Rodrigo Díaz nació, según afirma una tradición constante, aunque sin corroboración documental, en Vivar, hoy Vivar del Cid, un lugar perteneciente al ayuntamiento de Quintanilla de Vivar y situado en el valle del río Ubierna, a diez kilómetros al norte de Burgos.
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00:00In 1993, El Cid and his private army of 4,000 soldiers spend Christmas camping in front of the walls of Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.
00:17El Cid claims his claim of independence from the vassalage to which he was subjected.
00:23He had set up his camp in July and the site seemed not to reach its end.
00:30To tear down the walls or let people starve inside them.
00:34This was the usual procedure for the conquerors of Spain in the 11th century.
00:39His army was too small to tear down the walls and enter the city.
00:44But they did have mobility and were very effective.
00:47They cut the supply and tore down the surrounding fields.
00:51Inside the walls, people trembled with the rumors of the atrocities committed.
00:55With luck and time, he would soon be lord and master of Valencia.
00:58He was a man of his time, a free warrior who could get along with the Muslims, but also fight them.
01:06A man who was loyal to his lord, but who could also make his own decisions and embark on actions that the king did not necessarily approve.
01:15El Cid represents values that in many cases coincide with some of the most established American values.
01:23The kind of values that were forged on the border.
01:26I think this is the reason why many Americans consider El Cid such an attractive historical figure.
01:32A man made himself thanks to his intelligence, his perseverance, his personal charisma and his skill in battle.
01:42The taking of the old Spanish city is a fundamental moment in the history of El Cid as a warrior and conqueror.
01:48Centuries later, he will still be celebrated as the great Spanish hero, largely thanks to an epic poem entitled El Cantar del Mio Cid.
01:56The poem of 3,700 verses is universally considered the oldest pillar of Spanish literature.
02:03But by its own nature as an epic poem, it is also a questionable source for historians.
02:09El Cantar del Mio Cid is essentially a fictional work, often in contradiction with well-known historical facts.
02:16How then to determine the true history of El Cid's life?
02:20To achieve it, we must travel to the past, to the time and place of his birth.
02:28It would be extremely difficult to find in the world a land on which he has fought and conquered more than on this.
02:35Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Visigoths, Muslims and Christians fought to dominate Spain at one time or another.
02:42When El Cid rode beneath this Roman hocktail, he was already 5,000 years old.
02:52In the 8th century, a large number of Muslim Arabs and Berber converts arrived in Spain.
02:57The Spaniards called the invaders Moros, as they came from Morocco.
03:02They pushed the Spanish Christian nobility north, towards the mountains,
03:06but allowed many Christian and Jewish residents to stay in the south.
03:13Spain enjoyed a notable cultural boom under the Arab rule.
03:17The Muslim Caliphs built fantastic palaces and mosques.
03:21They also introduced important agricultural and scientific advances.
03:25With its main base in the city of Cordoba, the Muslim dynasty ruled Spain for more than three centuries.
03:31But ten years before the birth of El Cid, the dynasty broke into pieces.
03:35The Muslim chieftains divided the region into numerous districts, the so-called states of Taifa.
03:42The Christian nobility of the north immediately took advantage of the fractured Moriscan states.
03:51They became easy prey for the Christian kings.
03:55There was a lot of money at stake.
03:57There are large tributes that are paid.
04:01El Cid came to this complicated world.
04:04He was born around the year 1040 in the bosom of a Christian family,
04:08who lived under the culture and customs of Islam.
04:11He grew up surrounded by people who spoke Arabic,
04:15people who were either Muslim by birth or understood the Arabic language.
04:21You have to realize that Christians and Jews in the eighteenth, ninth and tenth centuries
04:27articulated their own culture in Arabic.
04:31It was the dominant language.
04:35El Cid grew under the reign of a Christian king, Fernando I of Castile and Leon.
04:40King Fernando ruled under what seemed to be a classic protectionist situation.
04:45He forced the payment of tributes to the Moriscan states of Taifa in southern Spain
04:49and sent assault parties to fight against those who did not pay.
04:55Unlike other parts of Europe,
04:57the kings didn't have very large properties that generated a great deal of income.
05:02Their way in which they get income is by participating in these raids.
05:09Medieval Spain has been described as a society organized for war.
