, RODRIGO

FERNANDEZ, AND HIS BROTHER, GUTIERRE, TO BESIEGE OREJA
In the thirteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Alfonso, the emperor
himself, seeing that the Lord had given him rest round aboutfrom all his
enemies,'0* having deliberated with his own counsellors, commanded
two of his nobles, namely Gutierre Fernández and his brother
Rodrigo Fernández, who was the most important among the alcaides
of Toledo, that each of them with their own escort of knights, and
with all the knights and foot-soldiers who were in Toledo and in all
the towns which are in the Transierra, together with all the
inhabitants of the whole of Extremadura, should besiege the castle of
Oreja. And it was besieged in the month of April.108109
51. Afterwards, the emperor, having mustered an army of knights
from all Galicia, from the land of León and from Castile, together
with a large troop of infantry, went to Oreja and surrounded the
castle with great fortifications.110 But inside the fortifications of the
castle was the aforementioned commander ‘All, that murderer of the
Christians and of the commanders who had been slain in the Tran
sierra, and with him was a large company of foot-soldiers, crossbow
men and horsemen of the Moabites and Hagarenes. The castle was
very strong and was well fortified with all kinds of weapons and
crossbows. Nevertheless, the emperor ordered his engineers to build
siege towers and many engines with which to attack the castle, he
ordered sentries to be placed along the riverbank in order that he
might destroy them by thirst, and he ordered a mantelet to be erected
at the place where the Saracens secretly drew water.11112
52. On hearing this, King Azuel of Córdoba, King Avenceta of Seville
and Avengania, the military commander of Valencia,11“ were saddened
and greatly troubled, and they summoned the other kings, princes
and commanders, and all the horsemen and foot-soldiers who were in
108 II Samuel vii.l; v ii.ll.

109 A Muslim source records that the siege of Oreja began in Ramadan 533 AH, that
is, May 1139: Huici Miranda, Historia musulmana de Valencia, III, p. 97.
110 These siege works are referred to in a charter of Alfonso VII, drawn up on 25 July
1139 and issued in illo castello novo quod fecit imperator predictus iuxta Aureliam
quando earn tenebat obsessam: M. Romani Martínez (ed.), Colección diplomática do
mosteiro cisterciense de Sta María de Oseira (Ourense) (1025-1310), I (Santiago de
Compostela, 1989), no. 16.
111 The phrase is inspired by Judith vii.9 (Vulgate).
112 On Avengania, see above i, 48, n. 125.
the whole of the land of the Hagarenes, and a great number from the
islands of the sea. Another great army of Moabites and Arabs, sent by
King Täshufm of Marrakesh, came to their aid and they were joined
by very large companies of foot-soldiers, who are called azecuti,"3 who
followed the great caravans of camels loaded with flour and with all
food that is eaten."* There were almost thirty thousand horsemen, and
the number of foot-soldiers and crossbowmen was beyond reckoning.
53. Striking camp from Córdoba, they made their way along the royal
road which leads to Toledo and they reached the wells of Algodor,115
pitched camp there, and laid many hidden ambushes. W ith them was
King Avengania of Valencia with all his army, and they commanded
them and said: 'If the emperor comes to join battle with us, go up to
his camp by the other side, put all the warriors to the sword, set the
camp on fire and reinforce the castle with horsemen, foot-soldiers,
arms and allfood which is eaten,116 which we have on our camels, and
with water. Then follow us to where you know we shall be. We shall
go to Toledo and there we shall await the emperor to give battle.’
54. However, the emperor’s spies came to him at the camp and
reported to him in the presence of all his magnates, nobles and com
manders the decisions and actions of the Saracens.117 Having taken
divine counsel that they should not go out to fight the Saracens, but
wait for them in their camps, for the castle would be lost***.118 The
immense army of the Moabites and Hagarenes went to Toledo and
attacked San Servando, but its high towers were not damaged. They
did, however, destroy a watchtower which stood opposite San
Servando and four Christian souls perished in it; and many of them
went to Aceca but they did not do any harm there.
55. Afterwards they began to destroy the vineyards and orchards, but
in the city was the Empress Berengaria with a great troop of knights,
crossbowmen and foot-soldiers, who stationed themselves on the gates,
towers and walls of the city and defended it. On seeing this, the
empress sent messengers to the kings of the Moabites to say to them:
‘This the empress, the wife of the emperor, says to you: "Can you not
1IS See above, ii, 4, n. 6.
114 Genesis vi.21.
115 This probably refers to a location near the River Algodor, south of Mora.
116 Genesis vi.21
117 There are echoes here of Genesis xlii.29.
118 There is a lacuna in all the manuscripts at this point, with the exception of MS A,
which inserts perderent.
see that you are attacking me, a woman, and that this is dishonourable
for you? If you wish to fight, go to Oreja and fight the emperor, who
is waiting for you with his battle-lines armed and prepared/” On hear
ing this, the kings, princes and commanders, and the whole army raised
their eyes and saw the empress seated on the royal throne in a fitting
place at the top of a very high tower, which in our language is called
an alcázar, dressed as befitted the wife of an emperor, and round her
was a great crowd of virtuous women singing to drums, harps, cymbals
and psalteries. When the kings, princes, commanders and the whole
army saw her, they were amazed and overcome by shame; they hung
their heads in the presence of the empress and went away, and thence
forth they caused no further harm. They withdrew the ambushes which
they had laid and returned to their land without honour or victory.
56. Meanwhile, the emperor ordered sentries to be placed along the
riverbank, so that the Saracens could not draw water and he might
destroy them by thirst; and they erected a mantelet at the place where
they secretly drew water.119 But the Moors120 sallied out of the castle
and set fire to it, because they found it unguarded. However, they also
o f the castle were kept so strait, that they could neither comeforth, nor go
out, wherefore they were in great distress fo r want o f victuals, and a great
number o f them perished through famine121 and thirst because the water
tanks that were inside were emptied and they could not obtain water
by any means. Then the emperor’s engineers drew up siege engines
and catapults against the castle and they began to destroy the towers.
57. Seeing this, ‘All, having taken counsel with his followers, sent
messengers to the emperor saying: ‘Make a covenant with us and give us
one month’s respite, that we may again send messengers across the sea
unto our king, Täshufm, and to the whole of the land of the Hagarenes.
And then, i f there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee and give
you the castle, on condition that you let us go in peace with all that is
ours to our city of Calatrava.’ The emperor replied to them: ‘I will
make a truce with you on this condition: you will hand over to me
fifteen noble hostages from among your followers, excepting ‘All; and
then, i f there be no man to save you, you will surrender the castle to me;
all the crossbows, weapons and all the royal wealth are to remain
there, but you may take your personal possessions with you; moreover,
119 Cf. ii, 51 and n. 111.
120 This is one of the few occasions in the prose chronicle where the chronicler
employs the term Mauri to refer to the Muslims.
121 Our chronicler takes as his inspiration the Biblical account of the siege of
Jerusalem by Simon Maccabeus: I Maccabees xiii.49.
all the Christian captives who are in your prison shall be fed from my
own table by my servants and they are also to remain behind with
me.’122 ‘All and his followers reluctantly agreed to these words, he
handed over the hostages and they were sent under guard to Toledo,
and he promised on oath to comply with all the conditions which have
been written down above; and the emperor was satisfied by this.
58. Then messengers travelled across the sea to the palace of King
Tâshuftn, who ruled in place of his father 'All, and they told him
everything that the kings who were in the land of the Hagarenes had
done and everything that had happened at the castle. When he heard
thereof, he, his princes, commanders and all his household were con
founded, for events were not turning out as they had wished.123 The
messengers, finding no comfort at the palace of King Tâshuftn, nor
any decision from the kings who were in the land of the Hagarenes,
returned to Oreja and, on behalf of King Tâshuftn and the others, in
formed ‘All and those who were with him, that they should not harbour
any hope and that they should surrender the castle to the emperor.
59. And so, on the last day of the month, early in the morning, the
castle was surrendered and the towers were filled with Christian
knights, and the royal standards were raised above a high tower.
Those who held the standards shouted out loud and proclaimed:
‘Long live Alfonso, emperor of León and Toledo!’ Hearing and seeing
this, the bishops, all the clergy and everyone who were in the camps
raised their hands to heaven and sang 'Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum
confitemur, and so on.
60. ‘All and those who were with him went out of the castle, taking
with them their own possessions and leaving behind in the hands of
the Christians the Christian captives and all the royal wealth. They
came before the emperor, who received them peacefully, and they
stayed with him at the camp for a few days and their hostages were
returned to them. After this, he let them go away to Calatrava and
Rodrigo Fernández went with them in order to protect them, because
the Toledans wished to kill them.124
122 This account of the negotiations is modelled upon I Samuel xi.1-3.
123 The passage echoes the reaction of Lisias to the defeat of Gorgias by Judas
Maccabeus: I Maccabees iv.26-7.
124 One is tempted to conclude from this episode that there was precious little enthu
siasm among the frontier militia forces for the chivalrous code practised towards
a vanquished foe by the emperor and his magnates; cf. below ii, 98; J. Gillingham,
‘Conquering the barbarians: war and chivalry in twelfth-century Britain’, Haskins
Society Journal 4 (1993), 67-84.
61. The castle was besieged by the Emperor Alfonso in the month of
April and captured in the month of October in the Era 1177 [j= AD
1139]], and the reproach was put away™5 and with it the greatest war
that had been waged in the land of Toledo and in the whole of Extre
madura.186Afterwards, the emperor ordered the castle to be reinforced
with a garrison of knights and foot-soldiers, crossbows, engines and
all kinds of weapons, and water and all food which is eaten.187 All the
army, and the nobles and commanders returned to their own homes
singing and praising God, because a great victory had been won into
the hand o f128 his servant, the Emperor Alfonso.
62. After this, the emperor resolved to go to Toledo. When all the
people heard that the emperor was coming to Toledo, all the nobles
among the Christians, Saracens and Jews and all the people of the city
went far out of the city to greet him with drums, harps, psalteries and
all kinds o f musick, 129 each one of them in their own language praising
and glorifying God, who brought success to every one of the emperor’s
deeds, and calling out: ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,
blessed are you, your wife and your children and the kingdom of your
forefathers, and blessed is your mercy and your patience.’130 And they
led him into the city through the Puerta de Alcántara.131
63. Inside, Archbishop Raymond132 of the church of Toledo went into
the city square with a great procession of clergy and monks. He greeted
125 I Maccabees iv.58.
126 The Anales Toledanos I consign the conquest of Oreja to September 1139: Flórez
(ed), Anales Toledanos, p. 388. However, the evidence of the emperor’s own
diplomas indicates that the castle probably fell to his forces some time between 18
and 26 October of that year: Reilly, Alfonso VII, p. 66. On 27 October, the Infanta
Sancha made a grant to the abbey of Sahagún eo anno et mense quo capta est Aurelia:
Fernández Flórez (ed.), Colección diplomática, pp. 165-6.
127 Genesis vi.21.
128 Judges xv. 18.
129 Daniel iii.5, 7, 10, 15.
130 Cf. Psalm cxviii.26; Matthew xxi.9, xxiii.39; Mark xi.10; Luke xiii.35, xix.38. The
passage bears numerous similarities with that which describes Alfonso VIl’s entry
into Zaragoza in 1134: see above, i, 65.
131 The Puerta de Alcántara was the gateway into the city that stood at the end of the
bridge across the Tagus opposite the castle of San Servando. Alfonso VI1 had
reached Toledo by 26 October 1139 when he made a grant of property to one
Miguel Pérez: C. de Ayala Martínez (ed.), Libro de privilegios de la Orden de San
Juan de Jerusalén en Castilla y León (siglos XII-XV) (Madrid, 1995), no. 39. On 3
November, while still in Toledo, the emperor put in train the resettlement of
Oreja by granting it afuero, or charter of rights and obligations: A. Garda Gallo,
‘Los fueros de Toledo’, AHDE 45 (1975), 341—488, at pp. 469—71.
132 Raymond of Sauvetot, archbishop of Toledo (1124—52).
the emperor, and they went with him into the church of Saint Mary
singing and calling out: ‘Fear God, and keep his commandments’,153 and
so on. When he had given the blessing, the archbishop withdrew, and
the emperor was received in the alcázar and the royal palace, and he
stayed there for several days. Afterwards he went to the towns of
Toledo and its castles, destroying the ungodly out o f them, and all the
workers o f iniquity who were in the whole of Extremadura were
troubled. And salvation, mercy, peace and virtue prospered in his hand
and all those who were in his entire kingdom were glad with his acts.15*
64. After Oreja had been captured, when a period of two years and six
months had passed by, the emperor approached Coria. He surrounded
it with camps and ordered his engineers to build a wooden tower,
which rose up above all the town walls, and siege engines, catapults
and mantelets, with which they began to undermine the town walls
and to destroy the towers. Then, seized with great terror, the Moab
ites and Hagarenes who were inside the town blocked all the gates
with a big, strong wall and were kept so strait, that they could neither come
forth, nor go out.131435 Finally, a mighty famine overcame the town and
many of the Hagarenes died of hunger.
65. When the Moabites saw that they were being completely over
whelmed, they asked the emperor for a solemn pledge of peace, as
follows: that they might seek someone who would free them for up to
a period of thirty days; but if not, they were to surrender the town
peacefully with all its prisoners and royal revenues. When they heard
this, the emperor and all his counsellors agreed. And so, having sent
messengers to their king, Täshufin, who ruled in place of his father
‘All, to the palace of King Avenceta, and to the palace of King Azuel,
they reported to them everything that had happened to them, and
what kind of pact they had made with the emperor of León. King
Täshufin and the kings, lacking the power to liberate them or their
city, with great lamentation ordered them to surrender the town, to
save their lives and to comply with everything that they had agreed
with the emperor. And it was done thus without delay.
133 Ecclesiastes xii. 13; cf. above, i, 66.

