As portrayed in El Cid
| Ximena, Sol, and Elvira As portrayed in El Cid |
(1080-1105) Daughter of the Cid. In historical records called Maria, she married Ramon Berenguer III the Great, Count of Barcelona, the nephew of the Berenguer of the poem.
Maria died in 1105 at the age of 25. She left two daughters: Maria, who married Bernat III, Count of Besalu, and Ximena, who married Roger III, Count of Foix.
Records indicate an earlier marriage or betrothal to Pedro Pedrez, son of Peter I of Aragon. There is no historical record of her betrothal or marriage to one of the Infantes of Carrion.
Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Osona from 1082 (jointly with Berenguer Ramon II and solely from 1097). He then greatly expanded his territory, incorporating Besalu in 1111, Provence in 1112, and Cerdagne in 1117. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer II, who was killed in December 1082, purportedly by his twin brother, Berenguer Ramon II. Only a boy, he nominally succeeded his father to co-rule with his Berenguer Ramon II. He became the sole ruler in 1097, when Berenguer Ramon II was forced into exile.
Now the Cid bethought him of Dona Ximena his wife, and of his daughters Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, whom he had left in the Monastery of St. Pedro de Cardena; and he called for Alvar Fanez and Martin Antolinez of Burgos, and spake with them, and besought them that they would go to Castille, to King Don Alfonso his Lord, and take him a present from the riches which God-had given them; and the present should be a hundred horses, saddled and bridled; and that they would kiss the King's hand for him, and beseech him to send him his wife Dona Ximena, and his daughters, and that they would tell the King all the mercy which God had shown him, and how he was at his service with Valencia and with all that he had.
And Alvar Fanez and Martin Antolinez, when they saw them coming, leapt off their horses, and went to them, and Minaya embraced Dona Ximena and both his cousins, Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, and so great was the rejoicing which they made together that no man can tell it you.
The second reason was, that I might ask you for your two daughters Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, that you would give them in marriage to the Infantes of Carrion, for this methinks would be a fit marriage, and to your honour and good.
On the morrow the Cid mounted his horse and rode into Alcudia, and brought the Infantes his sons-in-law from thence with him into the city to the Alcazar, that they might see their brides Dona Elvira and Dona Sol.
When this was done, the Cid went and seated himself on the estrado with the ladies, he and Dona Ximena in the middle, and beside him he placed Dona Elvira his eldest daughter, and by her, her spouse the Infante Diego Gonzalez; and Dona Sol was seated on the other side, by her mother, and the Infante Ferrando by her.
And the two sisters Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, came and knelt before the Cid and before Dona Ximena their mother, and said, You send us to the lands of Carrion, and we must fulfil your command; now then give us your blessing, and let us have some of your people with us in Carrion, we beseech you.
Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, I go with your favour.
And Dona Sol said to him in her great pain, Cousin, for all that our father hath deserved at your hands, give us water.
When the good man had said this, Dona Sol turned to Dona Elvira and said, Sister, the good man saith well, and it is better that we should go with him than remain and die here, for so shall we see the vengeance which I trust in God our father will give us.
Great was the joy of Dona Ximena and her daughters, and they bent their knees to the ground, and praised the name of Jesus Christ, because he had given them this vengeance for the dishonour which they had received; and Dona Elvira and Dona Sol embraced those knights many times, and would fain have kissed their hands and their feet.
He of Navarre hight Don Ramiro, and he was the son of King Don Sancho, him who was slain at Rueda; and he married with Dona Elvira, the elder: and the Infante of Aragon who married Dona Sol, the younger, hight Don Sancho, and was the son of King Don Pedro.
Howbeit it was not his fortune to have a son by Dona Sol, for he died before he came to the throne, and left no issue.
When eight days were overpast the Bishop Don Hieronymo married the Infantes of Aragon and Navarre to the daughters of the Cid in this manner: the Infante Don Ramiro of Navarre to Dona Elvira, and the Infante Don Sancho of Aragon to Dona Sol.
And at the end of fifteen days the Infante of Aragon arrived, with Dona Sol his wife, and they brought with them a hundred armed knights, all having their shields reversed hanging from the saddle bow, and all in grey cloaks, with the hoods rent.
And Dona Sol came clad in linsey-woolsey, she and all her women, for they thought that mourning was to be made for the Cid.
And Dona Sol when she beheld her father, took off her tire, and threw it upon the ground and began to tear her hair, which was like threads of gold.
Then Dona Sol kissed the hand of the Cid and of her mother, and put on her tire again, saying, Lady mother, I have committed no fault in this, forasmuch as I knew not the command of my father.
Dona Sol, who was the younger, came first, because Aragon is nearer than Navarre, and also because she was a widow; for the Infante Don Sancho, her husband, had departed three years after the death of the Cid, and had left no child.
And when the seven days were over, King Don Ramiro and Queen Dona Elvira his wife, and her sister, Dona Sol, set apart rents for the soul of Dona Ximena, and they appointed that Gil Diaz should have them for his life, and that then they should go to the Monastery for ever: and they ordained certain anniversaries for the souls of the Cid and Of Dona Ximena.
After this was done they divided between them what Dona Ximena had left, which was a great treasure in gold and in silver, and in costly garments;...the one half Queen Dona Elvira took, and Dona Sol the other.
And when they had thus divided it, Dona Sol said that all which she had in the world should be for her nephew the Infante Don Garcia Ramirez, and with the good will of Queen Elvira his mother, she adopted him then to be her son, and she took him with her to Aragon, to the lands which had been given her in dower, and bred him up till he became a young man; and after the death of his father he was made King of Navarre, as may be seen in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Spain.