Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain . Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve into El Çid ( Spanish: [el ˈθið] , Old Spanish: [el ˈts̻id] ), and the Spanish honorific El Campeador ("the Champion"). He was born in Vivar , a village near the city of Burgos .
84-659: Rodrigo Díaz may refer to: Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , commonly known as El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de los Cameros , troubadour Rodrigo Ezequiel Díaz (born 1981), Argentine footballer Rodrigo Díaz (equestrian) (born 1978), Colombian Olympic equestrian Rodrigo Díaz (swimmer) (born 1984), Guatemalan swimmer Rodrigo Díaz (handballer) (born 1988), Chilean handball player Rodrigo Díaz (bishop) (died 1249), Roman Catholic prelate Rodrigo Guirao Díaz (born 1980), Argentine actor Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz (born 1956), Cuban diplomat and politician [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
168-526: A Spanish TV series with Jaime Lorente starring as El Cid . Ferdinand the Great Ferdinand I ( c. 1015 – 24 December 1065), called the Great ( el Magno ), was the count of Castile from his uncle's death in 1029 and the king of León after defeating his brother-in-law in 1037. According to tradition, he was the first to have himself crowned Emperor of Spain (1056), and his heirs carried on
252-478: A century of Leonese decline. Nevertheless, "[t]he internal consolidation of the realm of León–Castilla under Fernando el Magno and [his queen] Sancha (1037–1065) is a history that remains to be researched and written." There is some disagreement concerning the order of birth of Sancho III's sons, and of Ferdinand's place among them. He was certainly a younger son, and he was probably born later than 1011, by which date his parents are known to have married. Most, and
336-650: A daughter of a Count Diego Fernández de Oviedo . Tradition states that when El Cid first laid eyes on her, he was enamoured of her great beauty. El Cid and Jimena had two daughters, Cristina and María, and a son. The latter, Diego Rodríguez , was killed while fighting against the invading Muslim Almoravids from North Africa at the Battle of Consuegra in 1097. El Cid's daughters Cristina Rodríguez and María both married into noble families. Cristina married Ramiro , Lord of Monzón and grandson of García Sánchez III of Navarre . Her own son, El Cid's grandson, would be elevated to
420-571: A leading figure in a diverse Moorish force consisting of Muwallads , Berbers , Arabs , and Malians within the respective Taifa. According to Moorish accounts: Andalusi Knights found El Cid their foe ill, thirsty and exiled from the court of Alfonso , he was presented before the elderly Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud and accepted command of the forces of the Taifa of Zaragoza as their Master. In his History of Medieval Spain (Cornell University Press, 1975), Joseph F. O'Callaghan writes: That kingdom
504-472: A member of the minor nobility, El Cid was brought up at the court of Ferdinand the Great and served Ferdinand's son, Sancho II of León and Castile . He rose to become the commander and royal standard-bearer ( armiger regis ) of Castile upon Sancho's ascension in 1065. El Cid went on to lead the Castilian military campaigns against Sancho's brothers, Alfonso VI of León and García II of Galicia , as well as in
588-439: A novel approach to planning strategy as well, holding what might be called " brainstorming " sessions before each battle to discuss tactics. They frequently used unexpected strategies, engaging in what modern generals would call psychological warfare —waiting for the enemy to be paralyzed with terror and then attacking them suddenly; distracting the enemy with a small group of soldiers, etc. (El Cid used this distraction in capturing
672-577: A synod in Florence , the Emperor Henry III urged Victor II to prohibit under severe penalties the use of the imperial title by Ferdinand of León. This story is generally regarded as apocryphal, although some modern authors have accepted it uncritically or seen a kernel of historical truth in it. Spanish historian A. Ballesteros argued that Ferdinand adopted the title in opposition to Henry III's imperial pretensions. German historian E. E. Stengel believed
756-496: A young man in 1057, El Cid fought against the Moorish stronghold of Zaragoza , making its emir al-Muqtadir a vassal of Sancho. In the spring of 1063, El Cid fought in the Battle of Graus , where Ferdinand's half-brother, Ramiro I of Aragon , was laying siege to the Moorish town of Graus, which was fought on Zaragozan lands in the valley of the river Cinca . Al-Muqtadir, accompanied by Castilian troops including El Cid, fought against