134 The passage is heavily influenced by I Maccabees iii.6-8. The chroniclers
statement that Alfonso VII left Toledo to visit the towns and castles in the
vicinity can be partially corroborated: on 15 November 1139 the emperor and his
entourage may be traced at nearby Maqueda: P. Rassow (ed.), ‘Die Urkunden
Kaiser Alfons VII. von Spanien’, Archivfür Urkundenforschung 11 (1930), 66-137,
no. 16.
135 I Maccabees xiii.49; cf. above ii, 56.
66. After the town had been surrendered to the emperor, it was
cleansed of the uncleaness of the barbarian people and of the pollution
of Mohammed, and having removed all the filth of the pagans of that
town and of their temple,136 they dedicated a church in honour of Saint
Mary forever virgin and all the saints, and they ordained there as
bishop a religious man named Navarro,137 given that in antiquity it
had been an episcopal see in the time of Archbishop Ildefonsus138 and
King Reccared,139 when all that land belonged to the Christians from
the Mediterranean as far as the Ocean Sea.140 The city of Coria was
captured in the Era 1181 £= AD 1143]], in the month of June.141 After
the emperor, with God’s help, had enriched himself with such triumph
and victory, he returned honourably and peacefully with all his army
to his city of Salamanca, praising God whose mercy endurethfor ever.142
67. WHEN THE TERRIFIED MOABITES ABANDONED THE CASTLE OF ALBALATE

When the Moabites and Hagarenes who were in Albalate saw that
Coria had been captured, they were greatly frightened and they left
and abandoned the castle. The Christians from Avila and Salamanca
went there and razed it to the ground. The next year, a very valiant
man, Muño Alfonso, of whom as alcaide of Toledo we have spoken
above, chose nine hundred of the bravest knights from Toledo and
from the other towns of the Toledans, and from Avila and Segovia,
136 The passage is inspired by the description of the aftermath of the fall of Gaza to
Simon Maccabeus: I Maccabees xiii.47-48.
137 Navarro, bishop of Coria (1142-51), and later bishop of Salamanca (1151-58/9).
138 St Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo (657-67), was a distinguished scholar and a
leading luminary of the Visigothic Church.
139 Reccared I, king of the Visigoths (586-601), who, by renouncing the Arian heresy
and adopting the Catholic faith, helped bring about the religious unity of the
peninsula.
140 Alfonso VII endowed the church of Coria on 30 August 1142: J. L. Martín Martin
(ed.), D ocum entación m e d ie v a l de la iglesia ca te d ra l de C oria (Salamanca, 1989), no. 1.
This grant notwithstanding, the see remained impoverished throughout the
twelfth century: Fletcher, E piscopate , pp. 32-4.
141 In fact, Coria fell some time in June 1142, although the city was still under siege
on 6 June when the emperor made a grant to the see of Zamora: Zamora, Archivo
de la Catedral, T u m b o N e g ro , fols 12v-13r. Given that the chronicler indicates at
the beginning of chapter 64 that Coria was besieged two years and six months
after the fall of Oreja, the chronological lapse here may be safely laid at the door
of a subsequent copyist.
142 See, for example, II Chronicles vii.3, 6; Psalm cvi.l, cvii.l, cxviii.1-4, 29, Jeremiah
xxxiii.l 1; I Maccabees iv.24. The emperor and his army had reached Salamanca by
28 July 1142: A. Barrios García, L a c a te d ra l de A v ila en la E d a d M e d ia (Avila,
1973), pp. 99-100.
and one thousand hand-picked foot-soldiers and, as was his custom,

made his way with them to the middle of the countryside around
Córdoba and fixed his tents there. He seized gold, silver and great
riches, took many prisoners, and carried out great slaughter
throughout all the countryside around Córdoba. A certain Saracen
prisoner escaped and fled, and made his way to King Azuel of Córdoba
and to King Avenceta of Seville, who had met together and were seek
ing a plan on how to make war in the land of the Christians, and how
to advance on Toledo; but they could not find a suitable plan. Suddenly
the aforementioned Saracen, who had fled from the Christians, arrived,
and in their presence reported to them everything that the Christians
had done in their land.
68. Hearing this, with great haste they immediately ordered cries and
proclamations to ring out throughout all the countryside of Córdoba,
Carmona and Seville, and drums and trumpets to resound in the towns,
castles and villages. They were joined by many thousands of horse
men, foot-soldiers and crossbowmen, and they pursued the Christians
up the well-worn road along which the latter had returned. Muño
Alfonso, looking far into the distance, saw that behind him, advancing
this way and that, there were numerous companies of Moabite and
Hagarene horsemen assembled, with the royal standards raised, and
very many battle-lines of foot-soldiers, crossbowmen, azecuti1+3 and
Hagarenes.
69. Seeing this, Muño Alfonso realised that they were King Azuel of
Córdoba and King Avenceta of Seville, and he said to his comrades: ‘I
can see that behind us the kings of the Moabites are advancing with
great companies of horsemen and foot-soldiers. Let us now hurry and
go to the scrubland at Montiel,143144 and let us wait for them there with
our battle-lines drawn up.’ They went to that place, pitched their tents
there, and everyone, on bended knee, called to the Lord in prayer,
saying: ‘O Jesus of Nazareth, who was hung on the cross for us and
who shed your blood for us, behold the Moabites and Hagarenes, your
enemies and ours, are gathered against us to destroy us. Take pity on
us and rescue us. O mighty Virgin of Virgins, intercede for us before
your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and if you deliver us, we will
faithfully give to your church in Toledo the tithes of all that you have
given or will give to us. Saint James, apostle of Christ, defend us in
143 See above, ii, 4, n. 6.

144 Presumably the territory known as Campo de Montiel, which straddles the
borders of the modern provinces of Ciudad Real and Albacete.
battle so that we may not perish by the terrible judgement of the
Saracens.’1451467
70. Having said these things, Muño Alfonso prepared two very
strong companies of knights against the Saracens, and again Muño
said: ‘O sons of the Christians of God, be o f good courage,'*6 and let us
fight boldly and valiantly against King Avenceta of Seville, who is the
strongest of all the Saracens; for if Avenceta were defeated or killed,
they would all be vanquished. See to it that none of you die fleeing, for
it is betterfo r us to die in battle147 in one place than to scatter this way
and that.’ Again he said: ‘Remember, my comrades, that on another
occasion I and sixty-two knights who were with me, some of whom
are present and others who have remained in our towns, fought with
King Täshuftn, with all the army of Córdoba, and with many thou
sands of horsemen and foot-soldiers on the field which they call
Almodóvar de Tendas.14814950And the Lord delivered them into our hands,
and they were defeated; King Täshuftn fled and his princes, com
manders, and many hundreds of horsemen and foot-soldiers died,
while the rest fled. None of us was killed, except for a single knight,
and we captured innumerable spoils from them and returned to our
towns in peace.’ Again he said: ‘It is as easy for God fo r many to be shut
up in the hands o f a few,'*9 as a few in the hands of many. Now, never
theless, as the will o f God is in heaven, so let him do!'50 Then they shared
in the sacrifices of the Mass of the priests whom they had with them.
71. Then the armies of Moabites and Hagarenes arrived, their royal
standards aloft, and they arranged in battle-order their numerous and
very strong troops against the Christian troops. King Avenceta,
seeing that the Christian ranks were very small and that there was no
nobleman’s standard among them, except for that of Muño Alfonso,
the alcaide of Toledo, said to those around him: ‘O foolish Christians,
sons of dogs, you have come to lose your heads!’ But once the battle
145 On the emergence of St James, S a n tia g o M a ta m o ro s, as the patron saint of the

Christian armies in their struggle against Islam, see Fletcher, S a in t J a n u s ’s Catapult,
pp. 65-77, 296-7.
146 Deuteronomy xxxi.6; Joshua i. 18; I Samuel iv.9; I Chronicles xix.13, xxii.lS,
xxviii.20; II Chronicles xix.l 1, xxxii.7; Psalms xxvii.14; I Corinthians xvi.13. Cf. I,
13.
148 In all likelihood this refers to modern Almodóvar del Campo, to the south of
Calatrava.
149 I Maccabees iii. 18; cf. i, 15.
had begun, King Avenceta was immediately struck down by two

knights of Toledo (one was called Pedro Alguacil and the other
Roberto de Mongomariz),151 he died, and his head was cut off152153
72. Seeing this, therefore, King Azuel and the other princes and
commanders, together with all the Moabite and Hagarene horsemen
and all the foot-soldiers, immediately took to flight, and fled this way
and that along the mountain tracks, and hid themselves in rock caves.
Muño Alfonso and the other Christians pursued them, and as he fled
King Azuel was brought to the ground by Muño Alfonso’s lance, and
his head was cut off. Many princes and commanders of the Moabites
and Hagarenes died, together with many thousands of horsemen, and
foot-soldiers whose number is beyond reckoning. Many commanders,
princes and noble horsemen were captured, and very many foot-
soldiers were taken prisoner, as many as each one of the Christians,
according to their might, could lead away.
73. They seized much silver and gold, the royal standards, precious
garments, excellent weapons, hauberks, helmets, shields, fine horses
with their saddles, mules, she-mules and camels loaded with great
riches. They hung the heads of the kings from the top of the spears
upon which were the royal standards, and on each of the lances they
hung the heads of the commanders and princes. Muño Alfonso
ordered the kings’ bodies to be wrapped in fine silk materials, he
placed them in a green field, and left Saracens with them, who were to
guard over them until they were taken away from there. After this they
went home to the camp and sang a song o f thanksgiving and praised the
Lord, because his mercy endurethfor ever'5*
74. When the next day arrived, Muño Alfonso and his comrades
struck camp, and went to Toledo, and entered the city through the
Puerta de Alcántara. The royal standards went before them held high,
with the kings’ heads on the tops of the lances, next the noble
horsemen prisoners in chains, and afterwards the Saracen people with
their hands tied behind their backs. They were followed by the
151 Pedro Alguacil and Roberto de Montgomariz can be traced in contemporary

documents: see Sánchez Belda, Chronica, pp. 245-6, 255. The two knights sub
sequently took part in the unsuccessful siege of Córdoba in May 1150: Hernández
(ed.), Cartularios, no. 74.
152 The taking of heads as grisly battle trophies was common practice on either side
of the frontier; some Christian fileros offered a reward of 5 or 10 morabetinos to
anyone who brought back the head of a Muslim commander: Powers, A society
organized for war, pp. 176-7; see also below ii, 72, 88.
153 I Maccabees iv.24.
Christian foot-soldiers, who brought the kings' horses and the mules
and she-mules of the commanders, nobles and horsemen, with their
magnificent saddles worked in gold and silver; and afterwards mules
and she-mules, which are called azemilas,'5* and camels burdened with
weapons and all kinds of spoils.
75. They came thus before the doors of the church of Saint Mary,
where the Empress Berengaria, the emperor’s wife, was waiting with
Archbishop Raymond of Toledo, all the clergy, all the knights of the
city and all the people, who had come to see the marvel and the
victory. And after they had seen the heads of the kings of the Saracens
on the tops of the lances upon which the royal standards were raised,
they were all astonished, and they entered the church of Saint Mary
singing and intoning with great joy ‘Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum
confitemur, until the end. Having given the blessing, the archbishop
and everyone else went to their homes.
76. The next day, early in the morning, the Empress Berengaria and
Muño Alfonso and his companions sent messengers to the emperor,
who was in Segovia, saying: ‘Your wife, the empress, and Muño
Alfonso, whom you appointed alcaide of Toledo, say this to the lord
emperor: “Be not slothful in coming to us, nor make any delay, but
come to your palace in Toledo, and there you will see many marvels
and the victory which the Lord has offered to you and to all your
kingdom.’” Hearing this, the emperor was filled with great joy and
quickly made his way to Toledo.154155
77. When Muño Alfonso and his victorious comrades heard that the
emperor was coming to Toledo, they went far out of the city to greet
him. Before them went the royal standards, with the kings’ heads
hanging from the tops of the lances and the heads of the commanders
and nobles hanging in the same way; the Saracen horsemen prisoners
in chains, and afterwards the Hagarene people with their hands tied
behind their backs; the kings’ horses, the mules and she-mules of the
princes and horsemen, and all kinds of weapons; and the azemilas and
the camels burdened with numerous spoils. After the emperor had
seen all these things and the heads of the kings hanging from the tops
of the lances upon which were the royal standards, he was astonished
and, giving great thanks to the Lord God, he said: ‘Blessed be Lord
God, Creator o f all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and
154 From the Arabic az-zemila, ‘beast of burden’.
155 The emperor had reached Toledo by 21 April 114S: J. Guallart and M. P. R. Laguzzi,
‘Algunos documentos reales leoneses’, CHE 2 (1944), 363—81, at pp. 367—8.
merciful, and the only and gracious King, the only giver o f all things, the
onlyjust, almighty and everlasting, who delivered you from the sword of
these kings, and from the clutches of the Saracens, and who always
delivers me and his followers from all trouble!'56
78. After these things had happened, they went into the royal palaces
in the city. Once everyone had first given tithes to God and to the
church of Saint Mary, they afterwards gave the fifth part to the em
peror, as is the custom among kings,156157 and also the royal standards,
the kings’ horses, the she-mules and many other gifts, and they set
aside from the common booty valuable gifts which they sent to Santiago
de Compostela.158 Muño Alfonso and his comrades divided up the rest
among themselves, according to their custom.159
79. Muño Alfonso ordered the heads of the kings and the other heads
of the princes and commanders to be hanged upon the tower of Toledo,
so that there would be a manifest sign o f the help o f the Lord to all
Christians, Moabites and Hagarenes.160 But after a few days, the
empress, moved by great pity, commanded the kings’ heads to be
taken down and ordered Jewish and Saracen doctors to anoint them
with myrrh and aloes, to wrap them in the finest materials, and to place
them in caskets worked in gold and silver. Afterwards, the empress
sent them with honour to Córdoba to the queens who were the kings’
wives. This victory was given by God in the Era 1181 []= AD 1143]]
in the month of March.161162
80. When it was heard in the palace of King Tashuftn that the kings
who ruled in the land of the Hagarenes had died, that king was
saddened and troubled, and all his kingdom with him, and when he had
gathered!6* all the chief men of the Christians whom he had with him,
156 II Maccabees i.24-25.

157 The quinto, or one-fith tax on booty, derived from the Muslim practice of granting
to Allah the same proportion of the spoils gained in Holy War: Powers, A society
o r g a n iz e d f o r w a r, pp. 163, 167, 173-4.
158 These were doubtless to be placed at the shrine of St James in Compostela Cathedral.
159 On the rules governing the division of spoils, see Powers, A society o r g a n iz e d f o r
w a r, pp. 162-87.
160 II Maccabees xv.35.
161 The A n a les T o le d a n o s I date this battle to 1 March 1143 and record that it took
place by the R io que dicen A d o ro , which may refer either to the Azuer near Montiel,
or else to the Algodor near Mora: Flórez (ed.), A n a le s T o led a n o s, p. 389; Sánchez
Belda, C hronica, p. 242; González, R epoblación, I, p. 146, n. 25.
162 Matthew ii.3-4. The passage is inspired by the account of King Herod’s reaction
on hearing of the birth of Christ.
and of the Moabites and the Arabs, that is to say his own counsellors,
he said to them: ‘What counsel give ye?'63 What am I to do with the
land of the Hagarenes, which is without a king?’ They all answered as
one and said: ‘Behold your faithful friend Avengania163164 is present.
There is no one better than him either here or there.’ So Täshufm
granted him the governorship of Córdoba, Carmona, Seville and
Granada, and all the land of the Hagarenes, and said to him: ‘Take
gold and silver in abundance from my treasuries, go to the land of the
Christians, and avenge our brother kings who have been slain. Your
sword should not spare any of their regions, and you will subjugate
every fortified town and castle to me and to you.'165
81. In the same year as Muño Alfonso waged the aforementioned
wars, the emperor mustered large companies of knights, foot-soldiers
and crossbowmen, and they pitched camp in Toledo by the River
Tagus. Finally, the emperor summoned two of his commanders,
namely Muño Alfonso, the alcaide of Toledo, and Martín Fernández,
the alcaide of Hita and other towns, and he said to them .‘Take ye the
charge o f this people'66 and land, and defend yourselves in the fortress of
Peña Negra, known as the Christian Rock, and look out that the
Moabites and Hagarenes do not come and fortify the castle of Mora.’
82. The emperor and all his army invaded the region of Córdoba. It
was in the time o f wheat harvest, and he burnt up all theirfields, and had
the fruit trees, vines, olive groves and fig trees cut down;167 he set fire
to all the land of Córdoba, Carmona and Seville and all that land was
burned and nothing remained, except the fortified towns and castles.
And he carried out great slaughter, took very many prisoners and
abundant booty.
83. But at the time that the emperor was in the land of Córdoba, the
adalid Farax, who was the commander of Calatrava, and all the
princes and commanders of the Moabites and Hagarenes who were in
all the towns and fortresses as far as the River Guadalquivir, met
together and resolved that they would go to the land of Toledo,
fortify the castle of Mora, and set ambushes for Muño Alfonso and kill
him; the latter was in the castle of Peña Negra.
163 I Kings xii.9.
164 See above, i, 48, n. 125.
165 These instructions echo those issued by Nebuchadnezzar to Holofernes: Judith ii.6
(Vulgate).
166 I Maccabees v.19.
167 Judith ii.27 (cf. Vulgate, ii. 17—18).
84. It so happened that on the first day of the month of August the
aforementioned Muño, the alcaide of Toledo, departed from that castle
before daybreak with forty knights of Toledo, having left his comrade
Martín Fernández there to guard over it. Muño Alfonso and his
comrades climbed a mountain facing Calatrava in order to see or hear
whatever was going on. And while the knights of the alcaide of
Toledo marched this way and that, they found a Saracen who was
hiding in a cave and, having seized him, brought him before the alcaide
of Toledo. And Muño Alfonso said unto him: ‘To whom belongest thou?
and whence art thou? And where are you going?’ And he said to him: T
am a young Hagarene man, servant to Farax, the adalid of Calatrava,
and my master has sent me to spy on you.’168 Muño Alfonso said to
him: ‘Where is the adalid Farax?’ And he replied to him: ‘Behold,
behind my back I am being followed by a great multitude of horsemen
and foot-soldiers, bringing with them camels, mules, horses, and asses
burdened with flour and allfood which is eaten,169 so that the castle of
Mora may be fortified. Behind this multitude is the adalid Farax with
a very great multitude of Moabites and Hagarenes, horsemen, foot-
soldiers and crossbowmen, about four thousand in number. They have
come to kill you, and those who are with you, if they can find you in
any place.' The words were still on his lips when lo and behold the
first company of Saracens arrived unexpectedly. Muño Alfonso and
his comrades joined battle with them, the Saracens were immediately
defeated and fled, many of them were slain, and the others fled this
way and that leaving great spoils on the battlefield.
85. After this, Muño Alfonso returned to Peña Negra and told Martin
Fernández everything that he had done that day, and that the adalid
Farax was coming with a great army to fight with them. Having taken
counsel, they ate some bread and wine. Afterwards, Muño Alfonso,
Martín Fernández and all the knights who were with them, having
prepared their troops, went out to meet the Saracens and they came
upon the pagan army drawn up by the wells of Algodor.170 When
battle began, many perished by the sword on either side, Martin
Fernández was wounded, and the Saracens marched away from the
Christians, and the Christians from the Saracens, and a great space
remained between the battle-lines of the Saracens and the Christians.
168 Here, our chronicler draws inspiration from the account of the chance encounter
between the troops of David and an Egyptian slave shortly before the victory of
the former over the Ámalekites: I Samuel x x x .ll—13.
169 Genesis vi.21
170 See above ii, 53, n. 115
86. Muño Alfonso, realising that time did not serve him,11' said to
Martín Fernández: ‘Don Martin, leave me and go with all your
knights to Peña Negra and guard it carefully in case the Moabites and
the Hagarenes on the other side should come and take the castle first,
which would cause great uncertainty in the household of our lord the
emperor. My comrades and I will fight with them; as the will o f God is
in heaven, so let him do.’11* So Martín Fernández and all his knights
went back to the castle to guard it. For his part, Muño Alfonso said to
his step-son, his wife’s son, whom he had knighted on Easter Day that
year: ‘Go to Toledo, to your mother’s house, and take care of her and
of my sons, your brothers. May God not wish for your mother to be
bereaved of you and me in a single day.’ Then that knight said to him:
‘I will not go, but will die with you.’ Then Muño Alfonso struck him
furiously with a spear-shaft, and he went reluctantly to Toledo crying
and lamenting.
87. At that moment, the Moabites and Hagarenes attacked Muño
Alfonso and his comrades, and many were slain on both parts.'13 When
Muño Alfonso saw that he and his companions were being completely
overwhelmed, they climbed a crag which is called Peña del Ciervo,1712374175
and the archers hit him, and Muño the Toledan was sore wounded o f the
archers'15 and died. All the knights who were with him died around him,
and the majority of the nobles of the Moabites and Hagarenes died.
88. The adalid Farax arrived and cut off his head, his right arm,
shoulder and hand, and his right foot and leg, and he stripped off his
armour and wrapped his mutilated body in clean linen. They cut off
many of the Christian knights’ heads and sent Muño Alfonso’s head to
Córdoba, to the palace of the wife of Azuel, and [then^ to Seville, to
the palace of King Avenceta, and afterwards across the sea to the palace
of King Täshuftn, to publish it throughout all the land of the Moabites
and Hagarenes. They fastened Muño Alfonso’s arm and foot and the
heads of the other knights to a high tower which stands in Calatrava.176
171 I Maccabees xii.l.