05:13That is to say, all of the western mediation is a society in which there is a great deal of emphasis
05:19on those who have a monopoly of weapons.
05:26In order to maintain control, the king depended on the services of knights and mercenaries.
05:30At the age of more or less fourteen years,
05:32El Cid was taken to the royal court to serve Sancho, the eldest son of King Fernando.
05:37The education of young El Cid was molded to his destiny, vassal and soldier.
05:46It is a society in which there is an extraordinary attitude of combat.
05:51And El Cid belongs to this society.
05:54He is a member of the median nobility,
05:57that is to say, of those people who have not reached the power of the true nobility.
06:04Most of El Cid's youth was spent under intense military training,
06:08particularly in the learning of the art of using the sword.
06:13They say that El Cid's father gave him the sword of a great warrior, Mudar,
06:18when he was a young boy.
06:22Weapons and armor were awards that went from generation to generation.
06:26A sword like this became El Cid's favorite weapon of choice.
06:30Although it was not as heavy as the usual feudal swords,
06:33it was a lethal steel piece that could go through the classic Mayan armor of the time.
06:39Spanish warriors of the 11th century did not care so much about their armor.
06:43All they needed was a weapon with which to destroy the enemy
06:47and with which to attack from their horses.
06:50The armor of that time was exceptionally light.
06:53The goal was to be able to carry them comfortably in the long assault campaigns.
06:59But military success in the Middle Ages needed something more than cold steel.
07:03El Cid, to become the soldier he would later prove to be,
07:07learned to use other tools.
07:09El Cid was an expert in the use of the astrolabe,
07:12an ancient instrument of Greek origin
07:14that was used both for orientation and to measure time.
07:17Muslims introduced its use in Spain
07:20and remained one of the most important instruments used by astronomers
07:24until the end of the 18th century.
07:26El Cid's ability in the use of the astrolabe,
07:29especially as a help for his orientation in his cavalry in Spain,
07:33would be of great use to him for the rest of his life.
07:38Thanks to his skill, El Cid was named Prince Sancho's Weapon Man
07:42in the army of King Fernando.
07:44Together they began to ride in 1063, when El Cid was about 23 years old.
07:49It was his first battle, and it was a bloody battle
07:52between King Fernando and his own brother, King of Aragon.
07:55In medieval Spain, blood was not thicker than water or money.
07:59The two royal brothers fought for the control of the attributes
08:03of a Muslim emir called Al-Muqtadir,
08:05a man who would be decisive in the future of El Cid.
08:09In this battle, El Cid fought bravely to protect the lands of the emir,
08:13distinguishing himself as a brave and intrepid warrior.
08:17At the end of the battle, the army of Fernando was imposed
08:20and his brother, King of Aragon, lost his life.
08:28Two years later, King Fernando died.
08:31He divided his lands and protectors among his three sons, including Sancho.
08:35For El Cid, now the usual carrier and sergeant of instruction for King Sancho,
08:39the opportunities were unlimited,
08:42but a new generation of fraternal wars was seen on the horizon.
08:53At just over 20 years old, El Cid was the Weapon Man for King Sancho II of Castile.
08:58For a warrior in the court, he was the highest rank.
09:01The cavalry of El Cid was made up of men of the middle nobility, men like him.
09:06They bought their own horses and armors,
09:08and El Cid trained them for combat, including horse combat.
09:14In the 11th century, an important innovation emerged in horse combat,
09:18with the development of what was called the side lance.
09:22Previously, a horse warrior could use the lance in two ways.
09:27On top, to throw it,
09:29or underneath, to nail it to the enemy.
09:33With this new lance, the soldier had a longer and heavier handle,
09:37which could be held with the hand under the armpit,
09:40which gave more extension to his lethal end.
09:47The use of this type of lance on a galloping horse required good training,
09:53but the advantages for man and horse were obvious.
09:57A lethal weapon composed of the strength of the lance, man and horse.
10:03Imagine hundreds of soldiers on the battlefield carrying these lances.
10:08It was the most lethal weapon that had been seen on medieval battlefields.
10:12The cavalry accompanied El Cid to collect the tributes of the kingdoms of Taifa.
10:16As a reward to the soldiers,
10:18a part of the booty obtained in these raids was given to them.
10:21Soon El Cid would have more reasons to fight.
