Bernardo del Carpio
Bernardo del Carpio is a legendary hero of
medieval Iberian legend (namely
Spanish), comparable to
El Cid, though with less historical evidence of his actual existence.
Supposedly the nephew of
Alfonso II of Asturias, stories feature him striving against Alfonso to release his father from prison. Other stories have him as the rival and slayer of
Roland at
Roncesvaux.
Bernardo was said to be the son of Sancho, the Count of Saldana and Dona Jimena (Alfonso II's sister, therefore grandson of King
Fruela I of Asturias). Alfonso was not happy with the marriage, so he had Sancho blinded and thrown into prison and took Bernardo. He was breed in Alfonso II court. Everybody was ordered to not telling the young Bernardo who was his father (1).
Alfonso invited
Charlemagne into Iberia to defeat the
Moors, promising to name him as heir. Bernardo's victory at Roncesvaux ended that plan. But Bernardo then joined up with the Moors himself, hoping to force Alfonso into action, but Alfonso secretly had Sancho killed while in prison.
The origin of the legend of Bernardo del Carpio is in the storys song by juglars from
Kingdom of León(2). Later the Castilian poet
Pero Ferrús (fl.
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,
Roman,
Biblical,
chivalric, and
Arab heroes.
In
1624 Bernardo de Balbuena published
El Bernardo, an account of Bernardo's exploits. It was once considered one of the masterpieces of
Spanish literature.
In the opening of
Don Quixote,
Cervantes has the Don especially admiring Bernardo because he crushed Roland with his arms alone, although the context is clear that Don Quixote is placing too much credence in the fantastic stories of
romance.
Nowadays Bernardo del Carpio is seen for much as a national hero of
Kingdom of León*David Burton,
The Legend of Bernardo del Carpio: from Chronicle to Drama.
SOURCES
(1)http://geo.ya.com/conceyucatalan/hismedieval/hisme1.htm(2)http://www.sewanee.edu/Spanish/santiago/carpio.html
