Loyalty to ones king

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“As soon as the Cid caught sight of the King he ordered all his men to halt…He knelt down on his hands and knees on the ground and with his teeth he pulled up a mouthful of grass. With tears of joy streaming from his eyes he showed in this way his complete submission to his liege lord, Alfonso.” What would cause a grown man to act in such a manner? The Cid was the ruler of Valencia, and the leader of thousands of soldiers. The Cid has defeated countless enemies and have been victorious in all his wars, he could have been almost thought of as a man without fear. Yet, as soon as he caught sight of the King who has exiled him from his land, he broke down and acted like an animal in front of the King. The ‘loyalty’ and ‘respect’ the Cid has for King Alfonso is the deepest between any characters in the entire poem. Although loyalty and respect is the deepest between the Cid and King Alfonso, there is also a great amount of loyalty and respect among different characters also. Such as the Cid and his loyal vassal Minaya, the Cid to his wife Don Jimena, his two daughters Dona Elvira and Dona Sol, and the Cid to his army. Loyalty and respect are very important themes that progresses stronger and stronger throughout the poem, loyalty can do good and bad to loved ones, but in this poem, it eventually led to conflicts with severe consequences.

The Cid stayed loyal to King Alfonso throughout the entire poem. Never once did the Cid say anything bad or offensive towards the King. Although King Alfonso ostracized the Cid from his land, the Cid still respected the King and stayed loyal to him. The Cid was framed by Count Garcia Ordonez, Ordonez accused the Cid of greed. Ordonez told the King that the Cid kept money from him, which upset the King and eventually led to the Cid being exiled from the land. After being exiled, the Cid left the land with a small army and conquered numerous enemies and land.

Even though King Alfonso was the one who sent the Cid away, the Cid tried to regain the position he once had in King Alfonso’s heart. In trying to do so, the Cid sent “thirty horses, all saddled and bridled, with swords hanging from their saddlebows.” King Alfonso was pleasantly surprised by such an action. This again proves the amount of loyalty and respect the Cid has for King Alfonso. Not only does he still remain loyal to the King, he even sends a great porti...

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...uno Gustioz will fight in the Cid’s honor against the Infantes of Carrion: Fernando, Ansur, and Diego Gonzalez. The Cid’s three knights volunteered themselves for the battle and were not picked by the Cid. This shows the amount of loyalty and respect the Cid’s knights has for the Cid. The Cid’s knights were proud to defend their lord’s honor. All three of the Cid’s knights were victorious in all of their duels, and brought honor to the Cid and his family.

Loyalty and respect is a continuing theme in the poem. As the poem progresses, the theme of loyalty and respect evidently grows stronger and stronger. The Cid would not be a successful leader if he did not display such loyalty and respect to his troops. The Cid remained loyal to his king and his troops which paid off. By remaining loyal and fighting alongside his troops, he has gained loyalty back from his troops. The Cid led by example. Loyalty and respect is most evident between King Alfonso and the Cid, there are also strong signs of loyalty between Cid’s family and his vassals. Throughout the poem, Loyalty and respect proved to be good in many ways, but it can also cause harm to your loved ones if it is blind loyalty.

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