to doubt that there was such a man as the Cid, but very great reason to doubt whether he did what is attributed to him." Nor need we wonder at the obscurity which overhangs the life of a hero, contemporary with our William the Conqueror, especially since the earliest MS. of the Poema del Cid bears date either 1207 or 1307. The other chief sources of information as to the history of the Cid are the famous Chronicle, of which the earliest known edition is dated Burgos, 1593, but which was in all probability written within one hundred and fifty years after the Cid's death. This work corresponds (with some curious variations) with the Cronica General of Alfonso the Wise. There are also nearly two hundred ballads on the exploits of the Cid, some of which, judging from internal evidence, may be dated at a period not much later than the lifetime of the hero. From these, and from various old Spanish lives of more or less authority, modern historians extract the following as the principal facts of the Cid's life:—The year of his birth is variously stated, but was probably about a.d. 1040. His father was Don Diego Lainez, a descendant of one of the ancient judges of Castille, and his birthplace was Burgos. The romance of his early years, according to the chronicles, was worthy of his later exploits. Having avenged an insult offered to his father, by Count Lozano de Gomez, in the blood of the offender, the daughter of the slain count, of whom Rodrigo had been it seems enamoured before, besought the king, Fernando I., to give her in marriage to the victor; "for certain I am," thus runs the chronicle, "that his possessions will be greater than those of any man in your dominions." Rodrigo—whether impelled by ancient love, or now for the first time smitten by the charms of the damsel—consented to obey the king, but resolved first to prove himself worthy of his bride by unheard-of exploits against the Moors and the emperor of Germany. In these wars it was that he earned the title of Cid, five Moorish kings submitting at one time to him as their lord or seid. There is a bombastic account how he won the city of Calahorra for his lord by overcoming in single combat the champion of the king of Arragon, who preferred a claim to it. But the portion of the Cid's life which belongs to authentic history, may be said to commence with the death of Ferdinand, who, unwisely resolving to bequeath sovereign power to each of his children, left the kingdom of Castile to his son, Sancho II., Leon to Alfonso VI., and Galicia to Garcia; while his daughter Urraca received the city of Zamora, and her sister Elvira that of Toro. Sancho, the most able and powerful of the three, aided by the sword of Rodrigo, soon drove both his brothers from their possessions; but in attempting to seize upon Zamora, the heritage of his sister, he was assassinated, and Rodrigo now owned as lord-paramount his brother Alfonso. But, as the story goes on to relate, so solemnly did Rodrigo challenge his sovereign to swear that he was guiltless of his brother's death, that the king was visibly agitated, and never afterwards regarded the Cid with favour. Or some pretext—which the ambition of the courtiers could readily furnish—the Cid was banished from the kingdom. He betook himself first to Barcelona, and then to Saragossa, allying himself with the Moorish king, Almuctaman. There is no doubt that, at this time, Rodrigo was the chieftain of a powerful band of warriors, whose alliance was eagerly sought by any prince who might have a cause, good or bad, to maintain by arms. On the death of Almuctaman, Rodrigo became anxious to return to Castile, and his aid was welcome to King Alfonso, who, just then, was engaged in war with Jussef, the emperor of Morocco. But a second time the malice of courtiers, or the smouldering jealousy of the king, led to his being forced to fly the kingdom—his wife and children being seized, and only liberated after some time. Again his aid was sought in the hour of need, and again was he driven away by the jealousy of King Alfonso. The fugitive found an asylum in the kingdom of Valencia, where he fortified the castle of Pinnacatel, and renewed his alliance with the king of Saragossa. His first care, when he found himself again powerful, was to be avenged on his old foe, the count of Naxera; but, having become rich with the booty of a successful expedition, he turned his attention to the city of Valencia, then in a state of great distress under the rule of the Arabs. The Moorish king, Hiaya, had been assassinated in a domestic revolution; and Rodrigo, seeing that the time was favourable, laid siege to the place, and, after an obstinate resistance, became master of it. According to the Arab chronicles, the victory was stained by the most sanguinary ferocity; but the Spanish story extols the