El Cid : the life and afterlife of a medieval mercenary / Nora Berend.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berend, Nora, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cid, approximately 1043-1099.

Cid.

Spain--History--711-1516.

Spain.

Physical Description:

xii, 236 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Pegasus Books cloth edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Pegasus Books, 2025.

Summary:

"Rodrigo Diaz lived a violently colourful life in eleventh-century Spain. An ambitious military leader, exile and brutal mercenary, he served Christian kings, fought against Christian princes in service of Muslim rulers, raided and killed Muslims and eventually struck out on his own, carving out an independent principality. While Rodrigo the man is long dead, El Cid lives on: a superhero; a quasi-saint; the 'spirit of Spain', according to military dictator Franco; and a champion of medieval Spanish multiculturalism. Nora Berend uncovers how el Cid has been transformed across the centuries, confronting the gulf between truth and legend and examining how a military adventurer became a hero to people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. What is it about this man that appeals to us? And why do we transform the most unsuitable people into heroes?"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction: a hero for all seasons

Blood and gold: the times

Through a glass darkly: the man Rodrigo

A saviour sent by divine providence

The earliest legends: a paragon of Christian virtue?

Cherchez la femme

The legend embodied

The Cid's rise to literary fame

The historian

The dictator and his Cid

The Cid conquers the big screen

The two Cids: into the twenty-first century

Epilogue: fascination and repugnance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781639366460

1639366466

OCLC:

1405189676