173 I Maccabees ix.17.
174 The location of this place, called P en n a C e rv i by the chronicler, is unknown.
175 I Samuel xxxi.S.
176 With the exception o f the phrase truncum corpus eius in u o lu it ('he wrapped his
mutilated body’), which is a reminiscence of Judith xiii. 10 (Vulgate), this passage
is inspired by the account of the treatment of Saul’s body by the Philistines: I
Samuel xxxi.9-10.
89. And when the inhabitants o/Toledo heard o f that which the Saracens
had done, they went and took the body of Muño Alfonso and the bodies o f
his comrades, and buried them in the cemetery of Saint Mary in
Toledo.177 For many days Muño Alfonso’s wife with her friends and the
other widows would go to the tomb of Muño Alfonso and would lament
with this lamentation and say: ‘O Muño Alfonso we are distressed fo r
thee. Just as a woman loves her only husband, so the city of Toledo
loved you. Your shield was never deflected in battle and your spear turned
not back; your sword returned not empty. Tell not the death of Muño
Alfonso in Córdoba and in Seville, publish it not in the palace of King
Tâshufïn, lest the daughters o f the Moabites rejoice, lest the daughters o f the
Hagarenes triumph and the daughters of the Toledans be saddened.’178179
90. Muño Alfonso, of whom as alcaide of Toledo we have already
spoken of sufficiently, died, and all the warriors who were with him,
on account of the great sin that he committed against God. That is to
say, he killed his own daughter, whom he had by his lawful wife,
because she had been having a love affair with a young man. And he
did not feel pity for his daughter, in the same way as the Lord was
merciful in all the battles which he waged, nor was he mindful of the
woman caught in adultery, whom the scribes and Pharisees brought
before the Lord and wished to stone to death, to whom the Lord said:
‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’'19 Muño
Alfonso grieved for this sin during all the days of his life and he
wished to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. However, Archbishop
Raymond of the church of Toledo, and the other bishops and clergy,
beseeched by the emperor that he should not go on pilgrimage,
ordered him by way of penance to make war continuously on the
Saracens, just as he did until he was slain by them.180
91. While this was going on, the emperor, having traversed all the
land of Córdoba, Carmona and Seville, returned with great victory,
and as he approached Talavera he pitched camp on the plain near the
River Tagus. The knights of the town and its stewards came to him
177 I Samuel xxxi.l 1-13.

178 The lament is modelled upon that which David pronounced on learning of the
death of Saul and Jonathan: II Samuel i. 17—27.
179 John viii.7.
180 The belief that warfare might have a spiritual and penitential value if it were
directed against the enemies of Christendom took root in the Iberian peninsula
during the first half of the twelfth century: Fletcher, ‘Reconquest and Crusade’,
42-6; Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 155-6, and ‘From Tyrants to Soldiers of Christ’,
(forthcoming).
CHRONICA A D E F O N S I IM P E R A T O R IS 241
and from them he learned of what had happened to Muño Alfonso,

and he was greatly saddened. The counts, nobles and commanders,
seeing the great sadness on the emperor’s face, came to him together
and stood round him, and said to him: ‘Lord emperor, there are many
who are similar and better to Muño Alfonso in your kingdom. The
good fortune which men attributed to Muño Alfonso was, is, and will
be yours for all the days of your life, for God granted it to you.’
Hearing this, the emperor pondered their words and, after having
kept silent for nearly half an hour, he replied to them: ‘Each of you,
return to your homes and next year all of you, all the army of Galicia,
León and Castile, and all the knights and foot-soldiers of the whole of
Extremadura join me in Toledo in the middle of the month of
September.' Hearing this, they returned to their homes.
92. When the year was expired,181 that is, in the month of September in
the Era 1182 Q= AD 1144Q, all the emperor’s counts, nobles and
commanders, each one of them with their own escort of knights, the
royal household militia, and all the alcaides, knights and foot-soldiers
of the whole of Extremadura went to Toledo. After this, the emperor
moved his army and sent large raiding parties182 before him into all the
region of Córdoba, Carmona, Seville and Granada. They destroyed
all the land of Baeza and Ubeda and all the countryside of Córdoba
and Seville. They reached the border with Almería and destroyed all
the vines, olive groves and fig trees. They cut down and set alight all
the orchards, set fire to their towns, villages and hamlets, and sent up
in flames many of their castles. They took their men, women and
children captive, and seized a great booty of horses, mares, camels,
mules, asses, oxen, cows and every kind of beast, gold and silver, all
the valuables which were in their homes and all their possessions:
whatever they could lay their hands on. They carried all of the above
to the emperor at the camp in the land of Granada. All the kingdom of
the Hagarenes from Almería to Calatrava was destroyed, and there
remained but a few very strong cities and castles. After this, the
emperor and all his army returned to Toledo carrying with them
abundant riches, together with a great victory and peace.183
181 II Chronicles xxxvi.10; cf. I Chronicles xx.l; Leviticus xxv.30; Judges xi.40.
182 algaras-, see above i, 36, n. 102.
18S The emperor had reached Toledo by October 1144: Villar Garda (ed.), D ocu m en
tación, no. 36. The following month, Alfonso’s charters record their issue in reditu
f o s s a ti q u o d f e c e r a t eo tem pore p re d ic tu s im p era to r in terra C ordube et Granate-, A.
Barrios García (ed.), D ocum entación m e d ie v a l de la ca te d ra l de A v ila (Salamanca,
1981), no. 5; cf. Ayala Martínez (ed.), L ib r o de p riv ile g io s, no. 51.
93. Then, when the princes, commanders and all the Hagarene people
saw that miseries were multiplied, and that the emperor and his forces did
encamp themselves in their borders'84 every year, and that the armies of
Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca and the other towns destroyed
their land daily, they gathered in the squares, in the porticos of the
towns, and in the mosques and they said: ‘W hat can we do, since we
shall not be able to withstand war with the emperor and his com
manders?' Some of them replied saying: ‘The Moabites eat thefat o f the
land,185 they take away our possessions and our gold and silver from
us, and they oppress our wives and children. Let us fight against
them, therefore, let us kill them and cast off their lordship, for we have
no part in King Täshuftn’s palace neither have we inheritance in the sons
o f ‘All and of his father Yusuf’.1841586 Others said: ‘First of all, let us make
a peace agreement with the emperor of León and Toledo, and let us
give him royal tribute, just as our fathers gave it to his fathers.’ This
seemed good in their eyes and they agreed to make ready for war
against the men of Marrakesh. Then, returning to their mosques, they
prayed, asking their pseudo-prophet Mohammed for mercy, so that he
might help them in their undertakings and actions. Sending messen
gers, they called upon King Zafadola and all the lineage of the kings
of the Hagarenes to come and make war on the Moabites.
94. In the month of October in the Era 1183 £= AD 1145^, the com
mander Mohammed, who was of royal lineage, killed all the Moabites
who were in Mértola and within all its borders.187Afterwards, those who
were in Valencia, Murcia, Lérida, Tortosa, and many other castles
were killed in battle by the Hagarenes. At that time King Zafadola
and all the citizens of Córdoba, Jaén, Ubeda, Baeza, Andujar, Seville,
Granada, Almería, and that region which is near the Mediterranean
Sea as far as Toledo, all joined in war against the Moabites, and against
their leader Avengania, and many thousands of Moabites and Hagarenes
were killed. The Hagarenes were victorious, and drove Avengania out
of Córdoba and all the Moabites out of many other towns and castles.
Having been expelled, Avengania took up position in the high towers
of Córdoba, which in our language is called the alcázar, in Almodóvar,
Montoro, Carmona and Seville. All the Moabites who escaped the
185 Genesis xlv. 18.
186 II Samuel xx.l; I Kings xii.16; II Chronicles x.16.
187 Muhammad ibn Yahyä al-SalflsI, known as Ibn al-Qâbila, seized Mértola, by the
Guadiana in southern Portugal, on 12 August 1144: Bosch Vilá, L o s A lm o rá v id e s,
pp. 287-8 and n. 6.
sword of the Hagarenes fled to him and were a great stay unto him.IKS
Nevertheless, there was great slaughter and confusion in all the land
of the Hagarenes, such as there had not been since the day in which
the Hagarenes crossed the Mediterranean to first take that land.18189
95. At that time there was in Córdoba a certain priest of the law of
Mohammed, of the lineage of the Hagarenes, and his name was
Abenfandi, and he was richer than all the men who dwelled in
Córdoba.190192He summoned before him the adalid of Calatrava, Farax,
all the nobles of Córdoba, and his relatives and friends, and he com
municated with them his secret counsel191 they would kill King Zafadola
and he would reign in his place. This plan did not escape the attention
of King Zafadola, and he summoned all his faithful Christian knights
and foot-soldiers, whom he had in his retinue, and he left Córdoba
with them, together with the adalid Farax. King Zafadola said to the
adalid Farax: ‘Since you wished to betray me, I will make sure that
you are unable to do so.’ And turning to the Christians he said:
‘Attack him and kill him’; and they killed him there and then.
96. Taking occasion1912 thereby, Abenfandi and the Cordobans wished
to kill King Zafadola, and they pursued him. But the latter went to
Jaén and then to Granada, and joined in many battles with the Moab
ites, and captured their towns and castles; Abenfandi was appointed
governor of Córdoba.193 Then King Zafadola sent messengers to the
188 I Maccabees ii.43.
189 The principal rebellions against Almoravid rule unfolded between 1144 and 1147.
In the spring of 1147 Almohad troops crossed from North Africa and began to
secure the allegiance of the Andalusian towns. Ibn Ghânïya, the Avengania of the
Chronicle, was driven out of Seville, Córdoba and other places in 1148 and, having
come to terms with the invader, was finally forced to retire to Granada, where he
died in January 1149. For details, see F. Codera, Decadencia y desaparición de los
Almorávides en España (Zaragoza, 1899); Bosch Vila, Los Almorávides, pp. 285-95;
Viguera Molíns, Los reinos de taifas, pp. 189-201, 217-20; Kennedy, Muslim Spain
and Portugal pp. 189-95.
190 Ibn Hamdln had served as qädl, or judge, in Córdoba since 1134/35. Early in 1145
he had received an oath of allegiance from the citizens and had assumed the duties
of governor; but soon after he had been deposed by Sayf al-Dawla (Zafadola):
Bosch Vilá, Los Almorávides, pp. 288-89.
191 Judith ii.2.
192 Romans vii.8, 11.
193 Ibn Hamdln was reappointed governor of Córdoba on 1 March 1145: Bosch Vilá,
Los Almorávides, p. 289. The CATs version of events is supported by the Anales
Toledanos /: Flórez (ed.), Anales Toledanos, p. 389. Zafadola remained in Granada
until he was ousted by Almoravid forces in the late summer of 1145 and was
forced to withdraw, first to Jaén, and finally to Murcia in January 1146: Bosch
Vilá, Los Almorávides, pp. 290-1; Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal, p. 194.
emperor saying: ‘The land of Ubeda and Baeza and their castles do
not wish to obey me, nor render tribute to you.’ Hearing this, the
emperor summoned the counts Manrique,194 Ermengol195 and Ponç,
together with Martín Fernández, and he said to them: ‘Go and subdue
for me, and for King Zafadola, Baeza, Ubeda and Jaén and all the
rebels; and may your sword not spare any of them.’
97. Going away with a great army, they destroyed all that rebellious
land and seized abundant booty and many prisoners. When the citizens
of that region saw that they were being completely overwhelmed, they
sent an embassy to King Zafadola saying: ‘Come, deliver us from the
hands of the Christians, and we will serve you surely.’ He immediately
came with a great army and, having left it facing the Christians, went
in peace to their camp and said to the counts: ‘Surrender to me the
prisoners and the booty that you have taken, and I will go with you to
the emperor, and I will do whatever the emperor may command me.’
The counts replied to him: ‘Far be it from us, for you sent messengers
to the emperor saying: “The men of Ubeda and Baeza are rebels against
me and you. Send an army now to destroy them and their land.” And just
as you and the emperor commanded, so we have done.’ Zafadola replied
to them saying: ‘If you do not give up all the prisoners and booty to
me, I will take up arms and fight against you.’ The counts replied to
him: ‘Now is the time and the opportunity.’ Straightaway, having drawn
up their troops, they joined battle and the conflict intensified greatly.196
98. Finally, the Hagarenes took to flight and were defeated, and King
Zafadola was captured in the battle by the counts’ knights. While they
held him to take him to the tents, the knights who are called pardos197
194 Count Manrique Pérez was the son of Count Pedro González de Lara: see
González, El reino de Castilla, I, pp. 271-4; Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 264-5. See also
below, PA, vv. 318-332.
195 Ermengol VI of the Catalan county of Urgel was a prominent figure on the
Leonese-Castilian scene between 1134 and his death twenty years later. For
details of his career, see S. Barton, T he count, the bishop and the abbot: Armengol
VI of Urgel and the abbey of Valladolid’, English Historical Review 111 (1996), 85-
103, at pp. 89-93; Barton, Aristocracy, pp. 231-2. See also below, PA, vv. 272-8.
196 The battle took place near Chinchilla, in the modern province of Albacete, on 5
February 1146: Huici Miranda, Historia musulmana de Valencia, III, pp. 112—13.
197 By pardos (probably so-called because of the brown colour of their garments) the
chronicler is referring to the caballeros villanos, knights of non-noble birth, who
comprised the mainstay of the militia forces of the frontier towns, and enjoyed
some noble privileges by virtue of their military service: Ubieto Arteta (ed.),
Crónicas anónimas, pp. 41, 44; R. Pastor, Resistencias y luchas campesinas en la época
del crecimiento y consolidación de la formación feudal Castilla y León, siglos X—XIII,
(2nd edn, Madrid, 1990), pp. 125-6.
CHRONICA A D E F O N S I I M P E R A T O R I S 24 5
arrived and when they recognized him they killed him. Seeing this,
the counts were greatly saddened, and they sent messengers to the
emperor, who was in the royal city of León. The messengers told him
all about the battle, but after they had told him ‘Your friend King
Zafadola has died’ the emperor, greatly saddened, said: 7 am guiltless
from the blood of my friend Zafadola.’198 And all the Christians and
Saracens from Arabia, which is next to the River Jordan, as far as the
Ocean Sea knew that the emperor was never party to the death of
King Zafadola.
99. Afterwards, Abenfandi, the governor of Córdoba, could not sustain
the war against Avengania and the Moabites, so he and his friends
fled to Andújar, and the citizens of that town received him.199 How
ever, Avengania pursued him and besieged Andújar, and built siege
towers, catapults and many siege engines, and began to fight bravely
against Abenfandi and against those who were with him in the town.
When Abenfandi saw that he was being completely overwhelmed, he
sent messengers to the emperor saying: ‘Behold, Avengania and all his
army have besieged me. Take pity on me according to your mercy, and
free me and my friends, and I will serve you surely.’
100. After he had heard the words of Abenfandi’s messengers, the
emperor summoned to his presence Fernando Yáñez, a faithful friend
and lord of Limia, who had helped the emperor in Limia against King
Afonso of Portugal, and he said to him: ‘Take whichever and however
many of my knights that you wish, and go to Andújar. You and Aben
fandi are to hold the city until I make my way there.’ Fernando
immediately set off with a great number of knights, and they entered
Andújar; and Abenfandi and the citizens of that town were greatly
overjoyed when they saw this. Fernando Yáñez and the Christians
who were with him, and Abenfandi and his men, joined in many
battles with Avengania, even outside the city, and many men perished
on either side.
101. While these wars were being waged in the land of the Hagar-
enes, Reverter, the leader of the captive Christian people, who were on
the other side of the sea in the palace of King Täshufm, died.'200 And
198 II Samuel iii.28; Susanna, 46; Acts xx.26.

