Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

THE CONQUEST OF VALENCIA IN THE CANTAR DE MIO CID

1973; Liverpool University Press; Volume: 50; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1475382732000350120

1469-3550

David Höök,

Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia

Abstract The section of the Cantar de Mio Cid between the defeat of Berenguer and the fall of Valencia has received relatively little serious study. In the opinion of the late Ramón Menéndez Pidal, for example, the treatment afforded in these lines to the Cid's conquest of Valencia is of such small interest as to merit only the note, del principal hecho de armas del Cid, la conquista de Valencia, prueba el juglar estar poco enterado; hasta cree que la toma de Murviedro sucedió antes que la de Valencia; afirma que el sitio de ésta duró sólo nueve meses (1209), cuando en realidad duró nada menos que veinte; y refiere el afanoso asedio que costó al héroe la gran ciudad en solos 50 versos, después de haber despachado la conquista de los lugares de su reino con decir, en ganar aquellas villas myo Cid duró tres años. Though, as will be seen, this judgement does less than justice to the poet, similar comments are to be found elsewhere in the writings of Menéndez Pidal, who repeatedly stresses the brevity of this passage. BSS Subject Index: VALENCIA — SPAIN — HISTORY, POLITICS, ECONOMY, LITERATURE, CULTURE & SOCIETYPOEMA DE MIO CID/CANTAR DE MIO CID Notes 1 Cantar de Mio Cid, 3rd ed. (Madrid 1954), I, 72. 2E.g., Poema de Mio Cid, 8th ed., Clás. Cast. (Madrid 1958), 25; 'Dos poetas en el PMC', in En torno al PMC (Barcelona 1963), 110–11. 3E.g., 'Dos poetas', ed. cit., 123, 149–50. 4L. Spitzer, 'Sobre el carácter histórico del CMC', NRFH, II (1948), 105–17. 1 Historia Roderici, in R. Menéndez Pidal, España del Cid. 1st ed. (Madrid 1929), II, 930. 1 Hist. Rod., 954: 'villam uero in eodem populauit et construxit, eamque munitionibus et fortissimis turribus circumcinxit atque muniuit.' 1Compare, for example, the similar preference for personal occupation of Murviedro manifested by Alhajib (PCG, ch. 891) and Aben Razin (PCG, ch. 900), and also the instal lation of loyal followers in the citadel by Aben Lupon (PCG, ch. 877). At the same time, whilst these precautions undoubtedly reflect the importance of Murviedro, the reliability of the castellan was to be a constant and general preoccupation of mediaeval politics: cf. Siete Partidas, II, tit. xviii, ley 6–7. 2The importance of Peña Cadiella in this section of the poem may also be indicated by the application to it of the legal formula las exidas e las entradas (1163) to indicate the full possession of the fortress obtained by the Cid. Although this is an extremely common legal phrase (cf. D. G. Pattison, MLR, LXII [1967], 449), it is perhaps of more than usual significance in the poem by virtue of its infrequent occurrence, being used but twice. The other occasion refers to Valencia (1572). In both cases, given the probable legal knowledge of the author, the formula appears to represent his instinctive use of a familiar phrase in order to emphasize the absolute control of an important property. 1 España del Cid, I, 433–35; CMC, II, pp. 789–92. 2R. Ford, Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Spain, 2nd ed. (London 1847), 207. 1'Dos poetas', 123. 2J. Horrent, 'Tradition poétique du CMC au XIIe siècle', Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, VII (1964), 451.