The Curse of Abarrane | The Folly of Roderic | The Ballad of Roland | James the Greater | El Cid

The Curse of Abarrane

.And then, having laid Rome to ashes, the Goths turned their attention to the west. Searching for a land that would be rich enough to support their people, they moved through Gaul to the mountains and the crossed the Pyrenees.

Here they met resistance from the people native to the mountains, who called themselves Basque, and their leader, a magistrate named Unai. These people challenged the Goths, harassing them throughout the northern pass and finally meeting them in battle on the plain of the Ebro river. While they fought well, they were little match for the might of the Goths, who were soon victorious and moved on to the Roman city of Pompeiopolis where they laid siege. After three nights the old Roman walls fell, and the Goth's entered the city.

Pompeiopolis was overwhelmed, and Unai was brought before the Goth leader, Ataulf. Also brought before Ataulf was Unai's wife, Abarrane. As was the custom among these heathens, Unai was slain, and Abarrane was forced to drink his blood from his skull. This she did, but in the process cursed the Goths and all who would come after them.

As Ataulf began to turn his attention to the south, to subdue the remaining Basque, an illness began to spread throughout his troops. Boils and lesions would appear, bringing fever and delirium. Ataulf sent his brothers son back to Pompeiopolis to bring a healer. He never reached his destination, a later party found his body along a stream, although there were no obvious signs of what had fell him.

Ataulf was forced to halt his campaign, and return to Pompeiopolis himself. There he found a defiant Abarrane who warned that unless the Goths left immediately, the ills befalling his family and his troops would only worsen. And so Ataulf took her words to heart, for he left the Basque lands and eventually settled his men further south, in what is now Toledo. Before he did, however, he beheaded Abarrane, and after her head and body had been buried, he had all of the Basque cities within reach of the Ebro burned to the ground.

The Folly of Roderic

It was said that the line of Ataulf was cursed, so that all of the Visigoth kings that followed him suffered from illness of the spirit or body. Of his grandson, it is said that Agila had a recurring nightmare that plagued both his waking and sleeping hours. In order to try to exercise this demon, he wrote down this nightmare, this vision, and built a tower in which he deposited this secret. He then sealed the tower with a mighty padlock, and laid upon his successors the obligations, each in turn, to add an extra padlock to preserve ever more inviolable whatever was concealed within. Twenty-six kings came and went, respecting his wishes.

Then there came a rash and headstrong young king named Roderic. Like many young men of his age, he felt invincible and believed no harm could ever come to him or the Visigoth Empire he ruled. He became obsessed with the tower's secret, and against the advice of all his counselors, he had the twenty-seven padlocks opened. Then he entered the chamber within.

The walls of the chamber contained images, paintings. They showed Arab horsemen, scimitars at their belts, spears brandished in their right hands. In the middle of the room stood a table made of gold and silver set with precious stones, upon which was carved the words: 'This is the table of King Solomon, son of David, upon whom be peace.' There was an urn on the table, which contained a scroll of parchment. When unrolled, the following was read: 'Whenever this chamber is violated, and the spell contained in this urn is broken, the people painted on these walls will invade Spain , overthrow its kings, and subdue the entire land'

Not a year later, the first hordes of the Moors crossed into Southern Spain , and quickly subdued the kingdom.

The Ballad of Roland (summary)

For seven years, the valiant Christian king Charlemagne has made war against the Saracens in Spain . Only one Moslem stronghold remains, the city of Saragossa , under the rule of King Marsile and Queen Bramimonde. Marsile, certain that defeat is inevitable, hatches a plot to rid Spain of Charlemagne. He will promise to be Charlemagne's vassal and a Christian convert in exchange for Charlemagne's departure. But once Charlemagne is back in France , Marsile will renege on his promises.

