[Gocamino] Santiago's, El Cid's and Alexander's horses

[James Eyskens]

If anyone wants to read a highly entertaining history in English of El
Cid try 'The Quest for El Cid by Richard Fletcher'.  El Cid's given name
was Rodrigo Diaz.  The great medieval epic El Poema de Mio Cid is worth
reading even in translation. I believe its far superior to the Chanson
de Roland, which is largely medieval romance.  

The movie was entertaining but it's Hollywood epic not history. 

-----Original Message-----
From: gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net
[mailto:gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net] On Behalf Of blaroli at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2006 4:03 PM
To: GoCamino at oakapple.net; saintjames at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Gocamino] Santiago's, El Cid's and Alexander's horses

When I read the posting mentioning el Cid's horse I knew that I would
get oodles of messages in response, but it was too late to "unsend" it.
This is what I know:  Alexander's horse was named Bucephalus (head of an
ox) and it was a black, scarily wild stallion. Alexander impressed his
father, Philip, by using psychology in taming the horse where Philip had
thought the horse incurably unstable. Alexander was twelve years old and
was never parted from the horse from that moment on. He rode the horse
to Asia and through countless battles until the horse died of battle
wounds at the age of 21.  Alexander was inconsolable and founded the
city of Bucephala (the modern town of Jhelum in Pakistan) in memory of
his horse whom he declared "the greatest and bravest general in
history".
After the death of the horse Alexander never fought another battle.
Plutarch and others wrote that Alexander became despondent, disengaged,
dissolute, took to drink and died not long after.
The History Channel (or National Geographic?) has shown a wonderful
documentary concluding that because of his historical position, his
extraordinariness and his own brooding nature, the only emotional
attachment that Alexander allowed himself was that to his horse.  The
documentary mentions that this would be difficult to understand by most
people, and that such is the reason why so much silliness and ridiculous
theories (and movies) have been woven around Alexander emotional
proclivities.  The documentary is very beautiful, and, throughout, you
see Alexander and his horse through images dissolving into shadows.
Unlike mighty Bucephalus , El Cid's horse, Babieca, was a puny, shy, and
sickly looking white Andalucian foal. The word Babieca (Bobao in
Portuguese,  Bobo in modern Spanish), does not have a fair equivalent in
English that I know. It  means less than stupid and more than silly, and
it can be used in an affectionate or derogatory manner.  The word was
actually used by El Cid's godfather, who was a monk and made him a gift
of the horse, , as a reproach to El Cid himself for choosing such an
unpromising specimen. Babieca grew into a sterling example of that
magnificent race of Andalucian horses (greatly distinguished and honored
in our own times). Babieca became a formidable warrior and carried El
Cid into battle for more than thirty years. Several towns named after
him disclose the respect and affection that El Cid and his army had for
the horse.
Unlike Bucephalus, Babieca survived his master by two years and died at
the unusually long age, for a horse, of forty years. No one ever rode
him again and he was lovingly taken care of by El Cid's wife, Donha
Ximena.  In his will El Cid had requested that Donha Ximena and Babieca,
upon their demise, be buried with him at the Monastery of San Pedro of
Cardenha; because of the many wars in the Iberian peninsula the bodies
of the three were moved around quite a bit until they were finally
interred at the very center of the lovely Cathedral of Burgos where all
three rest today. 
While there are no known authentic statues of Bucephalus (or Alexander,
for that matter), there are several great statues of El Cid and Babieca.
In Burgos there is a grand one outside the entrance of the Cathedral and
another one, particularly impressive, at the entrance of the bridge,
which is lined with bronze statues of medieval people, leading to the
post office on the other side of the bridge.
Not to be left behind, New York City,  which is, in its way, all things
to all people, has an impressive bronze statue of El Cid and Babieca. It
was created by the formidable sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and it is
located in front of the Hispanic Society of the United States at the
Audubon terrace in Washington Heights, near Columbia university.
Santiago's white horse was thought to be a female horse for a long
time.... Perhaps to remove the image of Santiago from the unflattering
connotations of "machismo". A "macho", in biological terms in Spanish,
is the hybrid male offspring of a horse and a donkey, unable to
reproduce and perennially aggressive and restless (to make up for
inferiority?); at any rate, it is not a complimentqry rubric; for
centuries Santiago's horse was a female specimen referred to either as
"Blanca" (white) or "Santa" (holy).  After the reconquest, and through
the euphoria of the occupation of America, etc., somehow the name and
gender of the horse disappeared from history and lore.  Today, if we
focus our binoculars on the very white horse of the Matamoros image
located above the main altar in Santiago, we will see that the horse is
most show-offishly male and, curiously, has no name.
Lastly....., no, I'm not a "horse" person in  the least. Just a
compulsive reader of history and things Santiago.
 
I should like to add, for those of you that will commence the Via de la
Plata, that a few kilometers from Seville, in Jerez de la Frontera,
there is the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre (Royal Andalucian
School of Equestrian Arts), where they have shows of the magnificint
"dancing" horses twice a week.  The famous "Spanish Riding School in
Vienna" with its Lipizzaners (of Andalucian descent) has nothing on the
Riding School in Jerez.  They are both undoubtedly magnificent, more
than anyone can say. But getting tickets to the one in Vienna is
extremely difficult and expensive, whereas to see the show in Jerez all
you need do is show up at the ticket office half an hour before the
performance.  It is very much worth it spending an extra day in Seville
to see such a great exhibition of the beauty and nobility of horse and
rider when they click.  You can ask the people at your
hotel/albergue/hostal about it, or look up the exhibition times in the
Net.  You'll be awfully g!
 lad you did.
 
Regards,
 
Rosina
 
    
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