Mocedades de Rodrigo - Date and Authorship

Date and Authorship

Alan Deyermond places the writing of the manuscript around 1360 in the region of Palencia, credited to an educated author, possibly a priest, who, according to Deyermond and Samuel G. Armistead, was re-elaborating a text from the second half of the 13th century, now lost, and which is known by the name of "Gesta de las Mocedades de Rodrigo."

The fact that earlier versions of the poem do not allude at all to the diocese of Palencia suggests that the work was composed to publicise this ecclesiastical demarcation during a period of time spanning an economic and political crisis. To associate the figure of an already very legendary Cid to the history of this religious demarcation was to bring parishioners and resources to the bishop. This same motivation had already been present in the propagandist work of Gonzalo de Berceo with respect to San Millán de la Cogolla.

On the other hand, Juan Victorio postulates the author to be a native of Zamora (who very well may be related professionally with the diocese of Palencia) and educated, as shown by the author's diplomatic and heraldic knowledge. His theory is supported by the presence in The Mocedades of some Leonese linguistics, the knowledge of Zamorano microtoponymy shown by the author, the constant placing of the king's court in Zamoma in the poem, the encounter that Rodrigo has with King Ferdnando in Granja de Moreruela (Zamora), and imprecisions that deal with the local Palentine traditions that the cantar contains.

Victorio also indicates that, apart from the propagandistic zeal of the diocese of Palencia (where the poem could be drafted, notwithstanding the aforemention of the author's origin) the author shows a convencing political positioning in favor of Peter I the Cruel or the Lawful in the war confronting the candidate of the House of Trastámara, the future Henry II, between the years 1357 and 1369. One could adduce that in The Mocedades that the enemies of the young Rodrigo are the same who, in this conflict contemporary to the author, are enemies to King Peter: the Kingdom of Aragon, the French monarch and the Pope. In this way, the author not only uses this text to promote ecclesiastical interests, but also political.