199 Ibn Hamdln was expelled from Córdoba by Ibn Ghanlya in January 1146 and fled
to Badajoz before transferring his base of operations to Andújar, about 70
kilometres upstream from Córdoba: Bosch Vilá, Los Almorávides, p. 291-2.
200 On Reverter, see above ii, 11 and n. 27. Reverter was killed doing battle with the
Almohads, probably in 1144: see Bosch Vilá, Los Almorávides, pp. 259-60 and n. 10.
all the captive Christian people, scattering dust and mud over
themselves, mourned and cried: ‘O Reverter, our leader, shield and
armour, why do you abandon us and leave us desolate?201 Now the
Muzmutos will invade and kill us, as well as our wives and children.’
And King Täshufm and all his palace grieved for Reverter.
102. When the king of the Assyrians, whose name was Abdelnomen,'202
who ruled in the Claros Montes,203 in Mount Colobrar204 and in
Bugia,*205 over the peoples called the Muzmutos, and over many other
nations, heard that Reverter, the leader of the captive Christian
people, who made war on him daily, had died, he was filled with great
joy. He immediately approached the borders of the territory of King
Täshufm with over one hundred thousand horsemen; the number of
crossbowmen and foot-soldiers was beyond reckoning. He captured
strongly fortified towns and castles, killed many nobles and comman
ders of the Christians, Moabites and Arabs, carried out innumerable
massacres of men, women and children, and burnt all the land
wherever he passed through. After this, the king of the Muzmutos set
out to go to the city of Marrakesh.
103. When King Täshufin heard about the aforementioned wars, he
was seized with great fear and he was troubled and all his territory with
him. And when he had gathered206 all the nobles and commanders of the
Christians, who were next in rank to Reverter, the princes and com
manders of the Moabites and Arabs, the magistrates of the people,
and all the army of his kingdom, he went out to confront the king of
the Muzmutos in battle; and they fought for several days. Finally,
King Täshuftn was defeated, and he fled and entered a castle. However,
the king of the Muzmutos pursued him and besieged him in the castle,
and with crossbows and arrows he cast a very fierce fire, which is called
tar, towards the tower where King Täshuftn was staying. And it set
fire to that tower, and King Täshuftn was burned in it and many nobles
of the Christians, Moabites and Arabs, and countless thousands of
horsemen and foot-soldiers were burned with him and perished.1207
201 Cf. the lament for the death of Alfonso VI in Pelayo, Chronicon, p. 88.
202 See above, ii, 10, n. 25.
203 The Atlas Mountains.
204 The location of mons Colobrar is unknown.
205 Modern Bejaia (Bougie) on the coast of Algeria.
206 Matthew ii.3-4; cf. above ii, 80.
207 Muslim sources, which unsurprisingly provide a far fuller account of the demise of
the Almoravid empire, indicate that Täshuftn met his death on 23 March 1145 as he
tried to escape the Almohad siege of Oran: Bosch Vilá, Los Almorávides, pp. 262-^*.
104. So was there a great confusion in the palace of King 'All, the like
whereof was not since the time that the Moabites began to reign across
the sea.208 Once King Täshufln had died, the king of the Muzmutos took
many castles by storm, took over all the fortifications and destroyed
many very well-fortified and wealthy cities/209 He arrived at the city of
Marrakesh and attacked the city; he carried out many massacres there
and captured the high towers and fortified them with brave warriors
who were to wage war in the city. All those who resisted whom they
could capture were cast into the flames with their wives and children/210
105. And when Avengania and all the Moabites, who were with him in
the land of the Hagarenes, heard that King Täshufln was dead and with
him many princes and commanders of all peoples, their hands and hearts
werefeeble?" but the Hagarenes were overjoyed. The emperors house
hold was not saddened by the death of King Täshufln, rather ***c21‘2
106. *** of John the Baptist, in the place where a mosque to Satan
had previously been built.213 The bishop of Burgos perished in that
siege, while the emperor still remained there, on the aforementioned
nativity of Saint John ***/214
208 I Maccabees ix.27; Exodus ix.18.
209 Cf. Judith ii. 12—16 (Vulgate).
210 Marrakesh fell to the Almohads on 24 March 1147; for a description of the siege
and its aftermath, see Bosch Vilá, L o s A lm orávides, , pp. 277-80.
211 II Samuel iv.l; Genesis xlix.24; Joshua v.l; II Chronicles xv.7; Jeremiah vi.24.
212 There is a sizeable lacuna in all the MSS at this point; MS A indicates that two
entire folios are missing. The chronicler presumably went on to give some
account of the campaign that led to the occupation of Córdoba by Alfonso VII in
May 1146; the final lines of that account survive in ch. 106.
213 Having forced Ibn Ghänlya to raise the siege of Andujar, Alfonso VII and Ibn
Hamdln pursued him to Córdoba and overran most of the city, with the exception
of the citadel, which remained in the hands of Ibn Ghänlya. A Muslim source
states that the emperors forces entered Córdoba on 24 May 1146, and this is
confirmed by the emperor’s own chancery: a diploma of 23 May 1147 would record
that it had been drawn up in f in e a n n i quo p ren o m in a tu s ipse rex a cq u isiu it C ordubam :
Bosch Vilá, L o s A lm o rá v id e s , p. 292; García Larragueta (ed.), Colección,, no. 158. It
may have been the news that an Almohad army had landed in southern Spain that
prompted the emperor to come to terms with Ibn Ghänlya, whom he recognized
as ruler of Córdoba, on condition that the latter became his vassal; for his part, Ibn
Hamdln eventually found refuge in Málaga, where he died in November 1151.
The vassalage of Ibn Ghänlya and the conversion of the great mosque of Córdoba
into a Christian church, which the C A I may be referring to here, is mentioned in
the charter issued by Alfonso VII in Toledo on 19 August 1146, p o s t reditu m fossati,
quo prenom inatus principem M au roru m A bin gan iam sibi uassallum fecit, et quandam p a rte m
C ordube d ep red a u it cum m esquita m aiori. Rassow, 'Die Urkunden’, no. 27.
214 Pedro Dominguez, bishop of Burgos (1139-46). The O b itu a rio of Burgos cathedral
confirms that the bishop’s death occurred on 24 June 1146: Serrano, O bispado , III,
107. None the less, one must not cease to praise and honour God,
who watching over his slaves everywhere, crushes the enemies of his
law and reduces them to nothing. Thus, while the emperor of León,
the terror of the Ishmaelites, was still at the siege of the aforemen
tioned city, some noble and eloquent envoys of the Genoese came to
him urging him *** so that with his sign ****215 to destroy Almería, a
base of sea pirates.216 The pirates, traversing many seas, would some
times go ashore suddenly in the land of Bari, the land of Ascalon and
the region of Constantinople, Sicily and Barcelona; at others in the
region of Genoa, or in Pisa, France, Portugal, Galicia or Asturias, and
they would flee carrying Christian captives in their ships as booty.
Since this is engraved upon the memory by dint of frequent
repetition,217 finally, so that it does not appear that we are holding up
the narrative by confusing it with words, having received from the
emperor thirty thousand morabetinoSj [The Genoese^] promised to
appear with many ships loaded with men, weapons, siege-engines and
money, and both they and the emperor fixed the first of August as the
deadline for their arrival.218
p. 383. The chronicler’s comment that the prelate died in ilia obsidion e might
suggest that siege operations, designed to flush out Ibn Ghànïya and his sup
porters from the city a lc á z a r , were still in progress a month after Alfonso VII
entered Córdoba. There is a further lacuna in the MSS here.
215 The text is corrupt at this point.
216 The Genoese had already attacked Almería in the summer of 1146, but had had to
abandon the siege because of the onset of winter. The motives for the campaign
attributed to the Genoese by the author of the C A I are echoed by Caffaro, D e
captione A lm e rie e t T o rtu o se , ed. A. Ubieto Arteta (Valencia, 1973), pp. 17-18, 21.
There were also important commercial advantages to be derived from the
conquest of the city: see B. Gari, ‘Why Almería? An Islamic port in the compass
of Genoa’, J M H 18 (1992), 211-31.
217 A Classical reminiscence: see, for example, Quintilian, In stitu tio n es O ra to ria e , 1,1,
31.
218 Alfonso VII reached formal agreement with the Genoese in September 1146. Under
the terms of the treaty, the emperor undertook to subsidize the Genose war-effort
to the tune of 20,000 gold m orabetin os (not 30,000, as the chronicler states) and
grant the Genoese one third of all the land and property they both might conquer
in Almería; moreover, Genoese merchants were promised safe-conduct through
out León-Castile and exemption from tolls. Both parties agreed that their forces
would be ready to go into action in May 1147. A subsequent treaty between
Count Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona and the Genoese provided for a joint
assault on Tortosa on the Ebro once Almería had fallen: C. Imperiale di Sant’
Angelo (ed.), C odice d ip lo m á tico d ella R epu bblica d i G en ova, I (Rome, 1936), nos
166-69.
108. Moreover, the emperor sent Bishop Arnaldo of Astorga'219 as an

envoy to the count of Barcelona, and to William, lord of Montpellier,
so that, for the redemption of their souls, they would all be present at
the same time on the first of August to destroy the aforementioned
nest of pirates. Receiving these words with great joy, they promised
that they would be present with the Genoese.'2*’
109. In the same year that God secured the aforementioned victory at
Córdoba, the people who are commonly known as the Muzmutos came
from Africa, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and, displaying great
skill, waging war they first took Seville and other fortified towns and
fortresses in the surrounding area and further afield. They settled in
them and killed their nobles, the Christians who are called Mozarabs,
and the Jews, who had been there since ancient times, and they seized
their wives, houses and riches.*21
110. At this time, many thousands of Christian knights and foot-
soldiers, together with their bishop and a large part of the clergy who
had belonged to the household of King ‘All and that of his son
Täshuftn, crossed the sea and came to Toledo.2'22
111. Now, however, going on to greater deeds by way of verse, so
that we may avoid weariness by the variety of poetry, we have decided
to describe in the following manner which commanders of the Franks
and Spanish came to the siege which had been agreed beforehand.
219 On Arnaldo, bishop of Astorga (1144-52), see the introduction to this text, pp.
158-61.
220 The chronicler’s statement that the princes of Barcelona and Montpellier were
invited to take part in the Almería campaign p ro suarum an im a ru m redem ptione
strongly suggests that the expedition was underpinned by a burgeoning
crusading enthusiasm. Although no papal bull concerning Almería has survived,
Pope Eugenius III (1145-53) is known to have taken a close interest in Iberian
affairs. Besides, the salvatory character of the campaign is also referred to by the
P o em o f A lm e ría and by Caffaro, who states that ‘the Genoese were instructed and
summoned by God through the Apostolic See and made an oath to raise an army
against the Saracens of Almería’: see G. Constable, ‘The Second Crusade as seen
by Contemporaries’, T r a d itio n (1953), 213—79, at pp. 227—31, 257—60; Caffaro, De
captione, p. 21.
221 On the Almohad campaigns alluded to here, see Viguera Molíns, L o s reinos de
taifas, pp. 217-20.
222 The bishop in question may have been one Miguel, whose poignant colophon to
an Arabic translation of the Gospels was completed in the city of Fez in 1137 in
the eleventh year after the removal of the Andalusi Christians to this place (may
God restore them to their homeland!)’: R. Fletcher, M o o rish S p a in (London, 1992),
pp. 112-13.
The Poem of Almería
Holy king, valiant king, with whom rests the final judgement of death,
give us peace and provide us with a fluent style, so that, singing
eloquently and copiously of your wonderful deeds, I may describe the
glorious wars of honourable men. /QT] Sages have written of the
wars of the kings of old, and we too must write of the famous battles
of our Emperor, for they are anything but tedious. If it please the
Emperor, let the writer be granted the greatest facilities so that he
can recount the battles that are to come. /[TcQ The right hand of the
labourer awaits the merciful gifts of the Thunderer,12and constantly
seeks the reward of the warrior. Therefore, I shall set out the theme
that I have chosen: the campaign undertaken in Almería, for it was
then that the tribe of the pagan people was defeated.
The leaders of the Hispanic and Frankish peoples arrived together; /
Q153 by land and sea they seek to do battle with the Moors. The
commander of them all was the king of the Toledan Empire, Alfonso,
who holds the title of Emperor, continuing the deeds of Charlemagne,*
with whom he is rightly compared. They were equal in courage, and
in the power of their weapons, / Q2Cf] equal was the glory of the cam
paigns which they waged. There stood as witness the evil pestilence
of the Moors, whom neither the surging sea nor their own land
protected. They cannot submerge themselves in the deep nor raise
themselves upwards into the clouds above,3 for their life was wicked,
and thus they were defeated. / [_25J They did not recognize the Lord,
and rightly perished. This people was rightly doomed: they worship
Baal, but Baal does not set them free.4 This barbarous people was
deadly unto itself. The month of Adar5 proclaims the battles that are
1 T o n a n s , the Classical epithet of Jupiter, which later came to be associated with the
Christian deity.
2 Charlemagne, king of the Franks (768-814) and Emperor of the West (800-14).
3 N e c p o ssu n t iusum m e rg i uel a d ethera snrsum . a reminiscence of Proverbs viii.28.
4 Baal was a Semitic fertility and agricultural deity whose worship was denounced
by the Hebrew prophet Elijah: I Kings xviii. 19-40. Here, Baal is associated with
the Muslim Allah.
5 All the MSS give a d o r a t menses , corrected
by the poem’s editor, J. Gil, to A d a r a t
mensisr. P re fa tio de A lm a ria , , p. 256. Adar
was the twelfth month of the Hebrew
calendar, during which King Ahasuerus (probably to be identified with Xerxes I of
the Persians) is said to have commanded that all the Jews who were in his kingdom
were to be exterminated; later, the king countermanded this order and directed
that on the thirteenth day of Adar the Jews were to be allowed to avenge them
selves on their enemies: Esther iii.13, viii. 12-13.
to come. / £30]] The evil that had been wrought earlier was not allowed
to go unpunished. The divine sword destroyed young and old alike in
wars, not sparing the children in turn. The rest of the people are put
to the sword like sheep;6 not even the children who are discovered
save themselves. /£S5]] The terrible divine wrath falls upon them.
Now, however, so that we are not troubled by a lengthy hold-up or a
greater delay, we must return to the main part of the work we have
begun.
All the bishops of £the kingdoms of] Toledo and León, unsheathing
the divine and material sword, /£40]] exhort the adults and urge on
the young so that all may go bravely and surely to battle. They
pardon sins and raise their voices to heaven, pledging to all the
reward of this life and the next.78They promise prizes of silver and,
with victory, /£45]] they assure them once more that they will have
all the gold which the Moors possess. Such was the clamour and the
pious ardour of the bishops, at times promising at others crying out
loud, that the young could scarcely be restrained by their mothers. As
the hart beset by dogs in the woods / £50]] panteth after the water brook?
as it leaves the mountains all around, so the Spanish people, yearning
to do battle with the Saracens, do not sleep by day or by night. The
trumpet of salvation9 rings out throughout all the regions of the
world. The name of cruel Almería is well known to all: /£55]) there is
nothing as sweet; it is a name that will resound for generations. It is
the nourishment of the young, the florid gift of the old, the guide of
the poor, the pious light of the young men, the law of the bishops, the
final destruction of the Moabites, the good fortune of the Franks, the
terrible death of the Moors. /£60]] Conflict is peace for the Franks,
but for the Moors it is a most famous scourge. For the Spanish it is a
blessing; in short, it is the custom of its warriors. The reward is a
share of the silver, a share of the gold. A long rest is torment, while
the glory of waging war is life itself.
It is the month of May, the Galicians advance forward /£65]] having
first received the blessing of St James.10 Like the stars in the sky, so a
thousand spears shine forth and a thousand shields gleam; the weapons
6 C etera g en s g la d iis cedu n tu r m o ris bidentis. an echo of Virgil, A eneid, v, 96.
7 These verses provide a clear indication of the crusading nature of the Almería
campaign. See above, C A I, ii, 108 and n. 220.
8 The verse is inspired by Psalm xlii. 1.
9 This is another clear crusading metaphor.
10 See above, C A I, ii, 69 and n. 145; ii, 78 and n. 158.
have been skilfully honed. The people are ready for war, for all remain
helmeted. The clang of iron and the neighing of the horses /Q7Cf]
thunder in the mountains and dry up the springs on every side. With
the grazing, the flowering fields lose their covering, the moon
light grows pale through the clouds of dust, and the brightness of the
sky is darkened by the gleam of the weapons. This troop is guided by
the valiant Count Fernando" /£75]] restraining with royal diligence
the privileges of the Galicians. He was sustained by the guardianship
of the Emperor’s son.112 If you saw the latter, you would think that
he was already king: he shines with royal as well as with countly
glory.
After these men, the flower of the knights of the city of León, / £80]]
standards held high, rush forward like a lion. León occupies the sum
mit of the whole of the Hispanic kingdom, with royal diligence she
investigates the privileges of the king. The laws of the fatherland are
interpreted according to her judgement; with her assistance fierce
wars are waged. / QS5]] As the lion exceeds other animals in reputa
tion, so León surpasses all the other cities in honour. Since ancient
times this law held: the first battles belong to her. Her ensigns, which
protect against all ill fortune, are to be found among the standards
and weapons of the Emperor; /[[90]] they cover themselves with gold
whenever they are carried off to battle. The troop of the Moors
prostrates itself in their sight and, seized with terror, is unable to
stand firm against them in such a confined space. As the wolf pursues
the sheep, and the wave of the sea presses back the lion,13 so this light
crushes the fleeing14 Ishmaelites.15 /Q95|] Having first taken counsel
in the court of St Mary, and having been granted the forgiveness of
11 The presence of Count Fernando Pérez on the Almería campaign is confirmed by