840-477: Is a charter of 1 November 1032 from the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza , which does not mention his father, but dates it to the time of "Fernando Sánchez bearing the county". Sancho's decision to name his son as count in Castile preserved its high degree of autonomy, although no Castilian document after 1028 is dated by the reign of Bermudo III nor is he ever named as king of León. The only sovereign whose regnal year
924-424: Is believed that the legend originated shortly after Jimena entered Burgos, and that it is derived from the manner in which Jimena's procession rode into the city, i.e. alongside her deceased husband. During his campaigns, El Cid often ordered that books by classic Roman and Greek authors on military themes be read aloud to him and his troops, for both entertainment and inspiration before battle. El Cid's army had
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#17328514056621008-699: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Rodrigo D%C3%ADaz de Vivar As the head of his loyal knights, he came to dominate the Levante of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 11th century. He reclaimed the Taifa of Valencia from Moorish control for a brief period during the Reconquista , ruling the Principality of Valencia from 17 June 1094 until his death in 1099. His wife, Jimena Díaz , inherited
1092-584: Is plausibly identifiable with Victor II ). Ferdinand was prepared to pay, but one of his vassals, later known as El Cid , who in reality was a youth during Ferdinand's reign, declared a war on the pope, the emperor and the Frank, and the latter rescinded their demand. For this reason "Don Fernando was afterwards called ‘the Great’: the peer of an emperor". In the sixteenth century this account re-appeared, extended and elaborated, by Juan de Mariana , who wrote that in 1055, at
1176-536: Is referred to first as "king", then as "great emperor", and finally just as "emperor" alongside his consort, who is first called "queen" then "empress". In the fourteenth century a legend appeared in various chronicles according to which the pope , the Holy Roman emperor , and the king of France demanded a tribute from Ferdinand. In certain versions the pope is named Urban (although it could not have been either Urban I or Urban II ) and in other versions Victor (which
1260-642: Is sometimes said to have had himself crowned emperor in 1056. The imperial title was only used on one other occasion during his reign. A document of 1058 dates itself "in the time of the most serene prince Lord Ferdinand and his consort Queen Sancha" and later qualifies him as "this emperor, the aforesaid Ferdinand". After becoming ill during the Siege of Valencia and the Battle of Paterna , Ferdinand died on 24 December 1065, in León, with many manifestations of ardent piety, having laid aside his crown and royal mantle, dressed in
1344-689: The Battle of Almenar . In 1084, he defeated the Aragonese at the Battle of Morella near Tortosa , but in autumn the Castilians started a loose siege of Toledo and later the next year the Christians captured Salamanca , a stronghold of the Taifa of Toledo . In 1086, the Almoravid invasion of the Iberian Peninsula , through and around Gibraltar , began. The Almoravids, a Berber dynasty from North Africa , led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin , were asked to help defend
1428-414: The Battle of Atapuerca and reduced Navarre to a vassal state under his late brother's young son, Sancho García IV . Although Navarre at that time included the traditionally Castilian lands of Álava and La Rioja , Ferdinand demanded the cession only of Bureba . Over the next decade, he gradually extended his control over more of the western territory of Navarre at the expense of Sancho IV, although this
1512-624: The Roman road that lay between Toledo and Zaragoza . The success of the campaign was made possible by the preoccupation of the Zaragozan emir, Ahmad al-Muqtadir , with attacking the neighboring taifa of Tortosa and defending his northeastern frontier from Ramiro I of Aragon and Raymond Berengar I of Barcelona . The emir, up until then paying tribute to Sancho IV of Navarre, submitted to Ferdinand and agreed to pay parias . Although probably originally meant to be temporary, Ferdinand managed to enforce
1596-483: The 11th century epic poem Cantar de mio Cid , the Castilian nobility led by El Cid and a dozen "oath-helpers" forced Alfonso to swear publicly on holy relics multiple times in front of Santa Gadea ( Saint Agatha ) Church in Burgos that he did not participate in the plot to kill his brother. This is not mentioned in the more reliable 12th century chronicle Historia Roderici , however. El Cid's position as armiger regis
