Mocedades de Rodrigo
| Mocedades de Rodrigo | |
|---|---|
| The youthful deeds of Rodrigo, the Cid | |
 |
|
| Also known as | Cantar de Rodrigo y el Rey Fernando (The lay of Rodrigo and King Fernando) |
| Author(s) | unknown |
| Language | Old Spanish |
| Date | composed around 1360 |
| Manuscript(s) | unique manuscript. Bibliotèque Royale, Paris, nº 12, olim Cod. 9988. |
| Genre | epic poetry |
| Verse form | anisosyllabic with assonant rhyme |
| Length | 1164 verses |
The Mocedades de Rodrigo is the name given to a late, anonymous Castilian cantar de gesta, composed around 1360, that relates the origins and exploits of the youth of the legendary hero El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar).
There are 1164 surviving verses, preceded by an initial prose fragment. The only codex that contains the work is a manuscript from 1400 that is kept in the National Library of Paris. The text that has reached us lacks a title, and critics have variously titled the work Mocedades de Rodrigo or del Cid (The youthful deeds of Rodrigo, the Cid), Refundición de las Mocedades de Rodrigo (A Recasting of the Youthful Deeds of Rodrigo-Amistead), Cantar de Rodrigo y el Rey Fernando (Sing of Rodrigo and King Fernando-Menéndez Pidal) and Crónica rimada del Cid (The Rhyming Chronicle of El Cid-Bourland).
After the initial character genealogy, in which the ancestry of the hero is recounted, the poem tells how the young Rodrigo killed an enemy of his father, the count Don Goméz, himself father of Jimena Díaz. In order to make amends for his guilt, King Ferdinand orders him to marry Jimena. However the hero refuses, in a common folkloric motif of postponement of an obligation through the pursuit a difficult and long-lasting mission, until he has won five battles.
Although the five battles had remained vague in earlier versions of The Mocedades de Rodrigo, in this particular text, they can be considered to be the victory against the Moor Burgos de Ayllón, the victory against the champion of Aragon for the possession of Calahorra, the defense of Castile against the conspiracy of the treacherous counts, the battle against five allied Moors and the moving of the seat of the bishop of Palencia. At this point, the king of France, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope demand a humiliating tribute from Castile, amongst the items demanded in tribute are fifteen noble virgin maidens each year. Faced with this situation, Rodrigo encourages King Fernando to conquer France and together, finally, they will triumph over the coalition formed by the count of Savoy, the King of France, the Emperor and the Pope. After this tremendous victory and in the middle of the negotiations over the surrender, the manuscript ends.
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