the charter issued by Alfonso VII at Baeza on 25 November 1147 q u an do ...
im p e ra to r re d ib a t de A lm a rio , q u a m tunc cum a u x ilio Ian u en siu m cep era t e t iu r i
ch ristia n o ru m su b m ise ra t Fernández Flórez (ed.), Colección d ip lo m á tica , IV, no. 1294.
12 That is, the future Fernando II of León (1157-88).
IS V t lupus u rg et oues, m a ris u t p r e m it u n da leones, a reminiscence of Ovid, M e ta m o r
phoses, i, 304.
14 vitatos. Alternatively, it has been speculated (not altogether convincingly) that the
verse may originally have read vitta to s, that is, that the Muslims wore ribbons
around their heads: Gil (ed), P r e fa tio de A lm a rio , p. 258; Pérez González, C rónica, p.
1S4 n. 18S.
15 Ism aelitas, literally the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and his
concubine and slave Hagar. Muslim belief holds that the followers of Islam are
descended from Ishmael, hence its use here.
their sins according to the manner of their ancestors,16 that blazing

sword advances with standards unfurled, and its resolute courage
occupies the whole earth. The pasture is grazed, the straw is ground
ceaselessly.17
/[1 0 0 ] They are followed by Count Ramiro,18 admirable among his
class, prudent and affable, concerned for the salvation of León.
Distinguished in appearance, born of royal lineage,19 he is beloved by
Christ for overseeing the administration of the law. At all hours he
carries out the commands of the Emperor, /Ql05^| whom he serves
willingly with watchful care. He was the flower of flowers, fortified
with the strength of the good, skilled in arms, full of charm, powerful
of counsel, famous for his just rule, he surpasses all the bishops in the
retinue of kings /Ql 10^ and he excels his equals when judging the
limits of the law. What else can I say? His rights surpass all others.
No one would be slow to serve such a count. With such a great count
León seeks out the fiercest battles.
Meanwhile, the indefatigable Asturian is not the last to rush forth. /
Qll53 This people is detestful or loathsome to no one. Land or sea
may never overcome her. Endowed with resolute strength, she does
not fear the cups of death. Of handsome appearance, she scorns the
final resting-place. Ready to wage war and no less skilled in hunting,
/£l20^ she explores the mountains and recognises the water brooks
one by one. She is as disdainful of the waves of the sea, as she is of the
clods of the earth. She is overcome by no man, overcoming whatever
16 This probably refers to a ceremony in which the Leonese troops and their weapons
were blessed in the cathedral of St Mary in León prior to their departure on
campaign. On the form such a ceremony might have taken, see C. Sánchez
Albornoz, U na c iu d a d de la E sp a ñ a cristia n a hace m il años (lOth edn., Madrid, 1984),
pp. 91-110; cf. M. McCormick, E te r n a l victory. T riu m p h a l rulership in late an tiqu ity,
B y za n tiu m , a n d the early m e d ie v a l W e st (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 308-11.
17 It is possible that the author had in mind the action of a threshing sledge grinding
the straw into bits: cf. Fletcher, S a in t J a m e s’s C atapu lt, p. 7, n. 17.
18 We do not know for sure whether Count Ramiro Froilaz took part in the assault
on Almería; however, the count may be traced with the emperor’s army at
Calatrava between 9 and 11 June 1147, en route to the south: M. Recuero Astray,
M. González Vázquez and P. Romero Portilla (eds), D ocum entos M ed ieva les d el
R ein o de G alicia; A lfon so VII (1116-1157) (Santiago de Compostela, 1998), no. 114;
J. Carro García, ‘El privilegio de Alfonso VII al monasterio de Antealtares’,
C uadernos de E stu d io s G a lleg o s 7 (1952), 145—57, at pp. 148—55.
19 Presumably a reference to Count Ramiro’s mother, Estefanía Sánchez, who was the
daughter of the Infante Sancho Garcés of the royal house of Navarre. The countess
was referred to as e x re g a li sanguine e t p ro sa p ie horta in the grant made to her and
to her consort Count Froila Diaz by Count Henry of Portugal on 1 March 1112:
Azevedo (ed.), D ocu m en tos m ed ieva is portugueses, I, no. 28.
obstacles present themselves. This people, beseeching at all times the

help of St Saviour,*0 abandons the swollen waves at the gallop /Ql25]]
and joins up with other comrades with their ranks drawn up. Their
leader was the illustrious Pedro Alfonso.2021 He was not yet a count, but
by his merits he was already the equal of all. He is harsh to no man,
he stands out among all by his virtue. He is illustrious for his
integrity, and surpasses his equals in honesty. / Q13Cf] He is as
handsome as Absalom and as strong as Samson and, well versed in
good customs, he possesses the wisdom of Solomon. On his return he
was made count: if his deeds were those of a count, he obtained [The
titled on account of his great merits.22 Enriched with this honour, he
is respected by the Emperor among his peers, he is distin
guished on account of his royal wife, the pious Maria: she was born of
a count, with good reason she will be made a countess; thus she will
be the everlasting jewel of her people for centuries to come.23
Behind them there advance the thousand spears of Castile, famous and
powerful citizens through long centuries. /Ql40^ Their camps shine
like the stars in the sky and blaze with gold. They use silver dishes:
there is no poverty, only great wealth, among them. There is no
beggar, weakling or laggard among them: all are strong and firm in
battle, /Ql45^] there is a great abundance of meat and wine in their
camps, and a generous supply of wheat is freely doled out to
whomever asks for it. The flashes from their weapons are as many as
the stars, and their many steeds are protected by iron or cloth. Their
speech sounds out like a trumpet accompanied by a drum.24 / Q15Cf]
20 St Saviour (San Salvador) was the patron of the cathedral church of Oviedo, whose
celebrated A re a S a n ta housed a remarkable collection of relics: see above Pelayo,
C hronicon, pp. 70-1; Suárez Beltrán, ‘Los origenes’, 37-55.
21 Pedro Alfonso witnessed the charter issued by Alfonso VII at Baeza on 25 Novem
ber 1147 as the emperor’s army returned from Almería: see above, n. 11.
22 The poet is well-informed; Pedro Alfonso was first styled count in a charter of
Alfonso VII of 1 March 1148: J. L. Martín Martín, L. M. Villar García, F. Marcos
Rodríguez and M. Sánchez Rodríguez (eds), D ocu m en tos de los a rch ivo s ca te d ra lic io y
diocesano d e S a la m a n c a (sig lo s X II—X III) (Salamanca, 1977), no. 14.
23 María Froilaz, sister of Count Ramiro Froilaz, was the daughter of Count Froila
Diaz and Countess Estefanía Sánchez of Navarre; see above, n. 19.
24 Although the majority of the MSS give tym p a n o trib a (‘effeminate’), this is probably
a scribal misreading of tym pan otu ba. ‘With these words’, Roger Wright has written,
‘the author was referring to their tone of voice; to the proud spirit of independence
of the Castilians with respect to the Leonese king, which made them speak in a
loud and confident manner’: Wright, ‘Twelfth-century Metalinguistics’, p. 286.
They are very proud and exceptionally wealthy.25 The men of Castile
were rebellious down the ages. Noble Castile, eager for terrible wars,
could scarcely bring herself to bow her neck to any king.26 She lived
untamed while the light of heaven shone. /£l55^] But now the
Emperor’s good fortune has tamed her for good. He alone has tamed
Castile like a she-donkey,27 placing the new covenant of the law upon
her untamed neck. However, remaining unyielding in her strength,
mighty Castile marches on to close combat, /Ql6(T] with her banners
unfurled. Terror rises up in the Ishmaelites who, as it later came to
pass, were destroyed by the sword.
Innumerable, unconquerable and without concern, Extremadura, forsee-
ing everything that was to happen, boldly joins them, for it knew by
means of auguries that the evil people was about to perish, /[_165j
having seen so many signs.28 If anybody knew the number of the stars
that there are in the sky or the waves in the storm-tossed sea, the rain
drops or the blades of grass in the fields, he would be able to count this
people. Drinking large amounts of wine, strengthened with abundant
bread, /Ql7Cf| it is able to bear the burden, it despises the heat of
summer. This people covers the earth like a plague of locusts. The sky
and sea do not suffice to sate them. They break the mountains asunder,
they dry up the springs one by one. When they rise up together they
blot out the lights in the heavens; /Ql75] a wild people, a valiant people,
they do not fear the cups of death. This army is commanded by Count
Ponç,29 the noble lance. He had the strength of Samson, the sword of
Gideon, he was the equal of Jonathan, as illustrious as Joshua,30 he
25 The reputation of Castile as a land of plenty is also evinced in the twelfth-century

