This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

The Leyes de Burgos ("Laws of Burgos"), promulgated on 27 December 1512 in Burgos, Kingdom of Castile (Spain), was the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spaniards in the Americas, particularly with regards to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas ('native Caribbean Indians'). They forbade the maltreatment of the indigenous people, and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism. The laws were created to avoid the legal problem that had arisen from the conquest and Spanish colonization of the Americas in the West Indies, where the common law of Castile was not applied.

The scope of the laws was originally restricted to the island of Hispaniola, but was later extended to Puerto Rico and Jamaica. These laws authorized and legalized the colonial practice of creating Encomiendas, where Indians were forcibly grouped together to work under colonial masters, and limited the size of these establishments to between 40 and 150 people. However, they also established a minutely regulated regime of work, pay, provisioning, living quarters, hygiene, and care for the Indians in a reasonably protective and humanitarian spirit. Women more than four months pregnant were exempted from work.

The document also prohibited the use of any form of punishment by the encomenderos, reserving it for officials established in each town for the implementation of the laws. It also ordered that the Indians be catechized, outlawed bigamy, and required that the huts and cabins of the Indians be built together with those of the Spanish. It respected, in some ways, the traditional authorities, granting chiefs exemptions from ordinary jobs and granting them various Indians as servants.

The poor fulfillment of the laws led to many protests and claims. The laws were so often poorly applied that they were seen as simply a legalization of the previous poor situation. This would create momentum for reform, carried out through the Leyes Nuevas ("New Laws") in 1542, and the Laws of the Indies to encompass the Papal bull and all edicts.

Origins[link]

Cardinal Archbishop Domingo de Mendoza of Seville, heard reports of the abuse of the Americas' Indians and sent a group of Dominican missionaries to Hispaniola to try to stop the terrible treatment. Though they couldn’t physically stop it, the missionaries stirred up enough trouble that the settlers feared they would lose their property interests; Fray Antonio de Montesinos preached to the colonists that they were sinning and didn’t have the right to force the Indians to serve them, claiming they should be converted to Christianity. The colonists disagreed and decided the best way to protect their interests was to come together as a group and choose a Franciscan Friar named Alonso de Espinal to present their case to King Ferdinand II of Aragon and refute Montesinos’ accusations. Their plan backfired, though, and King Ferdinand was outraged by the abuses against the Indians; he pleaded ignorance, and to help remedy the situation commissioned a group of theologians and academics to come up with solution.

The Convento de San Esteban de Salamanca.

Dominican Friars, under the sponsorship of Diego de Deza, supported the scientific examination of Christopher Columbus's claims for exploring the West that he presented to the ruling Queen of Castile, Isabel I of Castile and her husband, King of Aragon Ferdinand II of Aragon. After 1508, the Friars formed a nucleus that pressured Spain to defend the aboriginal American Indians from becoming serfs or slaves of the new colonists. They obliged King Ferdinand II of Aragon and his daughter, ruling Queen of Castile, Joanna "the Mad", to approve and to be bound by the so-called 1512 Laws of Burgos. In Burgos on 27 December 1512, thirty-five laws were put into effect to secure the freedom of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and to enforce Indian Reductions governing conversions.

Summary of Each Law[link]

1: The Indians are to be removed from their land and placed into encomiendas. For every fifty Indians, four lodges shall be built (thirty by fifteen feet). This land cannot be taken from them since they were taken from their original land. Their original land will be burned so that they cannot return to it. The Indians will do the planting of all of the food. During the proper seasons, the encomenderos (men looking over the Indians) will have the Indians plant corn and raise the hens.

2: The Indians will leave their land voluntarily to come to the encomiendas so that they shall not suffer from being removed by force.

3: The citizen to whom the Indians are given must erect a structure to be used as a church. In the church must be a picture of Our Lady and a bell with which to call the Indians to prayer time. The person who has them in the encomienda must go with them to church every night and make sure they cross themselves and sing several hymns. If an Indian does not come to the church, he is not allowed to rest the next day.

4: To make sure the Indians are learning Christianity properly, they shall be tested every two weeks and taught what they do not know by the Encomendero. He shall teach them the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Articles of Faith. Any encomendero that does not do this properly will be fined six gold pesos.

5: A church will be built equidistant from all estates. On Sundays, Mass shall be observed and a feast will be eaten. If the encomendero does not bring his Indians, he will be charged ten gold pesos.

6: If The church is too far away, another will be built.

7: The priests who collect tithes from the estates must have priests continually in the churches of the estates.

8: There shall be churches built at the mines so that the Indians working the mines may hear mass on Sundays.

9: Whoever has fifty Indians must chose one boy who the encomendero thinks is able, to be taught to read and write, and also the importance of Catholicism. This boy will then teach the other Indians because the Indians would more readily accept what the boy says then what the Spaniards says. If the encomendero has one hundred Indians, two boys shall be chosen. The faith must be ingrained into their heads so the souls of the Indians are saved.

10: If an Indian falls sick near where there is a priest, the priest must go to him and recite the Credo and other profitable things of the Catholic faith. The Indian shall make confession without being charged a fee. If the Indian is to die, he shall be buried with a cross near the church. If he is not buried, the encomendero owes a fine of four gold pesos.

11: The Indians must not be used as carriers for transporting things to the Indians at the mines.

12: All Spanish inhabitants who have Indians in an encomienda must have the infants baptized within a week of their birth.

13: After the Indians have been brought to the estates, gold shall be searched for as follows: Indians in an encomienda must search for gold for five months a year and at the end of the five months are allowed to rest for forty days. During the forty days, the Indians are not to be employed, unless they are a slave and accept to plant the crops. During the forty days, the Indians will be further instructed in faith since they have more time do learn.

14: The Indians must be allowed to perform their sacred dances.

15: All citizens who have Indians are required to feed them breads, yams, peppers, and on Sundays feed them dishes of cooked meat. For every offense, a fine of two gold pesos shall be paid.

16: According to Catholicism, the Indians are not allowed to have more than one wife at a time and they are not allowed to abandon their wives.

17: Sons of the chiefs of the Islands who are under the age of thirteen are to be given to the Friars so they can be taught how to read, write, and other things about Catholicism. When the sons reach the age of nineteen, they are to return to the encomienda and teach the others.

