Trouble with El Cid

[Phillius]

A couple of years ago I watched the new Spanish TV series on the early life of El Cid. First and second seasons.

Inspired I bought a 28mm army mostly from Gripping Beast. I painted the foot and have recently started painting the mounted component.

Unfortunately, mojo has just about slid right out under the back door.

So, a question for the hive mind, can anyone recommend good reads on El Cid or Spain in the time of El Cid? Fiction or non-fiction, either are acceptable. I need inspiration.

TIA

Phil

[Cat]

Have you tried Bronston's 1961 epic movie?
 
Hmm, been awhile since I watched that one....

[Inkpaduta]

Or you could rewatch the show. I found it to be very good.
Wish it had more seasons.

[James Morris]

Have you read Richard Fletcher’s The Quest for El Cid? Superb, easy to read non fiction- Fletcher spends the first half of the book setting the scene for 11th century Spain then delves into Rodrigo’s life in the second half.  Cannot recommend it highly enough.

The Gone Medieval podcast has recently done an episode on El Cid, though I’ve not listened to it yet.

Medieval Warfare magazine also had a theme issue on El Cid which you should be able to find online.

[SJWi]

Phillius, interesting, I have the same question. My mates bought me a Caballero/Reconquista Miniatures El Cid army when I retired two years ago .It sat in a box until Christmas when inspired by Mr Morris' "Midgard" rules I decided to have it as one of my projects for early 2025, and now all the figures are cleaned, based and primed ready for the painting table.

I too have found a dearth of books on the man himself. I can only find "The Quest for El Cid" 2nd hand for £30 plus exhorbitant P&P. James mentioned Medieval Warfare magazine.  Issue 6 of Volume 7 was an "El Cid Special", and Issue 4 of Volume 5 covered the Muslim invasions of Spain .  As a subscriber to the magazine I like them but they are really just a collection of articles around a common theme, there is no coherent narrative.  I have in my book collection a 1965 volume "In Search of The Cid" by Stephen Clissold but I see that it sells on Amazon for about £70!   

The "El Cid Special" did have a further reading list, and as well as "The Quest for El Cid" it mentions "The world of El Cid" by Barton and Fletcher which contains translations of 4 medieval chronicles. It also recommends "Infidel Kings and Unholy Warriors" by the American historian Brian Catlos. I bought a copy last week and haven't read it yet, but it seesm to be a history of the interaction between Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Mediterranean.

You might also look at books on Medieval/Islamic Spain for background. "Moorish Spain" by Richard Fletcher is pretty good and I have an unread copy of Catlos' "Kingdoms of Faith; a New History of Islamic Spain" but can say no more about it.

Finally there is a new book ( 2024) by Nora Berend "El Cid; the Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary". I looked at a copy last weekend and decided not to pay £25 for it. From what I can tell although it undoubtedly does the cover the man himself the main topic is how his memory and legacy has been appropriated over the centuries, especially in Spain itself.  I bought the Catlos book instead.

Good luck with your search.         

     

[MWS]

If you have a Kindle Unlimited account - look up David Porrinas Gonzalez: El Cid - Historia Y Mito de un Senor de la Guerra - admittedly quite useless if you can't read Spanish, but the maps of campaigns and battles are nice.

[SJWi]

I forgot to mention the Warhammer Historical book "El Cid", nor sadly out-of-print. This was part of a series of guides/rules/army lists to accompany the Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) rules. I don't know what rules you game with but this is quite a good book albeit they tend to cost sillyprices especially on E-Bay .

[TWD]

Have you checked your local library?
When I was doing my El Cid collection I couldn't get a copy of the Fletcher book at a reasonable price but my library had a copy that I had out for several months.
Even if they don't have a copy they should be able to get one in for you via inter-library loans.
Lots of pressure on local library services at the moment and they're an amazing resource, so use 'em or risk losing 'em.

Several years later I saw a copy of the Fletcher in an Oxfam bookshop and snapped it up for under a fiver!

[RedRowan]

Another vote for The Quest for El Cid, really nice book with lots of very useful information. As SJWi said, the Warhammer El Cid book is really good too if you can get it for a reasonable price. The painting and modelling sections are particularly good if you are looking for inspiration.

Steve

[SJWi]

TWD, good shouts regarding both libraries and Oxfam ( other charities are available!). Oxfam shops can vary in what they offer plus how they price books. My local one has a pretty good history section and low prices. I've picked up some absolute bargains.

[Phillius]

Thanks for all the feedback chaps, very helpful.

I have ordered "The Quest for El Cid" and "El Cid: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Mercenary" from Amazon and await delivery.

I have some of the Medieval Warfare magazines, I should have thought to look through them first!

I hadn't thought about the Warhammer Ancients book on El Cid, I will start looking.

I am in New Zealand and play DBMM. So I have a lot of figures to paint. Something like 83 mounted figures, but at least the foot are finished and just need basing.

Thanks again, I will post pictures as the army develops.

[Rogerc]

I have a small El Cid army for both sides and I have just this week started to revisit and expand it so also keen for inspiration.

The Warhammer El Cid is brilliant, lots of colour photos with inspiration for painting your miniatures, definately worth finding.

You might also like Griff Hoskers trilogy, its fiction and not serious history of course but might just ignite the creative juices. Let us all know how you get on and maybe we can inspire each other to get some figures done and on table.

PS played a game this week with them first time in a few years so will share that via my blog soon.

[rumacara]

Not El Cid but watch the movie "Warlord" from 1965 with Charlton Heston. About a norman warlord.
It should give you some inspiration.

[Chesh]

It's been a while since I have read anything on medieval Spain, but from memory these all were all worth reading dependent on how engrossed you want to become -

- Lowney, Chris, A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, Jews in Medieval Spain
- Reilly, Bernard F., The Medieval Spains
- Fletcher, Richard, Moorish Spain

[Rogerc]

The Warhammer El Cid supplement is on ebay, seen one in UK and couple more in other countries.