pilgrim's guide to Santiago de Compostela: see J. Vielliard (ed.), L e g u id e du p èlerin
de S a in t-J a cq u es de C om postelle (Paris, 1963), pp. 32-3.
26 This is presumably a reference to the fact that for much of the tenth century
Castile, under its counts Fernán González (c. 931-70), García Fernández (970-95)
and Sancho Garcés (995-1017), had been able to detach itself from Leonese
overlordship, and to maintain itself as a virtually independent principality.
27 From the unflattering comparison one may safely conclude that the poet was not of
Castilian extraction! See above, p. 157.
28 The importance reportedly attached to omens by the people of the Extremadura
does not appear to have been unique. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was accused by Count
Berenguer Ramón of Barcelona of trusting more in the auguries of birds than in
God: see above, H R , p. 124 and n. 79. On similar beliefs in early twelfth-century
Galicia, see H C , p. 89.
29 The presence of the Catalan magnate Count Ponç de Cabrera on the Almería cam
paign is amply confirmed by documentary sources: see Barton, A ristocracy , p. 178.
30 Iesu N a v e . ‘Joshua', which is rendered Jesus' in Greek, was traditionally referred to
as ‘the son of Nave': Ecclesiasticus xlvi.l.
was the leader of his people like the valiant Hector. /Ql 80]] Generous
and truthful like the invincible Ajax, he yields to no man and he never
retreats in battle. He does not turn his back, he never flees to the
rearguard; forgetting his wife or his love while he fights: he scorns
kisses while battle is being waged, /[]185]] he scorns the table, he
rejoices while he wounds with the sword. When he brandishes his
lance, the evil people falls prostrate exhausted. Never mournfully does
he endure the heat of battle. His right hand wounds resolutely, his
voice rings out, the enemy is overthrown. When he dispenses counsel,
he possesses the wisdom of Solomon. /Ql9Cf] He swaps swords for
pitchforks and while he counts the months,31 he himself prepares the
food, it is he who pours out wine to the weary knights, while he
removes his rough helmet. He is the ruin of the Moors, Almería was
later a witness to that. Count Ponç would rather be exiled /£l95]] than
give up wielding the sword in wartime. By virtue of such service, he
always pleases the Emperor: he grows rich through the king’s favour
on account of the victorious campaigns and rules over all the king
doms with supreme valour.32
All these men are joined by Fernando Yáñez.33 /[]200]] Renowned in
military prowess, he was never defeated in war. The king of Portugal
feared to be vanquished by him when he saw him resplendent on the
battlefield waging war;34 for wherever he looked or went, he terrified
all, at the same time as he overcame all of them with his sword. /
£205]] Not one of those whom he has wounded with his lance in close
combat remains in the saddle. Often did he defeat the Moors in fierce
battles, and he did not doubt to attack many of them with only a few
men, for all those who know who he is flee from Fernando. His numer
ous offspring also take part in the long campaign, /[ßK f) for his wife
bore him many sons, who follow faithfully in their father’s footsteps
and maim the Hagarenes with their swords. A father who can unleash
such swords may feel untroubled. He was followed by all Limia
mobilised for war. He is glad to bring together many peoples from the
31 numerandoque menses: the sense, perhaps, is that outside the campaigning season
Count Ponç was counting the months until he would go into action once more.
32 For an idea of the lavish rewards that Count Ponç gleaned from his service to
Alfonso VII, see Barton, T w o Catalan magnates', 241-2, 244-5, 247-8.
33 The presence of Fernando Yáñez on the Almería expedition may be confirmed by
Alfonso VIPs charter of 25 November 1147: see above, n. 11.
34 On the military reverses suffered by Afonso I of Portugal at the hands of Fernando
Yáñez, see above, C A I, i, 75, 81.
frontier region,35 / Q21 S'} and the king is delighted to receive so many
knights, and receives such a great man into his entourage with splendour.
Here comes Alvaro, the son of the noble Rodrigo.36 He brought death
upon many and held Toledo;37 the father is glorified in the son, and
the son on his own account. /Q22Cf] The former was truly brave, but
the glory of the son was no less. The son is illustrious through his
father, but even more so through his grandfather. Known to all is his
grandfather, Alvar,38 the fortress of uprightness, the city of goodness,
although there was none that was more implacable towards his
enemies.39 Thus, I have heard it said that Alvar Fáñez /£225j con
quered the Ishmaelite peoples and that neither their towns nor their
fortified castles could resist. He broke their strength, thus did that
brave man press down upon them. I confess the truth without
reservation: if Alvar had been the third man after Oliver in the time of
Roland, /Q230^ the Hagarene people would have been subjected to
the Frankish yoke and his dear comrades would not have been over
come by death.40 There was no better lance under the clear sky. That
Rodrigo, often called My Cid, of whom it is sung that he was never
vanquished by his enemies, / Q235]] who subdued the Moors, and also
subdued our counts,41 himself used to praise him QAlvar Fáñez} and
35 This may be a reference to the frontier lordships which Fernando Yáñez had earlier
been awarded in Maqueda and Talavera: Barton, A ristocracy , p. 37; Reilly, A lfonso
VII, pp. 188-9.
36 The poet is almost certainly referring to Alvaro Rodriguez, son of the Galician
magnate Count Rodrigo Vélaz, whose principal power-base lay in the districts of
Montenegro and Lugo in eastern Galicia, just as the poet indicates below: Barton,
T h e A ristocracy , p. 230. Although we cannot be sure whether Alvaro was present at
the siege of Almería, he may be traced with the emperor's army at Andujar on 17
July 1147: Recuero Astray e t al. (eds), D ocum entos , no. 116.
37 There is no evidence that Alvaro Rodriguez ever held the governorship of Toledo.
38 Alvaro Rodriguez was descended from Alvar Fáñez through his mother, Urraca
Alvarez: Salazar Acha, ‘Una familia', p. 53.
39 I have followed the reading given in the MSS: C ognitus om nibus est a vu s A lv a ru s , a rx
p r o b ita tis , N e c m inus hostibus e x titit im piu s urbs bonitatis. On the difficulties presented
by these verses, see Gil (ed.), P re fa tio de A lm a ria , p. 262; cf. Sánchez Belda,
Chronica, p. 178 and n. Il l ; Pérez González, Crónica, p. 138, n. 203.
40 The verse demonstrates that our poet was well-acquainted with the legend of
Roland, although whether via a Castilian translation of the vernacular Chanson de
R olan d, or via a Latin epic poem on the same subject, has been a matter for lengthy
but inconclusive debate: see Salvador Martínez, E l P o e m a de A lm e r ía , pp. 267-344.
41 com ités d o m u it quoque nostros.Ramón Menéndez Pidal believed this was a reference
to Count Garcia Ordóñez and Count Berenguer Ramón II of Barcelona, both of whom
suffered humiliation in battle at the hands of the Cid: R. Menéndez Pidal (ed.),
C a n ta r de M io C id, 3 vols (3rd edn., Madrid, 1954), I, p. 23. By contrast, Antonio
used to consider himself of lesser reputation. But I proclaim the truth

which the passage of time will not alter: My Cid was the first, and
Alvar the second. Valencia wept at the death of her friend Rodrigo, /
[[240]] the servants of Christ could not delay it any longer. O Alvar!
the tears of the young men whom you raised with such care and
whom you knighted*42 mourn you and honour you with their tears. By
supporting the great in battle you gave heart to the young.43
Descended from such great and so noble ancestors, /[[245]] behold
Alvaro flies into a rage, for he truly hates the Moors. Navia44 sends
troops, Montenegro also provides many and the land of Lugo lends
protection with the sword. Horsemen are not lacking, for, being rich,
it provided many. Equipped for everything, having prepared their
supplies with care, /Q25(V] they mount their mules, and riderless
horses go ahead too, led by squires carrying shields on their shoulders.
Now they drew near to the camp and saw the smoke.45 The king saw
Ubieto Arteta argued that it was unlikely that our poet, who was perhaps of
Catalan extraction, would have referred to these magnates, one a Castilian and the
other a Catalan, as com ités nostri, and suggested that he was referring to Berenguer
Ramón II of Barcelona and his nephew and successor Count Ramón Berenguer III:
Ubieto Arteta, ‘Sugerencias', 322-3. However, there is no evidence that the Cid
ever defeated Ramón Berenguer III in battle, although the latter is reported to
have lifted the siege of Oropesa in 1098 on hearing that the Cid was coming to
fight him. Instead, one might speculate either that the com ités n o stri our poet had in
mind were the various Catalan princes, among them the counts of Ampurdán,
Cerdaña and Besalú, who, with Count Berenguer Ramón II of Barcelona, were
routed by the Cid at Almenar in 1082, or else, as Salvador Martinez suggested,
that the poet's tribute to the Cid was simply an elo g io gen érico applicable to all the
Christian counts who suffered at the hands of the C am peador. H R , chs 14-16, 70;
Salvador Martínez, E l ‘P o e m a d e A lm e r ía ', p. 395, n. 67.
42 Q uos bene n u tristi, quibus e t p iu s a rm a d ed isti.
43 The above verses, in which Alvar Fáftez is associated with the Cid, have given rise
to considerable debate among scholars. The reference to Ipse R odericu s, M io C id i
sepe uocatus, D e quo c a n ta tu r q u o d ab hostibus h a u d su p era tu r clearly indicates that our
poet was aware of the existence of a contemporary poem (or even poems) on the
Cid, but whether he had in mind a vernacular work, perhaps a precursor of the
celebrated early thirteenth-century P o e m a de m ió C id, or a Latin composition, such
as the C arm en C a m p i D o cto ris, we simply do not know: Salvador Martinez, E l
‘P o em a de A lm e r ía , pp. 345-95; J. J. Duggan, T h e ‘C a n ta r d e m ió Cid*: P o e tic C rea tio n
in its E con om ic a n d S o c ia l C o n tex ts (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 128-9; Fletcher, T h e
Q uest f o r E l C id, pp. 189-90. Cf. above, p. 161.
44 According to Sánchez Belda, this is probably the village of Navia de Suarna in the
modern province of Lugo: C hronica, p. 269. It is not inconceivable, however, that
our poet was referring to the coastal settlement of Navia in the western Asturias,
where Alvaro Rodriguez held lordships in nearby Ribadeo and Suarón: Barton,
A risto cra cy , p. 230, nn. 7 and 9.
45 Iam que p ro p in q u a b a n t castris Jum osque u id eb a n t a reminiscence o f Virgil, A eneid, ix, 371.
that a cloud of dust covered all the ground, he ordered his escort to
mount /[]255[] and finally receives these warriors with splendour.
Martin, the son of Fernando,46 orders the weapons to be taken out of
the houses: he will inflict great blows upon the Moors. Thus does
Hita rejoice, for he is her lord. He is white of face, ample of body and
limb, / [[260]] he is handsome, strong and upright, he has charge of the
army. When his voice thunders out the Moors flee in fright. It was he
who armed handsome youths with gleaming weapons, the camp of
Martin resounds with its youthful throng. The latter despise death,
and in so doing they also make themselves brave, /[[265[] they enjoy
themselves more in war than one friend does with another. With their
banners raised they enter the king’s tent urging the leaders to war:
W hy are you here, laggards?’ After uttering such words, which they
swear not to be false, they all dismount, and together they seek out
the king together with his court / [ßlO~] and on bended knee they say
to him ‘Greetings, good king’. Finally they take up position in the
fresh meadows.
I do not wish the illustrious Count Ermengol47 to be forgotten. He
shines like a star among the allied troops, he is respected by Saracens
and Christians alike. /[[275[] If I may say so, he may be compared to
anyone, except to kings. Having taken up arms, as is his custom,
trusting in God’s power, he came with a great escort to the battle, in
which he slays many with his sword.
Gutierre Fernández48 did not arrive late for the campaign, / [[280]] for
he has been entrusted with the tutorship of a king. He is Sancho, the
son of our Emperor, who as soon as he was born was entrusted to him
to be brought up.49 He brings him up with care, for he wishes him to
surpass all others. Gutierre shares in the greatest honours. / [[285]] He
makes his way into battle advancing in formation.
46 Martín Fernández may be traced with Alfonso VII’s army at Calatrava on 4 June
1147, but disappears from the record thereafter: Fletcher, 'Diplomatic and the Cid’,
392—3 .
47 Ermengol VI of Urgel confirmed the charter issued by Alfonso VII at Baeza on 18
August 1147, shortly before the advance on Almería; the count’s presence at the
siege is referred to by the Genoese historian Caffaro, who claimed that the count
and King García Ramírez IV of Navarre were sent by Alfonso VII to negotiate
with the defenders of Almería, from whom they received 100,000 m orabetinos in
return for a promise that the emperor would withdraw: Rodríguez de Lama (ed.),
Colección d ip lom ática , II, no. 146; Caffaro, D e captione A lm e n e e t T ortuose, p. 27.
48 Gutierre Fernández may be traced at the court of Alfonso VII throughout 1147:
Barton, T h e A ristocracy, p. 178.
49 That is, the future Sancho III of Castile (1157-58).
The beloved son-in-law of the Emperor, Garcia by name, having

slackened the reins, also hastens to war carrying the royal standards.50
All Pamplona joins with Alava, and Navarre shone with the sword. /
£290] Supported by these regions, the son of Ramiro, although he
was later related to the king,51 delights securely in the battle. Rejoic
ing at his arrival, all Hispania receives him like a lord, for they know
that he is dear to the king: he is no different from any other kings, he
is even their equal in the whirl of his lance.
/£295] With such reinforcements the king’s camp is filled. Streng
thened with such and so many columns, Hispania, her banners unfurled,
takes possession of the outskirts of Andújar. Andújar was the first to
taste the wine of suffering, when she was besieged by command of the
majestic Emperor. / £300] This fortress is demolished, just as that of
Almería is destroyed.52 She cries out to Baal, but Baal is deaf to her; he
refuses to give help, for he is unable to lend it. Thus, for three months
their harvests are lost everywhere, they lose all that their labour had
produced. /£S05] Their strength having been exhausted, their
provisions all consumed, and having given hostages, they seek a truce.
Unable to survive, they surrender themselves and their property to the
king. The noble castle of Baños53 also surrenders. Illustrious Bariona,54
the crown having been reluctantly spurned,55 /£310] surrenders to
the invincible standards of the Emperor. Another noble town, which
50 The presence of García Ramírez IV, king of Navarre, on the Almería campaign is
confirmed by documentary and narrative sources alike: Rodríguez de Lama (ed.),
Colección d ip lo m á tica , II, no. 146; Caffaro, D e caption e A lm e rie e t T ortu ose, p. 27. Once
the Almería campaign had concluded, the Navarrese monarch accompanied Alfonso
VII to Toledo where, on 25 and 29 December 1147, he witnessed the emperor’s
charters as E g o re x G a rsia s P a m p ilo n e q u i tu n c ueneram in a u x ilio im p e ra to ris a d
ra p ien d a m A lm a r ia m : Recuero Astray e t al. (eds), D ocum entos, no. 117; Hernández
(ed.), C a rtu larios, no. 59 (where dated 28 December).
51 The statement is puzzling given that García Ramirez had married into the Leonese
royal house three years before the Almería campaign began: see above, C AI, i, 91-4.
It is just possible that the poet is referring to the subsequent betrothal of the
emperor’s eldest son, Sancho, to the king of Navarre’s daughter, Blanca, which
probably took place some time during 1 150: Reilly, A lfo n so VII, p. 110 .
52 Andújar had been besieged by 17 July 1147: see above, n. 36.
53 This is probably Baños de la Encina, near La Carolina in the modern province of
Jaén.
54 B a rio n a cannot be identified with any certainty; Gil suggests Bailén, about 20
kilometres east of Andújar: P r e fa tio d e A lm a rio , p. 265.
55 If spreta (rather than scripta) is the more plausible reading, the sense might be that
the inhabitants of Bariona had not wanted to oppose Alfonso VII, but were forced
to by their leaders: see Gil (ed.), P r e fa tio d e A lm a rio , p. 265. Either way, the
meaning of the verse remains obscure.
bears the name of Baeza, seeing so many banners, shaken with great
trembling, once it has laid to one side its former pride, lowers its neck
and gladly surrenders, since it cannot rebel.56 /\^315j The other castles
of the Moors which are in the vicinity, plead for their lives as a
reward, while they surrender everything. Once this has been granted,
they revive their exhausted bodies.
Count Manrique, a sincere friend of Christ, valiant in warfare, is
placed in charge of all these towns.57 /Q320J He was liked by all, just
as he was liked by the Emperor, so that he shone among Saracens and
Christians alike. Illustrious in reputation and beloved by all, bountiful
and generous, he was niggardly to no man. He was skilled in arms, he
possessed the mind of a sage, /Q325^ he delighted in battle and was a
master of the science of war. He took after his father in everything
that he did. His father was Count Pedro of Lara,58 who ruled his own
land for many years. The son also follows in all his father’s footsteps.
/£SSCf] Still in the flower of youth, but enriched with honour and
respected by the Emperor as is his nature, he was the upholder of the
law, the worst scourge of the Moors.
When all that we have described had been completed and fulfilled,
when the time of the campaign had expired, /£335^| the citizens return
in victory to the walls of their fathers, in the manner of their ances
tors, except for a few who are retained through the king’s foresight.59
56 Baeza had been conquered by 18 August 1147, when Alfonso VII made a grant of
property to the Navarrese knight Rodrigo de Azagra in recognition of his sterling
service during the capture of the town: Rodríguez de Lama (ed.), Colección
diplomática, II, no. 146.
57 The presence of Count Manrique Pérez de Lara in the entourage of Alfonso VII
during the Almería campaign can be amply confirmed by documentary sources:
Barton, Aristocracy, p. 178. As the poet indicates, the count was awarded the
lordship of Baeza immediately after the conquest of the town, being styled
dominons in Toleto and Baecia in the emperor’s charter of 18 August 1147: see
above, n. 56.
58 See above, CAI, i, S, 6, 9, 14, 18, 50; ii, 19.
59 The poet’s statement that Alfonso VII allowed many of his troops to return home
after the fall of Baeza is confirmed by Caffaro, who records that the emperor
disbanded his army and retained only 400 knights and 1000 foot-soldiers: Caffaro,
De captione Almerie et Tortuose, pp. 23—4. It is likely that those who were allowed to
return north in August 1147 were members of the municipal militias whose term
of service was limited, perhaps to a maximum of three months: Powers, A Society
Organized for War, pp. 116-18; cf. Reilly, Alfonso VII, pp. 98-9. Later chroniclers,
however, regarded the withdrawal of these troops as an act of treachery: see, for
example, Lucas of Tuy, Chronicon Mundi, ed. A. Schottus, Hispania illustrata, IV
(Frankfurt, 1608), 1-116, at p. 104; Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Historia, p. 232. The
army that continued south to Almería was presumably made up of the members of
the emperor’s own military household, such as the Leonese knight García Pérez,
It was the first of August when the distinguished, though bitter for
many, messengers of the Franks arrive by sea, and, having greeted the
Emperor in their manner, / Q34Cf] the messengers speak as follows: ‘O
Glory of the entire kingdom, illustrious honour, the brilliant youth of
the Franks loyally salutes you with sails unfurled, and awaits you on
the seashore with their armed knights. Your brother-in-law Ramón,
just as he promised, / Q345^ is marching furiously towards the enemy,60
and the people of Pisa are arriving at the same time as those of
Genoa.6162Count William of Montpellier, great among his class, is follow
ing them in his great and powerful ship.“ They are very well armed,
prepared for fierce battles, / Q35(T] they are mindful of the agreement:
now finally reaching port, they also bring hard stones against the
Moors. A thousand ships they command,63 loaded with decorated
weapons and delicious foods. They say that you are late,64 they will
fight for the plundered gold once battle commences, / Q3553 and they
will certainly slay your enemies with pleasure. The admirable troop
does not require anyone’s help, if it is supported by your present glory.’
When they had spoken such words thus, the messengers fell silent.
The Emperor’s mind smiles as he hears such things, / Q36CT] but the
brave cohorts become restless at such words. Each man, weeping,
speaks in this way to his dear comrade:65 ‘Until now in all places wars
who was subsequently rewarded for his service at Almería, the great nobles and
bishops of the realm, and their knights. For the grant to García Pérez, see above,
n. 11.
60 Ramón Berenguer IV was reportedly accompanied to Almería by a contingent of
53 knights: Caffaro, De captione Almene et Tortuose, p. 24. The count had departed for
Almería by 7 September 1147, according to a charter of that date drawn up anno quo
comes Barchinonensis et princeps Aragonie ivit cum Ieuensibus usque ad Almariam. Durán
Gudiol (ed.), Colección diplomática, I, no. 181.
61 The presence of Pisan troops at Almería is not recorded by Caffaro, or indeed any
other source.
62 The previous year, Alfonso VII had sent Bishop Arnaldo of Astorga to William VI
of Montpellier and had received an undertaking from the count that he would take
part in the Almería campaign: see above, CAI, ii, 108.
63 This is something of an exaggeration: the Genoese fleet comprised 63 galleys and
163 other ships, according to Caffaro: De captione Almerie et Tortuose, p. 22.
64 A similar complaint is voiced by Caffaro, who records that the messengers who
visited Alfonso VII at Baeza were led by the Genoese general Otto di Bonovillano:
Caffaro, De captione Almerie et Tortuose, pp. 23—4. Under the terms of the treaty of
September 1146, both sides had agreed to besiege Almería the following May; the
CAI records, however, that Alfonso VII and the Genoese agreed to begin the siege
at the beginning of August: see above, ii, 107 and n. 218.
65 Proximus ad socium lacrimans sicfatur amicum. an echo of Virgil, Aeneid, vi, 1.
have mingled with other wars. These tidings have pleased the king,
but they are bitter to us. The enemy is everywhere like posts on the
roadside; /Q365]] the road is too long and sowed with many spines.
No food or drink remains in the saddlebags, the warlike sword pursues
us on all sides. O the gleam of coveted silver, the flash of a talent,
would that you had not been placed on our left side!66 /£S7Cf] For a
little gold we will be cut down by the sword on the battlefield, our
wives will surely please other husbands, and the children will weep
when others take over our beds, and the birds of the sky tear our flesh
apart.’
Among the bishops who are present /[315~] is the prelate of Astorga,67
whose glorious sword shines brightly, who, seeing this, comforts the
cohorts more than his fellows, and addresses the troops who were
already on the point of collapse. With shouts and with his right hand
he achieves a great silence. ‘May the glory of heaven sing unto Qthe
Lord]] on high’, he said. /[]38Cf] ‘And may there be peace on earth to
the people who serve the Lord. Now it is necessary that each one con
fesses fully and fairly, and is aware that the sweet doors of paradise
are open to him. Have faith in God, I beseech you, for He is truly the
God of gods and also the Lord of all lords, /£S85]] who alone has
gladly performed miracles for us. And the heavens show...’68
66 For the ancients the left hand was associated with theft and avarice: Pérez
González, Crónica, p. 143, n. 227.
67 Arnaldo, bishop of Astorga, may be traced with Alfonso VII’s army at Andújar on
17 July 1147, but he does not appear in the witness-lists to any of the subsequent
charters issued by the emperor that year: see above, n. 36.
68 All the MSS break off at this point. Given that the poem cuts off in the middle of
a verse, it is highly unlikely that the rest of the poem has been lost due to the
mutilation of the archetype MS. One can only conclude that, for whatever reason,
our poet was unable to continue with his work: Sánchez Belda, Chronica, pp. xx-xxi;
Salvador Martínez, E l 'Poema de Almería', p. 127.
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Wright, R., Late Latin and Early Romance in Spain and Carolingian France (Liverpool,
1982).
— ‘Twelfth-century Metalinguistics in the Iberian Peninsula (and the Chronica
Adefonsi Imperatoria, in Early Ibero-Romance (Newark, Delaware, 1994), 277-88.
INDEX
Notes: (i) Homonyms are listed thus: clerical personnel precede lay; kings, queens,
princes and princesses, ordered chronologically, precede other lay persons; remain
ing lay persons are likewise ordered chronologically, (ii) Individual natives o f the
Christian kingdoms o f Spain are listed by given name, not patronymic: ‘Rodrigo
Diaz’, not ‘Díaz, Rodrigo’, (iii) An asterisk indicates that the person is to be found
on the genealogical table on page xiii. (iv) ‘n’ after a page reference indicates a note
number on that page.
‘Abd Allah, amir o f Granada 102-3, Alfonso I*, el Batallador, king o f