18: Pregnant women are not to be sent to the mines or made to plant the crops. They shall be kept on the estate and made to do household duties such as cooking and weeding. After the child is born, she can nurse it until it is three years old. After this time, she can return to the mines and other duties.

19: The Indians should not sleep on the ground. Each encomendero should provide his Indians with hammocks.

20: The Indians are to be given one gold peso every year to pay for clothing.

21: Indians may not change their masters. One encomendero cannot employ or house an Indian belonging to another encomendero.

22: The Indian chiefs are allowed two Indians to perform personal duties for every forty of their subjects. Also, visitors to the estates must treat the Indians well and teach them what they know of Catholicism.

23: Official inspectors must keep records of the activities and also the treatment of the Indians in the encomiendas. They must keep track of the population and how much gold is being mined.

24: The Indians are not to be physically or verbally abused for any reason.

25: The Indians are not to be used in private trade or for any other economic interest.

26: Encomenderos that have their Indians working in distant mines shall combine efforts with other estates to help provide food for the Indians.

27 Indians from other lands must also be taught the things of the Catholic faith. They are to be treated kindly, unless they are slaves.

28: If an encomendero dies, his successor takes control of the Indians.

29: Two inspectors should be appointed to each Estate.

30. The inspectors are to be chosen by the Admiral, judges, and officers. These people should be compensated by being given Indians in encomienda.

31. Villages should be inspected two times a year, once in the beginning of the year, and once in the summer.

32: If there is a runaway Indian, inspectors cannot apprehend them. They must be given to a man of good conscience who will find the Indians' encomendero.

33: All inspectors should hold a copy of the Laws of Burgos, signed by the Governor.

34: Inspectors must be provided residencias.

35: One person may not have more than one hundred and fifty Indians and no less than forty Indians in encomienda at one time.

Amendments were added to the Laws or Burgos on 28 July 1513.

1: Indian women married to Indian men are not to be forced to serve with their husbands at the mines or anywhere else unless it is by their own free will or unless their husbands wish to take them.

2: Indian children do not have to do the work of adults until the reach the age of fourteen. They are then made to do the tasks of children, like weeding or working in their parents estates.

3: Unmarried Indian women who are under the authority of their parents have to work with them on their lands. Those not under the authority of their parents must be kept apart so they don’t become vagabonds.

4: After two years of service, the Indians are free to go. By this time they will be civilized and proper Christians, able to govern themselves.

Results[link]

The Laws of Burgos did nothing to save the Native Indigenous peoples of Hispaniola.^{[citation needed]} The Indians of the Americas were still heavily exploited, with significant population declines. This arose the conscience of Bartolomé de Las Casas, a former Encomendero who regretted his ways and spent the rest of his life working to bring freedom back to the Indians. He wrote, “What kind of Doctrine could be taught by unlettered and worldly laymen, commonly for the most part ignorant even of crossing themselves, to infidels of a language very different from Castilian who never learned but these few words: ‘Give me water; give me bread; go to the mines; go to work,’ and who had yet be taught the first principles of the Christian Faith?”^{[citation needed]}

He believed that the New World was granted to Spain and Portugal solely for the conversion of the Native residents. The Indians, he believed, should not be used for other purposes, especially not for profit. The only solution was to remove the presence of the Spanish colonists from the Indians, except for practicing missionaries.

On 28 July 1513, 4 more laws were added in what is known today as Leyes Complementarias de Valladolid 1513, three related to Indian women and Indian children and another more related to Indian males. They were operational till 17 November 1526 whereby the so called Ordenanzas de Granada 1526 came effective. These new amended laws reflected the theological and political disputes within the Spanish theologians and the intervention of the Roman Catholic Popes advisers included .

They have been dealt with since the creation of the Council of the Indies, March 1523, by king Charles I of Spain, a.k.a. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the son of Queen Joanna I of Castile, "The Mad", whose 1st President was Dominican Friar and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church since 1530 under pope Clement VII Medici, (1478–1534), a former General of the Dominican Order, 1518–1524, Juan Garcia de Loaysa y Mendoza, (1478–1546), Archbishop of Sevilla, 1539 – 1546.

The later "Ordenanzas de Granada", 1526, were discussed, mainly, between king Charles I of Spain and "Licenciado" Rodrigo de Figueroa as a consequence of the extensive Institutional Battling promoted by famous Dominican Father Bartolomé de las Casas, an offspring of a merchant family from Seville, dealing in the past with black African slaves brought to the Caribbean islands, apparently, since no less than 1501, borrowing perhaps, in some cases, of the sociological views on "evangelization" of renowned Scottish Professor at University of Paris, circa 1510, John Mair, a.k.a. John Major, (1467–1550).

Some references[link]

• Pedro FERNANDEZ RODRIGUEZ. "los dominicos en el contexto de la primera evangelizacion de Mexico, (1526–1550)", Salamanca, Edit. San Esteban, 308 pages, (1994),

• A. MORO OREJON. "Ordenanzas reales sobre los Indios, (Las Leyes de 1512–1513)". Anuario de Estudios Americanos, 13, (1956), pp 317 – 371.

• R. KONETZKE. Coleccion de Documentos para la Historia de la Formacion Social de Hispano-America, 1493–1810, Vol. 1, 1493–1592, Madrid, C.S.I.C., (1953).

• R. ALTAMIRA. "El texto de las Leyes de Burgos de 1512". Rev. de Historia de America, 4, (1938), pages 6 – 79.

• V. D. CARRO. "La Teologia y los Teologos-Juristas Españoles en la Conquista de America", Madrid, C.S.I.C., 2 vols, (1944). 2nd edition, Salamanca, (1951).

