Bernardo del Carpio (also spelled Bernaldo del Carpio) is a legendary hero of the
medieval Spain
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the history of Spain that began in the 5th century following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain is marked by waves o ...
. Until the end of the nineteenth century and the labors of
Ramón Menéndez Pidal
Ramón Menéndez Pidal (; 13 March 1869 – 14 November 1968) was a Spanish philologist and historian."Ramon Menendez Pidal", ''Almanac of Famous People'' (2011) ''Biography in Context'', Gale, Detroit He worked extensively on the history of t ...
, he, not El Cid, was considered to have been the chief hero of medieval Christian Spain and was believed to be a historical person. His factual existence has been defended in the later 20th century, although the Spanish government has not designated him to be historical.
The story
The earliest form of the legend of Bernardo is found in the ''Chronicon mundi'' of
Lucas of Tuy
Lucas de Tui (or O Tudense) (died 1249) was a Kingdom of León, Leonese cleric and intellectual, remembered best as a historian. He was Bishop of Tui, Galicia, Tuy from 1239 until his death.
Born in León, León, León, Lucas was a Canon (priest), ...
(1236), followed closely by the ''
Historia Gothica'' of
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada (1243) and the ''
Primera Crónica General'' (1270).
[Albert B. Franklin III, "A Study of the Origins of the Legend of Bernardo del Carpio", ''Hispanic Review'' 5/4 (1937): 286–303. .]
According to the form of the legend found in the 13th-century chronicles, Bernardo was the son of the secret marriage of Sancho Díaz, count of
Saldaña, and Jimena, daughter of King
Alfonso II of Asturias
Alfonso II of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste (), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian of Asturias, Nepotian ...
(), although rumour had it that his mother was Timbor, sister of the
Frankish king
The Franks, Germanic peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dux, dukes and monarch, reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Franks, Salian Mero ...
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. He was born early in his Alfonso's reign, but when the king learned of the illicit marriage he had Sancho imprisoned and Jimena placed in a convent. Bernardo was raised in the royal court.
[
When Alfonso grew old, he submitted to Charlemagne in return for protection against the ]Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
. Bernardo led the resistance to this submission, forcing Alfonso to renege. Charlemagne then invaded Asturias. Bernardo, leading the army, and his Moorish ally, King Marsil of Zaragoza, defeated the Franks at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, '' Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...
, where Roland
Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...
was killed.[
After his victory, Bernardo learned that his father was still alive. He went into mourning for his living father, but Alfonso still refused to free him. When Charlemagne returned to take revenge on Marsil, Bernardo joined him against his old ally. Charlemagne richly rewarded him and brought him back to France. Twenty-four years later he returned to Asturias and fought alongside King Alfonso III at Toledo.][
When his cousin, Don Bueso, marched from France with an army, Bernardo defeated him in a duel and then defeated his army. He then demanded the freedom of his father, but was refused. A year later, he fought for the queen in a ]tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
, but his request for his father's freedom was again refused. He then decided to go on a rampage, seizing land and generally terrorizing the kingdom for two years. He built up a large retinue and constructed a castle he called El Carpio near Salamanca
Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
as his headquarters. When Alfonso III marched on El Carpio, Bernardo demanded his father's release. This was granted, but his father had died three days before. Bernardo thus lost the castle for nothing.[
Bernardo returned to France for a time before Charlemagne sent him back with soldiers and horses to fight the Moors. He liberated Berbegal, ]Barbastro
Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers C ...
and Sobrarbe
Sobrarbe is a comarca of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the north of Huesca province, making up part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as ''fabla''.
Sobrarbe is a mountainous ...
before settling down to marry Doña Galinda, daughter of Count Alardos de Latre. He repopulated the Canal de Jaca.[
]
Origins
Although presented in the chronicles as history, the story is of Bernardo is fictitious, being full of anachronisms and chronologically impossible. He would have been 82 years old when he defeated Don Bueso and his father must have been 110 at his death. The ''Primera Crónica'' frequently expresses doubt about the story. The historical figure who is most likely the origin of the legend is Bernard of Septimania
Bernard (or Bernat) of Septimania (795–844), son of William of Gellone and cousin of Charlemagne, was the Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 until his execution, and also Count of Carcassonne from 837. H ...
.[
]
Literary works about Bernardo del Carpio
The original legend of Bernardo del Carpio was sung by the ''jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enterta ...
s'' (minstrels, professional reciters, entertainers) of the Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when the Christian princes of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias along the Bay of Biscay, northern coast of the peninsula ...
. Later, the Castilian poet Pero Ferrús (fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
1380) mentions Bernardo del Carpio in one of his cantigas, which combines the theme of the good life in Castile with a series of ''loores'', or lyric paeans, to a series of Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, Biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
, chivalric
Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of various chival ...
, and Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
heroes.
In 1624 Bernardo de Balbuena published ''El Bernardo'', an epic poem
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
recounting Bernardo's exploits.
In the opening of ''Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'', Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...
has the protagonist especially admiring Bernardo because he crushed Roland with his arms alone, although the context is clear that Quixote is placing too much credence in the fantastic stories of romance.
Cervantes referred to one of his works as "the Bernardo". This uncompleted work is lost, as are almost all of Cervantes's manuscripts. Daniel Eisenberg has proposed that in Cervantes's Spain a book about a " Bernardo" must have been about Bernardo del Carpio. In contrast with Roland/Orlando, Bernardo was a Spanish hero, a national hero, and Cervantes was much in favor of celebrating Spanish heroes, or celebrating them more.
References
Further reading
*Burton, David. ''The Legend of Bernardo del Carpio: From Chronicle to Drama''.{{full citation needed, date=August 2020
*Fitzmaurice-Kelly, James. ''Chapters on Spanish Literature''. Glasgow: Good Press, 2019, at pp. 49–56.
External links
Asociación cultural Bernardo del Carpio
Bernardo Del Carpio
at heritage-history.com
Legendary Spanish people
Spanish literature