10:24King Fernando had left Castile in inheritance to his eldest son Sancho,
10:28but the best part of this land, León,
10:30was given to his second son, Alfonso VI.
10:34When King Fernando distributes his kingdom,
10:37he makes the big mistake of giving a part to Alfonso and another to Sancho.
10:43In this way, once again, the kingdoms of León and Castile are divided.
10:48In 1068, the fraternal conflicts and envies end in war.
10:53During the next four years, Alfonso and Sancho
10:55meet on several occasions on the battlefield.
10:58The decisive year was 1072.
11:01In January, Sancho takes León and sends his brother to exile.
11:06Alfonso finds refuge in the Morisca city of Toledo,
11:09right on the other side of the border of the small city of Zamora.
11:14But despite not being a big city,
11:16Zamora was a key strategic enclave on the way to León.
11:20Nine months later rumors of insurrection begin to spread in Zamora.
11:24Fearing the worst, Sancho and El Cid ride to the city.
11:28In the 11th century, a king had to rule from his horse, not from his throne.
11:36It has been said of El Cid that he distinguished himself by his bravery
11:39in all the battles in which he participated,
11:41but none as much as in Zamora.
11:43According to what was said, he fought at the same time against 15 knights,
11:46ended the life of one of them, dismounted another and made the others flee.
11:51But while El Cid showers, Sancho loses his life.
11:53The rumors of treason spread rapidly.
11:56The question is, who was responsible?
11:59When Sancho died in Zamora, possibly his brother Alfonso was in Toledo.
12:06He had been exiled to Toledo.
12:09I have the feeling, like many other people during the last 900 years,
12:15that his brother Alfonso was involved in the death of Sancho, although not directly.
12:20Of course, he was the greatest beneficiary of his death.
12:24Immediately, he took charge of the kingdom of Sancho.
12:28Fortunately, the incomparable skill of El Cid in the battlefield
12:31assured him a place in Alfonso's court, if he decided so.
12:36El Cid needed a king in the same way that a vassal needs a lord.
12:41And the king needed El Cid in the same way that a lord needs a vassal.
12:46What I mean is that at that time, that was the basis of the negotiation,
12:50of the commitment to bury the ax and move on.
12:54If they wanted to survive, they were the kings.
12:56And I really think that's what they did.
13:00In the epic poem, this pragmatic reconciliation is given a mythical importance.
13:06He forces the king to swear that it has nothing to do
13:09with the death of his brother, with his betrayal.
13:13And Alfonso VI does it, swears not to be responsible for that betrayal.
13:22Although the poetic history of this oath is mythical,
13:25there is enough evidence to show that El Cid and King Alfonso
13:28negotiated an agreement.
13:31El Cid contracts marriage in the mid-1070s.
13:38The wedding is celebrated by all means.
13:40There are many possibilities that this marriage
13:43was actually arranged by the king,
13:45partly as a reward for the services that El Cid had lent him.
13:50One of the witnesses to the wedding is García Ordóñez,
13:52the favorite soldier and courtesan of King Alfonso.
13:55Soon he would become El Cid's nemesis.
13:59The court of a king in Spain in the 11th century
14:04was quite a difficult place, as courts tend to be.
14:10This was the sort of place where hatreds and rivalries
14:15could very rapidly build up.
14:19The first problems arise in 1079 with the collection of tributes.
14:23El Cid was sent to Seville, García Ordóñez to Granada.
14:26Some sources say that the first step was taken by García Ordóñez.
14:30Others suggest that the first attack was a work of El Cid.
14:33Everyone agrees that they met in the battlefield in Cabra.
14:37And it was a bloody encounter,
14:39with El Cid stabbing his imposing sword,
14:41ending the lives of those who crossed his path.
14:44When the battle ended, El Cid emerged victorious.
14:47Not only that, he captured García Ordóñez
14:49and kept him prisoner for three days.
14:52García Ordóñez was very clear that he had been publicly humiliated by El Cid.
14:59And this was the sort of thing that no noble of that era was going to stand for.
15:06El Cid freed García Ordóñez, but he never forgot the humiliation.
15:10In the closed and vicious circle of the royal court,
15:13García Ordóñez was faster to get the king to devote a few minutes of attention.
15:18Rumors began to spread that El Cid was keeping part of the tributes he collected for the king.