See also[link]

• Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Spanish colonization of the Americas

External links[link]

• Laws Of Burgos (1512–1513)

Burgos
—  City  —
Flag Logo
Burgos Location in Spain
Coordinates: 42°21′N 3°42′W / 42.35°N 3.7°W / 42.35; -3.7Coordinates: 42°21′N 3°42′W / 42.35°N 3.7°W / 42.35; -3.7
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Castile and León
Province	Burgos
Legal district	Burgos
Municipality	Burgos
Government
• Mayor	Javier Lacalle (Partido Popular)
Area
• City	108 km2 (42 sq mi)
Elevation	856 m (2,808 ft)
Population (2010)
• City	178,574
• Density	1,667.67/km2 (4,319.2/sq mi)
• Metro	200.000
Time zone	UTC + 1
Distances	122 km to Valladolid 244 km to Madrid
Rivers	Arlanzón, Vena, Pico, Cardeñadijo
Demonym	Burgalés/Burgalesa
Website	www.aytoburgos.es

Burgos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈburɣos], UK /ˈbʊərɡɒs/, US /ˈbʊərɡoʊs/) is a city in northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated on the River Arlanzón in northern Spain, just to the west of Logroño and southwest of Bilbao, at the edge of the central plateau. It has about 180,000 inhabitants in the proper city and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The Burgos Laws or Leyes de Burgos first governing the behaviour of Spaniards towards natives of the Americas were promulgated there in 1512.

It has many historic landmarks, set apart specially by the Cathedral of Burgos (named World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1984), Las Huelgas Reales Monastery and the Cartuja of Miraflores. It preserves a large number of churches, palaces and other building from the medieval age. The city is surrounded by the Fuentes Blancas and the Paseo de la Isla parks.

The city forms the principal crossroad of northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago, which runs parallel to the River Arlanzón. It has a developed transportation system, forming the main communication node in northern Spain.

The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2010, unique in its kind across the world and projected to become one of the top 10 visited museums in Spain. The museum features the first Europeans, which lived in this area 800,000 years ago.

Toponymy[link]

There are several possible origins for the toponomy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the surrounding country got into the fortified village, whose Visigothic name of Burgos signified consolidated walled villages (Gothic baurgs).^[1] The city began to be called Caput Castellae ("Cabeza de Castilla" or "Head of Castile").

History[link]

Early humans occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800,000 years ago. When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, the site had been a Celtiberian city. In Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior ("Hither Spain") and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. In the 5th century, the Visigoths drove back the Suebi, then the Arabs occupied almost all of Castile in the 8th century, though only for a brief period, and left little if any trace of their occupation. Alfonso III the Great, king of León reconquered it about the middle of the 9th century, and built several castles for the defence of Christendom, which was then extended through the reconquest of lost territory. The region came to be known as Castile (Latin castella), i.e. "land of castles".

View of Burgos Castle, built in 884 AD

Burgos was founded in 884 as an outpost of this expanding Christian frontier,^[2] when Diego Rodríguez "Porcelos", count of Castile, governed this territory with orders to promote the increase of the Christian population; with this end in view he gathered the inhabitants of the surrounding country into one fortified village. The city began to be called Caput Castellae ("Cabeza de Castilla" or "Head of Castile"). The county (condado) of Burgos, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was gradually extended; one of these counts, Fernán González, established his independence.^[3]

In the 11th century, the city became the see of a Catholic bishop and the capital of the Kingdom of Castile. Burgos was a major stop for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela^[4] and a centre of trade between the Bay of Biscay and the south, which attracted an unusually large foreign merchant population, who became part of the city oligarchy and excluded other foreigners.^[5] Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. The consejo or urban commune of Burgos was firmly in the hands of an oligarchic class of caballeros villanos, the "peasant knights" of Burgos, who provided the monarchs with a mounted contingent: in 1255 and 1266 royal charters granted to those citizens of Burgos who owned horses and could arm themselves relief from taxes, provided that they continue to live within the city walls.^[6] The merchant oligarchy succeeded the cathedral chapter as the major purchasers of land after 1250; they carried on their mercantile business in common with municipal or royal functions and sent their sons to England and Flanders to gain experience in overseas trade. A few families within the hermandades or confraternities like the Sarracín and Bonifaz succeeded in monopolising the post of alcalde, or mayor; a special court, the alcalde del rey was first mentioned at Burgos in 1281.^[7] By the reign of Alfonso X, the exemption of the non-noble knights and religious corporations, combined with exorbitant gifts and grants to monasteries and private individuals, placed great stress on the economic well-being of the realm.

Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, was founded in 1180.

In the century following the conquest of Seville (1248), Burgos became a testing ground for royal policies of increasing power against the consejo, in part by encouraging the right to appeal from the consejo to the king. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it: the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works; the king reserved the right to select its members. The city perceived that danger to its autonomy came rather from an uncontrolled aristocracy during royal minorities: Burgos joined the hermandades of cities that leagued together for mutual protection in 1295 and 1315. In the 14th century, official royal intrusion in city affairs was perceived as a palliative against outbreaks of violence by the large excluded class of smaller merchants and artisans, on whom the tax burden fell. The alguacil was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements.

On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct royal rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men.

In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made its bishop an archbishop, at the request of king Philip II.

Burgos has been the scene of many wars: with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, Burgos was the scene of a battle, and again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession. During the Spanish Civil War, Burgos was the base of Gen. Franco's rebel Nationalist government.

Geography and climate[link]

At an elevation of 856 m, the city of Burgos experiences the continental Mediterranean climate (Kŏppen Csb). Burgos' climate features cool winters due to altitude and an inland location. Winters typically include snow and temperatures below freezing. Burgos' continentality is caused by two principal factors: 1) distance from the sea and 2) higher altitude. Temperature ranges can be extreme and Burgos is much drier than Spain's coastal regions, although there is year-round precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 555 mm (21.9 in) and the average annual relative humidity is 72%. In winter, temperatures often drop below freezing and snowfalls are common, while the summer months see average high temperatures of 26.4 °C (80 °F). The lowest recorded temperature in Burgos was −21 °C (−6 °F) on 20 January 1885. The highest recorded temperature was 42 °C (108 °F) on 13 August 1987.

Arco de Santa María, the medieval entrance at the city was built in the XIV century. The statue of El Cid. The cathedral Our Lady of Burgos.

Main sights[link]

Burgos is rich in ancient churches and convents. The three most notable are the cathedral, with its chapel of the Condestables de Castilla, the monastery of Las Huelgas, and the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores. Minor notable churches are San Esteban, San Gil (Sancti Aegidii), San Pedro, San Cosme y San Damián, Santiago (Sancti Jacobi), San Lorenzo and San Lesmes (Adelelmi). The Convento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also of historic and architectural interest.

