Ximena
Ximena
5 min read
Ximena Díaz was the wife of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid. A semi-legendary figure of medieval Spanish literature, she was immortalized in the 'Cantar de mio Cid' and later in Corneille's 'Le Cid' (1637), where she embodies the conflict between love and honor.
Key Facts
- Wife of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid), a historical figure of the 11th century (circa 1043–1099)
- Central character of the 'Cantar de mio Cid', a Castilian epic (circa 1200)
- Becomes 'Chimène' in Pierre Corneille's 'Le Cid' (1637)
- Embodies the Cornelian dilemma between her love for Rodrigue and family honor
Works & Achievements
Ximena's historical achievement: after El Cid's death, she governed and defended the city of Valencia for nearly three years.
The oldest surviving Castilian epic poem, in which Ximena embodies the faithful wife and noble matriarch.
A Spanish drama that reinvents the character and serves as the direct source for Corneille.
A major French tragicomedy in which Ximena becomes Chimène, torn between her love for Rodrigue and her father's honor.
An opera premiered in Paris in which Chimène is one of the great roles of the Romantic operatic repertoire.
A sweeping cinematic epic in which Sophia Loren plays Chimène alongside Charlton Heston.
Anecdotes
Ximena (Jimena Díaz in Spanish) is not merely a fictional character: she was a very real woman of the 11th century. A document dated 19 July 1074, the 'carta de arras', preserves a record of the property Rodrigo gave her upon their marriage. This parchment is one of the few written proofs of her existence.
After the Cid's death in 1099, Ximena did not simply mourn her husband: she took charge of the government of Valencia and held the besieged city for nearly three years against the Almoravids. In 1102, forced to give up the stronghold, she had the city burned so as to leave nothing for the enemy before withdrawing to Castile.
In Corneille's tragicomedy (1637), Ximena becomes Chimène, and the story is entirely reworked: Rodrigue kills Chimène's father in a duel to avenge his own father's honor. The young woman must then demand from the king the head of the man she loves — hence the famous tension between love and duty.
The success of Corneille's 'Le Cid' set off a fierce controversy in 1637-1638, the 'Querelle du Cid' (Quarrel of Le Cid). The newly founded Académie française reproached the play for failing to respect the rules of theater and judged it scandalous that Chimène could even consider marrying her father's murderer.
The remains of Ximena and the Cid travelled after their deaths. Long buried at the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, near Burgos, their remains were finally moved in 1921 to Burgos Cathedral, where the two spouses lie side by side beneath the transept.
Primary Sources
Deed of donation by which Rodrigo Díaz guarantees his wife Jimena lands and goods on the occasion of their marriage — the oldest document attesting to the real existence of Ximena.
“Llorando de los ojos, que non viestes atal, / assís parten unos d'otros commo la uña de la carne.” (Weeping bitterly as was never seen before, they part from one another like the fingernail from the flesh.) — farewell of the Cid and Ximena at the monastery of Cardeña.
Latin chronicle recounting the life of Rodrigo Díaz, which mentions his wife Ximena as descended from a noble lineage related to the royal house of León.
Chimène to Rodrigue: “Go, I do not hate you.” — a restrained admission in which love breaks through despite the duty of vengeance (act III, scene 4).
Key Places
Village near Burgos, birthplace of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar and the couple's first home.
City conquered by the Cid where Ximena lived, and which she then governed alone from 1099 to 1102 before abandoning it to the Almoravids.
Abbey near Burgos where the Cid and later Ximena were buried, and the setting of the farewell scene in the 'Cantar'.
Since 1921, the final resting place of Ximena and the Cid, reunited beneath the transept of the Gothic building.
City in Spain where Corneille sets the action of 'The Cid' and where Chimène's drama unfolds.