15:24García Ordóñez is a kind of resentful loser, an envious person,
15:28and he is not willing to accept the presence in the court of who he considers an artist.
15:32He calls El Cid the son of the miller,
15:34which is possibly the worst insult that can be given to someone in the Middle Ages,
15:38since the millers were considered cheaters and thieves,
15:41who always kept part of the flour from which they used their services.
15:45We have independent evidence, in particular from Muslim sources,
15:50that Count García Ordóñez was known as the Twisted Mouth.
15:54And although it is possible that this nickname has its origin in some kind of physical deformation,
16:01such as a lip or something like that,
16:04it could also indicate that his shortcomings were more moral than physical.
16:12In short, he was a man with a tendency to lie, to create problems.
16:22In 1081, El Cid leads a huge army to the assault of the settlements near Toledo,
16:27another protectorate of King Alfonso.
16:30His pretext was to take revenge against the bandits who operated in that area.
16:35El Cid and his knights besiege the countryside and make 7,000 prisoners.
16:40A manifesto of power.
16:43For King Alfonso, the suspicion, fueled by the insidious campaign of rumors of García Ordóñez against El Cid,
16:49becomes paranoia.
16:51The king fears that El Cid is trying to usurp his position.
16:56He sends him to exile and confiscates all his properties.
17:01For El Cid, a whole life of service is erased from a pen.
17:05A dark future awaits him.
17:11Exile
17:16Exiled from his home, lost his possessions,
17:19El Cid begins a journey to restore his reputation.
17:26It is true that it was an important blow, but perhaps not as important as we can think today.
17:32The experience of exile was actually quite common for the nobles of the time.
17:38There was always hope that exile would end soon and that the lands could be recovered.
17:47El Cid approached the neighboring caudillos.
17:50The competition was fierce and he knew that his sword would have good demand.
17:54He also knew that the rewards could be generous.
17:58El Cid was a soldier from start to finish.
18:01An excellent soldier.
18:04So actually it was the only way to make a living.
18:07He had to find someone to pay him to fight.
18:10He had to become, in a word, a mercenary.
18:13And that's what he did during his exile.
18:19In Zaragoza he meets again with the emir Al-Muqtadir,
18:22the same one he fought against in 1063.
18:26Since those years, Al-Muqtadir had added a good part of the Spanish Mediterranean coast to his kingdom.
18:33A successful diplomat, he was also known as a poet, philosopher and master of astrology and geometry.
18:42El Cid went to the court of the Muslim emir of Zaragoza and only asked one thing.
18:46Hire me. And so it was.
18:48And the emir never regretted it because El Cid served him extremely well.
18:52In addition, El Cid earned a lot of money working for him.
18:58Al-Muqtadir had followed the trajectory of El Cid carefully.
19:01From a young and novice soldier to a member of the royal court,
19:04with enough power to make King Alfonso VI feel threatened.
19:09He hired him in a blink of an eye and it is said that El Muqtadir himself gave him the nickname El Cid.
19:15The name itself is actually of Arab origin.
19:18Someone who, in a sense, not only has Muslim friends,
19:22but who respects them and who shows respect for the Muslim culture.
19:29Something that was not unusual for anyone who was related to this world,
19:33at a time when the Muslim culture was deeply rooted in Spain.
19:42But Al-Muqtadir died only a year after hiring El Cid.
19:46And he divided his kingdom among his male heirs.
19:49One of his sons received lands to the east and south.
19:52Another of his sons received the city of Zaragoza.
19:55El Cid stayed in Zaragoza at the service of his new emir.
20:01In fact, we do not know what was the situation of El Cid in the court of the emir.
20:06If their relationship was cordial, if they dined or joked together,
20:11or if El Cid was treated as a subordinate or as a kind of military technician.
20:17We simply do not know.
20:21The rivalry between the two Muslim brothers was on the rise.
20:25For El Cid, this was an exact reproduction of what he had already lived.
20:29The wars between Sancho and Alfonso.
20:32And he had learned from these experiences.
20:35In Zaragoza, and while reinforcing the defenses of its periphery,
20:39he concentrated on training his troops until they became an effective military force.
20:45One of the places he chose to fortify was the old Almenar castle.
20:50After centuries of battles, the Spanish landscape was populated with ruins.
20:54According to certain estimates, there was a fortification of one type or another,
20:58approximately every 17 square kilometers.
