I.

BOOK this was in October. Incontinently the King sent to summon his knights and people, and when one part of them had assembled at Santa Maria, he bade them do all the damage they could against Coimbra, and ravage the country, which accordingly they did. In the mean time the King made a pilgrimage to Santiago, as Rodrigo had exhorted him to do; and he remained there three days and nights in prayer, offering great gifts, and taking upon himself great devotion, that it might please God to fulfil his desire. And with the help of Santiago he gathered together a great host, and went up against Coimbra in the month of January, even as he had covenanted, and laid siege to it. And he fought against the city all February, and March, and April, May and June, five months did he fight, and could not prevail against it. And when July came the food of the besiegers failed them, insomuch that they had only the dole for a few days left; then the baggage was made ready, and the sumpter-beasts and serving-men were ordered to depart for Leon, and proclamation was made in the camp that the army should remain yet four days, and on the fifth they might break up and depart every one to his own house. But then the Monks of Lorvam and the Abbot consulted together and said, Let us now go to the King and give him all the food which we have, both oxen and cows, and sheep and goats and swine, wheat and barley and maize, bread and wine, fish and fowl, even all that we have; for if the city, which God forbid, should not be won by the Christians, we may no longer abide here. Then went they to the King and gave him all their stores 16, both of flocks and herds, and pulse, and wine beyond measure, which they

Berganza intimates a possibility that these stores were miraculously in creased by the prayers of the Monks.

I.

had for a long time stored. Then was there abundance in the BOOK camp; but they who were within the city waxed feeble for hunger and long suffering, because the Christians beset them on all sides, and warred upon them hotly, and brought their engines to bear on every part, and the walls of the city were broken down. When the Moors saw this they came to the King, and fell at his feet, and besought him of his mercy that he would let them depart, leaving to him the city and all that they had therein, for they asked for nothing but their lives. And the King had compassion upon them and granted their prayer; and the city was yielded to him on a Sunday at the hour of tierce, which was before a week had run out since the Monks of Lorvam had succoured the host.

XVI. Now it came to pass that while the King lay before Coimbra, there came a pilgrim from the land of Greece on pilgrimage to Santiago; his name was Estiano, and he was a Bishop. And as he was praying in the church he heard certain of the townsmen and of the pilgrims saying that Santiago was wont to appear in battle like a knight, in aid of the Christians. And when he heard this it nothing pleased him, and he said unto them, Friends, call him not a knight, but rather a fisherman. Upon this it pleased God that he should fall asleep, and in his sleep Santiago appeared to him with a good and chearful countenance, holding in his hand a bunch of keys, and said unto him, Thou thinkest it a fable that they should call me a knight, and sayest that I am not so: for this reason am I come unto thee that thou never more mayest doubt concerning my knighthood; for a knight of Jesus Christ I am, and a helper of the Christians against the Moors. While he was thus saying a horse was brought him the which was exceeding white, and the Apostle Santiago mounted upon it, being well clad in bright and fair armour, after the manner of a knight. And he said to Estiano,

Brito Mon.

Lus. P. 2.

7. c. 28. cap. 14.

Chr. del Cid.

Chr. Gen. ff. 198.

How Santia

go appeared

to

the Greek

Bishop.

BOOK I go to help King Don Ferrand who has lain these seven

I.

Chr. del Cid. cap. 14.

Chr. Gen.

ff. 198. Escobar.

Rom. 13.

Of the grant made by the

monks of Lorvam.

months before Coimbra, and to-morrow, with these keys which thou seest, will I open the gates of the city unto him at the hour of tierce, and deliver it into his hand. Having said this he departed. And the Bishop when he awoke in the morning called together the clergy and people of Compostella, and told them what he had seen and heard. And as he said, even so did it come to pass; for tidings came that on that day, and at the hour of tierce, the gates of the city had been opened.

