Commentary on The Poem of the Cid
Poetry played a vital role in the dissemination of information during the Crusade period. It provided a compact, easily memorized way of spreading news in a time bereft of the benefit of mass printing. According to Michael Routledge, who penned a chapter on Crusade songs and poetry in The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, poetry was not only a way of recording and spreading news of current events, but also served to record and extoll the virtues and values of the ruling Medieval aristocracy. These values included commitment to one's lord, and an acceptance of the feudal duties of auxilium (armed help in time of attack by enemies) and consilium (counsel and rendering of justice) (Routledge 97). A fine example of poetry's use in the above context can be found in Paul Blackburn's translation of the medieval Spanish epic Poem of the Cid. The poem is a fictional account of the life of the eleventh-century adventurer and military commander Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. The poem's title derives from Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar's Arabic title, Sayyidi (the Cid) or "My Lord". The poem's content describes a series of events transpiring after the main character, the Cid, is exiled from h
It is clearly evident that the attributes of commitment to one's lord, giving auxilium, and rendering consolium were expected of all proper rulers. The final virtue, concilium, or rendering of counsel and justice, is also evident throughout the Poem of the Cid. Alfonso should refuse the horses, since a lord accepts such gifts only from a vassal, or he should take the horses and take (the Cid) back into his favor. During the trial to end the Poem, the Cid's vassals offer up a challenge to arms in order to protect his honor (Nelson 1) The University of Kansas's Lynn Nelson sees the Cid's reconciliation gifts as a test of Alfonso's honor. The Cid's host grows throughout the Poem as his original army of loyal vassals is swollen with volunteers who have come to share in the plunder. The first attempt fails, but the second gains the Cid the right to be reunited with his wife and two daughters. When word reaches Alfonso of what has transpired, he agrees to arrange a trial at which the Cid can seek justice against his two sons-in-law. The problem with this arrangement, Nelson says, is that since the responsibility of marrying off the Cid's daughters was Alfonso's, it is he that was dishonored. Those unable to be in the initial charge volunteer instead to take part in the flanking or rear actions, strategies that paid off each time with the defeat of larger Muslim forces. The third equine gift, after his conquest of Valencia and subsequent defeat of a Muslim army sent to relieve the city, gains him back his former status. instead he points out that Manaya is his vassal and in his favor. Bibliography Blackburn, Paul. To Nelson, the Cid's distrust of the king's motives are evident in the Cid's actions on the day of the trial: When the date came, the Cid and his vassals put on their mail and belted their swords and went into court wearing them under their coats. Even after gaining great victory, the Cid's loyal vassals exemplify graciousness in victory, as they never grow boastful or arrogant despite their many successes.
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