Among the other interesting architectural structures, in the walls of the city are the famous gateway of Santa María, erected for the first entrance of the Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernán González.

Gothic Cathedral[link]

Construction on Burgos' Gothic Cathedral began in 1221 and spanned mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The west front is flanked by towers terminating in octagonal spires covered with open stonework traceries. The middle section, which serves as an entrance, has three alabaster pilasters, the intercolumnar spaces bearing panel-pictures representing the martyrdom of saints. The façade possessed ornate and fantastic surface decoration.

The octagonal chapel of the Condestable, in florid, thus highly sculpted, Gothic design, has a roof finished with balustraded turrets, needle-pointed pinnacles, and statues. In the lower portion, coats of arms, shields, and crouching lions have been worked into the ensemble. The exterior of the sacristy is decorated with carved traceries, figures of angels and armoured knights. The elaborate tabernacle is composed of two octagonal sections in Corinthian style.

Burgos Cathedral

Monasterio de las Huelgas[link]

The Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales (Monastery of the Royal Retreats) on the outskirts of the city, was founded in 1180 by king Alfonso VIII, and was begun in a pre-Gothic style, although almost every style has been introduced over many additions. The remarkable cloisters have been described as "unrivalled for beauty both of detail and design, and perhaps unsurpassed by anything in its age and style in any part of Europe" (1911 Encyclopædia Britannica). One cloister has semicircular arches with delicate and varied columns; the other has an ogival style of early Gothic. The interior of the church has enormous columns supporting its magnificent vault; the entrance is modern. This convent historically benefited from extraordinary privileges granted to its abbess by kings and popes.

Cartuja de Miraflores[link]

The Carthusian monastery of Miraflores Charterhouse is situated about four kilometres from the historic city center. Among the treasures of the Charterhouse are the wooden statue of St. Bruno, the wooden choir stalls in the church and the mausoleum of King John II and of his wife, Isabella of Portugal, constructed of marble and with their alabaster recumbent effigies. Around the top frieze are statues of angels in miniature. The French soldiers in the War of Independence (1814) mutilated this beautiful work, cutting off some of the heads and carrying them away to France. King John II's daughters by his first wife, heiresses Catherine, Princess of Asturias, and Eleanor, Princess of Asturias, are also buried in the monastery.

Historic centre[link]

Historic street leading to the cathedral

The city preserves historic centre from the medieval age, corresponding to the city walls.

Museums[link]

Burgos has a total of 10 museums, the newest being the Museum of Human Evolution (the 10th most visited museum in Spain).

Frontal view of the Museum of Human Evolution, unique in its kind around the world.

Book Museum

Museum of Human Evolution[link]

The Museum of Human Evolution was inaugurated on 13 July 2010. Its foundation is based on the archeological site of Atapuerca located 20 km (12 mi) east of Burgos. The Atapuerca site has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains several caves, where fossils and stone tools of the earliest known Hominids in West Europe have been found, near Atapuerca Mountains.

The museum also allows the visitor to travel to the archaeological site.

Museum of Burgos[link]

It summarizes the history of the province of Burgos. It has important objects and documents from all the ages, starting from Atapuerca, passing to the romans and iberians, and finishing in the contemporary period.

The museum is located in a renascence palace, the House of Íñigo Angulo, which has a main patio that structures the museum.

Book Museum[link]

Between the Main Square “Plaza Mayor” and the Promenade of the Espolón “Paseo del Espolón,” on the side street, Travesía del Mercado nº3, you find the Fadrique de Basilea Book Museum “Museo del Libro Fadrique de Basilea”, of the Burgos publisher, Siloé, a cosy museum that shows the history of the book from its first written form to its modern electronic form.

Transportation[link]

Burgos Airport[link]

Burgos Airport is located only 5 km (3.11 mi) from the city centre, with daily flights to Barcelona International Airport, and during spring and summer to Palma de Mallorca, and Paris Orly.

Burgos International Train Station

Railway[link]

Map of the Spanish high-speed railway network.

The city is considered a first-class rail route through which two rail lines circulate, both operated by Renfe: the Madrid-Irun, and a direct rail link Madrid-Burgos through Aranda de Duero.

2010 marked 150 years since the arrival of the first railroad to the city; the first train was present on October 25, 1860. Madrid was joined with the French border and the this was considered the main route of railway communication between Spain and Europe. Located at the halfway point, Burgos soon become an important hub of communications between the center and the north.

Since December 2007, the city has been connected to the main provincial capitals by high-speed service Alvia. It also provides other services, middle and long distance, which connect with the main population centers of the country. 18 long distance trains and 12 middle distance trains circulate through the train station each day, which results in around 330,000 yearly users.

The new railway station was opened on 12 December 2008 under the name Burgos-Rosa de Lima, belonging to ADIF. It is located in the neighborhood of Villímar, northeast of the city, and has been adapted for the future arrival of the AVE.

In 2015, AVE high speed trains will serve the city, connecting it to cities such as Madrid in only 84 minutes, or Bilbao in 70 minutes.

Tram[link]

Translohr in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand, is similar to what will be installed in Burgos

A project to implement a tram for the city has been planned, which would run the length of the Boulevard, officially called the Avenida de Valencia. It would consist of a line of about 12 km long and will originate from the Burgos-Rosa de Lima train station and end at the University of Burgos. Its cost is estimated between 80 and 120 million euros.

Due to the economic crisis and real estate, the project has been postponed temporarily until further funding. In February 2010 work began on the development of the Boulevard, which reserves a lane for public transport; first buses, and eventually the tram.

Bus[link]

Burgos has an international bus station located in the city centre, just one hundred meters from the Cathedral. It connects the city with nearly every region of Spain, as well as with a wide number of European cities.

Bicibur

Burgos' city bike network

Bicycle[link]

The city has its own free public bicycle rental system, called Bicibur. It has been designed by a local company and has more than 20 points of distribution throughout the city. A network of over 100 km of bicycle lanes net the city making it the 6th largest bicycle lane network in Spain and the first in kilometers per resident.^[9]

Sustainable mobility[link]

Burgos has undertaken many efforts concerning sustainable mobility, and it won the CiViTAs City of the Year in 2007, the most important Award at the European level and the Energy Globe Award in 2008 (the sustainability Nobel awards) in the Air Category for the same reason. The city is the leader among Spanish cities in terms of sustainable mobility with big efforts for a city centre free of cars, a free bicycle loan system and 100% clean public transport. Burgos now leads the CiViNET Network of cities concerned with sustainable mobility in Spain and Portugal.

