Review Summaries

• Generally well received. Readers who expect a straightforward biography sometimes find the extensive historical contextualization in the first half slow-going. However, the second half, which focuses directly on El Cid, is praised as compelling and accessible. The work is valued as an indispensable resource in Japanese for understanding this historical figure.

• English-language readers praise the rigorous source criticism and elegant prose style. Some note that the weight given to historical analysis can overshadow the biographical narrative, but the book is widely recognized as an accessible and scholarly introduction to medieval Spanish history.

Reviews

• Helping a lot to my thesis

• Nearly a classic, I guess. Just a regret: why must Anglosaxon writers address Spanish topics or heroes more often -and usually better- than the own Spaniards? I don't know about so many Spanish specialists writing, say, about Henry the VIII, his wife Catherine or Cromwell.

• This book outlines the life and career of Rodrigo Diaz (also known as El Cid) as it can be reconstructed from contemporary or near-contemporary historical sources. This is opposed to previous efforts which relied strongly on the legends and poems dealing with the Cid to reconstruct his activities and motivation. The goals in doing this are twofold: to demonstrate that his career can be reconstructed using only these historical sources and to show how poorly the legends match the reality. There are several obvious problems with this approach. First: the original sources are too poor to provide the detailed biography that the poems can provide. And second: the Cid (despite the excellent film) is not as well known in English-language legends and history books. This means that many of the ideas he's trying to refute have never made it over to the English-speaking world leaving many of his refutations confusing. It'd be like writing an expose on King Arthur in Mongolian; it just doesn't have the same impact. Fortunately, the book does not succumb to either of these problems. The holes in the original sources can be filled in somewhat with a detailed study of the background and lead up to the Spain of the Cid. The taifa states of al-Andalus offer detailed information on life in Muslim Spain and are less commonly discussed in English making an outline of their history necessary in any event. The first half of the book in fact, is simply setting the stage for the exploration of the Cid's career. The second half discusses what is known of the Cid's life and provides basic literary criticism of the chronicles and poems. Whether he succeeds in disproving the ideas which he is trying to refute is a bit harder to judge. He outlines many of these, and many of the nationalistic ones are fairly obvious in any event, but someone who never grew up on legends of the Cid or engrossed themselves in Cidian historical criticism is unlikely to know how effective his arguments are against the more compelling mythical view. This is the primary book on the Cid in English and as such is likely to form the basis for future English-language interpretations of that figure. People wanting to know more about the Cid and Spain of the eleventh century should check out Pindar's The Cid and His Spain , which is the chief book that Fletcher is arguing against. Some areas do fall a bit flat here and there. The chapter on similar mercenaries from across Europe went a bit far in seeking comparable examples. Rodrigo's career is best understood within a Spanish context, something that he makes very clear in the rest of his book, which makes it confusing to see that forgotten here. But on the whole the book does a good job of both keeping the readers' interest and explaining the background even while arguing against an approach that few readers will be familiar with.

• Our hero was a mercenary and worked for the Moors in Spain after being exiled. Corrects a couple of howlers from Charlton Heston's film

• Recently, I have been spending much time on the Iberian Peninsular attempting to understand how and why various groups impacted the history and culture over time. Separately as a youngster I had this interest in one of Spain's heroes, El Cid, or Rodrigo Diaz as inspired by the movie of the same name in 1961. The first third of this well written and researched-exhausted work sets the history and stage for the 11th Century Rodrigo.There is a treasure trove of material that I have been searching for regarding the Cluniac influence on Christian Spain.In fact in 1079 Alfonso VI marriage to Constance of Burgundy providing the strong bond between the two cultures. Chapter 6 places Rodrigo in the tempest of the 11th Century conquering movement of Western Europe. The author comparatively analyzes his contemporaries in an interesting way from William I of England--- Harold of Norway all in the back drop of the desolation of Abd al-Rahman III's desolving Al Andalus Caliphate! This analysis continues to Rodrigo's exile from Alfonso VI's realm in 1081. Chapter 9 is confusing due to the switching sides of the various taifa state politics that were produced by this desolution. The story builds to a climatic entrance of the Almoravide invasion led by Ben Yousf. Many of my good friends who are guides and historians on the peninsular do not seem to understand the connection to the royal families of Portugal and Spain with Burgundy. It is well presented and all illustrated here commencing in 1079 with the Abbot Hugh of Cluny. This connection led to the introduction of the monastic military orders in the beginning of the next century which was the impetus for the major push back of the Reconquesta. Fletcher's research severely modifies the image of the man we have grown up with via the Charlton Heston portrayal. I found this work rewarding in providing a different view of this individual. I highly recommend this book to the interested historian of this place and period.

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