Ruy el cid campeador biography

Castilian warlord and Prince of Valencia from 1094 to 1099

For other uses, see El Cid (disambiguation).

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:[elˈθið], Old Spanish:[elˈts̻id]), and the Spanish honorific El Campeador ("the Champion").

Ruy el cid campeador biography

He was born in Vivar, a village near the city of Burgos.

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 the city and maintained it until 1102 when it was reconquered by the Moors.

Díaz de