Cantar de los Siete Infantes de Lara

The Cantar de los Siete Infantes de Lara (Song of the Seven Lara Princes) is a lost cantar de gesta that related a tale of revenge over the murder of the seven infantes, princes, of Lara or Salas. The legend it conveyed survives in prose form in medieval chronicles, the oldest being in the extended version of the Estoria de España (History of Spain) compiles during the reign of Sancho IV of Castile, before 1289 (edited by Ramón Menéndez Pidal under the name Primera Crónica General). From the account found in this chronicle as well as mention in the Crónica de 1344 (Segunda Crónica General) and interpolations into a copy of the Tercera Crónica General dating from 1512, Menéndez Pidal found evidence for the existence of an ancient cantar de gesta, lost but partially reconstructed, dating back to the year 1000, that would, along with the Cantar de Mio Cid and the Poema de Fernán González, represent one of the most important epic cantares of Castilian literature, and the most primitive example of the Spanish epic. The legendary tradition of the Infantes de Lara has also been developed though ballads. The Infantes de Lara were the children of Castilian nobleman Gonzalo Gustioz of Lara or Salas and his wife Sancha Velásquez, known in the story as "Doña Sancha" (lady Sancha). The story revolves around a family feud between their family and that of her brother, Ruy Velázquez and his wife Doña Lambra, with revenge being the main driver of the action.

According to the version transmitted by the Estoria de España, which could be based on an ancient cantar de gesta composed around the year 990, at the wedding between Doña Lambra, from Bureba, and Ruy Velázquez of Lara, a confrontation arose between the bride's family and the sons of Sancha, the infantes. In this confrontation, Alvar Sánchez, cousin of Doña Lambra, was killed by Gonzalo González, the youngest of the seven Lara princes. Later Gonzalo González is seen by Doña Lambra while bathing in his underwear, and Lambra interprets it as an intentional sexual provocation. Taking advantage of this to avenge the death of her cousin Alvar, Lambra orders her servant to strip and humiliate Gonzalo González in front of her brothers. The irate Gonzalo responds by killing the servant, spattering Lambra with blood.

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