Of the oath which the King Don Alfonso took. BOOK XI. So the King and all his company took horse and went III. to Burgos. And when the day appointed for the oath was come, the King went to hear mass in the church of Gadea, and his sisters the Infantas Doña Urraca and Doña Elvira with him, and all his knights. And the King came forward upon a high stage that all the people might see him, and my Cid came to him to receive the oath; and my Cid took the book of the Gospels and opened it, and laid it upon the altar, and the King laid his hands upon it, and the Cid said unto him, King Don Alfonso, you come here to swear concerning the death of King Don Sancho your brother, that you neither slew him nor took counsel for his death; say now you and these hidalgos, if ye swear this. And the King and the hidalgos answered and said, Yea, we swear it. And the Cid said, If ye knew of this thing, or gave command that it should be done, may you die even such a death as your brother the King Don Sancho, by the hand of a villain whom you trust; one who is not a hidalgo, from another land, not a Castillian; and the King and the knights who were with him said Amen. And the King's colour changed; and the Cid repeated the oath unto him a second time, and the King and the twelve knights said Amen to it in like manner, and in like manner the countenance of the King was changed again. And my Cid repeated the oath unto him a third time, and the King and the Chr. del Cid, knights said Amen; but the wrath of the King was exceeding great, and he said to the Cid, Ruydiez, why dost thou thus press Chr. Gen. ff. 220. cap. 77.78. 79. this town of Mondragon, where in times past people used to come from the whole district for such purposes. Some, he adds, are even remembered in the present age. L. 11. C. 13. These expurgatory oaths were forbidden by the Leyes de Toro. Berganza 5. 14. 191. III. me man? To-day thou swearest me, and to-morrow thou wilt kiss BOOK my hand. And from that day forward there was no love towards my Cid' in the heart of the King. Alfonso was King. XII. After this was King Don Alfonso crowned King of How Don Castille, and Leon, and Galicia, and Portugal; and he called crowned himself King and Emperor of all Spain, even as his father had done before him. And in the beginning of his reign he did in all "The Cid when he repeated the oath seems only to have enforced the law of Castille. A case of debt might be decided by the oath of the defendant, as in our Court of Chancery, and he was bound to repeat the oath three times: Devele responder fasta la tercera vegada sin refierta; e sil' refierta la jura, es vencido. Fuero Viejo. Lib. S. Tit. 2. § 7. § 9. The threat of Urraca, that she would have her brother Sancho slain, either secretly or openly, and the escape of Vellido, give some colour to the suspicion, which all the Castillians, and especially the Cid, entertained. They accused Urraca in the King's epitaph: Sanctius formâ Paris, et ferox Hector in armis, Rex iste occisus est proditore, consilio sororis suæ Urraca, apud Numantiam Civi- Berganza, 5. 13. 184. This author, whose judgment is of great value when there is no miracle to mislead it, inclines on the oldest and best authorities to this suspicion, which is strengthened by Alfonso's conduct towards Garcia. He who kept one brother so many years in chains, would have little scruple in instigating the assassin of another. A place of penance was shown in Philip II.'s time, in the cloisters of a church at Bamba near Valladolid, said to have been made by Urraca in atonement for having occasioned Sancho's death. The tombs of the sons of Arias Gonzalo were also shown there-both, as Morales thinks, without any good authority. Morales, 12. 40. 7. N III. BOOK things according to the counsel of the Infanta Doña Urraca hist sister; and he was a good King, and kept his kingdom so well, that rich and poor alike dwelt in peace and security, neither did one man take arms against another, nor dare to do it, if he valued the eyes in his head. And if the King was noble and high of lineage, much more was he of heart; and in his days justice abounded in the land so, that if a woman had gone alone throughout the whole of his dominions, bearing gold and silver in her hand, she would have found none to hurt her, neither in the waste, nor in the peopled country. The merchants and pilgrims also who passed through his lands were so well protected, that none durst do them wrong. Never while the kingdom was his, had they of his land to do service to any other Lord. And he was a comforter of the sorrowful, and an increaser of the faith, and a defender of the churches, and the strength of the people; a judge without fear; there was not in Spain a consoler of the poor and of those who were oppressed, till he came. Now there was a mortal enmity between my Cid and Count Garcia Ordoñez, and in this year did my Cid gather together those of his table, and all his power, and entered into the lands. of Logroño, and Navarre, and Calahorra, burning and spoiling. the country before him. And he laid siege to the Castle of Faro and took it. And he sent messengers to the Count his enemy, to say that he would wait for him seven days, and he waited. And the mighty men of the land came to the Count f. 39. 