Customer Reviews

The Quest for El Cid

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El Cid was, in Spanish legend, a hero who helped to liberate Spain from the Moors; in fact he was a mercenary warlord who worked for both sides. This brief, scholarly look at his life and times attempts to separate legend from reality. The first half sets the scene by reviewing Iberian politics, religion, and society in the early middle ages; the second recounts the historical events in which El Cid played a role, relying on four near-contemporary sources (which are analyzed in a chapter that divides the two halves). A final chapter discusses when and how the legend arose.

The first half of the book is its strength. It is El Cid's context -- the interaction of peoples and states across the border between Islam and Christianity -- that intrigues, and Fletcher presents an interesting overview. The second half moves nicely through the minutiae of mid-11th-century Spanish politics but demonstrates that most of the few things history (as opposed to legend) knows about El Cid are not terribly interesting.

The book is well-written and should please those interested in its rather narrow subject matter.

Richard Fletcher has done a service to the student of history with his insiteful biography of Rodrigo Diaz "El Cid".For those of us who are familiar with the legend he has shown us a man of eleventh century castile along with his glories and shortcomings.Fletcher's work is a revelation in comparison to the earlier work of Melendez Pidal which has become legendary in Spain.The real Question remaining is what if any recognition will Fletcher receive from the Castilians?

Fletcher's book provides a revealing portrait of the Cid, separating the historical man from the myth. The opening chapters provide a glimpse of Spain during the Middle Ages, while the subsequent chapters focus on El Cid. It is a particularly useful book if you are only familiar with Charlton Heston's Cid, or with the epic poem, El Poema del Cid. Thought provoking, and exceptionally well-written.

Chances are, if you were famous and died a long time ago, Charlton Heston has played you in some epic film. Such is the case with El Cid, the Spanish warlord who successfully played the Christian and Muslim tensions and ended up seizing Valencia for his own. Fletcher's book cuts through the myth to explore who the Cid really was, at the same time offering very intricate portraits of the history and personality of Medieval Spain, at the time the joining of the Christian and Muslim worlds. And it succeeds admirably.

This is more a history of 11th Century Christian and Islamic Spain than about El Cid. In fact, Rodrigo Diaz, El Cid, is hardly mentioned in the first 100 pages of the book. It is good history, though, about an era and place that most Americans know little about.

There is a belief that Spain was continually in turmoil - that the Christians and Moors were always fighting each since the beginning of Moorish rule. It is true that there were many tiny kingdoms, and often they were at war with each other. But in the 11th century and before, more often than not the wars were about territory and riches rather than religion.

Rodrigo Diaz was not a scourage of the Muslims, as he is often portrayed. Rather he was as often fighting with the Muslims as against. He also was not the only warrior of his time, there were many. But although this history dispells many of the myths of the man and the place, it is still fascinating reading. My only criticism is that the book may be a little too short. I would have liked to read more.

Perhaps this would be a good book for a hardcore medieval history buff. The author lays down facts and geographies and genealogies, but all from an observed distance. One never feels what it is like to live in those times or in that style and culture. There was no excitment; no feel for the adventure. Too dry for me.

This book is mainly for the hardcore Cid fan, (and outside of Spain how many of those can there be?) If you're more interested in the set and setting, i.e. the history of the Spanish peninsula during the Moorish occupation, you would be much better served reading "Moorish Spain" by the same author. Still, this book is well put together and is not a bad read in itself.

This book gives a great environment of the CID.

My wife being a decesdent of the CID is a great picture of
his life and times.

The understanding of the reign of Alfonso VI of Leon-Castilla is basic to the understanding of the following 1000 years of Iberian History... and this text is very helpful to understand that time.
It is evident that the author has some difficulty in perceiving the social and religious coexistence of Jews, Christians and Muslim... and it is very instructive to see how a Gallo-Romano-Germanic author sees a life that is, basically, Hispano-Romano-Semitic.

The people of Awdaghast were berbers, but they were not "white-skinned". They were light brown and likely ranged from yellow in color to black, like most other Northern Africans today who live between the northernmost edge of Africa and the Sahel. Thoughout all known history, this region has been a mix of the peoples who frequently migrate across it. To label this city in particular as "white", as if some barrier existed between it and the black cities around it, is ridiculous. This is especially true, considering that the city was founded by blacks (soninke) and was abandoned as the people (everyone - berber and non-berber) moved further south to more fertile lands.