Education[link]

State Education in Spain is free, and compulsory from 6 to 16 years. The current education system is called LOE (Ley Orgánica de Educación).^[10]

Universities[link]

University of Burgos

Often abbreviated 'UBU', the University of Burgos is a public university with about 10,000 students studying over 30 different undergraduate degrees, over 20 PhD Programmes, as well as several Official Masters and other graduate courses. It was established in 1994 when it was divided from the University of Valladolid.

UBU cooperates with the Erasmus Project, a European Union (EU) student-exchange programme, and each semester hosts students from various countries across the 15-state European Union, as well as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Malta and the 10 associated countries in Eastern Europe (Hungary, Romania, Czeck Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Stonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia).^[11] Additionally, university students from various regions around the world including China, Latin and North America are able to participate in exchange programmes to study abroad at the University of Burgos. In total, the University of Burgos has education agreements with over 100 international academic institutions.^[12]

University of Burgos

Private International University of Burgos

Based in Burgos, it is a private online university in development and expected to become operational during 2012/2013. It offers distance and some classroom education. This University has been promoted by Education Campus of Castile and Leon.

Cityscape[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

Urbanisation in the Gamonal district

Paseo de Laserna

View of a 1950s-era building in the El Crucero district

Panoramic of Burgos; view facing south-east

Panoramic of Burgos; view facing north

Parks and Recreation[link]

Parque El Parral

La Isla

Most of the parks in the city of Burgos can be found along the river Arlanzón. Indeed, the banks of the river itself constitute a green corridor along the city. In total, there are nearly 3 square miles (1,878 acres) of parks in Burgos and one tree for every 3 inhabitants.

• Parque del Castillo (or the Castle Park) is one of the lungs of the city. The city grew from the southern foot of the hill of the castle. Gradually, some of the upper neighborhoods began disappearing. After the destruction of the castle, military installations were established there. In the 1950s, the engineer Jaquotot Mariano, who later became mayor of the city, decided to leave the hill completely bare. Besides the ruins of the castle, this park contains the Bird Conservation Center. It also has play areas for children and exercise. Also, there is a terraced area with gardens and an ornamental fountain. The highlight of the park is the viewpoint from which you get a great view of the city, especially the cathedral. A metal plaque on the rail at the vista point helps to identify the most characteristic places of the city. The park contains the unique view of the city of Burgos from the viewpoint of the Castle.

Panoramic of Burgos desde el Mirador from the vista point of the Parque del Castillo

• Fuentes Blancas is Burgos' most visited large park extending east from the city along the river Arlanzón. It contains a network of walking and biking paths and includes camping and various outdoor recreational activities.
• Paseo del Espolón is the tree-lined promenade that is the most emblematic of Burgos. It's situated along the banks of the river Arlanzón, and consists of a landscaped walk that goes from the theater square to the Arc de Santa Maria, passing shops and cafes. It's a popular social spot for residents during the warm summer months.

Summer on the "Paseo del Espolón"

• Paseo de la Isla is another one of Burgos' beautiful tree-lined garden walks. It passes by the Palacio de la Isla which served as one of Franco's headquarters during the Spanish Civil War and is currently the Language Institute of Castilian and Leonese.
• Parque El Parral is located at the old "Hospital del Rey", a former hospital for pilgrims of the "Way of Saint James", now part of the University of Burgos campus

Economy[link]

Burgos is a rich city, with a GDP over the Spain average. It is an important trade and tourist center with some manufacturing.

Wheat fields in Burgos

Primary sector[link]

Wheat is the more vast cultivation, which surrounds the city outside limits.

Secondary sector[link]

Burgos is a very industrial city, with a secondary sector widely developed. The city has the biggest industrial park of north Spain, called Villalonquéjar.

Tertiary sector[link]

It employs the bigger percentage in the city and is represented by the public sector (production, delivery and allocation of goods and services), due to the capital status.

Culture[link]

Gamonal Battle feast day

El Curpillos feast day

The city has a complete culture infrastructure, remarked by the Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos de Burgos, which will be opened in mid 2012.

Language[link]

Burgos is considered to have the best spoken castellano of Spain.

The language was created near the city, in Valpuesta, a monastery located 100 km (62 mi) to the northeast of the city.

Queso de Burgos

Cuisine[link]

Jamón Serrano – Dry-cured Spanish Ham

Burgos province is famous for Queso de Burgos, a white cheese which is soft and unctuous (because it is made with whey). Although originally made with sheep's milk, now cow's milk or mixtures are more common. Each comarca (rural district) produces a minor variation, and the major dairies produce an industrial product that is acceptable for people with sensitive digestion (it is said to promote good health if taken every day)

Burgos is blessed with a moderate climate and this fresh cheese was able to be conserved there without the need for curing of more than 10 days. With the improvement of aseptic industrial production processes this can be extended to about 30 days at a cool 6 °C. Its production reaches 35,000 tons annually.

Morcilla de Burgos, a pig's-blood sausage (black pudding), is a staple country food famous across the Iberian peninsula. Spiced with onions and herbs its most noticeable content is rice (often mistaken for fat) which makes it one of the lightest and healthiest products of its kind. Oral tradition says that it must be "salty, smooth and piquant". (see Spanish pages es:Burgos (desambiguación) for details)

Both products are regularly found all over Spain sliced and skewered on a slice of baguette bread as tapas (small bar-top treats, often served free with drinks).

Jamón Serrano (Literally: Mountain Ham): dry-cured Spanish Ham. Just as in most of Spain, this is a very popular food in Burgos. It is usually served in thin slices, eaten by itself or in a sandwich.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Burgos is twinned with:

• Bruges, Belgium
• Loudun, France
• Pessac, France
• San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico
• Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain
• Vicenza, Italy

The mayors of Bruges in Belgium's Flemish Region and Burgos signed a treaty on 29 January 2007 in Bruges's city hall for future cooperation. This engagement could be seen as a prologue on the opening of the exhibition Comeliness and Madness. This exhibition on Philip the Handsome took place in the Casa del Cordón in Burgos where the monarch died. On 30 January 2007, the exhibition opened in Bruges, the city where Philip the Handsome was born and where the urn with his heart is kept in Onthaalkerk O.L.V. (the Church of Our Lady).