Charlemagne and his vassals, weary of the long war, receive Marsile's messengers and try to choose an envoy to negotiate at Marsile's court on Charlemagne's behalf. Roland, a courageous knight and Charlemagne's right-hand man, nominates his stepfather, Ganelon. Ganelon is enraged, thinking that Roland has nominated him for this dangerous mission in an attempt to be rid of him for good. Ganelon has long been jealous of Roland, and on his diplomatic mission he plots with the pagans, telling them that they could ambush Charlemagne's rearguard as Charlemagne leaves Spain . Roland will undoubtedly lead the rearguard, and Ganelon promises that with Roland dead Charlemagne will lose the will to fight.

After Ganelon returns with assurances of Marsile's good faith, Roland, as he predicted, ends up leading the rearguard. The twelve peers, Charlemagne's greatest and most beloved vassals, go with him. Among them is Oliver, a wise and prudent man and Roland's best friend. Also in the rearguard is the fiery Archbishop Turin, a clergymen who also is a great warrior. At the pass of Roncesvalles , the twenty thousand Christians of the rearguard are ambushed by a vastly superior force, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Oliver counsels Roland to blow his oliphant horn, to call back Charlemagne's main force, but Roland refuses. The Franks fight valiantly, but in the end they are killed to the man. Roland blows his oliphant so that Charlemagne will return and avenge them. His temples burst from the force required, and he dies soon afterward. He dies facing the enemy's land, and his soul is escorted to heaven by saints and angels.

Charlemagne arrives, and he and his men are overwhelmed with grief at the sight of the massacre. He pursues the pagan force, aided by a miracle of God: the sun is held in place in the sky, so that the enemy will not have cover of night. The Franks push the Saracens into the river Ebro, where those who are not chopped to pieces are drowned.

James the Greater

The Apostle James (Santiago) the Greater was one of the sons of Zebedeo and Salome; his brother was the Apostle John the evangelist. He was invited by Jesus "beside his brother and immediately after Peter and Andrew- to become fisherman of men". He was one of the apostles that had a close and intimate relationship with the son of God.
After the death of Jesus the apostles divided among them the places where they should preach, and to James fell Spain and the occidental regions. He preached his way through Asturias, Galice, Castile and Aragon, spreading the word of God. During this mission the Virgin appeared before him by the Ebro river, above a column, and ordered him to build a church there.

Once the church was complete, James the Greater returned to Palestine. There, King Herodes Agrippa was trying to earn favor in Rome and was persecuting Christians. Jasmes was taken prisoner and tortured to death.
The king forbid anyone to bury James, but in the night his disciples stole the body and brought him, in a sarcophagus of marble, on board a small boat. On the seventh day of navigation they arrived at the mouth of the Ulloa river, in Galice. As they put the body of their master on a heavy rock, the rock melted like wax and turned into a sarcophagus.

Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo listened music in that wood and saw a shining light. For this shining the place was called, in Latin, "Campus Stellae", field of the star, name that was later turned into Compostela.

Bishop Teodomiro, who received notice of that event, instituted an investigation, and so the tomb of the Apostle was discovered. King Alphonse II declared Saint James the patron of his empire and had built a chapel at that place. From then on Saint James did several miracles, even fought side to side with the Spanish Kings against the Moors.

El Cid (summary)

Alfonso, the Christian King of Leon and Castile , sent his knight, El Cid, to collect the annual tribute owed to him by the Moorish King of Seville. In Seville, El Cid learned that soldiers governed by the King of Granada, along with certain Christian Leonese allies, were at that moment warring against the local King. Being a trustworthy and obedient knight, he led an expedition to meet this army. After emerging victorious, El Cid seized a traitorous Leonese count, Ordonez, and subjected him to the ultimate insult - he plucked the count's beard. But when this vengeful count returned home to Leon , he convinced King Alfonso that El Cid had become dangerously powerful and must be banished from the kingdom.

As they traveled, the numbers in El Cid's band increased. He promised all who joined him that they would be rewarded twofold for their sacrifice. On their last night in Christendom, El Cid was visited in a dream by the Angel Gabriel. "Ride, O Cid," the angel exhorted, "for never did a knight ride so luckily! Things will go well with you so long as you shall live." The knigbt-captain took this message as an omen of good fortune, and entered the wilderness unafraid.

