El Cid Campeador was the nickname of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, an 11th century Castilian nobleman and military leader who helped re-conquer Christian lands from Moorish rule in Spain. As a skilled warrior, El Cid helped various kings but was also exiled at times and offered his services to Moorish rulers. El Cid went on to capture the city of Valencia, ruling it as an independent kingdom until his death and establishing his legacy as a Spanish national hero.

1. El Cid Campeador
Spanish National Hero

2. Who is he?
El Cid Campeador is a nickname that has
lots of symbols. El Cid means “the Lord”, or
“Master”, and Campeador’s meaning is “the
Champion”, an honorable title rarely given
to a man during his lifetime.
His real name is Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar.He was
a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and
diplomat. Some of his the most popular
achievements are the capture of Valencia
and participating in Reconquista.
It’s worth saying that he became a main hero for
many works of literature.

3. “Cantar de mio Cid”
The most rich source with the facts of his life
is an epic poem “Cantar de mio Cid” written
by the unknown author. This work has lots of
re-written versions but the content doesn’t
change a lot.
It’s better to add that some specialists
compare “Cantar de mio Cid” with the most
popular Medieval poem “La Chanson de
Roland” (The song about Roland).

4. “Cantar de mio Cid”Modern Spanish translation
(a piece from first song):
De los sos ojos tan fuertemientre llorando
tornava la cabeça e estávalos catando,
vio puertas abiertas e uços sin cañados,
alcándaras vazías, sin pielles e sin mantos
e sin falcones e sin adtores mudados.
Sospiró mio Çid, ca mucho avié grandes cuidados,
fabló mio Çid bien e tan mesurado,
-Grado a ti, Señor, Padre que estás en alto,
esto me an buelto mios enemigos malos.-
Allí piensan de aguijar, allí sueltan las riendas,
a la exida de Bivar ovieron la corneja diestra
e entrando a Burgos oviéronla siniestra.
Meçió mio Çid los ombros e engrameó la tiesta,
-¡Albriçia, Álbar Fáñez, ca echados somos de tierra!-

5. “Cantar de mio Cid” English translation
(a piece from first song):
He turned and looked upon them, and he wept very sore
As he saw the yawning gateway and the hasps wrenched off the door,
And the pegs whereon no mantle nor coat of vair there hung.
There perched no moulting goshawk, and there no falc on swung.
My lord the Cid sighed deeply such grief was in his heart
And he spake well and wisely: "Oh Thou, in Heaven that art
Our Father and our Master, now I give thanks to Thee.
Of their wickedness my foemen have done this thing to me."
Then they shook out the bridle rein further to ride afar.
They had the crow on their right hand as they issued from Bivar;
And as they entered Burgos upon their left it sped.
And the Cid shrugged his shoulders, and the
Cid shook his head:“Good tidings Alvar Fanez
We are banished from our weal,
But on a day with honor shall we come unto Castile."

6. Biography
Birthing & his family:
El Cid was born in1043 AD in Vivar, also known as Castillona de Bivar, a small
town about six miles north of Burgos, the capital of Castile. His father, Diego
Laínez, was a courtier, bureaucrat, and cavalryman who had fought in several
battles. Despite the fact that El Cid's mother's family was aristocratic, in later
years the peasants would consider him one of their own. These facts about
relationship between him and lower orders are important because he became a
national hero not only thanks to his victories and courage but also to his
character, kindness, generosity and magnanimity.
Court:
Born a member of the minor nobility, Díaz was brought up at the court of
Ferdinand I in the household of the king's eldest son, Sancho. When Sancho
succeeded Ferdinand as King Sancho II in 1065, he appointed El Cid as
commander of the royal troops and standard-bearer. In 1067 Sancho made
war on his brother Alfonso, who had inherited Leon, and the Cid played an
important part in the successful campaigns of his king. King Sancho was
murdered in 1072, and his younger brother, Alfonso, came to the throne. As
it was widely suspected that Alfonso was responsible for Sancho’s death, El
Cid became regarded as a natural leader to those Castilians who weren't
particularly happy about being governed by a king of Leon, because he was
loyal to his old friend Sancho. Some years later Rodrigo was exiled from the
king’s court and he left it.But approximately 300 others knights went with
him denying all their titles and property.