Burgos and San Juan de los Lagos sponsor and coordinate activities between both populations.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Burgos Cathedral,
  (south side)

• 

  Back façade of the Cathedral

• 

  The western façade of the cathedral

• 

  Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, at night

• 

  Arco de Santa María

• 

  Façade of Arco de Santa María

• 

  La Cartuja de Miraflores, founded in 1441

• 

  San Esteban Church

• 

  San Gil Abad Church

• 

  Entrance at San Lorenzo el Real Church

• 

  La Merced Church, built between the 15th and 16th centuries

• 

  San Cosme y San Damián Church (16th century)

• 

  Casa del Cordón, south façade (15th century)

• 

  San Lesmes Church (1074 and reformed in 14th century)

• 

  Santa Dorotea Convent (15th century)

• 

  Santa Clara Convent (13th century)

• 

  Consistorial house of Burgos

• 

  Arco de San Martín

• 

  Arco de Fernán González

• 

  San Esteban Church, of Gothic style was built between the 13th and 14th centuries

• 

  Edificio Verde

• 

  Palacio de La Isla – Franco's headquarters during the Spanish Civil War, currently the Language Institute of Castilian and Leonese

• 

  Burgos Historic Centre at night

• IMG 2245.jpg

  Way of St. James leading to Burgos Cathedral

• 

  The Way of Saint James leading into the city centre

• 

  Paseo de Espolón during snowfall in February

• 

  Snowfall behind the Cathedral

See also[link]

• Burgos Airport
• University of Burgos
• Burgos CF, the city's football team.
• List of municipalities in Burgos
• Province of Burgos

Notes[link]

Sources and external links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Burgos (city).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Burgos

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Burgos". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 
• Map of Burgos
• Spanish Tourism: Burgos
• Camino de Santiago
• Museum of Human Evolution
• Ayuntamiento de Burgos
• Burgos Chamber of Commerce
• University of Burgos
• Burgos news
• Museo Militar de Burgos
• Fadrique de Basilea Book Museum
• Photos of Burgos

v t e Capitals of provinces of Spain A Coruña Albacete Alicante Almería Ávila Badajoz Barcelona Bilbao Burgos Cáceres Cádiz Castellón de la Plana Ciudad Real Córdoba Cuenca Donostia-San Sebastián Girona Granada Guadalajara Huelva Huesca Jaén Logroño Las Palmas León Lleida Lugo Madrid Málaga Murcia Ourense Oviedo Palencia Palma Pamplona Pontevedra Salamanca Santander Santa Cruz Segovia Seville Soria Tarragona Teruel Toledo Valencia Valladolid Vitoria-Gasteiz Zamora Zaragoza

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2009)

Statue of El Cid in Burgos, the capital of Sancho II's kingdom, and where El Cid served in his early years.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – July 10, 1099), known as El Cid Campeador (Spanish pronunciation: [el ˈθið kampeaˈðor], "The lord-master of military arts"), was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat. Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, and his successor, Al-Mustein II.

After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, El Cid was recalled to service by Alfonso VI, and commanded a combined Christian and Moorish army, which he used to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia.

Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, the chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

Title[link]

El Cid's charter of donation to the Cathedral of Valencia (1098). His signature is shown closeup in the image below.

The name El Cid (Spanish: [el ˈθid]) comes from the article el (which means "the" in both Spanish and Arabic), and the dialectal Arabic word سيد sîdi or sayyid, which means "Lord" or "The Master". The title Campeador means "champion" or "challenger" in Spanish. Because of his exceeding prowess in arms, he was the natural challenger in single combats. In Spanish warfare, it was common for leaders of armies to pit two Champions against each other (similar to the story of David and Goliath) to determine the outcome of the conflict. This way neither side would lose a great number of men. The Cid was the champion of King Alfonso VI of Castile. He had gained the title of "Campeador" when he won victory on behalf of Alfonso against the forces of Granada.

Life and career[link]

El Cid's signature: Ego Ruderico, "I, Rodrigo".

Origins[link]

El Cid was born 1043 AD in Vivar, also known as Castillona de Bivar, a small town about six miles north of Burgos, the capital of Castile. His father, Diego Laínez, was a courtier, bureaucrat, and cavalryman who had fought in several battles. Despite the fact that El Cid's mother's family was aristocratic, in later years the peasants would consider him one of their own. However, his relatives were not major court officials; documents show that El Cid's paternal grandfather, Lain, confirmed only five documents of Ferdinand I's, his maternal grandfather, Rodrigo Alvarez, certified only two of Sancho II's, and El Cid's own father confirmed only one.

Service under Sancho II[link]

First paragraph of the Carmen Campidoctoris, the earliest literary treatment of El Cid's life, written by a Catalan partisan to celebrate El Cid's defeat of Berenguer Ramón.

As a young adult in 1057, Rodrigo fought against the Moorish stronghold of Zaragoza, making its emir al-Muqtadir a vassal of Sancho. In the spring of 1063, Rodrigo fought in the Battle of Graus, where Ferdinand's half-brother, Ramiro I of Aragon, was laying siege to the Moorish town of Cinca which was in Zaragozan lands. Al-Muqtadir, accompanied by Castilian troops including El Cid, fought against the Aragonese. The party would emerge victorious; Ramiro I was killed and the Aragonese fled the field. One legend has said that during the conflict, El Cid killed an Aragonese knight in single combat, thereby receiving the honorific title Campeador.

When Ferdinand died, Sancho continued to enlarge his territory, conquering both Christian and the Moorish cities of Zamora and Badajoz. When Sancho learned that Alfonso was planning on overthrowing him in order to gain his territory, Sancho sent Cid to bring Alfonso back so that Sancho could speak to him.

Service under Alfonso VI[link]

Sancho was assassinated in 1072, as the result of a pact between his brother Alfonso and his sister Urraca. Since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his power passed to his brother Alfonso.

