Castille in the Middle Ages lived immersed in the battles of the Reconquest and the struggles of the nobility. It is in this rough context that an epic poem of extraordinary representation of the human appears, the Cantar de Mío Cid. The poem contains a clear historical base, narrating events that occurred at the end of the 11th century, and its content was spread orally through medieval minstrels that travel from town to town retelling the popular stories. It is a typically epic poem, that is,  a poem of the exaltation of victory in great battles and conquests. Undoubtedly, his type of poem also provided a kind of propaganda message at the time. Alfonso X in his Siete Partidas, a  compilation of all the legal material of his time in work in Castille, provides a description of the sense with which these oral tales were expected to be received.  As a way of a modern motivational speaker, the minstrel had an ethical mission to spread these texts because their stories made the knights who heard them more anxious to achieve conquests in such a noble way (Las Siete Partidas, Partida II, Ley 4)

Similar to the French Chanson de Roland or the German Nibelungen among other European medieval epics, it nevertheless stands out for the singular delicacy with which the noblest feelings are expressed in the harshest and most violent environment. For example, in the scene of the exile, the Cid and his people, his army, pass through towns whose inhabitants, frightened, hide in their houses for fear of the deadly reprisal with which the king threatens anyone who dares to help the exiles. In the midst of so much contained fear and expression of strength,  only a girl dares to have a few words with the terrifying Cid and his army. After the brief conversation, El Cid leaves the city unassisted. That is, he maintains the ways of civilized life even though the advantage of the strength of his army would have allowed him to raze the city and take what he needed to feed his men. That is, Although the Cid is brave and strong, he is also pious and fair, marking of his person a type of nobility that is the product of brave deeds, as opposed to the traditional hereditary nobility that punishes him.

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The great epic poetry of Medieval Castile.

The deed of the Cantar de Mío Cid.

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