7. Biography
Service under Sancho:
As a young man in 1057, Rodrigo fought against
the Moorish stronghold of Zaragoza, making its
emir al-Muqtadir a vassal of Sancho. In the spring
of 1063, Rodrigo fought in the Battle of Graus
where he killed Ramiro I of Aragon (knight who
was the leader of the enemy’s army) in single
combat, after which he received the honorific title
Campeador.
Service under Moorishes:
After exile he visited several Spanish cities
proposing service bur all of them refused to take
him. In 1081, El Cid, went on to offer his services to
the Moorish king of the city of Zaragoza, Yusuf al-
Mu'taman ibn Hud, and served both him and his
successor, Al-Mustain II. He was given the title El
Cid (The Master) and served as a leading figure in
a vibrant Moorish force consisting of Muladis,
Berbers, Arabs and Malians.

8. Biography
Fight against the compatriots:
El Cid was victorious in battles against the Moorish
king of Lérida and his Christian allies, as well as
against a large Christian army under King Sancho
Ramírez of Aragon.
Returning from the exile:
In 1086, Alfonso was defeated by Almoravids from North Africa. As time proved,
King Alfonso was simply not capable of defeating the Muslim general Yusuf. There
was only one man who could defeat him, and that man was the Cid. Alfonso overcame
his antagonism to the Cid long enough to recall him from exile. El Cid was at court on
July 1087; however, what happened after that is unclear. El Cid returned to Alfonso,
but now he had his own plans. He only stayed a short while and then returned to
Saragossa. El Cid was content to let the Almoravid armies and the armies of Alfonso
fight without his help, even when there was a chance that the armies of Almoravid
might defeat Alfonso and take over all of Alfonso's lands. The reason El Cid did not
want to fight was because he was hoping that both armies would become weak. That
would make it easier for him to carry out his own plan which was to become ruler of
the Kingdom of Valencia.

9. Ruler of Valencia
 El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began
maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish
Mediterrenean coastal city of Valencia. Several obstacles lay in his
way. First was Berenguer Ramón II, who ruled nearby Barcelona.
In May 1090, El Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle
of Tébar. Berenguer was later released and his nephew Ramón
Berenguer III married El Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward
against future conflicts.
 Along the way to Valencia, El Cid also conquered other towns,
many of which were near Valencia, such as Castejón and Alucidia.
 El Cid gradually came to have more influence on Valencia, then
ruled by al-Qadir. In October 1092 an uprising occurred in Valencia
inspired by the city's chief judge Ibn Jahhaf and the Almoravids. El
Cid began a siege of Valencia. A December 1093 attempt to break
the siege failed. By the time the siege ended in May 1094, El Cid
had carved out his own principality on the coast of the
Mediterranean. Officially El Cid ruled in the name of Alfonso; in
reality, El Cid was fully independent. The city was both Christian
and Muslim, and both Moors and Christians served in the army and

10. Babieca
In 11th century Spain, a famous order of monks, the Carthusians, were known for their horses.
A young boy named Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar was brought up near the Carthusian monastery
around Burgos. His godfather, a monk known as Pedro El Grande because of his large size, looked
after the boy much as a father would and counseled him in matters both religious and practical.
When the young Rodrigo came of age, his godfather granted him the pick of a herd of beautiful
Andalusian horses. The boy could not wait to enter the corral and make his choice. After looking
for a while, his eyes fell upon a white foal who, for some reason, stole his heart. The priest was
astonished and disappointed and called the boy to task for choosing such a frail and poorly formed
figure of a horse. Rodrigo defended his choice and named him Babieca, my stupid one, the name
that had been shouted at him for being, in the eyes of his godfather, such a poor judge of horses.
Babieca became an imposing white standard of the Andalusian race, obedient and nimble; noble
and of generous spirit. He soon grew into a formidable charger, a frightening machine of war. He
carried his master courageously into all battles for thirty years, each time towards victory.
After the death of El Cid, Babieca was never mounted again and died two years later at the
incredible age of forty. His master had asked that his wife and famous steed be buried with him at the
Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. But unfortunately their remains were removed after the
Peninsular Wars and taken to the cathedral in Burgos where they were finally interred and where they
currently rest today.