Almost immediately, Alfonso returned from exile in Toledo and took his seat as king of Castile and León. He was deeply suspected in Castile, probably correctly,^{[citation needed]} of having been involved in Sancho's murder. According to the epic of El Cid, the Castilian nobility led by El Cid and a dozen "oath-helpers" forced Alfonso to swear publicly in front of Santa Gadea (Saint Agatha) Church in Burgos on holy relics multiple times that he did not participate in the plot to kill his brother. This is widely reported^[who?] as truth, but contemporary documents on the lives of both Rodrigo Diaz and Alfonso VI of Castile and León do not mention any such event. El Cid's position as armiger regis was taken away and given to El Cid's enemy, Count García Ordóñez.

Exile[link]

In the Battle of Cabra (1079), El Cid rallied his troops and turned the battle into a rout of Emir Abdulallh of Granada and his ally García Ordóñez. However, El Cid's unauthorized expedition into Granada greatly angered Alfonso, and May 8, 1080, was the last time El Cid confirmed a document in King Alfonso's court. This is the generally given reason for El Cid's exile, although several others are plausible and may have been contributing factors: jealous nobles turning Alfonso against El Cid, Alfonso's own animosity towards El Cid, and an accusation of pocketing some of the tribute from Seville.

At first he went to Barcelona, where Ramón Berenguer II (1076–1082) and Berenguer Ramón II (1076–1097) refused his offer of service. Then he journeyed to the Taifa of Zaragoza where he received a warmer welcome by its diverse and well cultured inhabitants.

According to Moorish accounts:

Andalusian Knights found El Cid their foe ill, thirsty and exiled from the court of Alfonso, he was presented before the elderly Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud and accepted command of the forces of the Taifa of Zaragoza as their Master.

However, the exile was not the end of El Cid, either physically or as an important figure. In 1081, El Cid, went on to offer his services to the Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, and served both him and his successor, Al-Mustain II. He was given the title El Cid (The Master) and served as a leading figure in a vibrant Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians.

O'Callaghan writes:

That kingdom was divided between al-Mutamin (1081–1085) who ruled Zaragoza proper, and his brother al-Mundhir, who ruled Lérida and Tortosa. El Cid entered al-Mutamin's service and successfully defended Zaragoza against the assaults of al-Mundhir, Sancho I of Aragón, and Ramón Berenguer II, whom he held captive briefly in 1082. In 1084, El Cid and the Moorish armies defeated Sancho of Aragon at the Battle of Morella near Tortosa. He was then troubled by the fierce conflicts between the Muladis of Badajoz and the Arabs of Seville.

In 1086, the Almoravid invasion of the Iberian Peninsula through and around Gibraltar began. The Almoravids, Berber residents of present-day North Africa, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, were asked to help defend the divided Moors from Alfonso. El Cid had probably commanded a large Moorish force during the great Battle of Sagrajas, which took place in 1086, near the Taifa of Badajoz. The Almoravid and Andalusian Taifas, including the armies of Badajoz, Málaga, Granada, Tortosa and Seville, defeated a combined army of León, Aragón and Castile.

Recalling From Exile[link]

Terrified after his crushing defeat, Alfonso recalled from exile the best Christian general: El Cid. It has been shown that El Cid was at court on July 1087; however, what happened after that is unclear. El Cid returned to Alfonso, but now he had his own plans. He only stayed a short while and then returned to Saragossa. El Cid was content to let the Almoravid armies and the armies of Alfonso fight without his help. Even when there was a chance that the armies of Almoravid might defeat Alfonso and take over all of Alfonso's lands. The reason El Cid did not want to fight was because he was hoping that both armies would become weak.^{[citation needed]} That would make it easier for him to carry out his own plan which was to become ruler of the Kingdom of Valencia.

Conquest of Valencia[link]

Around this time, El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia. Several obstacles lay in his way. First was Berenguer Ramón II, who ruled nearby Barcelona. In May 1090, El Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle of Tébar (nowadays Pinar de Tévar, near Monroyo, Teruel). Berenguer was later released and his nephew Ramón Berenguer III married El Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts.

Along the way to Valencia, El Cid also conquered other towns, many of which were near Valencia, such as Castejón and Alucidia.

El Cid gradually came to have more influence on Valencia, then ruled by al-Qadir. In October 1092 an uprising occurred in Valencia inspired by the city's chief judge Ibn Jahhaf and the Almoravids. El Cid began a siege of Valencia. A December 1093 attempt to break the siege failed. By the time the siege ended in May 1094, El Cid had carved out his own principality on the coast of the Mediterranean. Officially El Cid ruled in the name of Alfonso; in reality, El Cid was fully independent. The city was both Christian and Muslim, and both Moors and Christians served in the army and as administrators.

Death[link]

El Cid and his wife Jimena Díaz lived peacefully in Valencia for five years until the Almoravids besieged the city. El Cid died June 10, 1099.^[1] The cause of death is commonly accepted to be a combination of sorrow for the loss of his only son in 1098, and the increasing impact of the siege on famine and living standards more generally.^[2] Valencia was captured by Masdali on May 5, 1102 and it did not become a Christian city again for over 125 years. Jimena fled to Burgos, Castile, in 1101. She rode in with her retinue and the body of El Cid.^[3] Originally buried in Castile in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, his body now lies at the center of the Burgos Cathedral.

After his demise, but still during the siege of Valencia, legend holds that Jimena ordered that the corpse of El Cid be fitted with his armor and set atop his horse Babieca, to bolster the morale of his troops. In several variations of the story, the dead Rodrigo and his knights win a thundering charge against Valencia's besiegers, resulting in a war-is-lost-but-battle-is-won catharsis for generations of Christian Spaniards to follow. It is believed that the legend originated shortly after Jimena entered Burgos, and that it is derived from the manner in which Jimena's procession rode into Burgos, i.e. alongside her deceased husband.^[4]

Warrior and general[link]

Battle tactics[link]

During his campaigns, El Cid often ordered that books by classic Roman and Greek authors on military themes be read aloud to him and his troops, for both entertainment and inspiration before battle. El Cid's army had a novel approach to planning strategy as well, holding what might be called brainstorming sessions before each battle to discuss tactics. They frequently used unexpected strategies, engaging in what modern generals would call psychological warfare — waiting for the enemy to be paralyzed with terror and then attacking them suddenly; distracting the enemy with a small group of soldiers, etc. (El Cid used this distraction in capturing the town of Castejón as depicted in Cantar de Mio Cid (The Song of my Cid)). El Cid accepted or included suggestions from his troops. In The Song the man who served him as his closest adviser was his vassal and kinsman Álvar Fáñez "Minaya" (meaning "My brother", a compound word of Spanish possessive Mi (My) and Anaia, the basque word for brother), although the historical Álvar Fáñez remained in Castile with Alfonso VI.

