[2] Aben Bassam, Tesoro (1109), cf. Dozy, Recherches sur l'histoire politique et littéraire d'Espagne pendant le Moyen Age. Leyden, 1849.
The deeds of such a man naturally appealed to popular imagination, and it is not wonderful that there were substantial accretions that less than a hundred years later found their way into the Epic. Within an astonishingly short time the purely traditional elements of the marriage of the Cid's daughters and the Parliament at Toledo became its central theme. It is probable that such a vital change was not entirely due to conscious art in a poet whose distinguishing characteristic is his very unconsciousness. From his minute familiarity with the topography of the country about Medina and Gormaz, his affection for St. Stephen's, his utter lack of accuracy in his description of the siege of Valencia and from the disproportionate prominence given to such really insignificant episodes as the sieges of Castejón and Alcocer, Pidal has inferred that the unknown poet was himself a native of this region and that his story of the life of the Cid is the product of local tradition. [3] Moreover there is abundant evidence to prove that before the composition of the poem as it has come down to us, the compelling figure of the Cid had inspired other chants of an heroic if not epic nature.
From this vigorous plant patriotic fervor and sympathetic imagination caused to spring a perennial growth of popular legends. The "General Chronicle of Alphonso the Wise," begun in 1270, reflects the national affection for the very chattels of the Cid. it relates that Babiéca passed the evening of his life in ease and luxury and that his seed flourished in the land.
After this constantly increasing biographical material had been developed and expanded through at least six chronicles and later epic treatment it was taken up by the ballads with a wealth of new episodes. Of these one of the most interesting is the Cid's duel with the conde Lozano and his marriage to Ximena. The hounds of Diego Lainez, the Cid's father, have seized a hare belonging to the conde Lozano, who considers that he has been grievously insulted thereby. Accordingly he retaliates with slurs that can removed only ont he field of honor. Diego Lainez, too old to fight, in order to discover which one of his three sons is worthy of clearing the honor of the family, bites the finger of each one successively. The two eldest utter only cries of pain, but Rodrigo with great spirit threatens his father. He is chosen to fight the conde Lozano and slays him. Ximena demands justice for her father's death, and protection. Thereupon by order of King Ferdinand the Cid and Ximena are married. Later we have Ximena's complaints that her husband's activity in the field against the Moors have tried her spirit sorely. There are many ballads that treat of the arming and consecration of the Cid in newly conquered Coimbra, of his victory over five Moorish kings who gave him the name Cid (Master), and became his tributaries, of the testament of Ferdinand in virtue of which the Cid is made the adviser of Sancho and Urraca. The siege of Zamora and the death of Sancho are fertile topics. At the accession of Alphonso the Cid forces him to swear a solemn oath that he was not party to the murder of his brother Sancho. Finally when the Cid is independent master of Valencia, the Sultan of Persia, hearing of his exploits, sends him rich presents and a magic balsam. This the Cid drinks when he is at the point of death. It preserves his dead body with such perfect semblance of life that, mounted on Babiéca, he turns the victory of the Moor Bucar into utter rout.