21:01In a land besieged by bandits authorized by the state or dissidents,
21:05it was important to have a refuge,
21:07which also guaranteed the security of communications and supply lines.
21:14The battle between the two Arab brothers began in the summer of 1082.
21:18Under the site of Almenar, El Cid faced an army of mercenaries,
21:22precipitously formed.
21:24Although he faced a much superior force in number,
21:27the random alliance was not a rival for his troops,
21:30excellently trained.
21:32His men captured a large number of enemies
21:35and took hostages among which was the Count of Barcelona
21:38and a good number of his knights.
21:40Reasonably, I think we can assume that El Cid was a good commander,
21:44a successful commander,
21:46mainly for the work he did before entering into combat.
21:51I think we can also assume,
21:53just by looking at his record of victories,
21:56that his men had excellent training.
21:59And I'm also sure that El Cid was very aware
22:02of the importance of the old military maxim
22:04that time used to recognize the terrain is never wasted.
22:09His campaigns were meticulously prepared
22:12in relation to the terrain and specific natural characteristics
22:15where they were going to develop.
22:20Significantly, El Cid's services to the Muslim Emir of Zaragoza
22:24are omitted from the cantar of El Mio Cid,
22:26the epic Christian poem that narrates his life.
22:29This episode has been completely ignored.
22:32In the poem, El Cid is never mentioned in his battles
22:35at the service of the Muslim emirs,
22:37but in his campaigns against them.
22:43While El Cid remained in exile,
22:45fighting for the Muslims,
22:47the problems of King Alfonso were increasing.
22:49The inhabitants of Toledo, his protectorate,
22:51were calling for a new leadership.
22:53Alfonso had long depended on the collection of tributes from the city,
22:57fearing the insurrection in the autumn of 1084,
23:00located in Toledo.
23:04Winter was brutal,
23:06and the city of Toledo resisted with courage.
23:08But Alfonso's army waited.
23:10The occupation of the city lasted 10 months.
23:13In May 1085,
23:15overwhelmed by famine and disease,
23:17the city had to surrender.
23:19It was the first major conquest of a Christian army in 300 years.
23:26The news made the alarm sound.
23:29Muslim leaders feared that this would be the first of many invasions.
23:35It was a call for attention for all of them,
23:39because it meant that the Castilians
23:41began to have other ideas,
23:43beyond simply collecting tributes from the citizens.
23:48To avoid the Christian reconquest of southern Spain,
23:51the Muslims directed their gaze through the strait to Africa.
23:55There arose a new power,
23:57a strict and militaristic sect of Islam,
23:59the Almoravids.
24:02You are caught between a rock and a hard place.
24:05In the north, the Christians,
24:07sometimes they are friends, but sometimes they assault your land.
24:10This is the sword, and it is in the north,
24:12about to fall on your head.
24:16And then in the south,
24:18the north of Africa,
24:20the Almoravids,
24:22a more strict group of Muslims,
24:26with a very different vision
24:28of what Islam should be,
24:31more austere,
24:34and far more demanding of their subjects.
24:39That is their hard place.
24:44The Muslims who lived in Spain
24:46built a world of enormous beauty, luxury and leisure.
24:49They were devout Muslims,
24:51but they appreciated wine and astrology.
24:53The rulers of the kingdoms of Taifa
24:55knew that they would lose their cities,
24:57but they still had time to choose
24:59who would become their conquerors.
25:02With whom do you have more in common?
25:04With someone like El Cid?
25:06With someone like Alfonso VI,
25:08who has lived among your people?
25:10Or with Yusuf,
25:12leader of the Almoravids?
25:16There is talk of a Muslim ruler
25:18who left his ideas very clear
25:20with the famous phrase,
25:22I prefer to be a chameleon in Morocco
25:24than a piara of pigs in Castile.
25:26A new wave of invaders was on the way.
25:32El Cid spent five years
25:34at the service of the Muslim emirs of Zaragoza.
25:37With each victory,
25:39his reputation was restored,
25:41his coffers were filled,
25:43the loyalty of his soldiers became stronger.
25:45But his former boss,
25:47King Alfonso VI of Castile,
25:49also accumulated victories and amassed fortune.
25:52In an attempt to extend his influence
25:54and collect greater tributes,
25:56Alfonso decided to lead his army
25:58against the city of Zaragoza
26:00and decided to do it in person.