1680-484: The Almoravids besieged the city. But he defeated them and died 5 years later, on July 10, 1099. Afterward Valencia was captured by Mazdali on May 5, 1102. Jimena fled to Burgos, Castile, in 1101. She rode into the town with her retinue and the body of El Cid. Originally buried in Castile in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña , his body now lies at the center of Burgos Cathedral . After his demise, but still during
1764-518: The Almoravids in 1102. The name El Cid ( Spanish: [el ˈθið] ) is a modern Spanish denomination composed of the article el meaning "the" and Cid , which derives from the Old Castilian loan word Çid borrowed from the dialectal Arabic word سيد sîdi or sayyid , which means "lord" or "master". The Mozarabs or the Arabs that served in his ranks may have addressed him in this way, which
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#17328514056621848-544: The Aragonese. The party slew Ramiro I, setting the Aragonese army on the run, and emerged victorious. One legend has said that during the conflict, El Cid killed an Aragonese knight in single combat, thereby receiving the honorific title " Campeador ". When Ferdinand died, Sancho continued to enlarge his territory, conquering both Christian strongholds and the Moorish cities of Zamora and Badajoz . When Sancho learned that Alfonso
1932-626: The Christian cognomen himself. The whole combination Cid Campeador is first documented c. 1195 in the Navarro-Aragonese Linage de Rodric Díaz [ es ] included in the Liber Regum under the formula mio Cid el Campeador . El Cid was born Rodrigo Díaz circa 1043 in Vivar , also known as Castillona de Bivar, a small town about ten kilometers (or six miles) north of Burgos ,
2016-737: The Christians may have transliterated and adopted. Historians, however, have not yet found contemporary records referring to Rodrigo as Cid. Arab sources use instead Rudriq , Ludriq al-Kanbiyatur or al-Qanbiyatur ( Rodrigo el Campeador ). The cognomen Campeador derives from Latin campi doctor, which means "battlefield master". He probably gained it during the campaigns of King Sancho II of Castile against his brothers, kings Alfonso VI of León and García II of Galicia . While his contemporaries left no historical sources that would have addressed him as Cid , they left plenty of Christian and Arab records, some even signed documents with his autograph, addressing him as Campeador , which prove that he used
2100-541: The Cid". In 1929, Chilean writer Vicente Huidobro published his poetic novel Mío Cid Campeador. Hazaña. This work, together with other novels (and plays) he published between 1929 and 1939, defied the traditional realistic style of the early 20th century Chilean novel. The English version was published in 1931. Georges Bizet worked on Don Rodrigue in 1873 that was set aside and never completed. Jules Massenet wrote an opera, Le Cid , in 1885, based on Corneille's play of
2184-579: The Duero, Ferdinand began to bring the valley of the Mondego under his control, first taking Viseu in its middle stretch on 25 July 1058 and then moving down towards the sea. It was "a long and grueling battle" before Coimbra , at the mouth of the Mondego, was taken on 25 July 1064 after a six-month siege . In 1065, Ferdinand embarked on his last military campaign. He invaded the taifa of Valencia and laid siege to
2268-781: The Latinized expression, ego Rudericus Campidoctor . The title "Campeador" thus comes from the Latin Campidoctor , literally meaning "Teacher of the Field", but translatable as "Master of the Battlefield". Arabic sources from the late 11th century and early 12th century call him الكنبيطور ( al-Kanbīṭūr ), القنبيطور ( al-Qanbīṭūr ), also preceded by Rudrīq or Ludrīq , which are Arabized forms of his title and name, respectively. The epithet of "El Cid" meant "the Lord", probably from
2352-600: The Leonese monarch explicitly, dating themselves by the reign of "king Bermudo and Ferdinand, count in his realms". In a dispute over the territory between the Cea and Pisuerga, Ferdinand, nominally a vassal of Bermudo III, defeated and killed his suzerain at the Battle of Tamarón on 4 September 1037. Ferdinand took possession of León by right of his wife, and on 22 June 1038 had himself crowned and anointed king in León. On 15 September 1054, Ferdinand defeated his elder brother García at
2436-538: The Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia . Several obstacles lay in his way. First was Berenguer Ramon II, who ruled nearby Barcelona . In May 1090, El Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle of Tébar (nowadays Pinar de Tévar, near Monroyo , Teruel ). Berenguer was later released and his nephew Ramon Berenguer III married El Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts. Along
