Passing through Alcoceba

The poet who wrote the Afrenta de Corpes episode, which is included in the second half of El Cantar de Mío Cid, must have been very familiar with this region. After having been beaten with straps by their husbands and tied to oaks in the forest of Corpes, El Cid’s daughters took refuge at San Esteban de Gormaz, where they recovered from brutal starvation.

Álvar Fáñez and 200 knights escorted them from San Esteban to Valencia. After leaving San Esteban behind them, the ladies passed through Alcoceba, leaving it on their right. The exact geographical location of this toponymy on the map is unknown, though it probably falls somewhere in between La Olmeda and Gormaz, within the municipality of El Burgo de Osma.

Rev. PAB 27.12.18