Geopolitics of the Late Twelfth Century and the Semanticized Spaces in the Historia Roderici

Abstract The Historia Roderici or Gesta Roderici Campidocti ( c. 1185–1190) is an anonymous historiographical work centered on Rodrigo Díaz, commonly known as the Cid (d. 1099). After being exiled by Alfonso VI of León and Castile (r. 1065/1072–1109) and serving the Muslim ruler of Zaragoza, this Castilian nobleman became the lord of Valencia and an Aragonese ally. Although this study addresses potential source material, the emphasis is placed on the work’s context – more precisely, on the late twelfth-century (geo)political interests of Castile and the realignments occurring in a broader peninsular setting. By contextualizing the territorial representations of and the interactions between Rodrigo and the king who banished him, it is possible to highlight the work’s underlying spatial order. This approach also reveals how the work’s configurations of power and memory via space differ from other Cidian works while offering a more nuanced understanding of the tumultuous relationship between the protagonist and King Alfonso.