Editing Bernardo del Carpio (section)

==Literary works about Bernardo del Carpio==
The original legend of Bernardo del Carpio was sung by the ''[[jongleur]]s'' (minstrels, professional reciters, entertainers) of the [[Kingdom of León]]. Later, the Castilian poet [[Pero Ferrús]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1380) mentions Bernardo del Carpio in one of his cantigas, which combines the theme of the good life in [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] with a series of ''loores'', or lyric paeans, to a series of [[greek mythology|Greek]], [[Roman mythology|Roman]], [[Biblical]], [[Chivalry|chivalric]], and [[Arab]] heroes.

In 1624 [[Bernardo de Balbuena]] published ''El Bernardo'', an [[epic poem]] recounting Bernardo's exploits.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Van Horne |first=John |title=''El Bernardo'' of Bernardo de Balbuena: A Study of the Poem with Particular Attention to Its Relations to the Epics of Boiardo and Aristo and to Its Significance in the Spanish Renaissance |work=University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature |volume=XII |location=Urbana, Illinois |publisher=University of Illinois |date=1927 }}</ref>

In the opening of ''[[Don Quixote]]'', [[Miguel de Cervantes]] has the protagonist especially admiring Bernardo because he crushed Roland with his arms alone, although the context is clear that Quixote is placing too much credence in the fantastic stories of [[Romance (heroic literature)|romance]].

Cervantes referred to one of his works as "the Bernardo". This uncompleted work is lost, as are almost all of Cervantes's manuscripts. Daniel Eisenberg has proposed that in Cervantes's Spain a book about a " Bernardo" must have been about Bernardo del Carpio. In contrast with Roland/Orlando, Bernardo was a Spanish hero, a national hero, and Cervantes was much in favor of celebrating Spanish heroes, or celebrating them more.