2520-607: The Muslim kingdoms in al-Andalus . He became renowned for his military prowess in these campaigns, which helped expand the territory of the Crown of Castile at the expense of the Muslims and Sancho's brothers' kingdoms. When conspirators murdered Sancho in 1072, El Cid found himself in a difficult situation. Since Sancho was childless, the throne passed to his brother Alfonso, whom El Cid had helped remove from power. Although El Cid continued to serve
2604-465: The Muslim rulers of Lérida and their Christian allies, as well as against a large Christian army under King Sancho Ramírez of Aragon. In 1086, an expeditionary army of North African Almoravids inflicted a severe defeat to Castile, compelling Alfonso to overcome the resentment he harboured against El Cid. The terms for El Cid's return to Christian service must have been attractive enough since El Cid soon found himself fighting for his former lord. Over
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2688-620: The Reconquista, making him a legendary figure in Spain. El Cid is one of the few examples of knight errantry formally recognized by the priest in Miguel de Cervantes 's Don Quixote (1605–1615). In the early 17th century, the Spanish writer Guillén de Castro wrote a play called Las Mocedades del Cid , on which French playwright Pierre Corneille based one of his most famous tragicomedies, Le Cid . He
2772-449: The basis of these documents, Gonzalo Martínez Díez places Ferdinand third of the known legitimate sons of Sancho III (Ramiro being a bastard born before Sancho's marriage to Muniadona), and his birth no earlier than 1015. The Crónica de Alaón renovada , which Martínez Díez dates to 1154, but which other scholars dismiss as a late medieval concoction, lists García, Ferdinand and Gonzalo as Sancho III's sons by Muniadona in that order, but in
2856-555: 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. However, his relatives were not major court officials; documents show that El Cid's paternal grandfather, Laín, confirmed only five documents of Ferdinand I 's; his maternal grandfather, Rodrigo Álvarez, certified only two of Sancho II 's; and El Cid's father confirmed only one. As
2940-574: The city and maintained it until 1102 when it was reconquered by the Moors. Díaz de Vivar became well known for his service in the armies of both Christian and Muslim rulers. After his death, El Cid became Spain's most celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de mio Cid , which presents him as the ideal medieval knight: strong, valiant, loyal, just, and pious. There are various theories on his family history, which remains uncertain; however, he
3024-517: The city itself but did not have the forces to take the city. During the retreat from the city he ambushed and defeated the pursuing forces of the emir Abd al-Malik ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Muẓaffar late in the autumn at the Battle of Paterna . The emir's father-in-law, al-Mamun of Toledo , seized control of Valencia, and the frightened emir of Zaragoza renewed his tribute payments to León. Ferdinand fell ill in November and returned to his kingdom. Ferdinand
3108-510: The construction of the poem. The figure of El Cid has been the source for many literary works, beginning with the Cantar de mio Cid , an epic poem from the 12th century which gives a partly-fictionalized account of his life, and was one of the early chivalric romances . This poem, along with similar later works such as the Mocedades de Rodrigo , contributed to portray El Cid as a chivalric hero of
3192-401: The council is the first recorded instance of Ferdinand bearing the title of count. A later charter from the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña , dated 1 January 1030, explicitly lists Sancho as king in León (the overlord of Castile) and Ferdinand as count in Castile. The first indication that Ferdinand was independently reigning over Castile, or was at least recognised as count in his own right,
3276-529: The death of al-Qadir, El Cid responded by laying siege to the city. Valencia finally fell in 1094, and El Cid established an independent principality on the Mediterranean coast of Iberia. He ruled over a pluralistic society with the popular support of Christians and Muslims alike. El Cid's final years were spent fighting the Almoravid Berbers . He inflicted upon them their first major defeat in 1094, on
3360-419: The deceased count's sister Muniadona, as count of Castile. Although Sancho was recognised as the ruler of Castile until his death, Ferdinand was granted the title "count" ( comes ) and was prepared to succeed in Castile. On 7 July 1029, before a council in Burgos , the capital of Castile, Óneca, aunt of the late García and queen Muniadona, formally adopted Sancho and Muniadona, making them her heirs. The record of