26:02There, he would have met face to face
26:04with his former subject
26:06and confidant, El Cid.
26:08Fate prevented him.
26:10Before Alfonso could reach Zaragoza,
26:12the Moorish kings decided
26:14to play a card.
26:16They appealed to their Muslim co-religionaries
26:18from Morocco, the Almoravids.
26:23The best description I can give
26:25is that of a fundamentalist sect
26:27within Islam.
26:29Who were dedicated
26:31to upholding Islamic law
26:33and traditions
26:35in their starkest form.
26:45They were very displeased
26:47at what they saw.
26:49Muslim rulers who were
26:51forced to pay tribute
26:53to Christian leaders
26:55who were forced
26:57to raise the money for the tribute
26:59to impose taxes
27:01not sanctioned by the authority
27:03of the Koran.
27:05The new invading force of Morocco
27:07was led by a warrior named Yusuf.
27:09He crossed the strait of Gibraltar
27:11with an army of 7,000 men
27:13between knights and infantry.
27:15They were coming to Spain
27:17to defend a territory
27:19that they had already conquered
27:21hundreds of years ago.
27:23Yusuf's army also included
27:25shields of bamboo, leather shields
27:27and drums of war.
27:29They crossed Spain
27:31heading north
27:33recruiting mercenaries
27:35and taking slaves.
27:37When they arrived in Sagrajas
27:39they formed an army
27:41of 20,000 men.
27:43And in Sagrajas
27:45the battle began.
27:47King Alfonso with his army
27:49of approximately 40,000 soldiers
27:51and allies unleashed
27:53and the Christian army
27:55was quickly overcome and massacred.
27:57Many of Alfonso's allies deserted
27:59some terrified by the bad omen
28:01that the drums caused
28:03and the strange armament
28:05of the African warriors
28:07who followed Yusuf.
28:09The roads were covered with corpses.
28:11It was a crushing defeat
28:13but King Alfonso escaped.
28:15The battle of Sagrajas
28:17in the year 1086
28:19was for King Alfonso
28:21a king who had been
28:23successfully ruling for 20 years.
28:25But the Almoravids
28:27had not come to occupy Spain.
28:29Once defeated
28:31Alfonso's army returned to Morocco
28:33and the king took advantage of the moment.
28:35He got in touch with Sid
28:37put an end to his exile
28:39and asked him to return to his court.
28:41So in the wake
28:43of that terrible battle
28:45we find that King Alfonso
28:47returns his favors
28:49and reaches an agreement with Sid.
28:51He needed people
28:53people capable of helping him
28:55to regain the reins.
28:57That was, we could say,
28:59a market of vassals.
29:05Sid had trained his army
29:07until it became what seemed
29:09an invincible war machine.
29:11He agreed to defend the lands
29:13of King Alfonso in the face of any threat.
29:15In return, Sid would have the right
29:17to the property of the lands
29:19that he took from the Muslims.
29:21Properties that would pass to his descendants.
29:23He could ultimately establish
29:25his own dynasty.
29:27He is, in many respects,
29:29what we would call a freelancer today.
29:31Someone who allies with the Muslims
29:33against the Christians
29:35who allies with the Christians
29:37against other Christians.
29:39Someone who is trying to build his own
29:41kingdom or state,
29:43improve his economic position.
29:45The Almoravids return three years later.
29:49To sum up the story,
29:51during the following years,
29:53Yusuf and the Almoravids
29:55conquered the Islamic principalities of Spain,
29:57thus unifying Spanish Islam
29:59under a single authority
30:01which, of course,
30:03was more than a threat
30:05to Christian authorities,
30:07including Alfonso VI in the north.
30:09So the king went from being
30:11on the aggressive side
30:13in the 1980s
30:15to being on the defensive side.
30:17Aware of his problems,
30:19in 1089,
30:21Alfonso VI summons Al-Zid
30:23to request his help
30:25in his fight against the Almoravid invaders.
30:27It was the most important test
30:29of his reconciliation,
30:31but it did not last long.
30:33Al-Zid did not attend
30:35an important meeting
30:37on a battlefield
30:39and Alfonso suffered
30:41Al-Zid did not look for a new boss.
30:43He led his well-armed men
30:45on horseback to the north,
30:47along the Mediterranean coast,
30:49collecting tributes
30:51for his own war chest.