129 n.90 Aragon 19-20, 67, 95, 149, 154,
‘Abd al-M u‘min, Almohad caliph 208 166-71, 174-6, 184 n.125, 185-
n.25, 246 91, 212-13
AbO Liafç ‘Umar, governor o f Seville Alfonso VII*, king and emperor o f
215-16 León-Castile 6, 21, 6 6-7, 72,
Afonso I Henriques*, king o f Portu 87, 148—263 passim
gal 88, 155, 183, 195-200, 213, Alfonso VIII, king o f Castile 156
245, 256 Alfonso Jordan, count o f Toulouse 88,
Alamin 211, 223 149, 164, 172, 185 n.126, 192-3,
Albalate 210 201
Albarracin 5, 114, 122, 128 n.88, 136, Al-Häyib, amir o f Lérida 105-7, 1 lo
143 l l , 121-2, 125
Aledo 84, 115, 117-19 ‘All ibn Yasuf, amir o f the
Alfonso I, king o f Asturias 18 Almoravids 150, 178 n.93, 204—
Alfonso III, king o f Asturias 7, 10-11, 10, 223, 225, 227-8, 230, 242,
17 n. 15, 38 n.86, 78-9, 193 247, 249
n.164 Alimenon, see Mubammad b. MaymOn
Alfonso V*, king o f León 11, 14, 36, al-Ma’mOn, amir o f Toledo 31 n.44,
39, 41, 43, 4 8-9, 55, 72, 77, 3 2-3, 54-5, 83
80-1, 101 n .lS al-Mansur, see Almanzor
Alfonso VI*, king of León-Castile 3-6, Almanzor 3 -5 , 14, 16, 2 0-1, 35, 37-9,
10-15, 17-23, 29-34, 40, 41 72-3, 78, 80
n.104, 45, 60, 6 5-6, 72-3, 8 1 - Almenar 106-7
90, 92, 95-6, 101-4, 108-9, 111 Almería 6, 148, 150, 155-6, 158, 161,
n.46, 112-21, 124, 129-30, 185, 241-2, 248, 249 n.220,
132-3, 142 n. 120, 143, 150, 250-1, 253 n.18, 256, 259 n.47,
159, 162, 164, 175, 186 n.129, 260 n.50, 261 n.59, 262 n.60
189 n.143, 194-5, 204-5, 246 Almohads 6, 150, 189 n. 141, 208, 223,
n.201 243 n.189, 245 n.200, 246-7, 249
INDEX 275
Almoravids 5-6, 20, 23, 85, 90, 93, Barcelona 98 n.l, 105-7, 114,
98, 112 n.49, 115-16, 129, 134- 118 n.63, 122-9, 255 n.28, 257
8, 140-1, 143, 145-7, 149-50, n.41
152-3, 160, 175 n.76, 176, 178- Bernard, archbishop of Toledo 7, 14,
82, 184-9, 197, 199, 204-43 34, 206
passim , 245—7 booty, see plunder
Al-Muqtadir, amir of Zaragoza 100 Braga 68-71
n.8, 105, 108, 127 n.86 Burgos 68, 70, 83-4, 166, 167 n.Sl,
Al-Musta‘In, amir of Zaragoza 112, 172 n.59, 175 n.72, 212
122-5, 128, 131-2, 134, 143 burials, see obsequies
Al-Mu‘tamid, amir of Seville 85 n.72, Burriana 122, 129, 139
88 n.95, 102-3
Ai-Mu’tamin, amir of Zaragoza 105-12 Caffaro of Genoa 8, 248 n.216, 249
Al-Qadir, amir of Toledo 104 n.24, n.220, 259 n.47, 260 n.50, 261
114—15, 121, 134, 138 n.59, 262 nn.60, 61
Alvar Fáñez 257-8 Calahorra 132-3
Alvito, bishop of León 15, 56-9, 82 Calatayud 108 n.38, 114 n.53, 124
Al-Zubayr, governor of Córdoba 213- Calatrava 210-11, 212 n.49, 214 n.61,
14, 223, 225, 230, 232, 234, 239 219, 227-8, 233 n.148, 287-9,
Aragon 2, 19, 41, 149, 152 241, 243, 253 n .l8
Arias, bishop of León 182, 193 Calixtus II, pope 69
Ariol Garcés 174-5 Cardeña, monastery 92, 96, 100 n.5, 147
Arlanza, monastery 55, 82 Carrión, monastery 77, 166, 172
Arnal Dodo, bishop of Huesca and nn.59, 60, 179 n.95
Jaca 185, 187 Centulle II, viscount of Bigorre 167,
Amaldo, bishop of Astorga 150, 153, 185, 188
156, 158-61, 249, 262 n.62, 263 Charlemagne 20, 250
‘Avenceta’ (unidentified) governor of Cluny, Cluniacs 6-7, 47 n.133, 62, 77
Seville 213-14, 223, 225, 230, n .l 5, 155, 158, 186 n.129, 200
232-4, 239 Coimbra 49-52, 82, 197 n .l 87
Avila 82, 85, 211 n.44, 214-15, 224, Constance of Burgundy, queen, wife
231, 242 Of Alfonso VI 20, 23, 87, 129,
162
Badajoz 5, 81 n.51, 83 n.58, 216, 217 Córdoba 3, 102, 129, 150, 155, 178
n.75 n.93, 179-80, 187, 204-5, 207,
Barcelona 2, 35 n.7S, 105, 207-9, 248 209-11, 214, 217, 226, 232-3,
Bayonne 172, 185, 188 n.139 234 n. 151, 236-7, 239-43, 247
Benahabet, see Ibn ‘Abbad nn.212-13, 249
Berengaria, queen and empress, wife Coria 85, 154— 6, 210, 213, 221-2,
of Alfonso VII 66-7, 154, 157- 230-1
9, 168-9, 172 n.60, 182, 193, coronations, see inauguration rituals
201, 226, 235 crusades 5-6, 150, 153—4, 160, 249
Berenguer, bishop of Salamanca 97 n.220, 251 n.7
Berenguer Ramón II, count of Cuarte 92, 137
276 INDEX
Daroca 128 n.35, 30, 32 n.50, 35-6, 39 n.95,

deathbeds, see obsequies 41-56, 59-64, 72, 80-2, 99 n.4,
Dénia 105, 135, 140 n.115 100 n.5, 104 n.21
Deudonat Bernat de Claramunt 122, Fernando II, king of León 169 n.41,
126 252
Diego, bishop of León 66, 163-4 Fernando Fernández de Hita 154, 212
Diego Gelmírez, archbishop of a n d see Femando Garcés de Hita
Santiago de Compostela 69, 163 Fernando Garcés de Hita 154, 212
n.12, 165, 185 n.127 Fernando Pérez de Traba, count 165,
Diego Laínez, father of Rodrigo Díaz, 196, 252
E l C id 99-100 Fernando Yáñez 165, 196, 198, 245,
doctors 198, 214, 236 256
documents 97, 103, 110, 113, 115, Fraga 132, 149, 154, 184 n.125, 185-8,
118-21, 123-6, 128-9, 136 190, 213 n.58
Dorca de Castellvell 122 funerals, see obsequies
Duero, river 2, 4, 31 n.44, 37, 41, 49
n. 141, 53, 113, 149, 157, 163 Galicia 2, 21, 28, 35, 39, 44, 46, 52,
n.13, 165, 170 n.49, 171 n.57, 60, 74, 78, 80, 83, 163 n.13,
177, 199, 207, 210, 218 165, 183, 195-6, 199, 208, 211,
Durando, abbot of San Victorián 185, 213, 225, 241, 248, 255 n.28
187 García, bishop of Zaragoza 191, 193
n.164
Ebro, river 32 n.54, 41, 90, 92, 95, García III Sánchez, king of Navarre
108 n.38, 110, 129, 169 n.45, 41-7, 82, 100 n.5, 101 n.13,
191 n.152, 207 n.18, 248 n.218 102
Elche 121 García*, king of Galicia 10, 12, 16,
Rodrigo Díaz
E l C id, see 30, 34, 45, 60, 81, 83-4
Elvira, infanta, daughter of Fernando García IV e l R esta u ra d o r, king of
I 30, 34, 45, 61, 81, 223 n.100 Navarre 101 n.13, 149, 156,
empire, Leonese 19-20, 26, 37 n.80, 178 n.91, 184, 188, 190, 192
192-4 n.161, 193, 195, 197-8, 200-3,
Ermengol IV, count of Urgel 122 213, 259 n.47, 260 n.50
Ermengol VI, count of Urgel 158, García Ordóñez, count of Nájera 102-
184 n. 124, 193 n.164, 244, 259 3, 108 n.39, 133, 257 n.41
Escalona 211 n.44, 212, 223 Gaston IV, viscount of Béarn 154,
Eugenius III, pope 249 n.220 167, 185, 188
Extremadura 150, 177, 204, 210, 213- Gaucelm de Ribas 158, 219
15, 217, 219-21, 224—5, 229- Genoa, Genoese 248-9, 262
30, 241, 255 Gómez Núñez, count 165, 195-6,
199-200
Farax, a d a lid of Calatrava 211, 219, Gonzalo Peláez, count 164-5, 171,
237-9, 243 177-8, 182-3, 213
Fernando I*, king of León-Castile 3, Gormaz 53, 104, 112
6, 11-12, 14-16, 18-19, 23, 29 Granada 129-30, 185, 187, 237, 241-3
INDEX 277
Gregory VII, pope 18-19, 23, 84, 109 Jerez 180-1, 213
n.42 Jerónimo, bishop of Valencia, then of
Guadalajara 104 n.23, 108 n.38, 207, Salamanca 97, 147
209 n.SO, 212 n.51, 224 Jerusalem 184, 217, 240
Guadalquivir, river 150, 179, 181, 195 Jewish communities 166, 167 n.Sl,
n. 174, 211, 220, 237 229, 236, 249
Guadarrama, sierra de 157 Jimena, wife of Rodrigo Díaz, E l C id
Guerau Alemany de Cervelló 122, 90, 92, 95-7, 98 n.l, 101, 117,
126-7 -- 120, 146-7
Guntroda Pérez, mistress of Alfonso Julian, St, bishop of Toledo l, 5, 16,
VII 149, 169 n.41, 178, 201, 203 28 n.26
Gutierre Armíldez 182, 211, 214
Gutierre Fernández 166, 176, 203, Lamego 49, 82
225, 259 León
Guy, bishop of Lesear 185, 187, 189, cathedral 44, 59, 86, 193, 223,
193 n.164 252-3
city 2-3, 9, 14-15, 17, 20-1, 37-8,
Halmemon, see al-Ma’mûn 53, 56, 59, 66, 73, 78-80, 82-3,
heads, human, as trophies of war 221, 157, 162-4, 192-5, 201-3, 252
233-6, 239 councils 16, 30 n.40, 34, 53, 59-60,
Henry of Burgundy*, count of 80, 192-5
Portugal 88, 183, 195, 253 n.19 diocese 68-9
Holy Sepulchre, Knights of the 188 kingdom 3-4, 6, 9, 18-20, 35, 40
n.139 n.100, 65, 82-3, 148-9, 153-4,
Hospital, Knights of the 188 n.139 162-203 p a ssim , 251
Huesca 42, 184 n.124, 188 n.l 36 Leovigild, king of the Visigoths 26
Humbert, cardinal 66 letters, see documents
Lisbon 85, 197
Ibn Abbad 52, 56, 58-9, 85, 88 Logroño 41 n.101, 86, 132, 174 n.70,
Ibn Hamdln, q a d i of Córdoba 243, 194 n.168
245, 247 n.213 Lope López 154, 164, 198
Ibn Jahhaf, qadi of Valencia 96, 134 Lugo 68, 70, 258
n. 102, 135 n.105, 144 n.125
Ibn Khaldon 6 Madrid 84, 207, 219 n.88, 224
Ibn Tomart 208 n.25 Manrique Pérez de Lara, count 244,
inauguration rituals 16, 27, 44, 81, 83, 261
154, 163, 192—4 Marrakesh 204, 207, 208 n.25, 223,
interpreters, see military intelligence 242, 246-7
Isidore, St, bishop of Seville 1, 3, 5, Martin, bishop of Oviedo 66
11, 14r-16, 20, 23, 25, 27 n.22, Martín Fernández de Hita 212 n.5l,
28, 56 n .l77, 57-61, 82 224, 237-9, 244, 259
Medinaceli 39, 101, 104 n.23, 108
Jaca 171, 184 n.124, 190 n.38, 169, 170 n.47, 171, 212
James, St, see Santiago de Compostela n.51
278 INDEX
military intelligence 123, 216, 226 Pamplona 2, 35, 41-2, 49 n.144, 82,
Moabites, see Almoravids 133, 190, 200, 203, 260
Monzón 106, 109, 111 n.46, 123, 190 3, 54-5, 81, 83 n.58, 91, 102-3,
p a ria s
n.149 115, 122, 136, 181, 242
Mora 211-12, 223-4, 226 n.115, 237-8 Paschal II, pope 12, 34, 69
Morelia 131 Pedro, bishop of León 86
mosques 146, 180-1, 220, 231, 242, Pedro Dominguez, bishop of Burgos
247 155, 247
Mozarabs 223 Pedro Guillem, bishop of Roda 185,
Mubammad b. MaymQn 208 187, 190 n.146
Muño, bishop of Salamanca 66 Pedro I, king of Aragon 95, 132, 139-41
Muño Alfonso, alcaide of Toledo 150, Pedro Alfonso, count 155, 182-3, 254
154, 211-12, 223-4, 231-41 Pedro Diaz 173, 213
p assim Pedro González de Lara, count 164,
Muño Peláez, count 165 n.24 166-7, 170, 172, 185, 213, 261
Murcia 184 n.125, 185-6, 242 Pedro López, count 164
Murviedro 114-15, 121, 141-5 Pelayo, bishop of Oviedo 3, 17 n.16,
Muzmutos, see Almohads 36 n.76, 65-74, 86-7, 151 n. 11,
152, 162 n.3, 164 n.14, 189
Nájera 41, 46-7, 82, 132, 149, 166-7, n.143, 193 n.164, 195 n.175,
170, 171 n.58, 190, 200-1, 213 207 n.19, 246 n.201, 254 n.20
Navarre 2, 11, 19, 40, 149, 152, 154, penitential warfare 240
260 Petronila, daughter of Ramiro II of
Navarro, bishop of Coria 231 Aragon 190
pilgrimage, pilgrims 6, 41-2, 62, 67,
obsequies, mainly royal 12, 14, 16, 32, 71, 86, 184, 200, 217, 240
34, 42, 44, 47, 55, 63-4, 76, Pisa, Pisans 262
78-9, 82-4, 86-7, 89, 96, 139, plunder 4, 55, 103, 107, 111, 121, 127,
147, 162, 188, 223 133, 136-8, 141, 180, 200-1,
Olocau 138 213-20, 224, 232-4, 236-8,
Oña, monastery 32, 42, 54 n.160, 55, 241, 244, 251
83, 108 n.39 Ponç de Cabrera, count 158, 199
Ordoño, bishop of Astorga 56, 59, 82 n.196, 217, 244, 255-6
Ordoño I, king of León 10 Portugal 5, 48, 52, 83, 148, 152, 154,
Ordoño II, king of León 78 n.23, 79 183, 216, 242 n.187, 248
nn.28-9
Oreja 209-11, 213, 219, 224-5, 227-30 Ramiro II, king of León 36 n.78, 79
Osorio Martinez, count 155, 164, 173, Ramiro III, king of León 7, 35, 37-8,
222-3 74
Oviedo 2, 61, 66-71, 74— 5, 77-8, 183, Ramiro I, king of Aragon 41-2, 100
203, 254 n.20 Ramiro II, king of Aragon 149, 190-
1, 192 n.161
Palencia 69, 70 n.24, 82, 112 n.49, Ramiro Froilaz, count 164, 198-9,
172, 175 n.72, 179 n.95 253, 254 n.23
INDEX 279
Ramón Berenguer III, count of Sahagún, monastery 7, 13-14, 16, 38,