3444-499: The divided Moors from Alfonso. The Almoravid army, joined by that of several Taifas, including Badajoz , Málaga , Granada , Tortosa and Seville , defeated a combined army of León , Aragón , and Castile at the Battle of Sagrajas . In 1087, Raymond of Burgundy and his Christian allies attempted to weaken the Taifa of Zaragoza's northernmost stronghold by initiating the Siege of Tudela and Alfonso captured Aledo, Murcia , blocking
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3528-405: The east of al-Mamun's taifa , taking Talamanca and besieging Alcalá de Henares . After seeing his country plundered, al-Mamun agreed to pay parias and Ferdinand left. In 1063, using the new income from his parias , Ferdinand organised a "great raid, or razzia " into the taifas of Seville and Badajoz . Seville, and probably Badajoz also, paid a ransom for his withdrawal. This attack
3612-525: The eleventh century and contained amounts of Damascus steel . In 2007, the Autonomous Community of Castile and León bought the sword for €1.6 million, and it is currently on display at the Museum of Burgos . El Cid also had a sword called Colada . El Cid married Jimena Díaz , who was said to be part of an aristocratic family from Asturias, in the mid-1070s. The Historia Roderici calls her
3696-682: The epithet after his conquest of Valencia in 1094. This title appears for the first time, as Meo Çidi , in the Poema de Almería , composed between 1147 and 1149. The combination of "Cid Campeador" is documented from 1195 in Linaje de Rodrigo Díaz ( The Lineage of Rodrigo Díaz ) in Navarro-Aragonese which form part of the Liber regum written as mio Cit el Campiador ; and in El Cantar de mio Cid . Born
3780-491: The exile: jealous nobles turning Alfonso against El Cid through court intrigue, and Alfonso's own personal animosity towards El Cid. The song of El Cid and subsequent tales state that Alfonso's and his court's animosity toward Rodrigo was the primary reason the expulsion of the knights from León, as well as a possible misappropriation of some of the tribute from Seville by El Cid. At first he went to Barcelona , where Ramon Berenguer II refused his offer of service. The exile
3864-497: The illegitimate Ramiro. In five documents of the monastery of San Salvador de Leire , Ferdinand is listed after Gonzalo. Two of these are dated to 17 April 1014. If authentic, they place Ferdinand's birth before that date. Three further documents from Leire are among the only ones to place Ferdinand second among the legitimate sons, but they suffer from various anachronisms and interpolations. Two preserved diplomas of Santa María la Real de Irache also put Gonzalo ahead of him. On
3948-584: The monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña . Babieca is mentioned in several tales and historical documents about El Cid, including The Lay of El Cid . A weapon traditionally identified as El Cid's sword , Tizona , used to be displayed in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in Toledo. In 1999, a small sample of the blade underwent metallurgical analysis which confirmed that the blade was made in Moorish Córdoba in
4032-399: The monk to exclaim " Babieca! " (stupid!). Hence, it became the name of El Cid's horse. Another legend states that in a competition of battle to become King Sancho's "Campeador", or champion, a knight on horseback wished to challenge El Cid. The King wished a fair fight and gave El Cid his finest horse, Babieca, or Bavieca. This version says Babieca was raised in the royal stables of Seville and
4116-489: The most reliable, charters name Sancho's sons in the order Ramiro , García , Gonzalo , then Ferdinand. Three documents from the Cathedral of Pamplona list them in this way, as well as four from the monastery of San Juan de la Peña . One charter from Pamplona, dated 29 September 1023, is witnessed by Sancho's mother, Jimena Fernández , his wife Muniadona, her children, listed García, Ferdinand then Gonzalo, and their brother,
4200-513: The next several years, however, El Cid set his sights on the kingdom-city of Valencia , operating more or less independently of Alfonso, while politically supporting the Banu Hud and other Muslim dynasties opposed to the Almoravids. He gradually increased his control over Valencia; the Islamic ruler, Yahya al-Qadir , became his tributary in 1092. When the Almoravids instigated an uprising that resulted in
4284-503: The original Arabic ([السَّيِّد] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |labels= ( help ) ), and was a title given to other Christian leaders. It has been conjectured that Rodrigo Díaz received the honorific title and respectful treatment of contemporaries in Zaragoza because of his victories in the service of the King of the Taifa of Zaragoza between 1081 and 1086; however, he more likely received