XVII. King Don Ferrando then assembled his Counts King to the and chief captains, and told them all that the Monks of Lorvam had done, in bringing him to besiege the city, and in supplying his army in their time of need: and the Counts and chief captains made answer and said, Certes, O King, if the Monks had not given us the stores of their Monastery, thou couldest not have taken the city at this time. The King then called for the Abbot and the brethren, for they were with him in the host, and said the hours to him daily, and mass in St. Andre's, and buried there and in their Monastery as many as had died during the siege, either of arrow-wounds or by lances, or of their own infirmities. So they came before him and gave him joy of his conquest; and he said unto them, Take ye now of this city as much as ye desire, since by God's favour and your council I have won it. But they made answer, Thanks be to God and to you, and to your forefathers, we have enough and shall have, if so be that we have your favour and dwell among Christians. Only for the love of God, and for the remedy of your own soul, give us one church with its dwelling houses within the city, and confirm unto us the gifts made to us in old times by your forefathers, and the good men to whom God give a happy rest. With that the King turned to his sons and his soldiers, and said, Of a truth, by our Creator, these who desire so little are men

I.

of God. I would have given them half the city, and they BOOK will have only a single church! Now therefore, since they require but this, on the part of God Almighty let us grant and confirm unto them what they ask, to the honour of God and St. Mamede. And the brethren brought him their charters of King Ramiro, and King Bermudo, and King Alfonso, and of Gonzalo Moniz, who was a knight and married a daughter of King Bermudo, and of other good men. And the King confirmed them, and he bade them make a writing of all which had passed between him and them at the siege of Coimbra; and when they brought him the writing, they brought him also a crown of silver and of gold, which had been King Bermudo's, and which Gonzalo Moniz had given to the Monastery in honour of God and St. Mamede. The King saw the crown, how it was set with precious stones, and said to them, To what end bring ye hither this crown? And they said, That you should take it, Sire, in return for the good which you have done us. But he answered, Far be it from me that I should take from your Monastery what the good men before me have given to it! Take ye back the crown, and take also ten marks of silver, and make with the money a good cross, to remain with you for ever. And he who shall befriend you, may God befriend him; but he who shall disturb you or your Monastery, may he be cursed by the living God and by his Saints. So the King signed the writing which he had commanded to be made, and his sons and chief captains signed " it also, and in the writing he enjoined his children

17 The history of the siege of Coimbra, as far as the Monks of Lorvam are concerned, is preserved in this very writing, to which among other witnesses, the name of Rodrigo Diaz appears, Brito has printed the original Latin in the

BOOK and his children's children, as many as should come after him, I. to honour and protect the Monastery of Lorvam, upon his blessing he charged them so to do, because he had found the Lus.2.7.28. brethren better than all the other Monks in his dominions.

Brito Mon.

How Rodrigo was knighted.

XVIII. Then King Don Ferrando knighted Rodrigo of Bivar in the great mosque of Coimbra, which he dedicated to St. Mary. And the ceremony was after this manner: the King girded on his sword, and gave him the kiss ", but not the

Monarchia Lusitana. P. 2. L. 7. C. 28. Its authenticity has never I believe been called in question; the Latin is barbarous, and contains one Arabic word, which was disused at a very early period; it differs from the Ballads and Chronicles, in assigning seven months to the siege, instead of seven years, and is in other respects authenticated by other records.

There is however one passage which at first appears suspicious. The Monks in asking leave of the Moors to make their pilgrimage say,Volumus ire ad SANCTUM DOMINICUM facere orationem pro peccatis nostris. Sanctum Dominicum has been literally rendered St. Domingo; but Brito has perceived the error, for neither of the St. Domingos were then born. Dominicum, he says, is here used in its ancient signification, for a church; and the church thus called for distinction, is probably that of San Salvador at Oviedo, then the most famous in Spain for its treasury of relicks. Sandoval explains it in the same manner, but accounts less satisfactorily for his explanation. He translates the words Santo Domingo, and says in a marginal note, Santo Domingo seria Oviedo, que por excelencia se diria Sanctum Dominicum, primer Santo del Señor.

The document is very valuable, and that not merely because it gives a fuller and more authentic account of the conquest of Coimbra than is elsewhere to be found. It proves that the Kings of Leon had possession of this district at an early age; that the Christians were tolerated with the utmost freedom by the Moorish conquerors;—and that the conquerors had good reason to repent of their toleration.

16 The blow was given with the hand upon the neck, and with these words, Despertad, y no os durmais en las cosas de Cavalleria,-Awake, and sleep not in affairs of knighthood. Berganza. 5. 11. §. 142. He adds that the King omitted this, knowing well that the Cid needed no such exhortation.