30:53The rulers of the most important cities,
30:55both Christian and Muslim,
30:57joined forces to face
30:59the venerable warrior.
31:01Thanks to an information
31:03from his old friend,
31:05the emir of Zaragoza,
31:07Al-Zid was able to retreat
31:09to the mountains,
31:11where he formed a well-fortified
31:13defensive position.
31:15The persecution of Al-Zid
31:17was led by the Count of Barcelona,
31:19who camped under the fortification
31:21in plain land.
31:23During the night,
31:25he sent a group of soldiers
31:27to the top of the mountain.
31:29Very soon,
31:31Al-Zid's position was surrounded.
31:33At dawn,
31:35the two armies met.
31:37But once again,
31:39luck was on his side.
31:41In a virtual replay
31:43of the Battle of Almenar,
31:45Al-Zid ended up leading
31:47his men to victory.
31:49The Count of Barcelona
31:51was captured
31:53along with his best men.
31:55Their hasty attack
31:57cost them dearly
31:59in lives and rewards.
32:01It's been shown
32:03that Al-Zid was
32:05a man of integrity,
32:07but I suspect
32:09that this had to do
32:11with his morale.
32:13During the following years,
32:15Al-Zid strengthened his bastion
32:17on the coast, establishing
32:19his center of power
32:21near Valencia,
32:23a city where he collected
32:25tributes.
32:27His greatest challenge
32:29when it came to
32:31dominating the city
32:33was in Castilla.
32:37Al-Zid personally
32:39led a brutal attack
32:41on this rich region.
32:43He went in the lands
32:45of García Ordóñez,
32:47in La Rioja,
32:49and apparently made a waste.
32:51Very violently and ruthlessly
32:53as well as looking back
32:55at his enemies.
32:57This ruthless
32:59incursion of Al-Zid
33:01destroyed Valencia.
33:03But for Al-Zid,
33:05a new threat
33:07began to form in the south.
33:09The Almoravids
33:11had directed their gaze
33:13to the land of Al-Zid,
33:15Valencia.
33:19In 1092,
33:21the Almoravids
33:23marched to Valencia.
33:25They were met by a Muslim judge
33:27who led an attempt
33:29to force Alfonso to leave Valencia.
33:31He was more than determined
33:33to maintain the city
33:35and its rich tributes.
33:37For him, it was the dream
33:39of his own kingdom.
33:41But Valencia
33:43is obviously
33:45a very special place,
33:47an incredible prize,
33:49because the city
33:51is also surrounded
33:53by an incredibly fertile land,
33:55the garden of Valencia,
33:57an agricultural area
33:59that produces a huge amount
34:01of agricultural goods
34:03and which has
34:05a tremendous system
34:07of irrigation.
34:13Al-Zid led
34:15constant assaults
34:17on the settlements
34:19on the outskirts of the city,
34:21but allowed the residents
34:23who surrendered
34:25to leave the city.
34:27Al-Zid knew very well
34:29that he would need the farms
34:31to feed his troops
34:33during a possible
34:35long-term assault.
34:37In July,
34:39the city was already
34:41totally blocked.
34:43Today, the gates
34:45of the walled city
34:47of Valencia
34:49are located
34:51in the middle of the town
34:53For Al-Zid,
34:55Valencia was,
34:57no doubt,
34:59a very important prize,
35:01and it could have been,
35:03although this is
35:05sheer speculation,
35:07the germ
35:09and the beginning
35:11of a kind of
35:13independent state
35:15in his hands.
35:17In May 1994,
35:19before the Almoravid army
35:21took the city,
35:23Al-Zid surrendered.
35:25After 10 months,
35:27the site of Valencia
35:29had come to an end,
35:31but very soon
35:33Al-Zid would find himself
35:35in trouble again.
35:37He had just imprisoned
35:39the Muslim judge
35:41when the Almoravids
35:43arrived in the city.
35:45He immediately asked
35:47his allies for reinforcements,
35:49and for 10 days and 10 nights
35:51they used psychological warfare techniques.
35:53Surrounding the city's walls,
35:55they filled the air with howls
35:57and the deafening rumbling
35:59of their war drums.
36:01A second siege attempt had begun.
36:03The Almoravids
36:05began the siege operation
36:07attacking the city's supply lines.
