The world of El Cid

Description

Makes available, for the first time in English translation, four of the principal narrative sources for the history of the Spanish kingdom of León-Castile during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Three chronicles focus primarily upon the activities of the kings of León-Castile as leaders of the Reconquest of Spain from the forces of Islam, and especially upon Fernando I (1037-65), his son Alfonso VI (1065-1109) and the latter’s grandson Alfonso VII (1126-57). The fourth chronicle is a biography of the hero Rodrigo Díaz, better remembered as El Cid, and is the main source of information about his extraordinary career as a mercenary soldier who fought for Christian and Muslim alike. Covers the fasincating interaction of the Muslim and Christian worlds, each at the height of their power. Each text is prefaced by its own introduction and accompanied by explanatory notes.

List of figures

Forword

Preface

List of abbreviations

1. General introduction

2. ‘Historia Silense’

3. Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, ‘Chonicon Regum Legionensium’

4. ‘Historia Roderici’

5. ‘Chonica Adefonsi Imperatoris’

Bibliography

Index

Simon Barton is Reader in Medieval Spanish History at the University of Exeter

Richard Fletcher is Professor of Medieval History at the University of York

Additional information