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#17328514056624368-450: The plains of Caurte, outside Valencia, and continued opposing them until his death. Although El Cid remained undefeated in Valencia, Diego Rodríguez, his only son and heir, died fighting against the Almoravids in the service of Alfonso in 1097. After El Cid's death in 1099, his wife, Jimena Díaz , succeeded him as ruler of Valencia, but she was eventually forced to surrender the principality to
4452-614: The robe of a monk and lying on a bier covered with ashes, which was placed before the altar of the Basilica of San Isidoro . By his will, Ferdinand divided his kingdom among his three sons: the eldest, Sancho , received Castile; the second, Alfonso , León; and from the latter the region of Galicia was carved off to create a separate state for García . Ferdinand's two daughters each received cities: Elvira that of Toro and Urraca that of Zamora . In giving them these territories, he expressed his desire that they respect his wishes and abide by
4536-480: The route between the Taifas in the eastern and western Iberian Peninsula. Terrified after his crushing defeat, Alfonso recalled El Cid, rewarding him lavishly with lands and lordships, such as the fortress of Gormaz. In the year 1087 Alfonso sent him to negotiate with the emboldened Taifa kingdoms. El Cid returned to Alfonso, but now he had his own plans. He only stayed a short while and then returned to Zaragoza. El Cid
4620-462: The same name. Claude Debussy began work in 1890 on an opera, Rodrigue et Chimène , which he abandoned as unsuitable for his temperament; it was orchestrated for performance by Edison Denisov circa 1993. El Cid is portrayed by American actor Charlton Heston in a 1961 epic film of the same name directed by Anthony Mann , where the character of Doña Ximena is portrayed by Italian actress Sophia Loren . In 2020, Amazon Prime Video premiered
4704-538: The same passage mistakenly places Gonzalo's death before his father's. Ferdinand was barely in his teens when García Sánchez , Count of Castile, was assassinated by a party of exiled Castilian noblemen as he was entering the church of John the Baptist in León , where he had gone to marry Sancha , sister of Bermudo III , King of León. In his role as feudal overlord, Sancho III of Navarre nominated his younger son Ferdinand, born to
4788-405: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rodrigo_Díaz&oldid=955951545 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4872-496: 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 practice, El Cid was fully independent. The city was both Christian and Muslim, and both Moors and Christians served in the army and as administrators. Jerome of Périgord was made bishop. El Cid and his wife Jimena Díaz lived peacefully in Valencia until
4956-470: The siege of Coimbra. After his death, Ferdinand's children took to calling him "emperor" and "the great" ( magnus ). In 1072, Alfonso, Fedinand's second son, referred to himself as "offspring of the Emperor Ferdinand". Two years later (1074), Urraca and Elvira referred to themselves as "daughters of the Emperor Ferdinand the Great [or, the great emperor Ferdinand]". In a later charter of 1087, Ferdinand
5040-407: The siege of Valencia, legend holds that Jimena ordered that the corpse of El Cid be fitted with his armor and set on his horse, Babieca, to bolster the morale of his troops. In several variations of the story, the dead Rodrigo and his knights win a thundering charge against Valencia's besiegers, resulting in a war-is-lost-but-battle-is-won catharsis for generations of Christian Spaniards to follow. It
5124-456: The sovereign, he lost his ranking in the new court, which treated him suspiciously and kept him at arm's length. Finally, in 1081, he was exiled. El Cid found work fighting for the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza , whom he defended from its traditional enemy, Aragon . While in exile, he regained his reputation as a strategist and formidable military leader. He was repeatedly victorious in battle against
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#17328514056625208-470: The split. However, soon after Fernando's death, Sancho and Alfonso turned on García and defeated him. They then fought each other, the victorious Sancho reuniting their father's possessions under his control in 1072. However, Sancho was killed that same year and the territories passed to Alfonso. The Chronicon complutense , probably written shortly after Ferdinand's death, extols him as the "exceedingly strong emperor" ( imperator fortissimus ) when mentioning
5292-445: The throne of Navarre as King García Ramírez . The other daughter, María (also known as Sol), is said first to have married a prince of Aragon, presumably the son of Peter I , and she later married Ramon Berenguer III , count of Barcelona . Both the poem and the chronicle may state a previous marriage to the infantes de Carrión [ es ] ; however, these marriages are not a historical fact and are an important element in
