El Cid: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary

About the Book

'A fascinating study of historical mythmaking . . . concise and absorbing'

Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East

'Lively, original and fascinating'

David Abulafia, Literary Review

'An enthralling study . . . exceptionally fascinating'

Washington Post

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?

'Would the real El Cid please stand up? Nora Berend's fascinating new book covers nearly a thousand years of history and myth-making about this eleventh-century warrior . . . and presents all the delicious ironies of history'

Professor Marc David Baer, author of The Ottomans: Khans, Caliphs, and Caesars

About the Author :
Nora Berend is Professor of European History at the University of Cambridge. She has published extensively on medieval history and has written for History Today among others.

Review :
A fascinating study of historical mythmaking. Nora Berend shows what can be pieced together about the eleventh-century mercenary known as El Cid, as well as the complicated legendary "afterlife" built on his career. How did this opportunistic knight, who served Christian kings, Arab rulers and most of all his own interests, became a symbol of Spanish unity and Castilian-dominated national identity? Concisely and absorbingly, Berend supplies the answers. Would the real El Cid please stand up? Nora Berend's fascinating new book covers nearly a thousand years of history and myth-making about this eleventh-century warrior . . . [and] presents all the delicious ironies of history Lively, original and fascinating An enthralling study. Berend aims to dismantle various ahistorical distortions and idealizations. Rodrigo, as she calls him throughout, was an easily customizable hero. For the most part, the real Cid was nothing like the saintly crusader and loyal vassal played by Charlton Heston in the 1961 film El Cid. Exceptionally fascinating. Being a careful, evidence-based work of scholarship, El Cid demonstrates again and again how insidiously political and religious institutions distort history for their own ends. Berend tells this grotesque story well, with a lightness of touch not too often found in an academic. Her sentences are clear. Subtle arguments can be followed. And occasional, humorous remarks show her keen intelligence A significant and highly original addition to the corpus on the Cid . . . what struck me most was her ability to interweave the myth-making efforts of various political and cultural actors into a vivid and remarkably accessible account of modern Spanish history . . . [a]lively and deeply satisfying romp through centuries of history, myth-making, and popular media . . . a book with wide-ranging relevance, particularly for understanding how the medieval past is misused in contemporary contexts, including by the American alt-right and MAGA movements. Medievalists, history enthusiasts, and concerned citizens who have appreciated op-eds and other public-facing scholarship on the manipulation of medieval history - such as the work of Matthew Gabriele - will find much to engage with here.