Editing El Cid (section)

===Service under Alfonso VI===
[[File:Jura de Santa Gadea.jpg|thumb|Marcos Giráldez de Acosta painting (1864) depicting the "[[Santa Gadea]] Oath". In the middle of the scene, [[Alfonso VI of León and Castile|Alfonso VI]] (with red cape) is swearing with his right hand on the [[Bible]] that he did not take part in the murder of his brother [[Sancho II of Castile|Sancho II]], while El Cid stands as a witness in front of him.]]

Sancho was assassinated in 1072, during a siege of his sister's town of Zamora.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Catlos |first1=Brian |title=Infidel kings and Unholy Warriors: Faith, power, and violence in the age of crusade and jihad |date=2015 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |chapter=The Cid Rides Again |page=73}}</ref> Since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his power passed to his brother Alfonso who, almost immediately, returned from exile in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and took his seat as king of Castile and León. He was, however, deeply suspected of having been involved in Sancho's murder. According to the 11th century epic poem ''[[Cantar de mio Cid]]'', the Castilian nobility led by El Cid and a dozen "oath-helpers" forced Alfonso to [[oath|swear]] publicly on holy relics multiple times in front of [[Santa Gadea]] ([[Saint Agatha]]) Church in [[Burgos]] that he did not participate in the plot to kill his brother. This is not mentioned in the more reliable 12th century chronicle ''[[Historia Roderici]]'', however. El Cid's position as ''armiger regis'' was taken away and given to his enemy, Count [[García Ordóñez]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Peter Edward |date=2024-04-18 |title=El Cid |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/El-Cid-Castilian-military-leader |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

In 1079, El Cid was sent by Alfonso VI to [[Seville]] to the court of [[Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad|al-Mutamid]] to collect the ''[[parias]]'' owed by that ''[[taifa]]'' to León–Castile.<ref name="Chaytor-3">{{Cite book|author=Chaytor, Henry John|year=1933|chapter=Chapter 3: The Reconquest|title=A History of Aragon and Catalonia|location=London|publisher=Methuan|pages=39–40|url=http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/achistory.htm}}</ref> While he was there Granada, assisted by other Castilian knights, attacked Seville, and El Cid and his forces repulsed the Christian and Grenadine attackers at the [[Battle of Cabra]], in the (probably mistaken) belief that he was defending the king's tributary. During the aftermath of this battle the Muslim troops under El Cid's command would hail him as Sayyidi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Catlos |first1=Brian |title=Infidel kings and Unholy Warriors: Faith, power, and violence in the age of crusade and jihad |date=2015 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |chapter=The Cid Rides Again |page=74}}</ref> Count García Ordóñez and the other Castilian leaders<ref>The ''[[Historia Roderici]]'' says that the other two Castilian leaders were Diego Pérez and Lope Sánchez. {{Cite book|author=de los Rios, José Amador|title=Historia Crítica de la Literatura Española, Tomo III, (II Parte, Subciclo I) (The History and Criticism of Spanish Literature, Volume III (Second Part, subpart I))|publisher=J. Rodriguez|year=1863|location=Madrid, Spain|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ADkLAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA104 104]|language=es|chapter=Capitulo 3: Primeros Monumentos Escritos de la Poesía Castellana (Chapter 3: First-Written Monuments of Castilian Poetry)}}</ref> were taken captive and held for three days before being released.<ref name="Chaytor-3"/>