El Cid (Radio Edit)
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Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name's Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we are gathering a band of mercenaries and galloping back to 11th century Spain to learn about legendary warrior and all-around lad, El Cid. And to join our quest, we have two very special comrades in arms. In History Corner, she's Professor of European History at the University of Cambridge, where she specialises in medieval social and religious history. She's the author of the fascinating book El Cid, The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary. It's Professor Nora Behrend. Welcome, Nora.
Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here. And can someone take good care of my horse while I'm here?
Yes, pop it in the stables. No worries. And in Comedy Corner... And in Comedy Corner, he's an award-winning stand-up and comedy writer. You might have seen him on Richard Osman's House of Games, comedians giving lectures, Outsiders, Late Night Mash. Maybe you've seen his recent smash hit stand-up show, Accessible Pigeon Material. Is there any other kind? And you'll remember him from our past episodes on Frederick Douglass and the causes of the British Civil Wars. It's Toussaint Douglass. Welcome back, Toussaint.
Thanks for having me, Greg. Absolute pleasure to be here. This is without doubt my favourite podcast on the BBC about history. Thank you.
The caveats started rolling in. Last time out, Toussaint, we were on home turf with the British Civil Wars. I know you're quite good on politics and history. Yeah. So how comfortable are you with medieval Spain?
I'm going to be completely honest with you, Greg. Spanish historical figures, not my forte. I know Chris.
Who was El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz) and why is he famous?
We all know Chris, right? You don't even have to say his last name. We all know Chris, who I'm talking about. Acabusi. Chris Acabusi. 1992 Olympics, bronze medalist. I'm obviously talking about Christopher Columbus. Catherine of Aragon. I know them. And then it gets quite sketchy. We're on to Don Quixote, Don Juan. I'm not even sure if these people are actually real people, but I know them.
Yeah, the last two are fictional, but that's fine. So the name El Cid, nothing's going off in your brain.
I mean, first off, it's a great name, right? It sounds like the name of a lead singer of a Spanish punk band, do you know what I mean? Yes. And also a cleaning product. El Cid and the dirt is quitado. That's what's rigging for me when you say El Cid, but no, I don't know who he is.
Okay, well, that's fine. That's all good. So what do you know? This is the So What Do You Know? This is where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, will know about today's subject. And if you're tuning in from Spain, you will probably be familiar with El Cid. For everyone else, I reckon you're half remembering A Dead Guy on a Horse from the classic 1961 movie El Cid starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. She did not play the horse. Just checking. And unless they're actually, if you're in the UK, you can watch the El Cid movie on BBC iPlayer. It's there right now and it's there for a while. And of course, in that movie, El Cid is portrayed as a Christian hero who fights Muslim invaders.
If you're a gamer, like me a bit, you will know El Cid from the Crusader Kings games and the Total War games, my absolute faves. But who was the man behind the myth? Does his real life live up to legend? And can a corpse really lead an army? Let's find out. Okie dokie. Nora, we're calling this guy El Cid. First name El, last name Cid?
I'm afraid not. El is the Castilian vernacular, the, and Cid comes from the Arabic. It's a distorted Arabic term from Sayyid Lorde. It used to be thought that he was called Miosid, my lord, by his Muslim subjects and that it was a unique honorific.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:14
2
Who was El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz) and why is he famous?
2:14–13:27
3
What does the name 'El Cid' mean and what was his real name?
13:27–19:42
4
What political landscape did Rodrigo Díaz grow up in during 11th‑century Iberia?
19:42–29:35
5
How did Rodrigo rise through courts, switch loyalties and become a mercenary leader?
29:35–30:58
Speakers
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