5376-470: The town of Castejón as depicted in Cantar de mio Cid ( The Song of my Cid ).) El Cid accepted or included suggestions from his troops. In The Song the man who served him as his closest adviser was his vassal and kinsman Álvar Fáñez " Minaya " (meaning "My brother" , a compound word of Spanish possessive Mi (My) and Anaia , the basque word for brother ), although the historical Álvar Fáñez remained in Castile with Alfonso VI. Babieca , or Bavieca ,
5460-480: The tradition. He was a younger son of Sancho III of Navarre and Muniadona of Castile , and by his father's will recognised the supremacy of his eldest brother, García Sánchez III of Navarre . While Ferdinand inaugurated the rule of the Navarrese Jiménez dynasty over western Spain, his rise to preeminence among the Christian rulers of the peninsula shifted the focus of power and culture westward after more than
5544-543: The tribute until his death. With al-Muqtadir sidelined as a threat, Ferdinand turned his attention to Yahya ibn Ismail al-Mamun , emir of Toledo . It is probable that Ferdinand already maintained close relations with the Toledan court, and was perhaps protector of the Mozarabic Christian community in Toledo. In 1058, the last known Mozarabic bishop of Toledo, Pascual , was consecrated in León. In 1062, Ferdinand invaded
5628-517: The way to Valencia, El Cid also conquered other towns, many of which were near Valencia, such as El Puig and Quart de Poblet . El Cid gradually came to have more influence in Valencia, then ruled by Yahya al-Qadir , of the Hawwara Berber Dhulnunid dynasty . 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
5712-424: Was El Cid's warhorse . Several stories exist about El Cid and Babieca. One well-known legend about El Cid describes how he acquired the stallion . According to this story, Rodrigo's godfather, Pedro El Grande, was a monk at a Carthusian monastery . Pedro's coming-of-age gift to El Cid was his pick of a horse from an Andalusian herd. El Cid picked a horse that his godfather thought was a weak, poor choice, causing
5796-569: Was a highly trained and loyal war horse, not a foolish stallion. The name in this instance could suggest that the horse came from the Babia region in León, Spain . In the poem Carmen Campidoctoris , Babieca appears as a gift from "a barbarian" to El Cid, so its name could also be derived from "Barbieca", or "horse of the barbarian". Regardless, Babieca became a great warhorse, famous to the Christians, feared by El Cid's enemies, and loved by El Cid, who allegedly requested that Babieca be buried with him in
5880-467: Was accomplished peacefully and is only detectable in the documentary record. In 1060, according to the Historia silense , Ferdinand invaded the taifa of Zaragoza through the upland valley of the eastern Duero in the highlands around Soria . He captured the fortresses of San Esteban de Gormaz , Berlanga and Vadorrey , and afterwards proceeded through Santiuste , Huermeces and Santamara as far as
5964-632: Was also a popular source of inspiration for Spanish writers of the Romantic period , such as Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch , who wrote La Jura de Santa Gadea , or José Zorrilla , who wrote a long poem called La Leyenda del Cid . In 2019, Arturo Pérez-Reverte published the novel entitled Sidi: Un relato de frontera . Herman Melville references El Cid when introducing the character of Samoa in Chapter 21 of Mardi (1849): "He alighted about six paces from where we stood, and balancing his weapon, eyed us bravely as
6048-466: Was content to let the Almoravid armies and the armies of Alfonso fight without his help, even when there was a chance that the Almoravids might defeat Alfonso and take over all of Alfonso's lands. El Cid chose not to fight because he was hoping that both armies would weaken themselves. Around this time, El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began maneuvering in order to create his own fief in
6132-508: Was defending the king's tributary. During the aftermath of this battle the Muslim troops under El Cid's command would hail him as Sayyidi. Count García Ordóñez and the other Castilian leaders were taken captive and held for three days before being released. In the Battle of Cabra (1079), El Cid rallied his troops and turned the battle into a rout of Emir Abdullah of Granada and his ally García Ordóñez. This unauthorized expedition into Granada, however, greatly angered Alfonso and May 8, 1080,