36:09The passage of time
36:11was of vital importance,
36:13so Al-Zid attacked immediately.
36:15He intelligently designed
36:17a cavalry formation,
36:19sending out a group of knights
36:21through one of the city's five gates.
36:23When the Almoravids
36:25attacked Al-Zid's knights,
36:27he sent another unit
36:29through another of the city's gates
36:31with the aim of attacking
36:33the Muslim invaders' rearguard.
36:35The surprise was total.
36:37The maneuver was brilliant.
36:39In the short space of a day,
36:41Al-Zid had defeated the enemy.
36:43The dead lay all over the city.
36:45It was the first time
36:47that the Almoravids had been defeated.
36:49This defeat of the Almoravids
36:51had a tremendous resonance
36:53not only in Spain.
36:55For Christians from all over the West,
36:57the fact that these terrifying,
36:59unknown Muslims
37:01who came from Africa
37:03could be defeated
37:05was really something impressive.
37:07For Al-Zid,
37:09it was time to ensure his reign
37:11over the city of Valencia.
37:13As a witness, he executed the Muslim judge
37:15by burning him alive.
37:17Later, he imprisoned
37:19the city's aristocracy
37:21and asked astronomical amounts
37:23as a reward.
37:25He continued his assaults
37:27on the settlements near the city.
37:31Of course, he has been described
37:33as a hard master.
37:35In a sense, in the Middle Ages,
37:37in the Valencia of Al-Zid,
37:39it is a matter of governing
37:41and punishing.
37:43But at the same time,
37:45as the successful rulers always knew,
37:47he had the ability to provide
37:49riches and gifts
37:51to all who were loyal to him.
37:53It is about punishing the wicked
37:55and rewarding the good,
37:57which essentially means
37:59punishing your enemies
38:01and rewarding your friends,
38:03whoever they are.
38:05The ability that Al-Zid demonstrated
38:07to defeat the then invincible
38:09Al-Moravides is really remarkable.
38:11And I think it could also be said
38:13that in a way,
38:15it is also inexplicable.
38:17But he had the reputation
38:19of being invincible.
38:21And I really think that when you fight
38:23against someone who everyone
38:25considers invincible,
38:27it is quite scary.
38:29The next conquest was
38:31the rock of Murbiedro,
38:33to the north of the city.
38:35Al-Zid left historical traces.
38:37He had fought for this same position.
38:39As long as it was in Muslim hands,
38:41Al-Zid's rights over Valencia
38:43were in danger.
38:45It is possibly the strongest
38:47natural defensive position
38:49within the whole of that
38:51central sector of the Mediterranean
38:53coast of Spain.
38:55Messages, merchandise,
38:57military supplies,
38:59all of that could be threatened
39:01if the hostile forces
39:03controlled the rock of Murbiedro.
39:05In Murbiedro,
39:07Al-Zid used his own
39:09psychological tactics.
39:11He threatened to burn alive
39:13or torture and execute
39:15all those who were inside the city
39:17and did not surrender.
39:19And when they surrendered,
39:21he made them march in chains
39:23to Valencia.
39:25He was already the indisputable
39:27owner of the city.
39:31Al-Zid ruled Valencia
39:33but his hopes of establishing
39:35a dynasty failed.
39:37His son Diego died in combat.
39:39Details have not come to our days
39:41but a fact is known.
39:43Diego died fighting for King
39:45Alfonso VI against the Almoravids.
39:47When Al-Zid died,
39:49he did not leave his successor.
39:51Valencia fell shortly after
39:53in the hands of the Almoravids.
39:55Yusuf calls again to the city gates
39:57and she is not able to defend
39:59without Al-Zid's leadership.
40:01Maybe this was one of his mistakes
40:03as a leader.
40:05He did not leave anyone
40:07who could follow his steps,
40:09who could defend Valencia
40:11beyond his death.
40:13Some see in the death of Al-Zid
40:15the end of an era
40:17in the history of Spain.
40:19He was not someone strange,
40:21he was someone typical of that time.
40:23Someone like Al-Zid could grow up
40:25in the service of a Christian king,
40:27be sent to exile by that same king,
40:29return later to the service
40:31of the same Christian king
40:33and eventually end up
40:35as his own master and lord,
40:37ruler of his own independent principality.
40:59To be continued...