From Freelancer to Count of Valencia: El Cid's Rise to Power via his Free Lance
The Power of Freelancing: El Cid's Tale of Hard Work, grit, and leadership.
As I explore the world of freelancing, I'm reminded that this concept isn't a new one. People have been pursuing freelance work for centuries.
Recently, I attended a Trends.co event where agency owners shared their experiences. It was interesting to see how many of them had become freelancers due to different circumstances such as taking advantage of an opportunity, dissatisfaction with their jobs, or being downsized. These freelancers specialized in various fields including programming Saas, design, and marketing.
It got me thinking, the makeup of the word “freelance” are the words “free” and “lance”. Back during medieval times, knights/warriors who did not have a fiefdom had their “lances freed” from any lord. If they did not make a vow of loyalty to a lord, then they were “free lances.” Similar concepts to this include the Ronin of the Warring States Japan as well as the Condottieri of Renaissance Italy.
However, if one freelancer became the leader of a team of freelances, there is one thing that will make this one person stand out. This person is now essentially a mercenary captain that led a team of free lancers, and they could be influential in their own right.
One person who lived this successfully and eventually became the national Hero of Spain was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known by the name El Cid.
To understand how El Cid transitioned from a Knight into becoming a freelancer, creating an agency and finally creating his own business (becoming the Count of Valencia), we need to start at the beginning and look at his background:
El Cid worked for King Sancho, who was fighting for the reunification of the kingdom of Leon y Castile. El Cid’s father worked for the previous king (Sancho’s father), but the previous king unwisely split his kingdom up amongst his sons. El Cid at first worked for Sancho by default since he was the oldest son, and fought many battles against his boss’s siblings, most notably Alfonso, the second son.
However. Sancho, died from the hands of an assassin and Alfonso became the new king of Castile; El Cid found himself working for his former boss's enemy. There were rumors that Alfonso had killed Sancho, so El Cid literally dragged his new boss to the Cathedral, asked him to swear on the Bible that he had nothing to do with it. Despite Alfonso swearing that he had nothing to do with it and El Cid swearing fealty to him, their relationship was strained. Alfonso ended up firing El Cid from his position. Tensions escalated when Alfonso sent El Cid's replacement to monitor him, which ultimately resulted in conflict and El Cid's exile from the kingdom.
El Cid eventually became a mercenary and took many jobs around the Iberian Peninsula. Just like a real-life Dungeons and Dragons adventurer, El Cid went around from town to town going to taverns to get leads for quests and jobs, and eventually made a name for himself as a very reliable mercenary captain once he had a group going. He developed fame amongst both Christians and Muslims.
His biggest break happened when he found employment for the Amir of Zaragoza. He was employed by the Amir of Zaragoza for around a decade, and during this time he used his earnings to develop his own small fiefdom and a personal army of freelancers.
In 1086, the Almoravids, a dynasty of North African origin, launched an invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and brutally overpowered everything in their path. It got so bad that his old boss King Alfonso asked him to fight against this new force, which El Cid willingly did as a freelancer, taking his agency (mercenary company) with him. The Almoravids eventually killed the Emir of Valencia (one of their allies) in a battle and seeing this opportunity El Cid quickly took it over in the name of its defense and became the new Count of Valencia. He was so powerful after becoming the count that he even eventually controlled the modern-day city of Barcelona as well and kept the Almoravids from controlling that region—repeatedly defeating them in battle.
This is the power of freelancing. While you are not your own king, you can still accumulate power and reputation. Eventually you can be your own boss and seize the opportunity to get some real power. Just like El Cid, you too can go from being a freelancer to eventually your equivalent of being the Count of Valencia.
El Cid's journey from a fired employee to a legendary freelancer turned agency owner (Mercenary Captain) is an inspiring tale. Contemporary freelancers can draw inspiration from El Cid's dedication, hard work, and his success in becoming his own boss. They should look at El Cid's story as a reminder of the opportunities that hard work can bring even during the most difficult times. An economic downturn was nowhere near as chaotic as the Reconquista and there is always opportunity in every crisis.