El Cid's knights met with early success. They easily conquered the city of Castejon , then marched deeper into the Moorish province, sacking villages and exacting tribute along the way. El Cid soon laid siege to the great metropolis of Alcocer. The city's citizens chose to pay tribute so they would not have to fight; but after accepting the tribute, Cid, stung by greed, moved in and took the city as well. El Cid decided that some of the booty taken from the rout should go to King Alfonso as a peace offering. A nobleman, Minaya Fanez, was selected to deliver this gift - "thirty horses, all saddled and bridled, with swords hanging from their saddlebows."

King Alfonso was most pleased with Cid's generosity, and he opened the way for many of his men to go and serve in the rebel knight's army.

Bolstered by new recruits, El Cid next turned his attention to Valencia . Looting towns and defeating all forces gathered against them as they marched, El Cid's marauding troops at last surrounded the great city. The populace was given nine months to either hire mercenaries to fight for them or else surrender...... At the tenth [month] they yielded," and El Cid settled down to enjoy his spoils. Again he presented King Alfonso with one hundred of the finest Moorish horses. But this time he also instructed Minaya to make a special plea to the king: " . . . Kiss his hands for me, and beg him, if he will, to let me have my wife Dona Ximena and my dear daughters." The king not only gladly complied with this request, but also restored the property confiscated from El Cid when he was exiled.

When the latest news of El Cid's victories reached Alfonso's court, two brother-princes of Carrion, Diego and Fernando Gonzalez, reasoned together: "My Cid's affairs go well! Let us beg of him his two daughters in marriage, and thus gain in honor and riches." The princes beseeched King Alfonso to act as their intermediary. He agreed and asked the visiting Minaya to convey the marriage proposals to El Cid back in Valencia.

El Cid hesitated to give his daughters in marriage, but because the request was from King Alfonso, he complied. A meeting to finalize the details for the weddings was arranged. When, after so many years, Cid finally once again saw Alfonso, he fell at his feet. Commanded to arise, he next received the Princes of Carrion. Then, after much gift-giving and celebrating, he and his future sons-in-law departed for Valencia.

"Rich was the wedding in the great palace." The feast alone lasted for two weeks- again, many gifts were exchanged. However, although the dual marriage was a joyous occasion, spousal relationships soon turned sour. Both Diego and Fernando proved to be immature and cowardly. A lion, escaped from its cage, caused one of the princes to ]aide beneath a bench while the other took cover behind the wine press, and he, in his terror, "quite defiled his tunic. After several weeks, the princes proposed to take their wives on a visit to Carrion. But, secretly, they intended to avenge themselves on the young women for their mocking after the episode with the lion. El Cid, sensing trouble, sent along his nephew, Munoz; but once outside of Moorish territory, the princes ordered Munoz back to Valencia . Then the wicked brothers whipped their wives to near death. The faithful Munoz, however, returning to track the band through the wilderness, found the women's nearly lifeless bodies.

Diego and Fernando continued on their way, thinking their act still a secret. But in all the land their deed was known, and good King Alfonso grieved in his heart. Likewise, El Cid was both saddened and angered. To preserve his own honor and that of his daughters, he ordered one of his knights to go to King Alfonso's court in demand of justice. The king complied and set up a trial date for the two brothers.

During this trial, the father demanded that the princes return his daughters' generous dowries. He also challenged them to combat, but they balked at this, claiming that "when we abandoned your daughters we did only what was our right, and did ourselves no dishonor thereby, but honor." The argument closed, King Alfonso made a ruling: El Cid was to select three of his knights to meet the Princes of Carrion ill a duel to the death. Of course, the outcome of this jousting match was a grim one for the princes.

Vengeance satisfied, honor restored, El Cid gave his daughters in marriage to the Prince of Navarre and the Prince of Aragon.