42. Don Garcia, but come against my Cid that they dared not do, for they feared to do battle with him. Chr. Gen. ff. 221 Chr.del Cid. cap. 80. Sandoval, Diario de Don Alfonso cour Ali How King XIII. In the second year of the reign of King Don Alfonso, went to suc- the King of Cordova made war upon Alimaymon King of Toledo, and did great damage in his land, and held him besieged in Toledo; and King Don Alfonso drew forth a great host and went to help the King of Toledo. When Alimaymon knew that maymon. III. Chr. del Cid. cap. 82. Chr. Gen. f. 222. King went into Toledo. he was coming with so great a power, he was greatly dismayed, BOOK thinking that he came against him; and he sent to remind him of the love and the honour which he had shown unto him in the days of his brother King Don Sancho, and of the oath which he had taken; and to beseech him that he would continue in peace with him. And the King detained his messengers, giving them no reply, and went on advancing into the land, doing no hurt therein. And when he came to Olias, he ordered the whole army to halt. And when the King of Cordova knew that King Don Alfonso was coming, he rose up from before Toledo, and fled away, and the men of Toledo pursued him, and inflicted great loss upon him in his flight. XIV. And when the army had halted at Olias, the King How the called for the messengers of Alimaymon, and took with him five knights, and rode to Toledo. And when they came to the gate which is called Visagra, the messengers who went with him made him enter the town, and he sent one of them to tell the King that he was there, and went on in the mean time towards the Alcazar. And when King Alimaymon heard this, he would not wait till a beast should be brought him that he might ride, but set out on foot and went to meet him; and as he was going out he met King Don Alfonso, and they embraced each other. And the King of Toledo kissed King Don Alfonso's shoulder, for the joy and pleasure that he had in his heart at seeing him; and he gave thanks to God for what he had done to King Don Alfonso, and thanked him also for the truth which was in him, in coming thus to his deliverance, and for remembering the oath which they had made each to the other. And they rejoiced together all that night, and great was the joy of the people of Toledo, because of the love which King Don Alfonso bore toward their Lord. But great was the sorrow in the host of the Castillians, for they never thought to see their Lord again; and f. 222. Chr. del Cid. cap. 83. Chr. Gen. BOOK they thought that he had committed a great folly in thus putting himself into the power of the Moors. III. Of the noble dealing of the King with Ali maymon. XV. On the morrow, King Don Alfonso besought King Alimaymon that he would go and eat with him at Olias, and see how he came to help him. And they went both together with a little company, and when they of the host saw their Lord they were all right joyful, and the two Kings went through the camp, and they sat down to eat in the tent of the King, which was a large one. And while they were at meat King Don Alfonso gave order in secret that five hundred knights should arm themselves and surround the tent. And when the King of Toledo saw these armed knights, and that the tent was surrounded, he was in great fear, and he asked of King Don Alfonso what it should be; and the King bade him eat, and said, that afterwards they would tell him. And after they had eaten, King Don Alfonso said to Alimaymon, You made me swear and promise when you had me in Toledo in your power, that no evil should ever come against you on my part: now since I have you in my power I will that you release me from this oath and covenant. And the King of Toledo consented to release him, and besought him to do him no other wrong, and he acquitted him from the promise three times. And when he had done this King Don Alfonso called for the book of the Gospels, and said unto him, Now then that you are in my power, I swear and promise unto you, never to go against you, nor against your son, and to aid you against all other men in the world. And I make this oath unto you because there was reason why I should have broken that other one, seeing that it was made when I was in your hands; but against this I must not go, for I make it when you are in mine, and I could do with you even whatever pleased me; and he laid his hands upon the book, and swore even as he had said. Right joyful was the King of Toledo at |