Barcelona 101 n.13, 143-4, 158, 43 n.114, 44 n.l 19, 62, 67, 89,
168 158, 162 n.6, 186, 229 n .l26
Ramón Berenguer IV, count of Saint Victor, Marseilles, monastery
Barcelona 154, 158, 184, 190, 159-60
192-3, 200, 248 n.218, 249, 262 Salamanca 85, 97, 146 n.128, 216-17,
Ramón Mir 126 221-2, 231, 242
ransoms 127, 189, 211-12 Sampiro, bishop of Astorga 7, 11, 17,
Raymond, archbishop of Toledo 193 35, 36 n.75, 71-3, 74 n.l, 79
n.164, 219 n.89, 229-30, 235, 240 n.36, 151 n.l 1, 152, 193 n.164
Raymond of Burgundy*, count of Sancha*, queen, wife of Fernando I
Galicia 87, 162, 178 14—16, 19, 29 n.35, 36 n.77, 39,
Reccared, king of the Visigoths 26-7, 41, 43-5, 47, 55, 60, 80-2
231 Sancha, infanta, sister of Alfonso VII
reconquest 4, 18, 21, 153, 231 21, 87, 169, 178, 182, 193, 202-
relics 11, 14—15, 56-60, 70-1, 73, 78, 3, 229 n .l26
82, 186 Sancho, bishop of Pamplona 154, 170
Reverter 158, 209, 245-6 Sancho I, king of León 14, 36 n.78,
Ribas 84, 158 37, 79
Rica, empress, wife of Alfonso VII Sancho III Garcés e l M a yo r* , king of
169 n.41 Navarre 32 n.54, 36, 40-3, 80,
Ricart Guillem 126 167 n.35
Rioja 9 2-5, 132 n.98, 191 n.152 Sancho II*, king of Castile 10, 30-2,
Ripoll, monastery 160-1 45, 60, 81-4, 90, 101
Rodrigo Díaz, E l C id 2, 4, 6, 90-147 Sancho III, king of Castile 169 n.4l,
p a ssim , 161, 202 n.207, 205 n.S, 177, 259, 260 n.51
255 n.28, 257-8 Sancho Ramírez, king of Aragon 105-
Rodrigo Fernández, alcaide of Toledo 6, 109-11, 122, 131-2, 139
150, 166, 184, 217-21, 224-5, 228 San Isidoro de León, monastery 9,
Rodrigo Gómez, count 166, 177, 198, 14-17, 20-1, 32 n.54, 36 n.77,
203 45 n .l22, 59-60, 61 n.193, 73,
Rodrigo González de Lara, count 72, 86, 162 n.6, 202 n.205
87, 149-50, 164, 166, 172-4, San Juan de la Peña, monastery 139,
179, 183-5, 213-17 188
Rodrigo Martinez, count 164, 169 San Servando, monastery 159-60,
n.41, 170, 173, 176, 183 n.117, 205, 210 n.35, 226, 229 n.131
220-3 Santiago de Compostela 6, 18, 23, 36,
Rodrigo Pérez ‘the Hairy’, count 195-6, 38, 41, 50-1, 53, 61, 67, 69, 71,
199-200 75-6, 86, 163 n.10, 164 n.14,
Rodrigo Vélaz, count 165, 196-7, 257 166 n.28, 167 n.32, 171 n.56,
n.36 192, 200-1, 213 n.54, 214-15,
Rueda de Jalón 108—9, 148, 175—7 232-3, 236, 251, 255 n.25
Sayf al-Dawla, amir of Rueda 149, 153
Sagrajas, battle of 5, 20, 85, 90 n.16, 175-9, 181, 193, 242-5
280 INDEX
Segovia 85, 174 n.69, 205 n.3, 211 88, 104, 108 n.38, 109, 113,
n.37, 214-15, 224, 232, 235, 115-16, 119-20, 130, 147-8,
242 150, 151 n .ll, 157, 159-60,
Servando, bishop of León 44 174, 177-9, 182, 184, 194, 204-
Seville 3, 14, 23, 52 n.156, 81 n.51, 7, 209-12, 214-15, 217-19,
82, 179-81, 187, 204, 207, 209, 221, 223-6, 228-32, 234, 236-
215, 217, 237, 239-42, 249 42, 249, 251, 260 n.50
sieges, siege warfare 5, 39, 48-9, 50-2, Tortosa 121-2, 128 n.88, 242, 248
106-7, 109, 115, 129, 134, 137, n.218
141-5, 159, 173-5, 185, 204-6, Transierra 204, 207, 210, 213, 215,
221-2, 225, 227-8, 230, 245, 224-5
248 tribute, see p a r ia s
Sigüenza 104 n.23 Tudela 42, 109, 131, 190 n.149
Silos, monastery 9, 12, 13, 16, 54 Tuy 195, 197 n.186, 200 n.197
n.160
Sisebut, king of the Visigoths 1, 18, Uclés 84, 88, 102 n.17
25 Urban II, pope 69
Sisnando Davidez 52 urban militias 214—17, 221, 224—5,
sorcerers 222 231
see also doctors Urraca, infanta, daughter of Fernando I
Soria 31 n.44, 53 n.158, 112 n.49, 177 15, 30, 32 n.50, 33-4, 45, 61,
n.86, 191 n.155 81, 223 n.100
Suero Vermúdez, count 77, 163-5, Urraca*, queen of León-Castile 5, 20-
171, 182 1, 66-7, 72-3, 87, 149, 160,
162, 166, 170, 172 n.59, 178,
Tagus, river 5, 150, 157, 159, 179, 183, 191 n.152, 204, 209, 212
197 n.187, 204 n.2, 205 n.3, n.51
209 n.29, 210, 229 n. 131, 237, Urraca, illegitimate daughter of
240 Alfonso VII 149, 156, 178,
T a ifa states 3-6, 23, 31 n.44, 90-1, 93 201-3
Talavera 84, 181, 204 n.2, 207, 224,
240 Valencia 31 n.44, 62, 81 n.5l, 84, 90,
Täshuftn ibn ‘Ali, amir of the 92-3, 95-8, 114, 121-2, 128
Almoravids 150, 178, 204, 207, n.88, 131-2, 134-42, 145-7,
209-10, 213-14, 216-19, 223, 154, 184-5, 187, 225, 242
226-8, 230, 232, 236-7, 239- Vermudo II*, king of León 7, 35-6,
40, 242, 245-7, 249 39, 65, 72-9
Tello Fernández 178-9, 182, 210, 219 Vermudo III*, king of León 16, 39,
Temple, Knights of the 184, 188 41, 43—4, 47, 55, 80-1
n.139 Viseu 39, 48-9, 80, 82
Teresa*, countess of Portugal 88, Visigothic script 12, 29 n.38, 94—5,
165, 183, 195 111 n.46
Toledo 1, 4-5, 17, 20-1, 28, 31-2, 53, Visigoths 1, 3-5, 10, 17-18, 20-1, 26,
66, 68-71, 77, 81 n.51, 83-4, 29, 39, 69, 152, 231
INDEX 281
Wamaguz, see Abo Hafç ‘Umar Zafadola, see Sayf al-Dawla

Wamba, king of the Visigoths 1, 7, Zaida, mistress of Alfonso VI 22-3,
16, 18, 27, 28 n.26, 35 88
William VI, count of Montpellier 158, Zamora 31, 33, 82-3, 101, 133, 165,
192, 249, 262 197 n.186, 231 n.141
Wittiza, king of the Visigoths 10, 18, Zaragoza 5, 20, 42, 53, 66, 81 n.51,
28, 35 83 n.58, 90-1, 93, 95, 105-6,
108-9, 111-12, 114, 122, 128,
Yabyä ibn Ghänlya, amir of Valencia 131—4, 149, 151 n.l 1, 154,
184r-7, 225-6, 237, 242, 243 167 n.34, 175 n.74, 185, 188-
n.189, 245, 247, 248 n.214 9, 191-2, 207 n .l8, 229 n .l30
YQsuf, amir of the Almoravids 115— Zorita 209-10
16, 130, 136-7, 140, 143, 242

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THE WORLD OF EL CID

selected sources translated and annotated by

Manchester University Press

distributed exclusively in the USA by St. Martin s Press

ISBN 0 7190 5225 4 hardback

First published 2000

Typeset in Monotype Bell

List of figures page vi

Introduction to the Historia Sítense 9

II: Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, Chronicon Regum Legionensium 65

III: Historia Roderici 90

Introduction to the Historia Roderici 90

TV: Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris 148

Introduction to the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris 148

1 The Iberian peninsula at the death of El Cid, 1099

Long relatively neglected by anglophone historians, the multiple histories of

The introductions to these editions furnish details of the surviving manu­

We divided responsibility for the introductions, translations and notes

AHDE Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español

Alfonso V Sancho Garcés III

Vermudo III Sancha = Fernando I

Sancho II Alfonso VI Garcia I

Alfonso VII Alfonso I

2 Genealogical table of the Leonese-Castilian royal house

The Visigothic monarchy of Spain which flourished in the seventh

comment here: we hope that a tortuous path is adequately signposted

Visigothic monarchy, seat of the Primate of the Spanish Church,

It is easier for us than it was for contemporaries to see that the

businessmen, artisans and mercenary soldiers. At the same time, the

Portuguese annals. (There are in addition works concerning Iberian

Introduction to the Historia Sítense

This is a deeply problematic text. Historia Sítense (henceforward HS)

Fortunately for us, the author made his intentions unambiguously

2 An English translation of this work is to be found in K. B. Wolf, Conquerors and

2 A Continuation of the preceding work which narrates the deeds of

3 Inconclusively discussed by C. Sánchez-Albornoz, ‘El anónimo continuador de

Isidori, an account of the movement of Isidore’s relics from Seville to

note reading ‘Santo Domingo de Silos’ inserted beside the words

context and perhaps stimulus to our unknown author. As against these

lately translated from Seville, an occasion described at length in the

11 Printed in M. E. Martín López, Patrimonio cultural de San Isidoro de León H l:

associated with the community of San Isidoro. In particular, she set

13 On Urraca’s patronage see S. H. Caldwell, ‘Urraca of Zamora and San Isidoro de

León and in particular of San Isidoro.17 He was interested in

20 For the troubled reign of Queen Urraca see B. F. Reilly, T h e K in g d o m o f L e ó n -

21 Amply surveyed by C. Stalls, P ossessin g the L a n d . A r a g o n ’s E x p a n sio n in to Isla m ’s

Note: A rival interpretation

A colleague in Spanish medieval studies, Dr John Wreglesworth, has

Once upon a time Hispania blossomed abundantly with every kind of

Kings accordingly, as we have learned from ancient report, first distin­

elevated vision to aspire to the celestial things, lost in a fourfold mist,

Their perversity proclaims however, among other things, that the

Nevertheless, in the time of the most glorious King Wamba the

The Spanish kings governed in a Catholic manner from the Rhône,

It disgusts me, to be candid, to dwell on the ruin of my homeland and the

26 A surprising misattribution by our learned author. Isidore died in 636; Paul's

Seminis.3132There for a long time I ruminated in my own mind upon

my capabilities shall allow, in listing one by one the provinces

Meanwhile King Sancho assembled an army and laid siege to Zamora,

The introductions to these editions furnish details of the surviving manu

Kings accordingly, as we have learned from ancient report, first distin

assist his people. Furthermore, because Alfonso said nothing whatso

An even later date of c. 1170 was initially favoured by the distin