This study is a novel approach and significant to the always challenging relationship between historical events and their representation in literature. The author argues forcefully and lucidly that the concept of Reconquest is not a post facto reflection of literary historians, but is very much present in the texts he studies (Poema de Mio Cid, Poema de Fernán González, Mocedades de Rodrigo). By submitting the literature to a close textual analysis, he is able to validate the thematic value of the Reconquest in Medieval Spanish literature.