In the year 1079 Alfonso VI sends El Cid to Seville to collect the pariahs (tributes paid by the Taifas to the Christian kingdoms to maintain peace and protect them against possible attacks by other Taifas).
When al-Motamid, King of Seville, and El Cid are processing their payment, they receive news of the movement of troops by Abd Allah, King of the Taifa of Granada, together with Christian troops (headed by García-Ordoñez, Count of Nájera and personal friend of Alfonso VI) to Seville. El Cid tried to avoid combat but García-Ordoñez's insistence made El Cid join his troops to those of al-Motamid, a tributary of his king, and thus defeat the Granadans and their allies. El Cid captured García-Ordoñez and the king of Granada and had them chained for three days, as a lesson. Al-Mutamid paid, delighted, the outcasts and made several personal gifts to the Cid, including Bavieca.
Back at court, El Cid made another mistake:he spent one night in the castle of Luna, where his younger brother García (to whom his father Fernando left Galicia) was confined, by order of King Alfonso.
The Count of Nájera took advantage of all this to accuse El Cid of appropriating part of the pariahs of Seville and colluding with García to overthrow the king. Alfonso listened to his friend García-Ordoñez and exiled El Cid in the year 1081.
HDH considerations:
- Alfonso VI was predisposed to believe his friend García-Ordoñez before the Cid.
- The confrontation between Taifas benefited the Christian king. Possibly the confrontation between Granada (together with García-Ordoñez) and Seville was engineered in the Christian court.
- El Cid collected the pariahs and al-Motamid gave him personal gifts. The outcasts arrived at their destination intact.
Source:Passages of History – Juan Antonio Cebrián, Truth and Legend – José Luis Olaizola, Decisive Moments in Spain – Gustavo Villapalos.
