Project 5: Le Cid Resource Guide: The Historical Era of El Cid

1. El Cid: This resource is linked to a larger source that describes famous Spanish people in history. This resource describes the life of El Cid from beginning to end.

http://www.ctspanish.com/legends/elcid.htm

This resource covers an excellent amount of information about the life of El Cid and Spain's ability to push the Moors out of Spain with the leadership of El Cid. The article also details how El Cid spent more of his time fighting other Spaniards and fighting for other kings before he rose to power and ruled Valencia, a kingdom of Spain. The resource makes it known that El Cid never completely pushed the Moors out of Spain; however, he did contribute to conquering much of the land that the Moors had previously possessed. This resource is valuable due to the detailed description it gives of the life of El Cid, and to a scenery designer it gives them the sense of what time period they are dealing with.

2. Facts about El Cid: This resource gives a description of El Cid's life which is divided up in sections pertaining to each other.

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/el-cid.htm

This resource provides interesting facts about El Cid and divides his life up into sections such as El Cid's banishment from Spain, his famous battles, and his ultimate rise to power in Valencia. Besides paragraphs of everyday information this resource also contains bullets that give unknown interesting facts about El Cid. This site is valuable due to the usually unknown facts that are provided that could assist a scenery designer.

3. Myth Encyclopedia: Cid, El: This resource takes a different perspective of El Cid and describes the tales made from El Cid.

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Cid-El.html

This resource starts off by providing the basic information of El Cid regarding his life; however, it also describes El Cid's life when he is mainly dealing with the Moors and his actions for or against them. This resource also describes the tales, poems, plays, and epics that were written about El Cid by Christians and Moors after his death in 1099. It also describes how a certain tale was the basis for Pierre Corneille's 1636 tragedy Le Cid. This source is valuable due to bountiful supply of poems and plays provided to assist a scenery designer.

4. El Cid: National Hero of Spain: This resource gives a massive description of El Cid's life and tales written about him.

http://forum.stirpes.net/biographies/8555-cid-national-hero-spain.html

This resource goes into grave detail in describing El Cid's life which is divided up into two sections, the first describing El Cid's rise to power and fighting the Moors, the second greatly describes the same occurrences but in great detail. The second section also talks about the tales and poems that were written about El Cid prior to his death including the basis for Le Cid. This resource is valuable due to its substantial amount of information provided to understand El Cid in life and tale.

5. Infoplease: El Cid Military Leader: This resource simply tell the life of El Cid from a military perspective.

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/elcid.html

This resource although small is to the point and simply describes the life of El Cid from a military standpoint and his accomplishments on the battlefields. It describes how he was called El Cid by the Moors but his countrymen called him El Campeador which means the champion, so his name by what we refer to him as is the Moorish name given to him. It also describes how the tales written about him after his death were only written because of his great military career which so many people respected him for. For a scenery designer this is valuable because the military perspective could assist them in some different scenery ideas.

6. Battles of El Cid: This resource is divided up into several descriptions of battles that El Cid fought in and led armies to victory.

http://perso.wanadoo.es/ibg3/med/cid.html

This resource gives detail descriptions of battles such as Graus, Zaragoza, and his personal battles that he fought once he was ruler. It also describes the consequences of fighting against the Moors because when El Cid died in 1099 the Moors poured into Spain and took control of Valencia, El Cid's home city. This resource also contains links at the bottom of the page for the viewer to view the poem of El Cid, the tale, the song, and many other links to find more information on El Cid.

7. Scenery of Valencia: This resource is a PDF file that shows the scenery and map of Valencia.

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/files/publicacion/doc/paisajes_in.pdf

This resource was chosen to show the viewer what the landscape, geography, and scenery of Valencia, Spain looks like to give them an idea of what El Cid was trying to preserve in the late 11th century. Although this file pertains to what Valencia looks like today, Spain for the most part has not change since the 11th century. The file shows scenery and antique building structures. I believe this file is excellent for a scenery designer of Le Cid to get an idea of what the scenery should look like.

8. The Milli Gazette: Muslim Influence in Spain: This resource takes a different perspective showing the reader the Moorish influences in Spain.

http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01112001/03.htm

This resource shows the reader the many influences the Moors left in Spain after they were finally oust back into Africa. I believe for a scenery designer, although there is only one picture, this resource can give descent descriptions so Moorish influence can applied to an Le Cid production. The one picture however does show heavy Moorish influence on the side of a building that could help in applying to a set.

9. Moorish influence on Spanish Architecture: This resource also gives description and many pictures of Moorish influence in Spain.

http://www.xmission.com:8000/~dderhak/index/moors.htm

This resource gives an excellent account of historical references to Moorish influence in Spain by describing the advances that Moors brought in architecture and education. This resource contains many pictures of Spanish buildings heavily influenced by Moorish design. These pictures could most certainly help a scenery designer for a Le Cid production apply the correct scenery designs to the play.

10. Rolf Hicker Photography: Moorish Influence in Spain: This resource is excellent for scenery designers in a Le Cid production.

http://www.hickerphoto.com/moorish-architecture-pictures-photos.htm

This resource contains at first pictures of famous buildings in Spain that are heavily influenced by Moorish design then under each picture it tells why it looks the way it does. After the pictures on the page the author goes into detail describing why and how the buildings are designed the way they are. This resource is a scenery designers paradise because not only does it give the necessary pictures for designing purposed, but is also gives the information back up the pictures telling why the Moors influenced the buildings the way they did.