Taken together, these practices imply an educated and intelligent commander who was able to attract and inspire good subordinates, and who would have attracted considerable loyalty from his followers, including those who were not Christian. It is these qualities, coupled with El Cid's legendary martial abilities, which have fueled his reputation as an outstanding battlefield commander.

Babieca[link]

Tomb of Babieca at the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña.

Babieca or Bavieca was El Cid's warhorse. Several stories exist about El Cid and Babieca. One well-known legend about El Cid describes how he acquired the stallion. According to this story, Rodrigo's godfather, Pedro El Grande, was a monk at a Carthusian monastery. Pedro's coming-of-age gift to El Cid was his pick of a horse from an Andalusian herd. El Cid picked a horse that his godfather thought was a weak, poor choice, causing the monk to exclaim "Babieca!" (stupid!) Hence, it became the name of El Cid's horse. Another legend states that in a competition of battle to become King Sancho's "Campeador", or champion, a knight on horseback wished to challenge El Cid. The King wished a fair fight and gave El Cid his finest horse, Babieca, or Bavieca. This version says Babieca was raised in the royal stables of Seville and was a highly trained and loyal war horse, not a foolish stallion. The name in this instance could suggest that the horse came from the Babia region in León, Spain. In the poem Carmen Campidoctoris, Babieca appears as a gift from "a barbarian" to El Cid, so its name could also be derived from "Barbieca", or "horse of the barbarian".

Regardless, Babieca became a great warhorse, famous to the Christians, feared by El Cid's enemies, and loved by El Cid, who allegedly^{[by whom?][attribution needed]} requested that Babieca be buried with him in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña.^{[citation needed]} His name is mentioned in several tales and historical documents about El Cid, including The Lay of El Cid.

Swords[link]

Tizona

A weapon traditionally identified as El Cid's sword, Tizona, used to be displayed in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in Toledo. In 1999, a small sample of the blade underwent metallurgical analysis which confirmed that the blade was made in Moorish Córdoba in the eleventh century and contained amounts of Damascus steel. [Garcia Alonso et al., 1999]

In 2007 the Autonomous Community of Castile and León bought the sword for 1.6 million Euros, and it is currently on display at the Museum of Burgos.

El Cid also had a sword called Colada.

Marriage and family[link]

El Cid was married in July 1075 to Alfonso's kinswoman Jimena Díaz. The Historia Roderici calls her a daughter of a Count Diego of Oviedo, a person unknown to contemporary records, while later poetic sources name her father as an otherwise unknown Count Gomez de Gormaz.

Tradition states that when El Cid first laid eyes on her, he was enamored of her great beauty. Together El Cid and Jimena had three children. Their daughters Cristina and María both married into the high nobility; Cristina to Ramiro, Lord of Monzón, grandson of García Sánchez III of Navarre via an illegitimate son; María, first (it is said) to a prince of Aragon (presumably the son of Peter I) and second to Ramón Berenguer III, count of Barcelona. El Cid's son Diego Rodríguez was killed while fighting against the invading Muslim Almoravids from North Africa at the Battle of Consuegra (1097).

El Cid's own marriage and those of his daughters raised his status by connecting him to the peninsular royalty; even today, most European monarchs and many commoners of European ancestry descend from El Cid, through Cristina's son, King García Ramírez of Navarre and to a lesser extent via a granddaughter Jimena of Barcelona, who married into the Counts of Foix.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: El Cid

Bibliography[link]

• Simon Barton and Richard Fletcher. The world of El Cid, Chronicles of the Spanish reconquest. Manchester: University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-7190-5225-4 hardback, ISBN 0-7190-5226-2 paperback.
• Gonzalo Martínez Díez, "El Cid Histórico: Un Estudio Exhaustivo Sobre el Verdadero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar", Editorial Planeta (Spain, June 1999). ISBN 84-08-03161-9
• Richard Fletcher. "The Quest for El Cid". ISBN 0-19-506955-2
• Kurtz, Barbara E. El Cid. University of Illinois.
• I. Michael. The Poem of El Cid. Manchester: 1975.
• C. Melville and A. Ubaydli (ed. and trans.), Christians and Moors in Spain, vol. III, Arabic sources (711-1501). (Warminster, 1992).
• Joseph F. O'Callaghan. A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975
• Peter Pierson. The History of Spain. Ed. John E. Findling and Frank W. Thacheray. Wesport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999. 34-36.
• Bernard F. Reilly. The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065-1109 Princeton, New Jersey: University Press, 1988.
• The Song of El Cid. Translated by Burton Raffel. Penguin Classics, 2009.
• R. Selden Rose and Leonard Bacon (trans.) The Lay of El Cid. Semicentennial Publications of the University of California: 1868-1918. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997.
• Steven Thomas. 711-1492: Al-Andalus and the Reconquista.
• M. J. Trow,El Cid The Making of a Legend, Sutton Publishing Limited, 2007.
• Henry Edwards Watts. "The Story of El Cid (1026-1099)" in The Christian Recovery of Spain: The Story of Spain from the Moorish Conquest to the Fall of Grenada (711-1492 AD). New York: Putnam, 1894. 71-91.
• Cantar de mío Cid - Spanish (free PDF)
• Poema de Mio Cid, Códice de Per Abbat in the European Library (third item on page)
• T.Y. Henderson. "Conquests Of Valencia"
• J. I. Garcia Alonso, J. A. Martinez, A. J. Criado, "Origin of El Cid's sword revealed by ICP-MS metal analysis", Spectroscopy Europe, 11/4 (1999).

Sources and external links[link]

• Information about The Route of El Cid - English

Notes[link]