clemency and moderation of the Cid on this occasion. Probably the administration of Rodrigo was marked by a military sternness which might well account for the indignation of the vanquished. But we can gather, that, for the five years from this conquest, till his death (1084-1089) he ruled beneficently and justly—in striking contrast with the habits of his predecessors. He repelled the attempts of the Moorish king to recover his territory, and strengthened himself by various additions to the dominions he had won. Over the history of his later years, there is the same veil of fiction which hides his earlier days. We gather, however, that when he became powerful, he renewed his alliance with King Alfonso, and sent for his wife, Doña Ximena, and his daughters, Doña Elvira and Doña Sol. It would seem that this first-named lady, celebrated as his faithful companion through his later years, was not his first love, of whom we have already made mention, but a second wife, the daughter or niece of the King Alfonso. The chronicle and the old ballads relate with great pathos the matrimonial adventures of the two daughters of the Cid—how they were sought in marriage by the two counts of Carrion, who brutally ill-treated and forsook them—and how the offenders were summoned before the Cortes, made to disgorge the dowry they had thus disgracefully obtained, and deservedly punished. More historically interesting is the fact, that the two daughters of the Cid, Christina, married to the Infanta Ramiro of Navarre, and Maria, married to Ramon Berenguer III., count of Barcelona, are reckoned among the ancestors of the present royal families both of Spain and Germany. Mention is also made of a son, who died young. The death of the Cid took place in 1099, and, soon after this event, the Moors, freed from the terror of his name, recovered possession of the territory of Valencia. The remains of the Cid were interred in the convent of San Pedro de Cardeña at Burgos. They were afterwards removed in 1272 by Alfonso the Wise, and again in 1447, in 1541, and 1736, to various places. They were again disturbed by the French in 1809, but in 1826 they were restored to their original shrine at San Pedro de Cardeña. It is impossible to enumerate the various dramatic works founded on the life of the Cid. For the English reader, the best authorities are Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, and a small work entitled The Cid, by George Denis. The chronicle may be read in the original, edited with more than German learning and zeal, by Professor Huber of Berlin (Marburg, 1844). This edition is dedicated to the then reigning emperor of Austria, himself a descendant of the Cid. The Poema del Cid is also carefully edited by Ochoa, Paris, 1842; and of the ballads, the best specimens may be found in Duran's Romancero General.—F. M. W.
CIECO, Francesco, one of the first great organists on record. Phillip Villani, who flourished about the year 1343, and who lived till 1408, among the lives of illustrious Florentines, chiefly of his own times, says—"Many are the Florentines who have rendered themselves memorable by the art of music; but all those of former times have been far surpassed by Francesco Cieco, who still lives, and who during childhood was deprived of sight by the small-pox. He was the son of Jacopo, a Florentine painter of great probity and simplicity of manners; and, being arrived at adolescence, and beginning to be sensible of the misery of blindness, in order to diminish the horror of perpetual night he began in a childish manner to sing: but advancing towards maturity, and becoming more and more captivated with music, he began seriously to study it as an art—first by learning to sing, and afterwards by applying himself to the practice of instruments, particularly the organ, which he soon played, without ever having seen the keys, in so masterly and sweet a manner as astonished the hearer. Indeed his superiority was soon acknowledged so unanimously, that by the common consent of all the musicians of his time, he was publicly honoured at Venice with the laurel crown for his performance on the organ before the king of Cyprus and the duke of Venice, in the manner of a poet-laureate." Cieco died at Florence in 1390, and was buried in the church of St. Lawrence with great state.—E. F. R.
CIENFUEGOS, Nicasio Alvarez de, a Spanish poet and political writer, born at Madrid, a.d. 1764. He studied at Salamanca, and afterwards lived a retired life at Madrid for some time. His poetical works consist of two plays, entitled "Zoroeda" and the "Condesa de Castilla," several odes to peace, to spring, to Nice, and some others published after his death. Cienfuegos after a while entered public life, and was employed in the office of the chief secretary of state, and as editor of the Government