11. Ximena, El Cid’s wife
 A hero needed a wife and El Cid was married in
either in 1074 or 1075 to Doña Ximena of Oviedo,
who was Alfonso's kinswoman.
 El Cid and Ximena had three children. Their two
daughters Cristina and María both married high
nobility; Cristina to Ramiro, Lord of Monzón,
grandson of García Sánchez III of Navarre and
María, first to a prince of Aragon and second to
Ramón Berenguer III, count of Barcelona. El Cid’s
son Diego Rodríguez was tragically killed while
fighting against the invading Muslim Almoravids
from North Africa at the Battle of Consuegra in
1097.
 After his death Ximena ruled in his place for three
years until the Almoravids once again besieged the
city. Unable to hold it, she abandoned the city and
organised the evacuation of the Christians. King
Alfonso ordered the city to be destroyed to
prevent it from falling into the hands of the
Almoravids and what was left of Valencia was
captured by Masdali.

12. El Cid and his Tizona
 The Tizona is a legendary sword of
El Cid that has a rich history.
 Legend says El Cid snatched the
Tizona from King Búcar, a defeated
Moorish opponent during a fight.
Some time after his death it passed
on to the grandfather of Ferdinand II
of Aragon, known as the Catholic,
and the king who finally defeated the
Moors.
 La Tizona is a solid, seventy-five
centimetre long sword with a black
El Cid also had abecome as important which wasn’t a
handle and has sword called Colada,
rather pleasant thing but ratherArthur’s killing weapon. La
to Spanish heritage as King a lethal
Excalibur in England.
Tizona was a one-handed sword but the Colada was
longer in length and was a two-handed blade.

13. Following in the footsteps of El Cid
Campeador
The Way of El Cid is a journey through locations linked to the legendary
horseman Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid Campeador's life. The famous 12th-
century Spanish poem “Cantar de mio Cid” will be a guide for this trip.
Following the trail set out in the book, you may head through the lands of
Castile-León, Castile-La Mancha, Aragón and Valencia. The route of El Cid
runs from Vivar del Cid (Burgos), the popular knight's birthplace, to
Orihuela (Alicante), a territory won from the Moors by El Cid.

14. Movie “El Cid”
If you start being
interested in El Cid’s
life you may watch the
film “El Cid”. It was shot
in 1961 by the
American editor
Anthony Mann. The
cast is really great:
Charlton Heston,
Sophia Loren, Raf
Vallone, Geneviève
Page etc… This film

15. Firstly it should be said that after El
Cid’ s death Ximena fled north with his
body to Burgos where he was originally
buried in the monastery of San Pedro de
Cardeña but his body now lies at the centre
of the Burgos Cathedral.
El Cid had asked that his wife and famous
steed be buried with him at the Monastery of
San Pedro de Cardeña. But unfortunately their
remains were removed after the Peninsular
Wars and taken to the cathedral in Burgos
where they were finally interred and where
they currently rest today.
There also different monuments among the
Spain: in Sevilla, Burgos and some others.

16. Links, where you can find much
more information about El Cid:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Diaz_de_Vivar
 http://www.laits.utexas.edu/cid/main/folio.php?f=01r& v=nor
 http://omacl.org/Cid/cantarI.html
 http://historymedren.about.com/od/elcid/a/bio_el_cid.htm
 http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/el-cid.html
 http://www.artbycrane.com/thesupremewarhorseofspain.html
 http://anotherbagmoretravel.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/el-cid-and-his-wife-
ximena/
 http://anotherbagmoretravel.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/el-cid-and-la-tizona/
 http://www.spainisculture.com/en/rutas_culturales/grandes-
rutas/camino_del_cid.html

17. Created by:
Khizhniak Veronika
Nicky9688@mail.ru