6216-422: Was divided between al-Mutamin (1081–1085) who ruled Zaragoza proper, and his brother al-Mundhir , who ruled Lérida and Tortosa . El Cid entered al-Mutamin's service and successfully defended Zaragoza against the assaults of al-Mundhir, Sancho I of Aragón , and Ramon Berenguer II, whom he held captive briefly in 1082. In 1082, the army of the Taifa of Zaragoza under El Cid defeated the Taifa of Lleida at
6300-458: Was first titled "emperor" not by himself or his own scribes, but by the notaries of his half-brother, the petty king Ramiro I of Aragon , whose notaries were also calling Ferdinand's predecessor as king of León by the same title. In a royal Aragonese charter of 1036, before the Battle of Tamarón, Ramiro refers to his brother as "emperor in Castile and in León and in Astorga". A similarly-worded charter
6384-474: Was issued in 1041 and again in 1061, where the order of kingdoms is reversed and Astorga ignored: "emperor in León and in Castile". The first use of the imperial style in a charter of his own, preserved in the cartulary of Arlanza, dates to the year 1056: "under the rule of the emperor King Ferdinand and the empress Queen Sancha ruling the kingdom in León and in Galicia as well as in Castile". On this basis, Ferdinand
6468-463: Was not the end of El Cid, either physically or as an important figure. After being rejected by Ramon Berenguer II , El Cid journeyed to the Taifa of Zaragoza , where he received a warmer welcome. In 1081, El Cid went on to offer his services to the king of Zaragoza , Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud , and served both him and his successor, al-Musta'in II . He was given the title El Cid ( The Master ) and served as
6552-665: Was not, as many later authors have it, king of Castile. Contemporary documents stress his status as count and his relationship of vassalage to the king of León. A document issued by his brother Ramiro on 22 August 1036 at San Juan de la Peña was drawn while "emperor Bermudo [was] reigning in León and count Ferdinand in Castile, king García in Pamplona, king Ramiro in Aragon, and king Gonzalo in Ribagorza." Two private Castilian documents dated 1 January 1037 both express Ferdinand's continuing vassalage to
6636-603: Was planning on overthrowing him in order to gain his territory, Sancho sent Cid to bring Alfonso back so that Sancho could speak to him. Sancho was assassinated in 1072, during a siege of his sister's town of Zamora. Since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his power passed to his brother Alfonso who, almost immediately, returned from exile in Toledo and took his seat as king of Castile and León. He was, however, deeply suspected of having been involved in Sancho's murder. According to
6720-512: Was probably also designed to remove Badajoz as a threat during his siege of Coimbra the next year. Although the sources are unclear, it is possible that as early as 1055 Ferdinand attacked the taifa of Badajoz. His first serious campaign of Reconquista was an invasion of the lower basin of the Duero between the coast, which had long been held by León, and the mountains. On 29 November 1057 his army conquered Lamego and its valleys. Having secured
6804-437: Was taken away and given to his enemy, Count García Ordóñez . In 1079, El Cid was sent by Alfonso VI to Seville to the court of al-Mutamid to collect the parias owed by that taifa to León–Castile. While he was there Granada, assisted by other Castilian knights, attacked Seville, and El Cid and his forces repulsed the Christian and Grenadine attackers at the Battle of Cabra , in the (probably mistaken) belief that he
6888-416: Was the grandfather of García Ramírez de Pamplona, King of Navarre, the first son of his daughter Cristina Rodríguez . To this day, El Cid remains a popular Spanish folk hero and national icon, with his life and deeds remembered in popular culture. Rodrigo Díaz was recognized with the honorary title of "Campeador" during his lifetime, as is evidenced by a document that he signed in 1098, which he signed in
6972-530: Was the last time El Cid confirmed a document in King Alfonso's court. The most likely reason was El Cid's incursion into Toledo, which happened to be under the control of Alfonso's vassal, Yahya Al-Qadir. Alfonso's anger over El Cid's unsanctioned incursion into his vassal's territory would lead him to exile the knight. This is the generally accepted reason for the exile of El Cid, although several others are plausible and indeed may have been contributing factors to
7056-446: Was used was Sancho III, making Ferdinand the first count of Castile not to recognise the suzerainty of the king of León. Sancho III arranged for Ferdinand to marry García of Castile's intended bride, Sancha of León, in 1032. The lands between the Cea and Pisuerga rivers went to Castile as her dowry. After his father's death on 18 October 1035, Ferdinand continued to rule in Castile, but he
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