El Cid

Deceased Person

1040 – 1099

103

Who was El Cid?

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain. He was called El Cid by the Moors and El Campeador by Christians. He is the national hero of Spain.

Born a member of the minor nobility, El Cid was brought up at the court of the Spanish Emperor Ferdinand the Great and served in the household of Prince Sancho. He rose to become commander and the royal standard-bearer of Castile upon Sancho's ascension in 1065. He went on to lead the Castilian military campaigns against Sancho's brothers, the rulers of the kingdoms of Leon and Galicia as well as against the Muslim kingdoms in Andalusia. He became famous for his military prowess in these campaigns and helped enlarge Castilian territory at the expense of the Muslims while driving Sancho's brothers from their thrones. This, however, ended up putting him in a difficult position when, in 1072, Sancho died suddenly without issue, leaving his brother, Alfonso, as his only heir and ruler of the reunified empire. Although El Cid continued to serve the crown in the person of Alfonso, who was now Emperor of Spain, he lost his status in court and was held in suspicion. Finally, in 1081, he was ordered into exile.

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Born
1040
Burgos
Children
Ethnicity
  • Castilian people
Died
Jul 10, 1099
Valencia
Resting place
Burgos

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"El Cid." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/el_cid>.

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